Talk to me about stalls/plateaus

So im 2 1/2 months out and am doing well. Ive been, we'll use the word stuck, for two weeks. I try not to get frustrated or whiny because I know Im doing what Im supposed to. My question is this: do periodic stalls just happen? For those further out: did you keep track of when they happened and how long they were?

Im wondering if this process of stalling is like growth spurts in newborns in that theyre cyclical in nature. Thoughts?

For me, weight loss has been like stair steps. A period of staying the same weight, typically 2-3 weeks, and then I can drop 10 pounds in 10 days, then another period of staying the same.

My surgeon considers a stall/ plateau to be no weight loss for at least 5-6 weeks. I have experienced that once.

It's normal, try not to give yourself too much brain damage over it. I know this is weight loss surgery and we want to see that happen. But when you look back at 9 months or a year and see 100 pounds gone, you won't really remember those stalls quite so clearly.

Best of luck.

I had my first stall at 3 weeks out. I only lose 1-2 lbs a week without a stall...that is the fact for me even though I only eat 500-800 calories a day and exercise most days. I am in a stall now. I have been fluctuating 2 lbs for 2-3 weeks.  It is frustrating.  I stopped weighing.  I now just measure every few weeks or so and I check in at my surgeons office for weighing to see if my body fat is decreasing and my lean mass staying the same or gaining muscle mass.  Weight on a scale is only valid in 10 lb increments in my humble opinion since weight can mean water, muscle, water retention, dehydration or any other manner of deceptive indicator of body fat mass......it is the latter I am trying to lose:)

 

I've been a slow loser and for the first 3 months I've always lost weight every week (36 lbs total). In Dec, I had a 3.5 week plateau and then lost 6 lbs, which was half of my average previous month weight loss. Since then, my weight loss has decreased to 8-9 lbs a month with a stair step loss. I'm not as active as I would like to be, due to a knee injury, surgical repair, and slow healing (no NSAIDS).

Yes, periodic stalls just happen to almost everyone, although not losing for only a week or two isn't really being stalled because it may just be that you are not seeing any loss because of temporary water retention, etc.

I tracked my weekly weight loss for the first 18 months. Usually when there was no change in the scale one week, there was a significant drop the following week (or two). I only had two significant stalls during the first year, but one of them was NINE WEEKS at about nine months out.

Remember, this is NOT a race and it is NOT A DIET... this is changing how you are eating for the rest of your life. Focus on the healthy eating for its own sake because in the not too distant future you aren't going to have ANY positive reinforcement from the scale dropping but will need to continue to be diligent about what you are eating in order to avoid regain.

Lora

This.
  I needed.  Thanks, Lora

I have always lost in steps as well.  Early out I would have a huge loss one week, small loss one week,  no loss for 1 - 1 1/2 weeks.  During the time I wasn't losing lbs my body would shrink.  So I have 1 or two weeks a month where I don't lose.  I don't consider it a stall,  I consider it my losing pattern and how my body catches up with my weight loss. 

at 4 mos out i had a stall that last amost 8 weeks ...ugh ! but un the last 2 weeks i have lost 10lbs . so yes stalls are normal and in my opinion healthy too because i feel alot better when the weight is coming off slow rather than super fast.. i just felt yucky the first 4 months but now im feeling alot better !