Calorie Intake & Stalls

[RozzieJ 18]

Hi Everyone

I've been doing some great reading around the forum of people's issues with stalls, in particular, the dreaded 3 week stall.

I'm now 4wks post op today, have healed really well and in all ways feel great.... BUT I've been stalled the last two weeks with my weight loss. It's gone up and down by 1kg in the past two weeks (sorry folks, I'm in Aus and we're metric, so don't know the imperial conversion!!).

Anyways, I'm consuming approximately 800 calories a day and I'm doing 2-3km walks everyday to every second day.

After reading a number of posts by the veterans, who have mentioned increasing calorie content and Water, I'm curious if that could work for me - given I'm already at the ideal calorie intake & doing really well getting my water in.

I'm using an app on my phone to record what I'm eating so it tells me how many kj's, how much Protein, fat, sugar, carbs etc are in. As of yesterday, I've finally managed to get to 60grms of protein, but my carbs are 66grms. Which seems to mostly come from having a glass of milk, which my dietician suggested I take to get in protein.

As I'm quite terrified the stall is permanent (despite reading comments that it does start again - I don't have much faith it will!!), I'm wondering what the next step is.

If I'm in starvation mode but increase my calories, is that going to bugger things up making the body thing "woo hoo!! Foood!!!!" and then gain weight because I've given it more calories?? And on days that I exercise, should I also increase calorie content??

It's almost like a maths equation or a science project!

I did ask my surgeon last week, but his only comment was "weight is hard to lose". Which I'm sure most of you would agree with my response of "no shit sherlock"!! (I didn't actually say that to him, but I'm sure he read it on my face!!!).

I know I'm probably being an eager beaver. And I'm also committing the cardinal sin of comparing my progress against a friend who had it done in June and I know week for week, she's progressed better than I have, so am having feelings of failing at this.

Sorry for the 20 questions folks. I'm just really keen to kick this stall to the curb and get with the losing of weight again. I'm just so bummed it's not changing!!!

Cheers

RozzieJ

[*Lexie* 1,486]

I am interested in feedback from more experienced people. I am 2 months out and I've lost about 22lbs. I stalled at week 2 for a few weeks and then my weight loss has been at a crawl ever since and i was around 600-800 calories.

I have found that if I cut my calories to the 500 range that I start losing pretty good again. But if I go back up to 700-800, it just stops. So naturally I'm afraid to increase my calories anymore. But staying at 500 is difficult.

[Forsythia 882]

I can't even with 500 calories! Really, I'd be gnawing my own hand off at the wrist. Today I had 80 minutes of cardio. Hard cardio. Burned about 600 calories between the treadmill at an incline and the bike. If I only had 500 calories, my body would be sooooooo crabby. And with the weather here in Chicago and the transit issues on the brown line this morning, I'm already crabby. LOL.. But again, you've got to experiment. Try having varying it - eat more on workout days, eat more conservatively on idle days. Keep an eye on your carb intake. some people are sensitive to them and can eat more calories and lose as long as they are avoiding breads and pastas and rice and the like.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I'm a no scale gal so I have no idea if I stalled at 3 weeks or not. I know that when I went to the doctors at 2 weeks I had lost 26lbs and when I returned at 6 weeks I had lost another 6lbs. I don't think 66 gms of carbs is a bad number for a 600 - 800 calorie diet. Especially if you are drinking whole milk. You can try increasing your Water and Protein and see if that helps, but honestly it's only been 4 weeks. Put the scale away and try to stop making yourself crazy. Focus on living your program.

500 is ridiculous. Your body will eventually stop losing since it will be afraid of losing calories. food is fuel.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Blerdgirl

[fairytale1379 2]

I am in week 3.

Post opp week 1 and 2 I lost about 10kgs. Beginning of week 3 I put on 3kg. When I spoke to my surgeon, he said may be it is because of the Water retention (due to menstruation which was due for week 3).

After that my weight is stalled.

[Wendyfm 494]

I stalled early on and then spent a month losing .5 pounds a week. I finally talked to my nurse practitioner and she said I was eating too few calories. I was eating 500 -800, when I increased my intake to around 1,000 I started losing again. I'm eating around 1,000 now and losing between one to two pounds a week. Not a lot,but slow and steady. I've now lost 40 pounds since surgery in July and seventy since last March.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Rozzie ... chill, my dear. You're just experiencing the dreaded three-week stall. Happens to almost everyone. It will start moving again VERY soon.

FYI, for those who love to compare, yesterday was my three-month surgiversary. I'm 5'5" (or 5'4", depending on whose ruler you believe) and 68 years old. Here are my stats:

I lost 19 pounds pre-op (11 on my own and 8 on the surgeon's two-week pre-op diet). Post-op I've lost:

Month 1 = 10.4

Month 2 = 11.8

Month 3 = 8.8

... for a total of 51 pounds.

I'm very, very happy.

[par1959 470]

There are those on this board that say dont weigh or count calories. I disagree, doing both is the only way to track your progress and determine what changes need to be made to keep losing or maintaing current weight. If your stalling the first thing the NUT is going to ask for is an acounting for your intake. Otherwise, they do not have a clue on how to help adjust your intake. Its kind of sad but several in my face to face support group whine about not being able to lose weight , but those same individuals also say they dont have time to track their intake. Sounds like an excuse to me. Also in my support group those that are the most balanced and successful all have two things in common dailey weighing and tracking intake. Personally, I find Water is extremely important. Keep in mind this surgery is NOT instant gratification, This is a life time journey you signed up for. Understanding that is half the battle.

[*Lexie* 1,486]

Very interesting discussion. I am going to try to get my calories to 900-1000 for a few weeks and see how that impacts my weight loss. This will also help me have the energy for more intense workouts. And I'm going to Zumba tonight so I will need my energy to look ridiculous.

I have been tracking my carbs and trying to keep them low. I don't eat any bread or rice and have had Pasta only once or twice and I have the high Protein Pasta in a very small portion size.

Something else that I need to remember in my frustration around losing so slowly is that I haven't gained. Before surgery, my weight was like a yo-yo. I'd lose 4lbs and gain 3. Now, if the scale doesn't move down, it just stays the same. There's some comfort in that.

[RozzieJ 18]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I think I might try the calorie increase too and see how I fare. My dietician didn't really give me a guide on calorie intake. Just lists of foods that I could eat and to ensure I stick to about 1/2 cup per serving. As a consequence, I've felt like I've been floundering.

So I jumped on the recording of calories from the comments I've seen here - which is great because last night after I did a 4km walk which I recorded in my app, it showed that I still had about 3000KJs remaining for the day. That kinda made me sit up and go "oh, maybe I'm not eating enough calories". So I guess it's worth a try upping the calorie intake for a bit and seeing what happens.

I appreciate all the replies - it's so helpful to hear others experiences and to learn from them.

I know I'm an eager beaver for this to stall to bugger off, but I guess that's just human nature. Taking a huge step like this, you expect to see the weight drop off. And to be fair, my doctor never said anything to me about stalls. He did say that once I lost about half my weight, it will become harder and harder to budge the weight. So I did go into this operation ignorant of a lot of these types of issues.

But this forum has been fabulous at helping highlight issues and solutions as traverse this new territory.

Thanks for all the words of wisdom and the advice. It's muchly appreciated.

Cheers

Rozzie J

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

There are those on this board that say dont weigh or count calories. I disagree, doing both is the only way to track your progress and determine what changes need to be made to keep losing or maintaing current weight. If your stalling the first thing the NUT is going to ask for is an acounting for your intake. Otherwise, they do not have a clue on how to help adjust your intake. Its kind of sad but several in my face to face support group whine about not being able to lose weight , but those same individuals also say they dont have time to track their intake. Sounds like an excuse to me. Also in my support group those that are the most balanced and successful all have two things in common dailey weighing and tracking intake. Personally, I find Water is extremely important. Keep in mind this surgery is NOT instant gratification, This is a life time journey you signed up for. Understanding that is half the battle.

Yup. I feel your confusion about this, too.

Reminds me of posts I see with few if any more details than this: "Help, I'm gaining!"

WTF?

[Kindle 8,667]

I'm 11 months out, have lost over 100% of my excess weight and have been eating in "maintenance mode" for almost 5 months. So Far I guess I'm one of those rare successful "non-counters", and here's my alternative suggestion.....Two things have always helped my stalls.

1) stay off the scale. If you stick with the program it WILL work. You don't need to look at the numbers. You will see it and feel it. My longest stall was a month, but I still lost a whole pant size during that time. If it weren't for going to the doctor so many times that month, I would have never known I wasn't losing pounds.

2) eat more and drink more. If you deprive your body of calories, it will get used to functioning with very few calories. Your metabolism will "reset" at this caloric rate and once you try and eat normal in maintenance stage, you will gain weight with just a few calories ("this statement has not been verified by the FDA".....just my observations about what has always happened while yo yo dieting). My longest stall was when I was sick from a medication I was taking and could barely eat or drink anything. As soon as I stopped the meds I probably doubled my intake and lost 8 pounds in 1 week! Obviously, my body was willing to give up pounds when it is being fed, but not when it's being starved.

I made it a point to eat as normal as possible from the beginning.....protein first, of course, and plenty of Water and Vitamins, but never got too carried away with excluding carbs and fat. I knew restrictions were not something I could live with long term and I wasn't going to let this surgery turn into yet another yo yo weightloss experiment. Other than keeping track of Protein and Water in my head, I've never weighed or counted anything....just used good judgement (protein first, stay away from "white carbs"). I've never consulted with a nutritionist postop even once. But I did a few caloric "spot checks" along the way, because that's how so many people "do it" on here. I was at 1000 calories by a couple months out, at least 1200 calories at 6 months. And I'm maintaining a 100 pound loss with 1400-1600 calories/day. A very easy number to live with. And this is with no exercise program....just a physical job and active lifestyle.

Everyone is different, though, so just find a plan that works for you and don't let the numbers rule your life (unless you like the numbers game, then track and count and measure all you like!)

Edited November 21, 2014 by Kindle

[BitterSweet* 835]

If you force your body to subsist on 500-700 calories per day, it will oblige you. Then, when you try to eat a normal amount of calories, you will end up gaining weight. No one can live in a state of health and equillibrium on such a low calorie count. I am not encouraging any of you to not follow the plan laid out by your bariatric team, but it would be wise to invest your own time and energy to research this matter.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Thanks for everyone's comments.

And, as @@Kindle said, we should find a way works for us.

But often when we discuss "counting" vs. "not counting" there's a strange (and mistaken) equivalency made that "counting" means dire ways of eating, like eating too few calories or no carbs or some other unusual menu.

Counting is just record-keeping. That's all. So if you're not recording your food intake and you're losing (or maintaining and that's your current goal), no problemo.

But if you're not making progress toward your current goal but are not tracking your food intake, then it may be difficult to figure out what you're doing that's stopping you from making progress.

At three months out, I really need to observe what I'm eating. I'm still very much in learning mode. I'm not nearly through with all the eating phases / changes I'll go through on my way to long-term maintenance.

So recording / tracking my food works for me.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

Agreed. Using the food journal (Myfitnesspal) is not difficult for me because I was already using it. Things like staying away from white carbs and fake sugars is something I was already doing pre-op. As for the calorie restriction, my doctor has recommended 600-800 for now. That will change as I progress, and honestly it's about all I can handle right now. I have multiple allergies and a few ongoing health issues that food journaling has helped me to manage.

The key for me is when I go to my doctor's appointments I can talk to the nutritionist in way that is helpful for me to me.