All,

I'm 6 months out and getting so frustrated. After being stuck/bouncing between 180-186 for several months, I finally (and very suddenly) dropped to 174. No idea what I did differently to make that happen. I hit 174 about 3 weeks ago and it lasted a few days, but have since regained a few pounds and am now been bouncing between 176-179. Again, no idea what I'm doing wrong or differently. I've kept to nearly the same diet/same types of foods for months. High protein, low carbs, low sodium, low/zero sugar, lots of water, etc. Any suggestions on how to kickstart the weight loss again? I'm down about 70lbs and about 40lbs from my goal weight, but I'm starting to lose faith. ?

If you're anything like me, you are self deprecating at this point. Then you go into "screw it" mode and start to question everything. I just passed a 2 week stall and then suddenly lost 5lbs. A small suggestion is to weigh in only one day a week. Another thing is to step up exercise and also mix up your meals. Example... for one week I had oatmeal with protein powder for breakfast, then this week Im eating frittatas. The scale is not the only measure of success. If you are stuck at a weight for "months" then that might be worth re-evaluating and using a tracking app to count EVERY calorie/macro. I'm using Lose It and it's been super helpful for me.

Here's a question. If you're stressing and panicking over being stuck and doing everything humanly possible to set your diet to a complex level of restriction....how will you feel when you actually DO reach your goal? You will. Then you'll be faced with how many of these restrictions you can live with long term and the resulting weight fluctuations of adjusting them. You're kinda setting yourself up for an unsustainable emotional rollercoaster, IMO.

My advice: slow and steady wins the race. Make good choices you can live with. It's not all about the number. It's about adapting to healthier eating you can live with and reinforcing those habits. Make them livable, or they'll burn you out.

Stuff that cause your weight to be wonky.... different amounts of carbs in your diet causing saved glucose in your liver. Heavy exercise depleting your glucose in your liver causing you to lose a ton of water.....then a week later the water and glucose is replaced. A bad battery in your scale. Crappy sleep. Temperatures that make you retain water more and less. Soooo many things.

Don't be a slave to the scale. Find new good habits that work and just be patient. You've got this. You will eventually lose again if you don't freak yourself out so much that you do something crazy. LOL.

Wishing you the best.

1 hour ago, LAJ23 said:

All,

I'm 6 months out and getting so frustrated. After being stuck/bouncing between 180-186 for several months, I finally (and very suddenly) dropped to 174. No idea what I did differently to make that happen. I hit 174 about 3 weeks ago and it lasted a few days, but have since regained a few pounds and am now been bouncing between 176-179. Again, no idea what I'm doing wrong or differently. I've kept to nearly the same diet/same types of foods for months. High Protein, low carbs, low sodium, low/zero sugar, lots of Water, etc. Any suggestions on how to kickstart the weight loss again? I'm down about 70lbs and about 40lbs from my goal weight, but I'm starting to lose faith. ?

I had my surgery 8/24. I had a hard time getting out of the 160's. I bounced back and forth between 164-168 for about 3 weeks. All of a sudden, I weighed myself, and I was in the 150's. I only weigh myself once a week, sometimes a bit longer. I was doing it every day, and getting frustrated. If I gain, or lose a few pounds I don't panic over it. I just keep doing what I am supposed to. Now I am at the point, where I have been in the 140's bouncing back and forth between 140-142 for the past 3 weeks. My goal is 135. If I stay at the weight I am now, I would prefer it. I am too skinny (blv it or not). I look awful. I almost wish I was back in the 150 range. I feel that is where I looked best. Don't lose faith. It will just happen naturally as long as you are doing what your supposed to.

First of all, you'll get there! You've done so well already, wow.

Secondly, I noticed this sentence that could be a key to get things moving. You said:

5 hours ago, LAJ23 said:

I've kept to nearly the same diet/same types of foods for months.

... well ... the body is amazing at adjusting. You threw it a major, major curveball when getting surgery, and maybe it's time to shake things up. Just for a little bit.

Up your calories by a couple hundred for a few days (I know it's counter-intuitive, but check the stall threads here, it works for a lot of people), try a new type of exercise, switch up your fiber/protein types and intake, get more veggies, how about some healthy fats - anything that can give you that jolt and break the routine for a bit.

And still, maybe you're just simply plateauing for a longer while. I can't hurt to try something new in any case, and instead of being down on yourself, you can see it as a fun new challenge ?

Let us know how it goes!

First, you need to take the pressure off yourself. Stalls happen. They’re normal. It’s not because of something you’ve done nor is it being done to you. It’s just part of the process. Stressing only makes everything worse. Secondly, you’ve achieved so much so far. Don’t give up over a natural pause in your weight loss.

My last stall at about 6 months lasted almost 3 weeks & I was 1kg off my goal. So near yet so far. I just stuck to my plan like I had with other stalls. I knew it would end & it did. I lost that kg (& a few more).

Also remember, as you get closer to your goal your weight loss slows.

You’ve been putting your body through a lot. It needs time to come to terms with the changes just like you do. You’re providing it with different fuel sources than it’s used to. Hormones, etc. are being released into your body from the fat you’re losing increasing things like your cholesterol & oestrogen levels, etc. which can affect weight loss & gain. My liver function even went crazy for a while.

You may have reached a point of equilibrium between your food intake & energy output & have put yourself in maintenance.

And this may seem silly but are your scales in the same spot? I pull my scales out every day & try to put them in the same spot using tile lines as a guide. If I put it in a slightly different spot I can weigh up to a pound more or less.

Have a chat with your medical team. They will have some suggestions to get you through this.

Please don’t give up.

When my weight loss slowed quite a bit, I was advised to add strength training. Not as a way to burn calories but because adding muscle tissue raises your BMR (the base rate of calories needed to keep your bodily functions going). I am NOT the athletic type so weight training was new for me. The pandemic hit right around then so I ordered a set of dumbbells from Amazon and found a very basic, easy, beginner's routine on YouTube that I could do consistently. It's a 15 minute whole body routine and it's not too strenuous. My weight started dropping again almost immediately. And it kept dropping until I was below goal. The investment of 15 minutes, three times a week, has paid off enormously.

4 hours ago, Arabesque said:

And this may seem silly but are your scales in the same spot? I pull my scales out every day & try to put them in the same spot using tile lines as a guide. If I put it in a slightly different spot I can weigh up to a pound more or less.

This is an instant BP Classic Comment.

(I know you can laugh at it as a succesful veteran, and you're not the only one that fiddles with scale placement )

I’m 16 months post op & 130 lbs down. At Drs goal but want to lose another 15. During my journey experienced many stalls for no reason at all. For 2 MONTHS stuck at 160-161. Back & forth. Then all of a sudden dropped to 155. Did nothing different. Just followed the course. Since this stall happened later in the journey didn’t stress as much as I had in the beginning. Remember. When you stress it raises cortisol which can create weight gain. For beginners I’ve always suggested to take measurements, try on clothes vs always jumping on scale. For me that was very hard habit to break. Used to weigh daily. Finally during losing process I was able to pick the same day each week- Wednesday- & weigh then. When you get to goal you should weigh yourself more frequently so any weight gain can be addressed immediately.
I have great program were we had weekly support group meetings & we still continue now with zoom meetings. It’s so important to reach out to others like this so keep doing it. I’ve learned so much by sharing & with our therapist who leads group. Biggest lesson. Stay the course. It works!