I am 5 1/2 weeks post op. I lost 15 lbs the 1st week, but I haven't lost anything since then. It's been over a month and the scale has not moved. This is crazy. I understand going through stalls, but 4 weeks out of the first 5 weeks?! I am following my diet to a T, I'm getting around 100 grams of protein a day, and I'm taking all my medications as prescribed. Why is this happening to me? Has this happened to anyone else?

Yes! And I want to rip my hair (or anyone’s that brave enough to get near lol) out! I go for my one month follow up next Tuesday and I’m not looking forward to it.

Yes, it's happened to a lot of people. Being that close to your surgery date, your body is more than likely still healing. So, it could be swelling that's causing the scale to not move. Keep at it; the scale will eventually reward you for your hard work!

UGH yes me too! I am a month post-op and I lost about 13lbs the first week and then the last three weeks I've only lost 3lbs total (with nothing so far this week). Its been very frustrating! I'm glad to see others have gone through something similar though. I thought I was maybe doing something wrong.

10 minutes ago, Jacqueline L said:

UGH yes me too! I am a month post-op and I lost about 13lbs the first week and then the last three weeks I've only lost 3lbs total (with nothing so far this week). Its been very frustrating! I'm glad to see others have gone through something similar though. I thought I was maybe doing something wrong.

It's so frustrating! I read about all these other people losing a few pounds a week, and most a lot during their 1st month. It's so disheartening. Why me!!?? I used to eat in 1 sitting what I'm now eating in a week, so how am I not losing weight? Ughh

Edited February 22, 20197 yr by LoveFood

Okay so I hit a stall on on day 12 after losing 23 pounds and once it lasted 3 days I decided that I CANNOT be a slave to the scale.
It hasn’t been long enough since surgery for me to feel like I can handle the mental roller coaster the scale provides.
So this is what I worked out I was gonna do: Find a pair of pants that you are close to fitting in, but that don’t fit yet.
Try them on every day until you CAN fit in them.
Then and only then do you weigh yourself.
I had my husband hide the scale and promise not to tell me where it was until I can fit into those pants.
I haven’t weighed myself in 3 mornings now and I feel better about it.

great advice

The dreaded stalls. I went through a few of them myself. A family member who had surgery three weeks ago had one last week. It seems to be a universal thing with WLS patients.

My doctor told me to expect 1 pound a week. So maybe you are building some muscle right now.

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Tomorrow will be 8 weeks post op and I still haven't lost any more weight, despite following my diet. This is clearly more than just a stall. 7 weeks out of the first 8 weeks post op and no weight loss?

How are you doing with water intake? I’ve found that to be a huge issue in whether I do/not drop pounds

9 minutes ago, NYJenn said:

How are you doing with Water intake? I’ve found that to be a huge issue in whether I do/not drop pounds

Not too bad. I drink 3 protein shakes a day and they are 11 ounces each. I also drink about 2 16 oz bottles of water and usually a diet snapple. I could definitely do better. It's something I have to be more conscious of.

My heart hurts for you because I think I would have gone stir crazy at this point! It will get better. So, having said that, have you spoken to your nutritionist and/or dietitian? I was advised NOT to drink protein drinks. My dietitian was very specific about it. She stated that they had a patient recently who had not lost for months because she was drinking protein shakes. I personally would stop drinking them and eat solids. 1. Protein drinks are usually high in calories. 2. You consume more drinking a shake rather than if you ate solid foods. That is my opinion but I would consult your team. I still eat a very low calorie diet, between 400-600 calories a day. I eat 5-6 times a day-that is the plan that my dietitian put me on. I eat for 30 minutes (usually takes me about 10-15 minutes because my portion is so small). I wait for 30 minutes then drink for 30 minutes (I draw this out for the full 30 minutes), wait for 30 minutes and repeat.The cycle is a total of 2 hours. Now I sometimes skip my eating section because of my teaching schedule but I try really hard not to. I am also exercising 40-60 minutes a day. I have lost 30 pounds in just over 6 weeks, I weigh myself 2-3 times a week.

16 hours ago, LoveFood said:

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks post op and I still haven't lost any more weight, despite following my diet. This is clearly more than just a stall. 7 weeks out of the first 8 weeks post op and no weight loss?

I was in a very similar situation and my dietician sent me this checklist:

o How often are you weighing yourself? Try not to weight yourself more than 1-2x week. Stress from seeing the number and being frustrated can actually stall our weight loss as well.

o Are you consuming liquid calories? Juice, smoothies (not protein shakes), alcohol, etc. can add empty calories and provide little satiation. Instead, opt for water!

o How are your food choices? Poor food choice may result in increased calorie intake. Try minimizing high-fat protein sources such as cheese and peanut butter.

o Are you consuming enough protein? Aim for 70+ grams per day.

o Are you drinking enough water? Aim for 64 oz. per day.

o Are you getting enough sleep? Aim for 6-8 hours of sleep per night to reduce stress hormones causing sugar cravings and increased fat storage.

o Are you walking? Until cleared by the medical team daily walking and staying with light activity is recommended and encouraged.

I had been following most of these, but I was weighing myself everyday, only getting in about 60g of protein, and maybe 48oz of water. I changed all of those things and in one week I dropped 5lbs. If there is anything on this list you aren't doing or having trouble with, then I'd start there. Good luck!

Edited March 12, 20197 yr by Jacqueline L

On 03/12/2019 at 03:50, LoveFood said:

Not too bad. I drink 3 Protein Shakes a day and they are 11 ounces each. I also drink about 2 16 oz bottles of Water and usually a diet snapple. I could definitely do better. It's something I have to be more conscious of.

I was also told no protein shakes.
They’re high in calories and don’t count as water.
I was also told to completely zero out any kind of artificial sweeteners. Those can cause insulin spikes worse than actual sugar and slow metabolism.

My NUT said a minimum 80 ounces plain water or the loss would be greatly slowed.
She also said to not stress the protein until I could make very sure I was hitting the minimum 80 ounces with relative ease.

It’s a process and I dare not weigh myself more than once weekly.
I’ve still only been losing a pound a week, but with 24 pounds lost in the first 12 days, I’ll take the pound per week

I appreciate the above two responses! I will need to add more water to my diet. I try hard to drink at least 64 oz but have been afraid of stretching my stomach. I will also need to add more protein, need to figure out how though Saw some recent post on it so I will start researching.