Hitting a Wall

[rlmontgomery 1]

Hi folx,

I am four months post-operation with gastric sleeve. Week before surgery, I was 383, today I am at 309. I have been hovering over 310 for about three weeks now. I started working with a trainer lifting about three weeks ago. I think I could do more cardio, but I probably get one or two days in a week walking. I consume about 1250-1500 calories a day...is that too much?

I could really use your advice.

Roy

[Jaelzion 1,122]

I entered your stats into a BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculator and got 2,370 (I don't know your age, so I guessed 40, it will be a little higher if you're younger and a little lower if you're older). That's just the bare minimum needed for your body to keep itself going.

So even without exercise, eating 1500 calories per day should leave you with a calorie deficit of 870 calories per day. That should lead to a pound lost about every four days. If you're in the "Exercise 1-3 times/week" category, your calorie needs for one day come to 3,259, and eating 1500 calories per day would mean a daily deficit of 1,759 calories. That should have you losing a pound about every two days! Eating too much does not seem to be your problem.

Since you've recently begun lifting, it's possible that you are adding muscle tissue and that's offsetting the fat you are losing, leaving the scale unmoved for now. But the good thing about strength training is that it raises your BMR and causes you to burn more calories all day, not just when you are exercising. Sooner or later, the extra muscle tissue will translate into a higher BMR and visible weight loss.

Are you following your bariatric team's eating plan, getting enough Protein, and staying hydrated? If so, I'd say just give it some more time. You've already lost a lot, maybe your body is taking one of those "rest periods" where it's adjusting to the new regimen (AKA "a stall"). Just wait it out, it will break eventually.

[ruthpets 77]

Wow, Jaelzion - you freakin' ROCK!! How nice are you to have taken the time to do this!!❤️

[rlmontgomery 1]

Thank you, Jaelzion

[RickM 1,747]

Be skeptical of the BMR/TDEE, etc. calculators that you find online, particularly if they use scale or current weight in their calculation. Those work OK, for normal weight range people, but not for us fatties and former fatties since the critical weight factor for BMR is lean body or muscle mass; that extra fat that we carry or carried around does little to our actual BMR other than skew the results. For a better reading, use your goal or ideal weight for those calculators that don't use lean mass.

The other problem that they have is that they tell you what your BMR should be rather than what it is. Our journey through obesity can compromise out metabolism such that we don't burn calories as well as we should - that's part of what keeps us fat - and that can carry over even after weight loss. A normal weight person who used to be morbidly obese will usually burn fewer calories on a treadmill doing the same work as a never-fat person of the same size, weight, sex, age, body composition, etc.

So, take the calculators as a (very) rough guideline.

From general observation of these forums over the years says that 12-1500 calories is high, even with guy metabolism. While 6-800 calories is often sited as being a good level to shoot for, that is probably overkill for you, and would be hard to attain once used to what you are currently doing.

To the extent that we can compare individual experiences, as a comparison to my experience, I started out about 100lb lower than you (292) and at 4 months was down 72lb on an average of 1100 calories. I would expect to be losing a little slower simply by my lower starting weight and bit lower height (5'10). Prior to surgery, my total metabolism (BMR + activity) was 26-2800 calories based upon actual intake logging (weight was long term stable at that point - that's about as real world metabolism measurement as we can get.), So, call it around a 1500 calorie deficit. Total metabolism tends to decline as we lose (there's less weight that we are carrying around 24/7) so by the time I goaled out at 190, I was stable at around 21-2200 calories.

My inclination for you would be to try to keep it around 1200 calories or below

Another couple of factors to consider -

1 -stalls happen

2 - starting or radically changing up your exercise routine can cause a stall. Most stalls are Water weight related (at least those not associated with eating too much!) and starting or changing up your routine can increase demands on hydration. As you do more lifting or strength training, those sore muscles you may be experiencing are associated with.....inflammation, which is more water weight.

So, you are likely continuing to burn your stored fat, but aren't seeing that result on the scale because of the water weight changes, which will subside as the inflammation subsides, and you get better hydrated so your body doesn't have to hold on to every bit of water that it sees.

Good luck, and have fun - you still have a ways to go, but are getting there!