9 weeks out and depressed over weight loss

You are getting yourself into a bad head space and you are going to sabotage yourself.

The weight will come off. It isnt a race. Your glycogen stores, etc have to adjust and this is what happens, weight loss can stall for a week, two weeks, a month here and there.

But the bigger picture is that in 6 months, 1 year you WILL have lost a significant amount of weight..

So you can decide to enjoy the ride and go out and take a walk or do something productive or you can keep feeling bad for yourself and focus your energy on this because your scale hasnt moved enough and beat yourself up..

my key to losing was staying positive, not beating myself up, and not focusing on tiny bumps when the bigger picture is what is important. the old habit of punishing myself for not losing are GONE. I wont ever do that again. This process is about building NEW, POSITIVE habits.

I get what you mean about being positive, I'm conscious of that for the most part.  Its hard to not feel good about the situation when I've been stalling since the 3rd week post-op and I'm now 9 weeks out.  I'm eating less than I would be in weigh****chers and I went through all of this to get the surgery done.  I dont expect it to come off in bulk, it would just be good to see even 1-2 lbs a week come off if thats what needs to happen.

What do you mean by the glycogen stores need to adjust?

When we eat carbs our body has to retain about 4# of water to process the carbs. it will hold the water for a few days until the glycogen(carbs) is processed. This holding water usual;ly accounts for that lose a pound /gain a pound scenario.

Usually about the time your body gets ready to release tha****er because it is done processing,you eat more carbs nd guess what? your body has to keep that 4# of water again. So u lose a pound /gain a pound.

This is one reason many of us are so "anal" about carbs. I don't know about you but I didn't have this surgery to just spin my wheels on the carb wagon. I have actually WASTED time when I could have been at goal on the carb wagon.

I am off the carb wagon now and on the losing fat and not spinning my wheels wagon. I am 10 days abstinate from carbs today.

Good luck on your journey,
Holly

Hi Holly -

Thanks for the explanation!  This makes sense...

I still dont think my carbs are that high, but tracking everything will definitely help!  I'm hoping I get through this stall period.  I just found out that one girl thats in my group meetings at the hospital stalled for 5 months post-op and was doing everything by the book!  Then one day it started coming up all at once...  So I guess everyone's different.

Good luck to you also and thanks for your input.

Joyce

You said you lost 2lbs last month, but what did you lose total since surgery?  Did you hit a stall in the first month?  You may just be hitting the dreaded 3 week stall a bit late. Stalls are a part of the process and although frustrating it doesn't mean that your body isn't losing.  Often when my scale is not moving I am dropping clothing sizes. 

Like the previous poster suggested, if you aren't logging your food, start now. Log everything. Water, food, every bite of this or that and exercise too.  Logging may help you see where you can "tweek" your diet.

Your doctor is right about being at a lower weight and it not coming off as easily. You are not gonna lose in large chunks like a heavier person would and the closer you get to your goal the more you are gonna have to work it.  More exercise, less carbs, really watch your diet.

If you did well on weigh****chers, why not follow some of the principles they set?  Certainly wouldn't hurt.  I can understand how frustrating it is to not lose after surgery when you seemed to do better on weigh****chers, but there must be a reason you chose surgery versus weigh****chers right?  Because diets fail most of us.  Sure we can lose on a diet but most of us gain again. Surgery is only a tool ,but used correctly it can be life changing.

Good luck dear and remember you are not done! 

I've lost 24 lbs since surgery, a majority of the weight was lost the first 2 weeks post-op... I hit the stall weeks 3-4, then began to lose a few lbs and now this.  I will be measuring myself tonight to see if there is any other form of loss.

WW although to me seems normal as a balanced diet, doesn't seem to be very carb conscious - one thing that goes against what WLS highly recommends us to be doing.  Which is why I was saying, when I was eating a balanced diet that was portion controlled, I was able to lose at least 2 lbs a week.  Now Im eating significantly less than I ever was and Im still not losing.

The reason I did this surgery is because I wanted a lifetime change, not yo-yoing for the rest of my life.  I understand that the change has to come with me too.  And believe me, I have changed alot of habits thus far.

Thanks for the post and your wishes!

How frustrating!

I have not yet been sleeved, but have been using the daily plate tracker at livestrong.com and I like it because it has a accurate and large food database AND the website is fast/easy to record food.

Stick to your surgeon's program, and it will happen. I would take a look at your carbs and overall calorie intake. I use fitday, and keep track of everything that goes into my mouth...some days I'm shocked at how little I have eaten, and go and make myself a hard boiled egg as a after dinner snack; and other days, I see that I've eaten waaaay over...when it's in black and white in front of you, you can go back and track what is working, and what isn't.

My weight loss slowed down at 6 months post-op. I reviewed what I was eating and realized the bulk of my protein was coming from soft sources like protein shakes, cheese, Greek yogurt, beans, nuts and seeds.

I changed to dense protein, mainly tender beef and seafood, and saw my weight loss resume and felt a lot of restriction. Dense protein fills you up with a small amount and keeps you full longer. 

Limiting my carbs to less than 40 grams per day was also instrumental for my continued weight loss. When my carbs got too high my weight loss slowed. Carbs also make you crave more carbs. Eating too many carbs will stall your weight loss no matter how much protein you're eating.

I followed the plan my doctor gave me and lost 100% of my excess weight and have kept it off without a lot of effort.

1. Eat 600-800 calories per day when losing weight  and 1,200 calories to maintain
2. Limit carbs to less than 40 grams per day
3. Eat 70-100 gram of protein daily
4. Minimum 64 oz. liquids daily
5. Regular exercise/physical activity
6. Track what you eat ( I use myfitnesspal.com to track calories, carbs, protein, etc.)

Review what you are eating and make appropriate adjustments. Cut out slider foods like bread, rice, potato, chips, carbs in general. You can eat slider foods all day long and feel no restriction.

Dense protein, limiting carbs and regular physical activity were responsible for me reaching my weight loss goal and maintaining.

Good luck,
George

Hi George, thanks for the tip about slider foods and eating dense protein!  I think I'm feeling hungry at times because I'm not relying on dense protein as much as I should since I have the shakes/protein bars, so thats something to consider.