I am almost at the 6 month mark and have been weighing in weekly. I am proud to say that I have lost consistently every week, never stalling, never gaining, until today. I am trying not to beat myself up about it but it is a little disappointing, and totally my fault. It was my birthday last week and I've been eating a lot of sweets and I got really relaxed about eating carbs and such since it hadn't (yet) made a difference on the scale. It was only a gain of 0.4 but that is quite enough for me to get my butt back on the Protein train. I have to come to grips with the fact that the honeymoon is over and it's up to me now to get to where I want to be.

I know lots of you have been through this and have come out of it successfully. Sharing this with you helps keep me honest.

get back up, dust yourself off and start again

Know the feeling. That 6-month mark is a real downer. But we still have restriction, just have to use it right! Time to turn up the exercise and put down the carbs. (So says the woman who ate a chocolate covered strawberry for Valentine's Day!)

WOW....you must have a very sensitive scale. I am only 8 weeks out and I have had 3 weeks in a row with no loss or a gain. Hope that others read this about your eating too much during your birthday. It is ok to have an occassional treat but if you do it several days in a row it is not good. That is how I got to where I was in the beginning. Maybe I will have just one and then I had 3-4. Best of luck on your return to the good life.

I realize that this way of eating is for the rest of our life. Wow, I am so fearful that I will give into all the carbs later out and gain back my weight. This has kept me from getting rid of all the cloths in the closet that is too big.

dont beat yourself up i was down 120 after year i went on a two month carb frenzy over holidays gained one pound over two months got focused and lost 29 pounds since january third im down total of 148 around fifty more go to get to my original goal will have lost 198

I think you're being too hard on yourself. Hold yourself accountable but don't be extreme about it.

A variance of +/- 2 pounds is normal for me each day. So long as I'm not over 138 I don't beat myself up over my weight. Anything could affect us: pressure, humidity, salt intake, Water intake, time of the month. In fact, I regularly gain about 3 pounds during my cycle.

So, I applaud your accountability. However, I think you shouldn't worry about the minuscule gain unless it becomes a habit.

I'd also like to add that I really don't feel there is a "magic window" where weight loss becomes harder. We do not have the limited window of malabsorption that bypass patients have. Our sleeve does stretch a bit but certainly not enough for us to just start gaining weight or eating a ton of food - not without us really jumping off the wagon and running in the wrong direction! It took me 17 months to get to goal. Loss closer to goal weight is slower but it's just as easy to lose as it was in the beginning: you just keep on doing the right things and the weight comes off.

I think this misconception people have is part of the reason half the posts on these boards are from people freaking out about a two week stall or a slower loss - they have this idea that if they don't drop the weight in nine months they'll be failures or have wasted their money on VSG. This isn't the case!

You're doing a great job so far, and should have no trouble reaching goal.

~Cheri

dont beat yourself up i was down 120 after year i went on a two month carb frenzy over holidays gained one pound over two months got focused and lost 29 pounds since january third im down total of 148 around fifty more go to get to my original goal will have lost 198

Wow, you went on a 2-month carb frenzy and only gained 1 pound? I wish I could do that! I eat too many carbs in 2 DAYS and I gain a pound! Way to go on getting back on track!

I GUESS THE SAVEING GRACE FOR ME IS THAT I KEPT EXCERSISEING QUITE A BIT LIFTING 4 TIMES A WEEK AND CARDIO 4 HOURS A WEEK THATS PROBALY THE ONLY REASON I DIDNT GAIN 10 OR 15

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I got back on the scale today and dropped everything I gained and then some, so maybe it was just a fluke. I do think it was a good wake-up call though because I haven't been making great choices lately and I can't expect my sleeve to do all the work for me. I want to get to goal!