I am 19 days post op. The first 13 days I lost 19 lbs. I feel great! I had my post op last Tuesday and started my 1/4-1/2 cup of soft protein once a day since then. I am following my doctors directions exactly, 2 shakes and my "meal." I drink my water, I'm active, I walk, I am doing everything right...BUT I have not lost a pound since adding my food. Not a pound in a week! What am I doing wrong? Anyone else?

I stalled for 3 weeks after my first 17 days. Hang in there. I know it doesn't seem like it but the weight will fall off. I'm almost 7 months and have lost (according to my surgeon) right on schedule. Down 55 pounds. You'll get there!

Do a search here for 3 week stall - you'll find a ton of posts. It's perfectly normal.

Here's my suggestion - STOP WEIGHING. The scale is bad for your soul. It's evil.

Let's look at the facts - you are still recovering from major surgery, your body is still recovering. Your body is also trying to figure out what you just did to it - you just removed 75% of a major organ! You've also limited your caloric intake to virtually nothing and you've probably increased your physical activity. Your body is in "WTF?????" mode.

You didn't gain your weight overnight - let's not put the added stress on the situation by expecting your body to lose it overnight. Take a deep breath - you're going to be fine. I went thru the same thing - to save my sanity, here's what I did.

My husband hid the scale from me and brought it out once per week.

I took my measurements 1-2 times per month - I could actually see myself losing inches, even tho the scale wasn't moving

I took a picture of myself once per week - I was literally melting away even tho the evil scale fairy was telling me I wasn't losing pounds. I love looking back at my journey thru pictures - you can actually see my attitude change as the weight comes off. It's amazing - I have more life in my eyes as the time goes by.

I had to learn to not give the scale power over my thoughts - it's just a number on a piece of electronic equipments, why do we allow it the power over us? it can ruin our mood, our day, our confidence. Please do not give it that much power.

I'm 18 months out and I weigh a couple of times a month now - it's just not that important to me any more. What's important to me is how I reel - emotionally and physically. The scale cannot tell me that.

I didn't lose anything for 22 days during my week 3 post stall! I felt the same.. frustration, anger.. feeling like I was a failure.. but I just kept going.. I had my Doctor appointment and my Nut said it was time to add calories and go up to 800-1000 a day.. that felt like such a challenge to get it in, but after about a week, it started moving again!

I never weighted after my surgery. The only time I know how much I have lost is when I go to the

Dr. I never felt the frustration because I didn't have a clue if I was losing or not. In five

months I have gone from a size 24 (Women's 3X) to a size 16 regular women's clothing. I agree with

everyone else. Don't weight, get that scale out of site and just enjoy the changes in your body.

Thank you all so much! I feel much better. I need to put the scale away!

Congratulations! You have reached The Dreaded Week-3 Stall. It's perfectly normal, and just about all of us have suffered through it. You're not crazy, and your doctor didn't screw up. In fact, you might not lose any weight for two weeks or even longer. But don't worry – after that, the pounds will start falling off if you stick to your program. And, the inches will continue to come off even while the scale isn't budging. Here's a good article that explains why it happens and why we all have to go through it. Hang in there. Pretty soon it'll be in the rear-view mirror and you'll be dropping weight again!

(Apologies to BP regulars who have seen this repeatedly, but it's a big deal to those who are going through it!)