Help! I think I'm stuck in maintenance but I'm still 55 pounds from goal-

[Finding Erika 61]

Hi everyone

I've posted here a few times over the past several months about stalls and plateaus that I've gone through but now I'm really desperate-

I've been stuck at 183-185 for the past 5 months and I only had surgery 9 months ago! Every time I post I've. Even told to just keep working my plan and it will start up again- but it's been too long- I think I'm just in maintenance phase but I really don't want to be!

I get my Protein goal (about 80-90g/day), I get my 64-80 oz of fluids, try to keep my carbs below 50g and eat only 2 meals and 2 shakes (Premiere Protein) each day. My surgeon doesn't give calorie goals (so frustrating!) and says to just keep to 4oz per meal- I do and I keep track of everything I eat on MFP- it shows me getting about 800 calories a day- I take all my supplements and I've been able to go to the gym and workout (mostly resistance) with my trainer 2x/week- 3 days I can get in my cardio but I work 4 days a week and gone from 7:00am to 9:30pm so I'm totally done on those days and can't bring myself to the gym- especially if I work the next day too

So what do you do when your body stops at a "set point" that you didn't agree to? How do you start to lose again? At 9 months out I feel I've missed my opportunity and it sucks because I stopped losing after only 4 months! How do I get it started up again?

Thank you so much for reading this- your feedback, as always, is more than appreciated

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Try replacing the shakes with real food. Dense Protein. Your body has to burn calories to process real food, but Protein Shakes are immediately available calories. That is okay immediately post-op when you can only consume very little

Why are you only at 800 calories? What does your program say about that? at 9 months I was at 1100-1200 most days, actually before 9 months.

You might find you start losing again by slowly increasing your calories.

[mzzmisty 22]

Check out Dr Jason Fung and Intermittent fasting.. there are youtube videos and he has 2 books.. makes sense to me ..

[Finding Erika 61]

Wow- thanks for the info ladies

Outsidematchinside- my doc and nut don't want us following calories- they won't even give me an estimate- it's so darn frustrating! They say to just eat 3 small meals of 4oz each

Misty- thank you! I'm googling him now and will buy the books

[GBLady41 393]

Maybe replace one of your Protein Shakes with animal Protein. I like the three small meals of 4 oz each. I would maybe try adding at least one snack that has a good amount of protein, like Mini Babybel Light, which has 6 grams of protein, and Frigo CheeseHeads Light String cheese, which has 7 grams of protein. I would also try to get in more fluids and more protein, because the more active you get the more fluids and protein you need. Muscles require two things: fluids and protein.

It's not about calories. It's about fuel for your body. Your body needs more than 80 oz of fluids in order to not feel like it's in starvation mode. The same thing about protein. Your body needs more than 90 grams of protein, especially with how active you are.

I would try upping both your fluids and protein for a couple of weeks, not changing anything else, and see if that starts your weight loss again.

[Berry78 4,259]

"I'm 43 but only lost for the first 3-4 months- I'm 9 months out and haven't lost in 5 months! I was 326 on surgery day and now at 185- what's going on with this?"

And then another post you said you'd started at 240lbs, so I'm a bit confused about what your starting weight was... (I would think it was a typo, but those #s aren't similar at all.)

Also, how tall are you?

[Finding Erika 61]

Yikes! I'm just queen of the typos today! My highest was 240 and day of surgery was 226- sorry for being crazy! Lol

[TheRealMeIsHere! 863]

As others have mentioned, dense Protein is better than shakes & you do need more calories, that should jumpstart things.

Weird thing I found out about me, is that fat helps!!

I mostly eat just protein for meals, I don't count weigh, measure or calories, I just eat slow until I'm full. Letting my sleeve do what it's supposed to. Snacks are non-starchy veggies. VERY rare tastes of bread, flour, rice, sugar, starchy veggies, potatoes or Pasta.

In the summer there's this AMAZING BBQ place that I go to often. Well up to this point maintenance was like a very thin tightrope. I began to notice that on days where I allowed myself some fats (working towards healthier fats like avocado) I was full longer, so ate less, and my weight dropped to a more comfortable weight to maintain. It's beginning to be easier. I tell you that because maybe adding some healthy fats each day will give you a boost.

[Brandeis 401]

It sounds like you're exercising a LOT. I think my suggestion to you is to stop stepping on the scale. Instead, buy a measuring tape and start taking your measurements. I say this because I bet that you're putting on muscle, and as a result your shape is changing -- your body is getting smaller -- but your weight is staying the same. Muscle weighs more than fat!

Focus on different numbers for a bit. I bet you'll see your body getting smaller~

[Nay Nay 1]

You may be getting too few calories. Talk to your dietician to see if you should increase your caloric intake by 100 calories or so. This happened to my friend that had the surgery 9 mos before I did and that's what the dietician told her to try. I am not a doctor and don't want to derail your success so please check with your doctor or dietician first.

Sent from my SM-G930V using BariatricPal mobile app

[pharmD_vsg 99]

Omg, I’m exactly in the same situation. I’m 9 months post-op and my highest was at 263lbs and on surgery day I was at 249... I’m now at 181lb and I have been stuck between 184-179 since July 30th.
I work out at least 4-5 days a week ( mostly cardio ) and I try my best to keep up with my Protein, Water intake as well. It is so frustrating cause I’m still 36lbs away from my goal weight. [emoji24]

[Sullie06 1,013]

It sounds to me like you need more Calories. My NUT said at this point, almost 10 months post op, I should be averaging right around1200 calories a day.

[Finding Erika 61]

Wow guys! Thanks for all the positive reinforcement! I will definitely start with the higher calories tomorrow- I've been so crazy at work that I haven't been eating enough- I'm seeing that work may be what's causing me. It to eat enough/ regularly- so let's see how this goes...
thank you to everyone who's responded- I am so lucky to have found you all mug!