I had my surgery on Jan 16th , 2013 so it has been 3 months and I have lost 60 lbs. YAY!!!!! but right now it has been a few weeks that I have not lost anything. I am very disappointed. I know I need to exercise which I have not but is there something else I should be doing to pass this plato.

Thx

Hi Selene,

Those of us who have been on VST for a while (I'm about a 1 yr veteran) see this type of post a lot!

I'm going to repost a mix of many different responses I've given to this type of question. Hopefully you'll find some of it useful!

Here goes...........

This is a VERY common time for your body to stop and take stock of what's happening. You've had major surgery and are in active healing mode (and will be for several months more to come!).

Generally speaking, the body is constantly adjusting to it's environment and reevaluating what it needs to do biochemically to adapt. So if you're losing weight in "patches" (as most of us do), it's because your body is reacting to fewer calories, changing food amount/type intake, hormonal shifts, exercise (or lack of), etc.

You are not a static human being that is identical all the time, so your body needs time to "catch up" to the current situation. By the time it does, you've moved on and are introducing whole new set of variables.

If you look at my signature line below, you'll see my weight loss record and how many pounds I lost each month (and still losing). It starts out quick and then slows down. Many stalls along the way (had my worst one yet last month......about 4 weeks stalled!). In March I lost 3.7 lbs over the entire month and I was happy because it did actually move down!

As long as you stick to your plan consistency will get you to your goals. This journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Use this time to build up your new good habits, work through frustrations with a balanced approach and try not to be reactive to the scale. I know it's exciting to finally see the weight drop off, and you want to be at goal NOW! But we didn't get up there fast, and we're not going to lose it overnight either. I'm more than 11 months post-op. I have about 50 lbs left to lose and I suspect it will take at least another 6-8 months to lose those last 50 lbs. I'm okay with that!

After about 6 months you will be adapting to major lifestyle modifications regarding your food intake type and of course quantities (and probably have incorporated significant exercise into your lifestyle as well). Your physiology and metabolism needs time to adjust.

Measure your progress in other ways (fitness level, clothing fit, body measurements, stamina, quality of sleep or energy levels, etc.). The scale can be deceptive and demotivating at the best of times.

So keep your eyes on the prize, stick to your plan and don't let stalls stop you. You just keep on "keeping on". The stall does break (believe me). You just have to not give up!

Your overall trend will be down and if you can find a way to measure body fat, it is a much more accurate picture of what is happening. I recently purchased a body fat analyzer which will help me know better what is going on with my weight loss (I want my muscle % to stay or increase!).

It's not a sprint..........though it's hard not to be excited for this major change and want it NOW! It's a marathon and we'll get there as long as we keep putting one foot in front of the other, stay informed and actively aware of what we're putting into our bodies, how we're burning off calories and what we need to do to achieve our weight loss and fitness goals.

You can do this! Take body measurements, and if you MUST weigh yourself daily (I get it....), then remember to take the ups and downs with grace and stay on your eating and exercise plan, regardless of what the stupid scale says (good or bad!).

It can be frustrating, but really, your body can only shed weight so fast. This is where the sleeve really makes the difference - it's helps us stay on plan so we don't get sidetracked while our bodies catch up. If you look at your overall loss, it's really quite good, and ahead of many people (though we really shouldn't compare because we are all unique). You've lost an average of 20 pounds a month, or roughly 3-4 pounds per week, even with no loss the past few weeks. That's great!

When it's coming off fast like that I think "at this rate I'll be at goal in no time!" but then I hit a stall. I know I'm doing all I can, and it's just the way my body is going to respond to the changes. If you are following your plan, the only thing to do is keep doing it. You'll probably get a lot of advice about changing carbs, calories, Protein, Water, etc, but I'm not a believer. To me, that sends the message that I am somehow "failing" because I'm not losing as fast as I should/could, which is ludicrous. I'm pretty sure eating 800-1000 calories a day won't maintain my current weight, lol.

Adding exercise can help loss, and it certainly helps with toning and mental outlook, so I do recommend that. Good luck.

Try this: cut out salt. It worked for me!

Try this: cut out salt. It worked for me!

You was probably holding Water... I've done this.

Sent from my KFOT using VST

I had my surgery on Jan 16th ' date=' 2013 so it has been 3 months and I have lost 60 lbs. YAY!!!!! but right now it has been a few weeks that I have not lost anything. I am very disappointed. I know I need to exercise which I have not but is there something else I should be doing to pass this plato.

Thx [/quote']

Watch your inches. You may be shrinking. LOL. I only lost 4 lbs during my 4 week preop diet, I lost 70 before pre-opt. But I lost about 10 inches during my preopt diet. 5 of those were from my waist.

Sent from my KFOT using VST

Hello,

I have not been on here in quite some time because I have been in a stall. Seeing those posts really does help get me motivated. I know my problem I have not been exersising or REALLY paying close attention to my carb intake. I am 5 months out andI have been stuck a this weight for a whole month! So I joined a biggest loser contest in my town hoping that will motivate me. I know some of this is just a normal stall but alot of it or me is not putting the effort in. I amso happy I ran acoss this I think what you have said helped!