Hi all,
Not sure if it’s right to post here but I can get the advice. I am post op 6 months. It was a smooth journey so far. I measured my weight daily , I know it’s not advised but it keeps me on track. I walk Everyday for 2 miles and until recently I found I gained 1 pound within a day even on a normal routine so I increased to 5 miles a day and initially it showed very good results where I lost 1 pound a day until today morning when I weight I gained 1 pound. Walking 5 miles a day is really taking a toll on my body at this point. XI strained my back and my knees become weak. I am quite depressed because if the current exercise that I have is enough to maintain my weight I can still accept it but not gaining weight. Right now I am taking 2 days rest to let my back recover, recharge and think about what I should do. I am very close to my personal target ( 5 more pounds ) however I am really blocked now. Any suggestion/advice will be grateful.

1 pound a day does not seem that realistic. Yes you were able to do it, it at some point our bodies must adapt. It seems that’s what your body is doing. I think you’ve become too attached to the scale. You’re body is even telling you “this is too much,” since you stated your body can’t handle it and you have back problems.

Your body needs time to recover, so continue to rest and do light exercise if possible. Our muscles hold fluid and inflammation after we exercise songive your body a break for a bit. Don’t dress too much either

Hi Bryn,
Thanks for your advice.
I agree with you and I plan to stay away from the scale and check weekly starting next week. What is a more realistic weight lost for a week for 6 months post op?

A pound most weeks is considered good by my doc, at our stage (I am 5.5 month post op) with the odd stall...

Hi Biddy,
thanks for your reply!

As we get older and thinner the minimum amount of calories to keep us alive also decreases. You can check your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) here https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bmr What this means, is that it takes more effort to continue to lose weight because your body needs less calories, so if you don't adjust your intake or burn, the same level of consumption and exercise just doesn't equal the same as it did when first had WLS.

Try other exercises, there are a number of exercises that are minimal or impact free.
Make sure your water intake is high, your body cannot process fat if it doesn't have the water to do so.

Also, Larger Muscle consumes more calories than smaller muscles, even while at rest, so if you can, start doing some bodybuilding, it *WILL* Help with fat loss and will strengthen and support you better.

You can also do a reset, which is where you redo your pre-sugical liquid only diet.

Good Luck!

Dear Matt,
Thanks. I had an accident yesterday, my knee gave way after my walking and I injuried my foot and banged my head on the floor so I had to rest but I plan to do weights training these few days to make up for it. Thanks for your advice on body-building as it Is really a alternative to strengthen my muscles and knee. What does reset means? Reset my diet?

It is hard to not want to look at the scale every day, buuuut you need to stop doing that to yourself! It is negative reinforcement and doesn't help the psyche either. Also the 1 pound weight gain could simply be due to increased water intake, I went through that a lot post-surgery two years ago. It was hard to not want to step on the scale every day and see what was happening. You should pick one or may two days out of the week and use those as the days to hop on the scale.

By doing this you will be able to keep a healthy routine and not stress yourself out so much about what is or isn't happening. I wish you the best on your journey and keep up the great work, just keep active and take care of yourself and everything else will fall into place... just be as patient as you can

Hey just sending hugs

Sent from my SM-T380 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks BlueBongo,
Yes, it’s hard not to know Everyday’s progress but I learnt a lesson because I forced myself too hard and got injured. During my resting days I see my weight increasing little by little ( I guessed it due to water retaining) and stop and stabling. I started doing some light exercise and I am losing little by little again. I Guess every step you fall is a lesson learnt. I will try to take it slow and steady now..

I am not sure I agree about not weighing every day. There is pretty convincing research out there showing daily weighing is strongly correlated with weight reduction and, more importantly, keeping weight off. If you weigh daily, then you know you only ever face a 1 or 2 day ‘diet’ in future, not a month or two as weigh gain got a bit out of control...

But I reckon different strokes for different folks. Some focus on the numbers, some on the waistband snugness!

Dear Buddy,
Thanks for the information. I agree with you on the point that weighting Everyday lets you know if your weight has increased and take actions before it is out of control. I think the reason for not weighting Everyday is more of the mental perspective. Some will get stress over a pound gain and start to panic which is what I experienced and it back fired, I increase my exercise up till a point my body cannot take it and just break down. Only during my resting period I realised why the weight gain and it will stop at a point ( gaining back water ). So I think weighting Everyday has its advantage but we also need to keep a cool mind once we see a gain in weight and really understand the reason before going into increasing exercise. One could also measure weight and waist to confirm.

Yep, I agree. Find the thing that works for you!

Your walking is amazing. Way more than me - I am getting up to about 1.5 miles a day. And normal steps at work etc of course. I probably should do morit, I think. Good muscles burn mor energy at rest, which helps keep weight off.

Cheers

I reduced due to my injury. It’s my body telling me it’s too much. I do 2.5 miles during office hours and then 0.8 miles after work + weights

On 5/31/2018 at 7:13 PM, Martin78 said:

Dear Matt,
Thanks. I had an accident yesterday, my knee gave way after my walking and I injuried my foot and banged my head on the floor so I had to rest but I plan to do weights training these few days to make up for it. Thanks for your advice on body-building as it Is really a alternative to strengthen my muscles and knee. What does reset means? Reset my diet?

A "pouch reset" is typically just redoing the pre-op diet. It helps your stomach to relax and rest and allows it to shrink up a bit.

If possible I would try swimming for exercise for a while. This is a great low impact exercise and easy on the back and knees if done right.