Exercise, Nutrition, Cooking, and WLS Q&A - 7/2/2014

Hey Y'all! I'm still here trying to carve out times when I can post. Just noticed I had a nice long empty spot on my calendar for today so I thought I would make some time to answer some questions. So if you have any question on Exercise, Nutrition, WLS or cooking, this is a great place to ask.

Let's Hear it!

Hi so just a seriouse question...had my surgery 3 weeks ago and started at 234 and now have lost 17 pounds. Havent lost weight in 3 days why? I am only able to eat 1.5 oz at a time and drink 2 shakes a day.No carbs not juck just chicken. very stressed please explain thanks so much

Stalls are a part of weight loss.  If you search the forums on "stall," you'll see that pretty much everyone experiences this at some point.  Stick to the plan and the weight will come off - it's not a race :)  

If day to day fluctuations on the scale bother you - some people find it useful to only weight once a week.  Personally, I weigh once a day, but I used trendweight.com to track my weight and that really lets me focus on my weight trend instead of those pesky fluctuations.  

You will learn to take it in stride. Your body has to go through lots of adjustments to get used to dealing with your new lifestyle. Don't obsess over the scale. Weigh yourself everyday just don't worry about what it says unless week over week you see the scale going the wrong direction. You will want to make sure from Sat to Sat your weight is either the same or less. If it goes up evaluate what you did. Also all bets are off until you return to full foods. Week 3 you are not even getting started yet. If I went back and counted all the "stalls" I would be in the hundreds after 2 years. Just relax and take it in stride and make sure that you are eating on plan and getting plenty of sleep, water, and exercise. If you can answer yes to all of those things then you are all good. If you cannot then you need to make some changes.

Keith this is seriously baffling me, if I eat eat eat less than 1000 cal I stall stall stall, if I cont exercise and eat really normal even up to 1200 cal I lose what thehell?????I just dropped 2 more # after eating what i would say is normal just not very much??????????? whats up th this i was stalled for 4 months then i tried this?????

Let me preface my response with this will change over time so be careful with how you experiment with this stuff. If you can lose at 1200 calories and stall at 1000 then eat 1200. You have to listen to your body. It will change. A lot of it depends on how much you exercise too. If you are exercising a lot then you may need more calories. At the end of the day you want to end up with a calorie deficit. For men this is easier than for women because men just naturally burn more calories than women due to general muscle size, etc.

The bottom line is that this is not an exact science and EVERYONE is different. Don't over think it. There is a basic plan for everyone but you have to find out what works. As soon as you stop losing at 1200 then drop to 800-1000 to see if you can kick start it. Also make sure that the additional calories you are consuming are protein and I think you will see your weight loss accelerate.