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Quick question to guys about stalling

Just a quick question had surgery April 6

Lost nearly 30lbs in a week and a half. Since Saturday I haven't lost anything actually gained 3lbs. I know that isn't much but I would love to start losing again. My Dr put me on soft foods so yesterday I had my protein shake, and deli meat for snack and flounder for dinner. Very small portions less 650 calories for whole day. I can't wrap my mind around weight not coming down with so few calories and exercise. On day of surgery I was 398 this morning 373.4. Up from 370 Monday. Has anyone else experienced this.

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Yup, same exact thing. For me it was upping my water intake that started me down the losing path again. Deli meat has a bunch of sodium in it as well, so water weight retention may be an issue for you as well. Realistically a stall that has been going on for a few days is not a big deal. For reference, it took me 3 weeks to break my stall.

You're just experiencing the "three week stall" that almost everyone experiences. This will be the first of many stalls you will go through in your journey. During my six month pre-op diet program, my weight loss was linear (3 pounds a week like clockwork for six months). During my seven months post-op, it has been more like a step function. I lose 10 pounds in 10 days or so, and then I stall for a week to 10 days. Then the cycle repeats.

My advice is to stay off of the scale for the first month, and then to only get on the scale with a frequency that won't cause you mental anguish. Some people can weigh every day and contextualize what it is saying without causing distress. Others can't do that. You'll do yourself a big favor to figure out which camp you are in and weigh accordingly.

Good luck!

It is very common to hit stalls along the way especially after sleeve surgery. It is so common that someone on this site coined the phrase "embrace the stall".

The three most important elements after surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight.

2 hours ago, blizair09 said:

You're just experiencing the "three week stall" that almost everyone experiences. This will be the first of many stalls you will go through in your journey. During my six month pre-op diet program, my weight loss was linear (3 pounds a week like clockwork for six months). During my seven months post-op, it has been more like a step function. I lose 10 pounds in 10 days or so, and then I stall for a week to 10 days. Then the cycle repeats.

My advice is to stay off of the scale for the first month, and then to only get on the scale with a frequency that won't cause you mental anguish. Some people can weigh every day and contextualize what it is saying without causing distress. Others can't do that. You'll do yourself a big favor to figure out which camp you are in and weigh accordingly.

Good luck!

"My advice is to stay off of the scale for the first month, and then to only get on the scale with a frequency that won't cause you mental anguish."

I couldn't agree with this more! My first 2 weeks post-op, I only lost 8 pounds and I was disappointed. This was coupled with daily weigh-ins that would only make more anxious about my slow start. Then I stalled for almost 2 weeks. Now I have started losing again pretty consistently for me.

Congratulations wcherry5901 on your early and impressive start! The weight will come off. Keep doing what you're doing :)

Wow you're on deli meat after three weeks of surgery? How are you able to keep it down my friend, seriously? As "aprilsdiamond" has said stay off of the scale for at least the first 30 to 45 days. Your body is still very much healing from the trauma it when through getting all re-routed and what not. So your still dealing with being sore and inflammation. Also I would honestly avoid eating deli meat too for now. The added salt in said meat is indeed going to make you retain water. And guess what you're gonna have a hell of a challenge just getting in the daily amount of water you need per day anyway, with the little room you will have to store water and food in (hint hint 120oz minimum for males).

I would think that at this stage you should be on super soft solids proteins like soft scrambled eggs, canned chicken/tuna fish, and yogurt/cottage cheese. Stick with that stuff and avoid pork, beef, and anything that loaded in salt/preservatives at all cost for now. Maybe try some beans and lentils and another good source of non-animal proteins, especially now with you only being 3 weeks post surgery. You gut is gonna take some serious time to heal, so do what you can to take care of yourself.

Edited by BigTink2LilTink

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Wow you're on deli meat after three weeks of surgery? How are you able to keep it down my friend, seriously? As "aprilsdiamond" has said stay off of the scale for at least the first 30 to 45 days. Your body is still very much healing from the trauma it when through getting all re-routed and what not. So your still dealing with being sore and inflammation. Also I would honestly avoid eating deli meat too for now. The added salt in said meat is indeed going to make you retain water. And guess what you're gonna have a hell of a challenge just getting in the daily amount of water you need per day anyway, with the little room you will have to store water and food in (hint hint 120oz minimum for males).
I would think that at this stage you should be on super soft solids proteins like soft scrambled eggs, canned chicken/tuna fish, and yogurt/cottage cheese. Stick with that stuff and avoid pork, beef, and anything that loaded in salt/preservatives at all cost for now. Maybe try some beans and lentils and another good source of non-animal proteins, especially now with you only being 3 weeks post surgery. You gut is gonna take some serious time to heal, so do what you can to take care of yourself.

When I say deli meat it's reduced sodium. And it's only been two pieces. Also i have no soreness since I got home. I actually had maybe 2 oz of tilapia grilled today. Water hasn't been a problem either. And never was nauseated.

It's been 15 days or me and I tried salmon yesterday. Took me 2 hours to get down a 2oz peice. It was so good but filled me up super quick. Planned on eating a tablespoon of cauliflower mash but that was out the question. I was stuffed. This is so funny how little fills you up.

I thought i hit a stall but increased my fluid intake and the lbs came off this morning. :)

It is part of massive weight loss, your body needs to adjust a lot of internal things losing so much weight so quickly, drink water and stay on your plan. Just relax and enjoy, you may also experience a stall when you are cleared to lift weights and you build muscle. But again , nothing the plan won't resolve with a little time.


As usual always follow your doctor's guidelines, but for me what helped was actually increasing my calories a bit to get the weight coming off again. I hit a wall about 6 weeks after surgery and only lost 2 lbs in about 2 1/2 weeks. At the time my calories were still around 600-700 and carbs were low (less than 40g/day). When I went up to 800-900 cals it seemed to get things going again. Stalls are normal. Do a search on the site and you'll get half a million threads on this topic. As the others said stick to your plan, get your water/protein, and be patient. It can be frustrating but you have to ride it out. Your body is still trying to figure out what the hell just happened :D

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