I am looking for some people to critique some of my food logs and exercise routine because I'm struggling to lose weight. I had a stall from about 2-4or 5ish weeks and I don't think this is a stall because I am still losing some weight. I desperately need help and I am feeling defeated because I can't identify the mistakes I'm making and when I have contacted my doctor and nut they don't help me much saying they are sure this is all my fault and when push for an explanation they did not elaborate much. The Nut and Dr. say to cut back on carbs and fat which is pretty minimal already so I don't know how to decrease it and to exercise more which I'm afraid is getting excessive for my caloric intake. I have only since week 2 I have only lost 10.7 lbs, thats about 2.6 lbs per week which seems too slow for 1-2 months post op and its getting slower this week I only lost 1.2lbs. Below I am going to list all the specifics I can provide to help with assessment of my dietary and exercise habits (I will post a sampling of the last day or two and I am very consistent so my diet is nearly identical most every day).

Basic Stats:

Female, 5'3", HW 33.62lbs, SW 312.6lbs, CW 290.0lbs, date of surgery March13, 2017

4/22 Total Protein: 92g Total Fluid:100oz Total Calories:783 Exercise: 65 min tread mill speed 2.2 burned 410 calories (according to the machine)

9:00am Protein Coffee (6 oz vanilla or Carmel Premier shake + 4-6 oz black Coffee) -8oz, 15g protein

10:00am Morning star Grillers veggie burger -2oz, 15g protein

11:00am H20 -16oz

12:00pm Lucern Light String Cheese- 2 sticks, 14g protein

1:30pm H2O- 16oz

2:30pm Parmesan crisps (from same club) - 15 crisps (1 serving), 9g protein

3:30pm Protein Coffee *same as above* 12 oz, 15g protein

5:00pm H2O- 16oz

6:30pm Egg bake with beef tips (1 whole egg, 1-2 oz beef tips, 1 oz bell pepper, 1/2 slice light munster cheese, 1 tbs shredded cheddar cheese) -2oz, 15g protein

7:30pm Diet Peach Snapple- 16 oz

8:30pm Parmesan Crisps - 15 crisps, 9g protein

9:30pm Diet peach Snapple- 16 oz

10:30pm H20- 12oz

4/25 Total Protein: 77g Total Fluid:112oz Total Calories:720 Exercise: 65 min tread mill speed 2.4 burned 420 calories (according to the machine)

9:30am Protein Coffee- 12oz, 15g protein

11:30am Morning Star Grillers Veggie Burger- 2oz, 15g protein

12:30pm H2O- 16oz

1:30pm Lucern Light String Cheese- 2 sticks, 14g protein

2:30pm H2O- 16oz

3:30pm Parm Crisps- 15 crisps, 9g protein

4:30pm Diet peach Snapple-16oz

5:30pm Egg Bake with beef tips- 2oz, 15g protein

6:30pm Diet Peach Snapple- 16oz

7:30pm Parmesan Crisps- 15 crisps, 9g protein

8:30pm H2O- 16oz

9:30pm H2O- 16oz

10:30pm H2O-160z

So these are some example of average days for me any help you can offer would be much appreciated as my doctors say not only that stalls aren't real but that this is my fault. They won't give me specific suggestions so I can improve and I'm wasting precious 1st year losing time so I'm counting on the community to guide me where my doctors have failed me. Thank you!

First off, thank you for keeping a food journal and being somewhat detailed. Hopefully you are keeping this in a spreadsheet along with the fat and carb content as that is very useful information. Also, since you are still new to the game, you should start a measurement log. Hips circumference, navel circumference, arm at the bicep circumference, thigh circumference, and neck circumference. That is the one thing I didn't track and I have kicked myself ever since. It is very reassuring during "stalls" when you see these measurements change.

Stalls are the points at which your body is moving **** around. All weight loss is a series of plateaus then change. It really is not something to panic about this early. But it sure as heck feels like a disaster when you are living it. Don't forget that you may be a little emotional and overly sensitive during the first few months as the hormones stored in the fat gets released into your system.

About your NUT; unless this is a person with a degree of some sort, I wouldn't worry about their opinion much. People can take a certification course and call themselves a NUT. My NUT was worthless. Of course, if I ever run out of smoothie ideas she would be the one I would go to first. That is pretty much all she knew. Even my surgeon would scoff at her drivel. I was always more prepared than she.

Now, on to your diet. Looks good to me. It may be a little high in fat, but not so high that I would be concerned personally. And it surely isn't so high as to affect weight loss. The only thing that I would change would be your using the calories burned given to you by the machine. It's worthless. I have a Garmin VivosmartHR, some people have FitBits, but they are good to have for the heartrate monitor. The heart rate monitor is a better way to show approximate calories burned. In your case, a slow leisurely pace of 2.5will not get you into a cardio training zone, so there is very little chance you are burning that much over your basal metabolic rate. AND THAT IS OK. You are only a month and a half out, you will get up to the cardio zone soon enough if you keep at it.

One last this that might cause your slow loss is water retention. Parm chips, Diet Peach Snapple (yuck!), veggie patties... I wonder how much sodium is in those items? I keep track of my sodium as well for blood pressure reasons. You can see examples of my tracking here:

Hope some of this helps.

Thank you for the suggestions BigViffer they all sound good! I do wear my fib bit every day as well and the machine monitors my heart as well and usually puts it about 130 during my work outs so I will scrutinize it to see if my Fitbit agrees. As far as salt it is possible that is an issue I am on lithium as well which can cause water retention. But since starting the medication I have notice no real changes lucky for me my blood pressure is usually quite low so I don't have to worry about that so much. I find I just can't relate to other weight loss patients though bc my weight loss was better pre op than post talk about worst nightmares realized! Lol

Edited April 28, 20179 yr by Smithsleeved

I agree with @BigViffer

Everything you are doing looks okay.

When in doubt cut out all processed foods and see what happens.

That diet Snapple, no girl no. The veggie patty unless you are a vegetarian there is no benefit for you, eat a normal protein.

Overall your food is really good though. I'd give up the cheddar chips though too.

I like H20 protein water too.

As a rule I try to limit my processed items to one a day max. They will slow your weight loss either will sodium or fake sweeteners.

Also thank you so much for asking an educated question with documentation. That was really refreshing compared to most post around here.

Thanks for your input OutsideMatchInside! I'm glad to see everyone has some good insights I hadn't really considered like the Snapple. I originally switched to that because Crystal light gives me mad heart burn but sounds like it would be worth will to go water only for awhile and try cutting out the processed which I think is a great idea thank you!

Edited April 28, 20179 yr by Smithsleeved

Try the Stur water drops they are made with stevia.

Also there are just some other drips called water drops that are made with stevia. Look at a heath food store.

I'm not against water additives just find a quality one.

Nothing in the grocery store is good. Try health food or supplement store or online

Edited April 28, 20179 yr by OutsideMatchInside

I do like stevia but I haven't had it post op and I became extremely sweet sensitive so who knows if I will like it now worth checking those out though I think! It's probably going to be internet ordering for me I live in Hawaii at the moment so food options are limited but I also don't mind plain old water as far as drinks go.

I have been a "perimeter shopper" for about 10 years now. Single ingredient shopping has lots of benefits, one of which is you know exactly what you just ate. I wouldn't expect the change overnight, but might be something to think about working towards over the next year. (For example.. get plain chicken breast instead of Tyson's breaded, extruded, chopped, processed, colored, salt added chicken patties).

Herbal teas are a great way to get flavor variation in calorie free fluids. Flavored black teas are good too, but you want to be aware of the caffeine content. (I drink caffeine, but everyone is different).

I don't know if you can tolerate dairy, but yogurt and cottage cheese are very convenient means of getting protein. There is a protein Kefir drink. Not everyone's cuppa.. but 40g protein/bottle. Lifeway I think.

With the daily walking, try to get your calories up to 1000 asap.

Your journaling is excellent!

12 hours ago, Smithsleeved said:

Exercise: 65 min tread mill speed 2.2 burned 410 calories (according to the machine)

I just wanted to mention that the calorie counters on exercise machines tend to be notoriously inaccurate by overestimating caloric burn. Generally, most people burn about 100 calories per mile through walking unless there's plenty of inclines and hills. Heavier people burn slightly more and lightweights burn a little less.

I attached a screen shot of the walking exercise routine you described below. I guessed your age, but overall, nobody comes close to burning 400 calories with walking at 2.4 miles per hour for one hour unless he/she is one of those super-obese people appears on the program "My 600-Pound Life" prior to getting bariatric surgery.

I don't believe that calculator either. It's saying she would burn 100 calories a mile, which IS rule of thumb for a 150lb person. 150 calories per mile is probably more accurate, which puts it at 375cal.

Ok, I got curious, so looked around. It is shameful how much differing information is out there for such a seemingly simple question!

I found this chart that coincides with what I was thinking. (The 150cal/mile was based on 300lbs which is what I weighed. My bad).

https://www.verywell.com/walking-calories-burned-by-miles-3887154