I had nearly a month of stalled weight loss in Feb-March.

Very irritating stuff. Forward three steps, back two. Forward two steps, back three. Frustrating!

I eat 1200 calories a day. Is that too much? Dietitian says no...it's perfect...be consistent...wait it out....you don't want your metabolism to adjust to very low calories because you won't be eating very low calories for life.

So...I've been trusting my program...and doing 1200.

Last night, I thought....crap...I just screwed up bigtime. Went out to dinner with hubby and ate steak, salad, baked potato, grilled veggies. Nothing unhealthy, but overindulged a little. And a sip or two of hubby's wine. And a bite of his dessert. LOL:)

I expected to pay for it on the scale this morning. Nope.

I lost two pounds since Friday. Which I'm sure has more to do with hormonal water weight (menstrual yaya)...but still! I didn't expect a loss like that.

Looking over my records, I've lost 7 pounds in the last two weeks. Which I think is sort of an astoundingly awesome loss for me at this point in my journey.

Only thing I've been doing different is changing up my exercise. I'm still walking 12000 steps a day, but I've added a rebounding work out on the mini trampoline, swimming at the Y once a week, and sweating to the oldies with richard simmons once a week......so still walking every day and added three cardio workouts a week.

I think the key...is patience, consistency.

For those who are stalled....hang in there:) It gets better:)

Edited April 15, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

Thank you @Creekimp13 I needed that.

I have been in an endless stall for 2 months!!! I have upped my exercise this past week with the hope of shaking it up so that I see something more than one pound loss. The weight I am at is one that I saw briefly 9 years ago and used to be my weight when I was age 28-32 yrs old after having 4 kids. I hope the stall is just my body adjusting to the changes, I do see fat shifting....lol

That's awesome!! Something to keep n mind and the calorie/metabolism theory makes sense.

Thanks for reminding us it's not linear! I envy your 1200 calories. I saw my RD at 10 weeks out and she was not happy I was averaging 700 calories (with a couple restaurant 1000 cal days). She said at that point she expected me to be at 300-600 calories. WTF? 300 isn't even 3 premier protein shakes! I suppose if I were super duper good and only ate chicken breast and baked fish (and I hate fish) it would be possible. I'm comfy with my 700 calories for now, and losing, albeit not 4 pounds a week. I'm with you - consistent and it will come. I need to up my exercise intensity though. Too bad my sweatin to the oldies was on VHS and didn't make the move to CO with us!

5 minutes ago, Miss Topaz said:

Thanks for reminding us it's not linear! I envy your 1200 calories. I saw my RD at 10 weeks out and she was not happy I was averaging 700 calories (with a couple restaurant 1000 cal days). She said at that point she expected me to be at 300-600 calories. WTF? 300 isn't even 3 Premier Protein shakes! I suppose if I were super duper good and only ate chicken breast and baked fish (and I hate fish) it would be possible. I'm comfy with my 700 calories for now, and losing, albeit not 4 pounds a week. I'm with you - consistent and it will come. I need to up my exercise intensity though. Too bad my sweatin to the oldies was on VHS and didn't make the move to CO with us!

Crap!!! 300-600 cals? Did she say how much volume per meal again?

@Creekimp13 Congrats! That's awesome! So happy for you!

Edited April 15, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

1 minute ago, FluffyChix said:

Crap!!! 300-600 cals? Did she say how much volume per meal again?

@Creekimp13 Congrats! That's awesome! So happy for you!

she said 1/2 - 3/4 cup, which is pretty much what i have been following. i asked about carbs and she didn't really seem to have a limit, so told me 50g or less per day "that shouldn't be too restrictive". generally she's really good, but yeah, 300-600 is crazy. there are days I get 600, even less but definitely closer to 700 most days

Thanks for the heads up! It is good to know that though there may be struggles, determination can help us push past it.

11 hours ago, Miss Topaz said:

I envy your 1200 calories.

A lot of WLS folks are surprised by my calorie recommendations. Here they are from my packet....note that 1000-1200 calorie goal gets introduced at mushy food stage. I hit 1000 calories a day at 3 weeks.

During one of our seminars a speaker said....beware doctors who push starvation level calories, you'll hear other people who have had WLS talking about calorie levels that seem much lower than what we're advising......some doctors want rapid weight loss patients because they are walking advertisements for their clinics. Their client's long term success may not be their first priority.

Not to say that doctors who do things differently than my group are wrong....I fully recognize this is an emerging science and that diet will always be a topic of a lot of controversy. There are different ways up the mountain and you need to work with the people you've chosen.

It is oldschool conventional wisdom in bariatrics to take advantage of the smaller appetite and push small calorie goals in the early months. Pushing higher calorie levels early to stimulate metabolism is a newer concept that a lot of oldschool clinics just don't embrace yet.

Just sayin....ask good questions. Listen to your body. If you don't have good energy, if you don't feel terrific, if you feel like something is wrong....pay attention to that.

I'm excited that our protocol is being adopted by Bethesda and Cedars Sinai. And I'm excited to be part of a longitudinal study.

Edited April 16, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

What’s the 70-min rule? And my doc is also in agreement on getting to higher calories sooner. Logically it makes since. Also I’m too active to have 600 calories/day. I’ll burn that much in a 45 min HIIT class and have zero energy for the rest of the day.

While I struggle with wanting to loose weight faster by keeping a super low cal diet, ultimately I know what’s right for my body and since moving from 700-800 to 1000-1200 I feel soooooo much better and am ultimately a happier person. It’s amazing how a few hundred calories can make such a difference. I’ve never been this in touch with my body and how food makes me feel. The self awareness has really been an eye opening part of this journey.

70 minute rule....

Don't drink with meals, essentially.

Avoid fluids ten minutes before a meal. Spend at least 30 minutes eating your meal with no fluids. Avoid fluids for 30 minutes after a meal. Total=70 minutes.

17 minutes ago, NYCNomad said:

Also I’m too active to have 600 calories/day. I’ll burn that much in a 45 min HIIT class and have zero energy for the rest of the day.

Bingo.

My doctor actually writes exercise expectations on a prescription pad...it's a very important part of our program and is stressed.