I replied to one of your other posts, but I'll put my response here as well:
First and foremost, stalls are not unusual at any point in your journey, especially after the first three weeks when we all lose quite a bit of water weight and then go through a period of rehydration that counter-balances fat loss. You are still burning fat during this stall, regardless of what the scale reads.
You might want to read my
post on stalls on this forum.
Like you, I have never felt the level of restriction that many people describe on this journey. There were times right after surgery when I wondered if they just cut some holes in me to make it look like the surgery was done. I've never vomited, I got sick once around week three, and I have only experienced uncomfortable fullness on a handful of occasions.
If you aren't tracking your caloric intake right now, you might do that for a few days. When I did that, I realized that although I wasn't feeling like I was "restricted" in my eating, I was only eating about 800 calories at the 1 month mark, which is about average. Although calorie counting is grossly inaccurate, it does help provide a general idea of caloric intake. The amount of food and calories that you eat, however, is not nearly as important as what you are eating. If you are making good food choices and not eating sugar and other simple carbs, that is good.
One thing that people often forget is you don't have to eat until you "feel" full. In fact, in studies of the longest lived peoples on earth, they rarely eat until they are full. They eat a reasonable amount and then stop. It's a different relationship with food, but that is an area I'm working on. You can get by on far less food that you would eat if you filled your stomach up, even your small stomach. You can learn to be satisfied without being full.
As long as you are making good food choices, staying hydrated and maintaining a caloric deficit, you will be burning fat and you will lose weight. Good things are happening even if the scale doesn't move. That doesn't make it less frustrating when it happens, but as long as you stay on track, you will reach your goals.
Don't worry about not getting exercise for losing weight. Exercise is great for overall health, but it does very little in contributing to significant weight loss. If you do some basic body weight exercises at home, working your main muscle groups, you will be doing enough to reduce muscle loss.
In summary:
- You aren't doing anything wrong (assuming you are following post surgery guidelines)
- Exercise doesn't really help with weight loss, but it's great for overall health. Don't count on that for breaking a stall.
- Almost everyone experiences stalls that last days or weeks, and it's totally natural and normal (but no less frustrating)
- Fat loss is not a natural body process; we are not designed to lose weight, we are designed to protect weight
- Our bodies have to go through adjustments in this process, and how quickly that happens varies from person to person
- Continue to make good food choices, stay well hydrated, work in some resistance exercise, and you WILL reach your goals!
Your body composition continues to change, and regardless of what the scale reads, good things are happening in your body!
