I had my surgery on 10/11 (5 weeks ago). I lost 13 lbs as of 10/31. Since 10/31 - 15 days ago - I have not lost one freakin ounce! And no, my clothes aren't getting bigger which would indicate inches and not pounds. What the heck! I am one week into the soft foods phase. I have been very good. Maybe not getting in all my liquid every day, but close to it. If anything I am under the calories that I should be, probably about 800-900 per day. And starvation mode is a myth so its not that. I have tried to be very patient, but it's really starting to get to me.

The only thing I can say is I lost a decent amount of weight quickly. I was on the pre-op diet for 4 weeks and lost 12 lbs. Which isn't really alot. I lost 6 the first week and then 6 in the next 3 weeks. So I lost 25 lbs since 9/7 when I started pre-op. Prior to that I had lost some weight also. Again, not a lot. I am a slow loser, I already know that. But I figured taking this drastic measure of having this surgery would really make me lose, and I am just getting very fed up. I have even been exercising, not a heck of a lot as my energy levels were a bit low. This coming week I'm definitely taking it up a notch, even scheduled to work with a personal trainer. If I don't lose soon I am going to scream. I don't think screaming will help, but it may make me feel better.

I know the weight will come off eventually - I mean it has to. I can't imagine not losing at all. I could see if I was eating candy and ice cream, but I'm really not. I'm eating lots of Protein (eggs, Beans, meats, cheese) and very little carbs. Anyway, just really needed to vent.

I am so sorry to hear your struggling, but may i offer one small tidbit of advise. Get rid of the scale and don't weigh except at your doctor appts. I did that and never saw that 3 week stall everyone talks about or anything, just consistent losses. I was very happy about that. Now at 2 years out I am maintaining, going up and down between about 10 lbs, but i've reached my doctors goal for me and that is wonderful. Good luck and try that for about your first year.

My advice is to get 20 minutes of aerobic exercise (minimum) at least every other day. What I found was that it seemed to help with the stalls AND helped my mental outlook.

That being said, vent away! Sometimes a good gripe session is great therapy! But at the end of the day, remember to tell yourself wonderful things about what your future will be when your weight is no longer holding you back!

I had read about the stall, heard about the stall, thought about the stall, but didn't really believe it until I experienced the stall. Its real, I read somewhere that there is a scientific explanation for it -- specifically related to weight loss surgery but I didn't get my hands on the actual explanation.

Regardless, it will pass.

I guess the thing that frustrates me the most is that I expected the dreaded stall - but not 3 weeks after surgery. A stall is something that comes after some amount of significant weight loss. I am sure it will pass, but in the meantime it sucks! I'm thinking of doing the liquid diet again for a few days just to jumpstart it. I figure if I did liquid for 4 weeks prior to surgery, it should be pretty easy to do it now when I have very little appetite and I get full from a glass of water! I'll give it a few days though.

Have you tried MyFitnessPal.com? It's free and you can track all sorts of things. I track calories, Protein, carbs, Calcium, fat, and sodium. There are other options. Maybe a week of tracking will show that youo are getting too much of something or too little. Or it can help you change things up a bit to trick your body into burning calories again.

Shae

Shae...I actually started using it today. I saw another post about it (maybe it was you, don't remember) and I joined yesterday and started tracking today. It is a great little tool, so easy to use and I was even able to download and app for my android phone. It will be interesting to see what that shows me. Thanks so much because until yesterday I had heard of it, but thought it was just for exercise. Didn't realize how handy it was for this. I really like it. I am tracking my fiber also because I don't think I'm getting enough of that either because (TMI) things aren't moving well (or all that often) in the plumbing department either. And the plumbing was very regular prior to surgery.

Oh Fusilli I hear you!!!! I'm one of those too! I stalled for over 4 weeks, dropped a few pounds and stalled again... it's actually my pattern. Don't mean to scare you with that one. It really stinks. In the beginning I was very concerned given the drastic measure I had taken. All my prior experiences keep coming back and would assume another "failure" -- they were my only source of reference! But I am finally able to embrace this for what it is, a "different" experience with it's own unique process. It's helped me to just tell myself to go with it. I've lost about 60 lbs since June and I'm feeling great ... but I know those nasty stalls can do a number on us!!!!

Gee, The 3 week stall is VERY real. I don't know the scientific explanation either, but I truly believe it's related to your body going into starvation mode. Once your body accepts that you won't be giving it the tons of food we were giving it before, then the stall will break. And, you'll stall every now and again because you're eating too much, or not eating enough, or not moving enough, or moving so much that your body is converting fat to muscle.

However, overall, you (we) will lose weight. I'm stuck just under the 300 mark right now and have been here for a week or so. However, I'm exercising more than ever, just added treadmill tonight, yay me! I can feel my clothes getting loser and I'm betting things are shifting for you as well.

I broke my 3 week stall by ADDING food to my diet, instead of subtracting. I added in a few carbs and added more Water. TMI, then I started going regularly. I happen to love the days I go, because I immediately see the results in the scale.

Many years ago, a friend of mine told me that the weight we lose doesn't magically evaporate...it has to go somewhere. So, every bodily function uses up some of that: sweating, breathing, and potty times all rid the body of it's excesses. It was a DUH moment for me.

Good luck on your journey!! You are going to get there...and I can't wait to see your pictures!!

Fusilli-

I am not studied on the scienctific evidence and whether it has proven that "starvation mode" is a myth but I can attest from the empirical data of my own experience that stavation mode was very real for me. If my calories dip below 1100 for more than a couple of days my body gets extremely ticked and I stop losing. I am also one that can generally break a stall by increasing calories rather than decreasing (assuming of course that I have been eating what I am supposed to leading to the stall).

I agree with Shae that My Fitness Pal is a fantastic tool if for no other reason than that when you hit a stall you can look back at your intake and excercise for clues.

Best of luck to you!

Amanda