I was sleeved 6/22/16.

The first week I lost 3 pounds (okay, I thought, not great but maybe I'm still full of IV fluids).

The second week I lost 3 pounds. (Okay, I thought, at least I'm losing SOMETHING.)

The third week I really upped my exercise, hiking 4-7 miles per days. I lost 5 pounds. (I thought it would be more.)

The fourth week I lost one pound.

The fifth week I lost zero pounds.

I'm in the sixth week now and have lost zero pounds.

Other than the first couple of post-op days, I'm getting in ~125g protein per day (spread across 5 meals), very low carb, between 800 and 1200 calories. (800 was when I was losing those first 3 weeks.) Plenty of cardio, rotating among different activities (biking, hiking etc). Started up weight training. Mostly hitting my water goal.

Yet I'm not losing weight (or sizes). And I'm huuuungry, especially shortly after shakes or soft meals. A little weak and a lot cranky. Basically this feels like the same old diet I always do.

I'm emailed my clinic and they say a stall is normal, they are "pretty sure I'll lose weight by three months out," etc. But everyone in my support group, even the lower-BMIers, are dropping almost a pound per day. Versus me; I've lost only 12 pounds in almost 6 weeks.

Help. This is the most expensive diet I've ever done - I am self-pay - and it is one of the least successful so far. (In the month BEFORE my surgery, I lost 21 pounds. Yet with a sleeve, in even more time, I've lost only 12.)

It takes about a year to get to your ideal weight. Weight loss surgery magic is not about losing faster than a regular diet. The magic is that you now have a tool that will make it possible to keep the weight off for as long as you are willing to work with that tool.

Actually, it depends on your starting weight and your ideal weight. I anticipate that it will take me two or more years. I am over a year post-surgery and over half way to goal.

I agree with you and you are doing a wonderful job.

Update: my 6-week stall eventually ended, as did a recent 3-month stall. The hunger pangs are definitely back to pre-op levels, and my doctor again recommends appetite suppressants (specifically, the legal half of phen-fen). He says almost all sleevers see a return of hunger at 6-9 months, and some (me) sooner. I'm just relying on the restrictive tool of my surgery now.

Thanks, all, for the input!

I WOULD BE THRILLED TO BE 169. I LOST 48 LBS THE FIRST 5 MONTHS. THE LAST 2 MONTHS - NOTHING! SO DISGUSTED. I AM DOING EVERYTHING I SHOULD. NO SUGAR, NO SODA, NO BUTTER OR MAYO, SMALL MEALS, LOTS OF PROTEIN, WALK AN HOUR A DAY AND NOTHING!

Edited June 9, 20179 yr by BHINNJ

Same here.

Keep doing what you're supposed to do and things will shake themselves up. I gather from being at BP that stalls, even early in the process, are expected.
Question: Are you serious about having expected "magic" or is that a jest?

Your body needs time. The weight will come off. This is not an expensive diet; this is a massive physiological change to your digestive system. Your body is going to be different now.

Update: my 6-week stall eventually ended, as did a recent 3-month stall. The hunger pangs are definitely back to pre-op levels, and my doctor again recommends appetite suppressants (specifically, the legal half of phen-fen). He says almost all sleevers see a return of hunger at 6-9 months, and some (me) sooner. I'm just relying on the restrictive tool of my surgery now.
Thanks, all, for the input!

Hi@seastars. I've been catching up on this thread here of urs from about year ago, as i feel almost every emotion u were conveying here in this thread towards my own slow rate of weight loss now. So I'm dying to know how the past year has gone for you?! I have so many questions:
--Did u hit ur goal yet?! If so, when?
--how much weight have u lost??
--Did ur body ever end up speeding up ur rate of weight loss per week/per month?
--Did u ever find out that "sweet spot" that ur body liked to lose weight on a regular basis, such as X grams protein, X oz water, X mins/hours of exercise a week?

Anything else u can share from this journey of slow weight loss would be awesome!

Hunger. Like, stomach cramping, a little gurgling, sometimes feeling a little light-headed and weak.

I am not a sleeve patient but I know many of them. I am a bypass patient.
I can tell you that this process is absolutely not magic so if you were promised that, yikes. You will have to work hard and it sounds like you are already doing that.
I am a little shocked at how many calories you are eating this early out. As I said, I am a bypass patient and if I eat 1200 to 1300 calories I maintain and do not lose. If I am closer to 1000 calories, I lose consistently.
That being said, you are a lower BMI patient and I would not expect huge drops in weight. You will likely lose much slower than some. That is not a bad thing even though it feels that way. The slower you lose the better you work at building good long term habits.
You did not put on this weight overnight and it will not come off that way either. Also I would just say, this really is not a diet, it is a lifestyle and your body needs time to get used to it.
When is the last time you lost 3lbs per week? That is great progress and you should be very proud of it.
Other than my first 2 months I averaged between 5 and 10lbs per month. It took me 18 months to lose 151lbs and get to goal. The good news is, this is my new life and I have and my body has had time to adjust.
Please be patient and if it makes you crazy put the scale away and stick to your plan. You will get there!
Best of luck to all of you.

You could be dehydrated

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