I know stall threads are the most common type of post here, so I won’t delve too deep into my current situation other than I am 4 weeks out and have been exactly the same weight down to .2lbs for 8 days now.

My question is: does anyone have a scientific answer as to why this happens? It appears that this would violate the law of thermodynamics completely. Are stalls a form of starvation mode, and if so, how are we to work past them given calories are barely increased on the “normal” section of the diet?

I spoke to my NUT and was basically told there was nothing I could do but increase my cardio level. Considering I’m doing 30mins 7 days a week on a 650-750 calorie a day amount, this seems excessive and silly. I barely have enough energy to get through what I’m doing right now, and I know from
past experiences that adding in more and more cardio does not work. I’m eating 75-85g of protein a day, taking all my vitamins, water over 70oz, and logging/weighing/tracking all my small meals.

I understand I am not something special with this stall, I’d just love more info as to what is physiologically happening to cause this and how it is able to fix itself.

I don’t understand the science behind it but basically your body thinks you are dying and it is running itself on reduced calories to try to keep you alive. Using less calories means less weight loss. I’m sure it’s not that simple but the important part is it will not last. I’ve said it many times that a human being cannot maintain their weight on the amount of food we are eating. Stalls happen to all of us (I am in one right now) but they always eventually end and for me they usually end with a lot quick few pound loss which almost makes up for the time in the stall. Downward trends are all that really matter.

I know stall threads are the most common type of post here, so I won’t delve too deep into my current situation other than I am 4 weeks out and have been exactly the same weight down to .2lbs for 8 days now.

My question is: does anyone have a scientific answer as to why this happens? It appears that this would violate the law of thermodynamics completely. Are stalls a form of starvation mode, and if so, how are we to work past them given calories are barely increased on the “normal” section of the diet?

I spoke to my NUT and was basically told there was nothing I could do but increase my cardio level. Considering I’m doing 30mins 7 days a week on a 650-750 calorie a day amount, this seems excessive and silly. I barely have enough energy to get through what I’m doing right now, and I know from
past experiences that adding in more and more cardio does not work. I’m eating 75-85g of Protein a day, taking all my Vitamins, Water over 70oz, and logging/weighing/tracking all my small meals.

I understand I am not something special with this stall, I’d just love more info as to what is physiologically happening to cause this and how it is able to fix itself.

I've also wondered A LOT about this .. and spent too much time searching the literature etc (I'm a retired academic med/sci it doesn't take much to get me searching!!!) Physiology wasn't my thing and I couldn't find any obvious answers..I wondered/hypothesised to my self that MAYBE during a stall the body is doining something that makes it need/hold onto more of the water taken in and that this cancels out expected loss due to calorie deficit
Would love to hear other ideas or if any physiologists/clinical biochemists out there actually know !!!!!!

On 04/30/2021 at 12:32, WafflingWafa said:

I've also wondered A LOT about this .. and spent too much time searching the literature etc (I'm a retired academic med/sci it doesn't take much to get me searching!!!) Physiology wasn't my thing and I couldn't find any obvious answers..I wondered/hypothesised to my self that MAYBE during a stall the body is doining something that makes it need/hold onto more of the Water taken in and that this cancels out expected loss due to calorie deficit
Would love to hear other ideas or if any physiologists/clinical biochemists out there actually know !!!!!!

I’ve tried doing quite a few searches and can’t seem to come up with any studies done with Bariatric patients and what the stall actually is and what makes it stop. I hypothesized what the above posted mentioned on starvation mode ( I know quite a bit about this from my bodybuilding days long ago) but generally that has to be remedied with a calorie increase that doesn’t happen post surgery. I also know that leptin and ghrelin play a huge role in starvation mode as well, but those areas of the stomach that produce the most are removed with VSG.