Hi All,

I'm about 4.5 weeks post-op and I have only lost 2 pounds in the last 3 weeks. Is this normal for this long? I seem to be reading that a lot of people experience the first stall around the 2nd to 3rd week, but I didn't realize it would last this long! I can't seem to get any protein drinks down and nowhere near the water intake I'm supposed to be at, so it feels like maybe I'm starving myself but not losing anything. I haven't had any energy at all for this entire time, and that's worrying me the most I think. I'd like to start exercising a lot, but I just don't have the energy most days! I'm so frustrated and hoping that this changes soon.

I would say that a natural stall has some to do with your situation, but not meeting your protein and water goals each day is likely part of the problem as well. You have to meet those goals. This is the only way you can speed healing and get the calories you need to nourish your body and lose weight.

I know protein shakes are no fun, but you need to force them little by little (or eat whatever your plan allows at your current stage). Same thing with the water. You can get to 64 oz by sipping all day if you have to.

The early days post-op are not the most fun days of the journey, but they are important ones if you want to be successful long-term.

Good luck!

I had exactly the same situation. I stalled for 3 weeks. It seemed impossible not to lose, but then I decided I wouldn't lose unless I exercised, so at 5 weeks I started doing a little bit and increased it over time. The first 2-3 weeks I lost 20 pounds, and then nothing. I feel like those 20 pounds made me able to do more exercise than previously. The exercise got me out of the stall and now I'm not losing fast, but I have gone down several sizes- 26 to 18- 4x to 1x. I would have quit after the stall as I always did on diets, but this time I have made a commitment so I keep going! I am now at week 15, and I have lost only 40 pounds- about 2 pounds a week after the initial loss. I am just a slow loser, as I am following the diet, and it's still slow- I think some people only eat 6-7 hundred calories a day, but I wasn't losing if I ate too little. I think I need at least 1000 calories, and all my assigned amount of protein (91 grams) to lose. Maybe if I had exercised and stuck to my diet for more than a month before surgery I probably could have lost weight, but I couldn't, so now I am! Just don't get discouraged and remember this isn't magic, it's a new way of eating, and exercise! Good luck!