I'm currently about 5 months post-op and have started to gradually gain a bit. Gained about 5.5 lbs in about a week and I've changed nothing with my routine. While I understand weight loss isn't linear and I can understand not losing for awhile, why am I gaining? Is this normal? Any advice is appreciated.

How I can gauge where I should be, about how many carbs and calories did/do you consume at 5 months post-op?

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by melanieinamumu

What does your bariatric team say?

We both had surgery in August and according to my team I should be at max 800 calories a day, 50 carbs max a day and 80 grams of protein. 1200 calories a day sounds closer to a maintenance amount... On average on maintenance a person should get from 1200 - 1800 per day. I'd check with your surgeon/dietician and see what they say since each surgeon has their own plan, but if you're putting weight on and sticking to the diet..they need to know. Good luck I hope this helps.

I'd add more exercise and less carbs and calories..but I'm not a medical doctor.

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by BlondePatriotinCDA

My team doesn't focus too much on calories or carbs. They focus mainly on protein, at least 60 g a day and I've been losing up till a week ago. I always get more than 80g of protein in a day. Also, the calories I consume aren't crap. They've always been impressed with my weight loss every time I've been to my check ups. I absolutely need to do more exercise, so I will be working on that.

7 minutes ago, melanieinamumu said:

My team doesn't focus too much on calories or carbs. They focus mainly on Protein, at least 60 g a day and I've been losing up till a week ago. I always get more than 80g of protein in a day. Also, the calories I consume aren't crap. They've always been impressed with my weight loss every time I've been to my check ups. I absolutely need to do more exercise, so I will be working on that.

As long as your team thinks you're golden...then I wouldn't worry about it!

I never said your calories weren't healthy calories..but too many good OR bad will put weight on. To be honest, I'm not sure why - if you're keeping in contact with your team and doing as they want..and they're happy with your progress why you're asking?

The scale won't always show a downward trajectory, muscle weighs 7 times more than fat so if you're putting on muscle sometimes the scale will show a small gain..water weight ..time of the month...etc will account for 5 lbs.

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by BlondePatriotinCDA

as long as you're sticking to your plan, then it's likely fluid retention (have you been eating more salty things lately?) - or hormonal stuff - or full intestines. A 5.5 lb true gain would mean you've eaten 19,200 extra calories this past week above and beyond what your body needs. So that means an extra 2700-ish calories a day - on top of whatever calories your body needs. If your normal intake is about 1200 kcal, that would mean you're averaging 3900 kcal/day. I'm betting not. I'd say it's likely fluid - or poop.

Edited January 8, 20242 yr by catwoman7

I am going to guess that it's water weight (as @catwoman7 said) unless you ate 19,250 calories extra. I often gain anywhere from 3 to 7 lbs of water, sometimes it takes a week to come off naturally and sometimes it takes a little longer.

If you've been losing steadily up until now, you are probably due for a stall. I had one after 1 month of surgery that lasted 5 weeks. During those weeks I gained and lost the same 2-4 lbs. The gains really freaked me out! But as others have said, it is probably water weight, especially if nothing has changed in your routine. Our bodies need time to recalibrate from the rapid weight loss and yours has lost a LOT of weight in a short time, so this may be it rebalancing. That often involves changes in fluid levels, which reflect in the scale. Maybe skip weighing for a week or two to give it a chance to settle down?

Caloric intake is very individualized and not all doctors agree that it is important... I don't track calories at all due to my malabsorption, I track macros. But each team has their own thing they like tracking. It seems like you have a good relationship with your team and they are generally happy with your progress. So I'd give it two weeks and if you continue to gain throughout that, then it might be worth a talk with them.

My stall broke a week after I increased my steps. I don't know if that was coincidence or had something to do with it, usually the advice is to steady on during a stall as changing things up causes the body to sometimes take longer to adjust... Good luck!!

Remember your weight loss isn’t a straight line in a downward trajectory. it zigs & zags & goes up & down for seemingly no reason.

There aren’t any ‘you must weigh this, be eating this many calories, be doing this much activity, be losing this much weight by a certain date’ rules. There are just guidelines, averages, may bes & could bes. I agree with the suggestion to talk with your team. Track your food for a week or so first, just to ensure you’re not missing something (it can be easy to do). But I don’t it’s real weight gain in such a short period of time.

Yes fluid retention, poop, hormonal fluctuations, etc. Could all contribute. Have you had a medication change? Have you changed your activity in any way? Are you stressed, anxious, etc. about anything? And sometimes our bodies can just be weird & not make sense. I can eat the exact same things for a couple of days & my weight can go up & down. I can break a couple of days of constipation & still weigh more. Who knows why?