Hello to all! In this time of shutdowns due to the pandemic, I was happy to find this forum. I had gastric bypass on 09/18/2020, nearly two months ago now. I have to admit, it has not been an easy process (I didn't expect it to be, and no one promised me this). I have quite a bit of weight to lose. In the first five weeks, I lost about 50 pounds. Then, nothing. Everyone in my program says its normal, my nutritionist and I go through my meals and say they are accurate, my activity has nearly doubled since pre surgery. It just doesn't make sense - you know, calories in - calories out. I know plateaus happen, but so soon after surgery? My surgeon also noted that I lost quickly and a lot in the first five weeks, so not to be discouraged, but it's hard not to be. I watch what I eat, gave up a lot of foods, go through nausea, and all the other experiences, and it was all gladly done, in the hope that I would get healthier and lose weight. It's hard not to get a little depressed when the scale does not budge for so many weeks. Any advice, support, experience would be appreciated.
Yes. I calculate all my meals. I.e., for dinner tonight I had 2oz turkey lunch meat, 20g of reduced fat shredded cheese, 1 slice precooked bacon, shredded greens (about 1/3 cup, unpacked), and a homemade thousand island dressing (very low fat, no sugar).
Some days I feel like my clothes are looser. In fact, I've had to start retiring some (I've lost close to 140 pounds altogether with pre surgery loss). And I do feel like I have more energy sometimes. Other times, I am quite tired, but those days are lessening. Thanks for the kind words.Welcome! How are your clothes fitting since your plateau? How’s your energy level? The scale is only one aspect of measurement during this process. Plateaus do happen, and our bodies are adjusting still to the weight loss. The scale will move again, don’t worry too much
WazzuCoug
Member
Calories in and Calories out is a myth. It just doesn't work that way. Below is a recent post I wrote about stalls:
Part I - What is normal? - A frequent post in bariatric groups goes something like this: “I’ve lost X number of pounds the first three weeks (give or take a week) and now I’ve [stalled, gained] for a week or more, what am I doing wrong? Is the surgery going to work for me?”
There are many varieties to this post, and it is totally understandable. We want the weight off fast, right? We want it off yesterday! However, each person’s biology deals with this slightly differently, and there is no normal! Your experience is normal (baring some sort of unusual medical complication). Regardless if you lose quickly and stall, lose slowly and stall, lose and stall over and over again. With very, very few exceptions, it is ALL normal.
Part II - The three week (ish) stall - Although everyone doesn’t go through a three week stall, it is fairly common, and there are a few scientific reasons for this. First, including your time at the hospital, we (bariatric patients) generally have very high body fluid content from inflammation, edema, high blood pressure and other reasons. During surgery we are pumped full of IV fluids for at least two days, usually. Water weighs a lot and that is why many people come out of surgery a bit heavier than what they went in. Not always, but often.
When you get back home most patients are on a very low carb diet of protein drinks and water only for 2 or more weeks. This sends our bodies into ketosis. As a result, the volume of urine output, due to the diuretic effect of ketosis, increases and we start dropping water weight, and even with trying to drink as much liquid as possible, we are also generally a bit dehydrated because our water output is so high. Additionally, when we are on a very low calorie diet, our body will burn our glycogen stores (from our liver and muscle tissue), and for every gram of glycogen that is burned, there are 2 grams of water burned off. Most of the weight lost in the first three weeks (give or take) is mostly water. For most people it isn’t physically possible to burn 10lbs of fat in one week or 20-30 in a month. At the beginning this is mostly water.
At some point, most often when we start adding purees and more likely when we start adding soft foods, we get out of ketosis because of the additional carbs we are eating. We also start catching up on our hydration. So, the volume of liquid leaving our bodies decreases, and with the added water, our weight on the scale increases because for a period of time the water counterbalances the fat loss. During this time you are still losing and burning fat (and a bit of muscle). You really aren’t stalled at all! Regardless of what the scale says, your body composition is changing for the better.
Part III - Ongoing Stalls - Ongoing stalls happen to almost all of us at different times. Each person’s journey is different, but here is the bottom line: our bodies are not designed for weight loss, they are designed to protect our weight, and this is exacerbated in people who have been obese. When we lose fat, the hormone leptin decreases in our bloodstream. The decrease in leptin tells our body that our stored energy is being depleted. This signals our brains to do two things: 1. Slow your metabolism and 2. Increase your hunger. Luckily, after surgery we get a bit of a hormonal “reboot” that helps us bypass some of the intense leptin signals to varying degrees, depending on the person. The hunger drive may not be as strong, and the metabolism slow down may not be as intense, but you can’t completely undo 200,000 years of genetics. Food has been scarce for 99.9% of human history. Our brain and bodies are designed to hold on to fat and muscle mass in order to live. When we are in low caloric states and losing fat, our bodies battle against that. This causes adjustments that we often experience as stalls. However, even during these stalls, there are things going on that continue to benefit our health. Our body composition is still changing for the better, and as long as we make good food choices, stay properly hydrated and do a reasonable amount of strength exercise to support muscle mass, we can reach our goals. Your body will burn fat (and a bit of muscle) if you maintain a caloric deficit and eat good foods, etc.
Part IV - Dealing with Frustration & Comparisons - It is very easy to get frustrated on this journey. When and where that frustration occurs is a very individual experience. Some people won’t experience a stall and they’ll cruise to their goal weight in 6 months. Some people will creep along for two years or more before they reach their goal weight. Most of us fall somewhere in between. All of these experiences are totally normal. We should avoid comparisons to others and we should avoid comparing ourselves to the “averages.” Most of us are not “average.” We are either above or below the average, and both are absolutely okay.
Yes, I too get frustrated when I don’t see the scale shift downward, but I just took a stack of clothes about four feet high to Goodwill because they are so large I look ridiculous in them. My body is changing. My blood sugar is now in the non-diabetic range, my blood pressure is normal, my liver is normal, and the list of former comorbidities goes on and on...all through the stalls and frustrations, these good things continue to happen. We all experience them at a different pace, but it’s happening.
Part V - Exercise - Exercise doesn’t do much at all for weight loss. This has been proven across many scientific studies. Exercise IS GREAT for many health reasons (reducing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, depression, etc), but it doesn’t do much for weight loss (at least not as much as most people think). It can also be counter productive in our circumstance.
Avoid intense cardio exercise during weight loss unless you are balancing it with a reasonable amount of strength exercise (such as HIIT). Exercise, especially on a low calorie diet, exacerbates our body’s starvation response. When you start kicking up your energy expenditure, and you aren’t eating as much, your body will temporarily slow its metabolism even more after exercise. If you aren’t including resistance training, you are more likely to burn muscle mass at a greater rate than recommended. Generally, you want a fat loss to muscle loss ratio of 2:1 or higher, and preferably 3:1 or higher. This can be accomplished with 2 or 3 days a week of exercising your main muscle groups, and body weight exercises are just fine, and it doesn’t have to be for 30 min or an hour. It just has to be enough to fatigue your muscles, preferably to near failure or failure. Muscle mass will help maintain a good metabolic rate a little bit.
Part VI - The Bottom Line - Stick to the diet plan as recommended by your bariatric team. This is especially important during the first several weeks to promote healing and tissue regeneration. After you start eating “regular” foods, choose non-processed whole foods as much as possible and eat a wide variety of plants. That doesn’t mean you need to be vegetarian or vegan (which you totally can do), but eating a wide variety of plants will help develop your microbiome which is proving to be critical for long term health, immunity, and weight regulation.
As long as you maintain a caloric deficit and make good food choices, stay hydrated and include some resistance/strength training, your body will response positively over time, regardless of how long that time is for you. For most of us, we didn’t gain all that weight in 6 to 24 months, and given that our bodies do not want to lose weight, it isn’t reasonable to think it will just shed away overnight, even with the surgery.
Undoubtedly, there will always be people outside the bell curve who have a very bad experience, and those who have a near perfect experience, but 99% of us have all the potential to reach the goals we want.
Part I - What is normal? - A frequent post in bariatric groups goes something like this: “I’ve lost X number of pounds the first three weeks (give or take a week) and now I’ve [stalled, gained] for a week or more, what am I doing wrong? Is the surgery going to work for me?”
There are many varieties to this post, and it is totally understandable. We want the weight off fast, right? We want it off yesterday! However, each person’s biology deals with this slightly differently, and there is no normal! Your experience is normal (baring some sort of unusual medical complication). Regardless if you lose quickly and stall, lose slowly and stall, lose and stall over and over again. With very, very few exceptions, it is ALL normal.
Part II - The three week (ish) stall - Although everyone doesn’t go through a three week stall, it is fairly common, and there are a few scientific reasons for this. First, including your time at the hospital, we (bariatric patients) generally have very high body fluid content from inflammation, edema, high blood pressure and other reasons. During surgery we are pumped full of IV fluids for at least two days, usually. Water weighs a lot and that is why many people come out of surgery a bit heavier than what they went in. Not always, but often.
When you get back home most patients are on a very low carb diet of protein drinks and water only for 2 or more weeks. This sends our bodies into ketosis. As a result, the volume of urine output, due to the diuretic effect of ketosis, increases and we start dropping water weight, and even with trying to drink as much liquid as possible, we are also generally a bit dehydrated because our water output is so high. Additionally, when we are on a very low calorie diet, our body will burn our glycogen stores (from our liver and muscle tissue), and for every gram of glycogen that is burned, there are 2 grams of water burned off. Most of the weight lost in the first three weeks (give or take) is mostly water. For most people it isn’t physically possible to burn 10lbs of fat in one week or 20-30 in a month. At the beginning this is mostly water.
At some point, most often when we start adding purees and more likely when we start adding soft foods, we get out of ketosis because of the additional carbs we are eating. We also start catching up on our hydration. So, the volume of liquid leaving our bodies decreases, and with the added water, our weight on the scale increases because for a period of time the water counterbalances the fat loss. During this time you are still losing and burning fat (and a bit of muscle). You really aren’t stalled at all! Regardless of what the scale says, your body composition is changing for the better.
Part III - Ongoing Stalls - Ongoing stalls happen to almost all of us at different times. Each person’s journey is different, but here is the bottom line: our bodies are not designed for weight loss, they are designed to protect our weight, and this is exacerbated in people who have been obese. When we lose fat, the hormone leptin decreases in our bloodstream. The decrease in leptin tells our body that our stored energy is being depleted. This signals our brains to do two things: 1. Slow your metabolism and 2. Increase your hunger. Luckily, after surgery we get a bit of a hormonal “reboot” that helps us bypass some of the intense leptin signals to varying degrees, depending on the person. The hunger drive may not be as strong, and the metabolism slow down may not be as intense, but you can’t completely undo 200,000 years of genetics. Food has been scarce for 99.9% of human history. Our brain and bodies are designed to hold on to fat and muscle mass in order to live. When we are in low caloric states and losing fat, our bodies battle against that. This causes adjustments that we often experience as stalls. However, even during these stalls, there are things going on that continue to benefit our health. Our body composition is still changing for the better, and as long as we make good food choices, stay properly hydrated and do a reasonable amount of strength exercise to support muscle mass, we can reach our goals. Your body will burn fat (and a bit of muscle) if you maintain a caloric deficit and eat good foods, etc.
Part IV - Dealing with Frustration & Comparisons - It is very easy to get frustrated on this journey. When and where that frustration occurs is a very individual experience. Some people won’t experience a stall and they’ll cruise to their goal weight in 6 months. Some people will creep along for two years or more before they reach their goal weight. Most of us fall somewhere in between. All of these experiences are totally normal. We should avoid comparisons to others and we should avoid comparing ourselves to the “averages.” Most of us are not “average.” We are either above or below the average, and both are absolutely okay.
Yes, I too get frustrated when I don’t see the scale shift downward, but I just took a stack of clothes about four feet high to Goodwill because they are so large I look ridiculous in them. My body is changing. My blood sugar is now in the non-diabetic range, my blood pressure is normal, my liver is normal, and the list of former comorbidities goes on and on...all through the stalls and frustrations, these good things continue to happen. We all experience them at a different pace, but it’s happening.
Part V - Exercise - Exercise doesn’t do much at all for weight loss. This has been proven across many scientific studies. Exercise IS GREAT for many health reasons (reducing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, depression, etc), but it doesn’t do much for weight loss (at least not as much as most people think). It can also be counter productive in our circumstance.
Avoid intense cardio exercise during weight loss unless you are balancing it with a reasonable amount of strength exercise (such as HIIT). Exercise, especially on a low calorie diet, exacerbates our body’s starvation response. When you start kicking up your energy expenditure, and you aren’t eating as much, your body will temporarily slow its metabolism even more after exercise. If you aren’t including resistance training, you are more likely to burn muscle mass at a greater rate than recommended. Generally, you want a fat loss to muscle loss ratio of 2:1 or higher, and preferably 3:1 or higher. This can be accomplished with 2 or 3 days a week of exercising your main muscle groups, and body weight exercises are just fine, and it doesn’t have to be for 30 min or an hour. It just has to be enough to fatigue your muscles, preferably to near failure or failure. Muscle mass will help maintain a good metabolic rate a little bit.
Part VI - The Bottom Line - Stick to the diet plan as recommended by your bariatric team. This is especially important during the first several weeks to promote healing and tissue regeneration. After you start eating “regular” foods, choose non-processed whole foods as much as possible and eat a wide variety of plants. That doesn’t mean you need to be vegetarian or vegan (which you totally can do), but eating a wide variety of plants will help develop your microbiome which is proving to be critical for long term health, immunity, and weight regulation.
As long as you maintain a caloric deficit and make good food choices, stay hydrated and include some resistance/strength training, your body will response positively over time, regardless of how long that time is for you. For most of us, we didn’t gain all that weight in 6 to 24 months, and given that our bodies do not want to lose weight, it isn’t reasonable to think it will just shed away overnight, even with the surgery.
Undoubtedly, there will always be people outside the bell curve who have a very bad experience, and those who have a near perfect experience, but 99% of us have all the potential to reach the goals we want.
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TraceyT
Member
Hi welcome to the group and your amazing success!
Fifty pounds is AWESOME progress in a few weeks. I noticed that you said your exercise has increased - muscle weighs more that fat. You could still be losing inches just not pounds.
If you weigh yourself daily or multiple times daily - you might want to put the scale aside for a week or 2, then get on the scale.
My husband can burp - pee - poop and yawn and lose 3 pounds. I only weigh myself once a month - I put the scale away and bring it out once a month and that's it. I had to weigh myself 3 times a day for several weeks and send that information to my surgical team. Now, I refuse to become a slave to the scale. I still measure out my food. I am supposed to eat 5-6 small meals a day to make sure I get in 70-90 grams of protein.
I know that it's easier said than done - but stick with the plan your surgical team have in place for you and maybe try to only weigh yourself a couple of times a month.
Best of luck to you on this amazing life altering journey! You GOT this!!
missyinacage
Member
I 100% understand how you feel. I lost great for the first 2 weeks and then did not lose a single ounce for the next 3 1/2. There is no magic trick to stopping a plateau. Your body is convinced you are starving and is holding on to the weight. It will catch up, I promise. This is not something you are doing wrong or can fix with an extra hour of exercise or by eating less. I KNOW these words don't mean much, because you can't help but freak out. But really, try to just go with the flow. You'll start losing again. As long as you work the program, it will work for you. Now, I just try to remind myself that I went YEARS without losing any weight and was lucky if I didn't gain. What's a few weeks in the grand scheme of things? I know it's so much easier said than done, but don't blame yourself or question yourself. YOU ARE DOING GREAT!
dianeseattle
Member
It may help you to know that many plateaus and stalls are naturally caused by the body with no help from you. When your body responds to reduced calories, it goes into starvation mode. This is a protective response and it doesn't last forever.
Just don't get hung up on it, and understand that as soon as your body feels it's safe, it will start burn those calories that are a surplus to your digestive system.
Plateaus and stalls are normal and they happen to everyone.
Just don't get hung up on it, and understand that as soon as your body feels it's safe, it will start burn those calories that are a surplus to your digestive system.
Plateaus and stalls are normal and they happen to everyone.