This was supposed to be my dream. Im from Australia, weighed 125lbs when I met my Texan love who was passing through Sydney during the 2000 Olympics. Fell in love and moved to Texas the following year. Long story short (ish) In 2008 I had an extent spine surgery, 2 rods from neck to tailbone, 37 screws, almost my entire spine is fused. Well fast forward to Jun 20 2013, I was 78 lbs heavier, mostly from 8 months of post spine op inability to move, and eating for comfort, boredom and to get through the debilitating pain. I live in the country so no pool here or gym, I used to walk a little but now my knees and ankles are on fire.

So I got the sleeve 6/20/13 SW 203 (prior to pre op liquid diet.) Today 7/17/13 Im only 189 and have been all week and Im miserable. In fact Ive barely lost any since surgery, I lost 12 on the pre op and only a couple of lbs since surgery. Im doing tye shakes, no sweets, drinking Water (pushing fluids) I'm so scared that this isn't going to work for me. I eat lost of fish, veges. I put a banana in my morning shake and i also eat a boiled egg daily. Tuna in my salad etc. ITS NOT WORKING. Im so discouraged and so sad. I eat probably about 4 to five times a day. Even with the 14lbs that Ive lost (have lost nothing this week) I look and feel no different in my clothes. Im depressed. Please help me with a typical food day plan, please help me with an easy movement/excercise plan remembering that due to my spine and the weight Im carrying I cant do much. Just please help me.

Thanks so much.

Karen

i don't think you should be sad. You should know that this is a process and it all takes times. The weight will not fall off over night. The sleeve is a wonderful tool that will work for you. You just had surgery so there is probably some swelling and as that swelling goes down so will your weight. Due to your injuries the only thing I would suggest as far as exercise is walking but you may want to ask your doctor what exercise is best for you.

Please, please hang in there. You are doing the right things, if you want to exercise more - walk. But you are experiencing what has happened to most of us, you are in a stall. This is when your body stops everything to sort itself out and the scales usually stand still. Most commonly happens around 3 weeks out and can last for days and weeks. Your body has been through a trauma and is now functioning in new circumstances so it's not surprising that it is taking a time out.

But nothing you are doing will be wasted, you will see a weight loss, just have faith, stick to what you are doing and stay calm. It is working, just hang in there and don't give up.

Probably not the last time this will happen either - I am 12 weeks out have lost nothing in last two weeks but I keep going doing the right things and I know my weight will drop again.

Thinking about you, good luck and let us know what happens... X

But 2 lbs in four weeks!!!!!!!!! I have read that NO where! No even in the slow losers forum!!

Hang in there. I have read on other forums stories of people, many people who actually gained the week of surgery. Talk to your surgeon and nutritionist. They may have ideas for you. I spoke with mine this week about my weight loss since surgery, he was very happy with my loss and explained that I will probably lose more quickly when I get back to normal daily activity. I do not know what diet plan they have recommended, I follow a 70g protein diet. I eat my protein first and may have a bite or two of a veggie, if I have room after protein! I have protein shakes in between meals. Good luck, I know it is hard, week 3 I only lost 2 pounds and I was devastated! We all lose differently but we have all had the same emotions at one point!

Starting weight 239

Surgery weight 226

Current weight 207

Surgery date 6/19/13

Please don't give up and don't let this process depress you. Talk to your doctor and nutritionist and see what they say but I don't think that you are doing the wrong things. Please, I don't want to hear you say that this surgery will not work for you because it will. You will see yourself in 2-3months and would even advise the newbies about what to do. I was in a stall, I don't even know if I'm out of it cos I refused to weigh myself and to let my doctor do it. I was sleeved 6/5/13 and so far 30lbs including preop which I know I lost about 10lbs. That means that I only lost 20lbs in a month while others are pulling in 40-50. It's depressing but hang in there, do the best you can.

Boiled eggs are a waste of calories and sleeve space. Not enough protein .Research before you put anything in your mouth. I live on greek yogurt 14-15 gr of protein. Tilapia, chicken, red meat. Cottage cheese is high in protein. Special K PROTEIN PLUS cereal 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup Carbmaster milk. I don't have space for veggies or bananas in my sleeve. No protein? I won't eat it. Water? Yes, but not as much cause I forget to drink it. I take my Bariatric advantage vitamins and 1 iron pill every day. I am not doing ANY excersise but to walk from my cubicle to the mail room a few times per day. I've lost 35 lbs in 8 weeks. Ps: I take Wellbutrin. What is depression again? You gotta take something. See a doctor. Get serotonin levels up baby. Check your thyroid levels. You'll feel great.

Hang in there!! It gets better! I was sleeved on 4/29/13 and at about 2.5 weeks totally stopped losing. Discovered I was not getting enough Protein at all. The first few weeks are the hardest to get in the protein. For me anyway it was! I felt horrible, tired, week, etc. once I could add more foods, more protein it all started to change. But I stalled for about ten days. I have steadily lost since then. Currently down 52 pounds! 11 weeks post op!

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K, some people lose NOTHING in 4 weeks or longer but they do start losing. Others put on weight but they go on to lose it.

Lots of good advice in the posts from people who have been where u r. Most important thing is stick with it, get ur head where it needs to be and realise u have done something great for u and ur health. Sound like a broken record but this too shall pass and in a few weeks time this will just be a memory. Chin up, look to a healthier future but dont give up yet...

My way of thinking is that I am light years ahead of where I was. Every day that I follow my VSG eating plan I know the payoff will be wonderful. I am not in charge of when. I am in charge of eating lots of Protein drinking lots of Water and being kind to myself.

I am not someone who weighs herself daily or even weekly. I was obsessed with food before I don't want to become obsessed with weighing myself now. It's just too stressful. I want to declutter my life, My mind and my body. I do this by keeping things simple.

Some very wise individual posted on this site that this is not a sprint it's a marathon. A lifelong journey. You just got in the race!

Just remember that you already took the biggest step you had the surgery. By doing so you made a commitment to your health and well-being. Naturally we all want our rewards immediately. Give it time. Continue to do what you doing. Minus the obsessing. Laugh out loud.

Replace that obsession with The scale with finding cool protein rich recipes. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Compare your eating today with the way you ate before VSG.

Come now You must submit you are light years ahead of where you were. And it's only going to get better.

Rosie

Are you tracking your intake on MFP or something similar? I always eat protein 1st. After that I've not had room for vegies or fruit. Haven't had any since surgery. Was only cleared for lettuce at 6 weeks. I do know all Dr/Nut guidelines are different on this. Good luck with your journey! Let us know how you're doing.

Having a whole banana, a boiled egg, fish, veggies, shakes, etc. sounds like a lot of calories and carbs especially for being so early from surgery. What is your daily calorie and carb intake? Are you measuring everything you eat and tracking it on MFP? What are your daily goals for your macros as provided by your dietician?

Right now my goals are 650 calories, 30-40 g. carbs, 72-100 g protein and under 30 g fat per day. Once I move on to soft foods my calorie limit will move up to 750. What are you aiming for?

Can someone then tell me what they eat in a typical day? I dont eat all that I listed above in one day was just giving examples of what I eat. If I blend a banana with my protein shake I can manage to get it down over a cpl of hours. This is tough.

I use " Lose It" application on my cell phone.I track EVERYTHING I eat. at the end of the day, if I have not eaten enough protein, I eat a greek yogurt.

Here is an example; ( I don't drink shakes, gross )

breakfast; Greek yogurt

lunch; chicken 3 ounces and 1 slice of watermelon because it is summer and i'm hot

dinner: tilapia 3 ounces ( i cook it really good with onions and lemon juice)

snack: 1 ounce cheddar cheese ( or any other white cheese) with 2 or 3 Kashi veggie crakers

( VARIATIONS: other snacks: 1 slice of 35 calories whole grain bread with a teaspoon of peanut butter and sugar free jelly

or Special K protein plus cereal with Carbmaster milk

or cottage cheese with a little bit of fruit

or cheese with 2 slices of deli turkey

or a Carb master ice cream bar, because it is summer after all and you want to have some ice cream. ice cream is definitively empty calories, so i found a nice brand of frozen yogurt with protein and low in calories)

When I go shopping I try to discover new foods with a high content of protein. couscous, quinoa, lentils, etc. are in my pantry. I may eat a few teaspons of any of those with my main meat. The important thing is that you are getting your sleeve filled with protein mostly).

I'm on purees right now (I was sleeved one day before you) and a typical day for me might look like:

Breakfast: 1/2 poached egg + 1 Tablespoon pureed salmon

Lunch: 3 tablespoons nonfat cottage cheese

Dinner: 3 tablespoons chicken pureed with chicken stock + 1 tsp. low carb BBQ sauce

Snacks: 1 Premier Protein chocolate shake, 1 glass Ocean Spray Light 50 cranberry juice, 1 glass low sodium V8, 1/2 protein shake made with Syntrax Mint Cookie Protein Powder, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and Hood Calorie Countdown nonfat dairy beverage.

Most importantly, I track everything on myfitnesspal.com and make sure I hit the macros above. And I weigh or measure everything I eat to make sure the information I am entering in MFP is correct.