Define Stall???

Would experienced banders say that most experience stalls from not following directions after surgery? Or would you say that stalls are inevitable. I know with the liquids required after surgery you may see a rapid weight loss at first however I would like to know the differnece in someone with the band losing a 100 pounds in a year and someone who loses a 100 pounds in fours years. Thanks in advance to all *****spond.

You are going to stall after you drop some weight . I stalled after three months and six months ( just for a few weeks )and then I got lazy with exercise and food and I didn't lose a single pound for 4 months.  All my fault not the bands fault.

The reason for my four month stall is very simple.  I got very lazy in exercise . I was doing 2 days a week of intense Zumba classes with weights and core training and curves three times a week. I stopped going .

I was more careful about the foods I was eating when I was losing. When I hit that stall I let to many of them bad foods back into my life and not paying attention .   I didn't gain no weight but I didn't lose .

Since I started back to my exercise and started to watch what I was eating again in two weeks I have lost 7 pounds .

I would have hit my 100 pound loss in a yr if I hadnt gotten so lazy but it happened nothing I can do about it , but Im still grateful for the 75 I did lose and didnt gain no weight back on that four month stall. 

 Few things are inevitable but stalls are pretty likely! Smooth, steady weight loss is not the usual pattern, although there may be some bandsters out there who lost the same amount every week. I'm certainly not one of them.

To be honest, I never found the concept important. I am a scaleaholic but somehow managed to get out of the old pre- band obsessions with every ounce! Yes, there were times when the weight just didn't go. But I didn't change anything. As long as I was confident that I was eating fewer calories than I was using, I just kept  on as I was. Physiologically, if we are doing this, the body has no choice  but to burn stored energy - fat. Certain medical conditions and medications make this much harder, but the basic  principle remains.

Having found a style of eating which I found comfortable, I saw no need to change to one which I would find harder to maintain just for the sake of advancing loss by a few weeks.

Kate

 Well, there are stalls and there are stalls.  I experienced a weight loss stall of 3 months in Nov,Dec, Jan of 2010-11... BUT, my clothing sizes kept dropping.  I was losing inches as my body reshaped.

Loss will depend some on choices, but also depends on how much you have to lose to begin with.  

I had my first stall/plateau a month out from surgery. I lost ONE pound in a month. But, I was following EVERY band rule to the letter - eating per the rules, exercising 3x a week, and still - nothing. Then, I lost 7 pounds practically overnight.

Throughout my weight loss (prior to maintenance), I went through several of them. 

I think weight loss rates have a lot to do with your starting weight. I was almost 400 pounds (so, 200+ overweight.) If you have more to lose, you tend to lose faster.

But you can follow every rule as strictly as possible and still lose slowly. Everyone's body and metabolism is different, so we will all lose differently.

I lost weight at an always-varying rate, had several weight loss stalls or plateaus lasting from weeks to months, had some (small) regains, and still lost 100% of my excess weight (90 lbs) in one year. Despite the fact that I was faithfully exercising, logging my food, making good food choices, etc. etc., I was never able to identify a cause for a stall, and as long as my weight trend was downward, I did my best not to sweat it out ounce by ounce.

I did find that I lost weight more quickly in the beginning, when I was heavier, than later on, when I was lighter and therefore burning fewer calories. And men seem to lose weight more quickly, probably because men have greater muscle mass than most women.

Jean

My doctor defines a stall as '6 consecutive weeks with no weight loss'.

I will be completely honest with you -- I did not ever have a stall during my weight loss phase.
I started to attend Weigh****chers about 6 weeks post-op, and I had a loss or a maintain every single week except for 1 week (I gained 1/2 a pound and lost 4 pounds the next week).

I had 3 episodes where my weight was the same for 2 weeks in a row (maintain) -- but it never lasted more than those 2 weeks -- and I always had a loss after that.

I followed my surgeon's rules beginning about 10 weeks before my surgery
1.  eliminate carbonated beverages
2.  eat slow, thoughtful, small bites (I ate with a small fork, a baby spoon and I ate off of a small plate)
3.  eliminate highly processed carbs (for me, I gave up cake/candy/baked goods/ice cream)

As far as losing 100 pounds in a year, or losing it in 4 years, --- well, at the end of 4 years, hopefully they are both still 100 pounds lighter and much healthier.

For me, I had a clear goal in mind (to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up) -- and I wanted to do it 2 years after my surgery.  I knew that there are some foods that are 100% counter-productive to my goals.

Some people can eat all things in moderation - and I am a little bit jealous of that.  For me, there are some foods that just invade my life and take over, if I eat even one bite.  I used the OA program to analyze these foods, and made a list of 'trigger' foods that I do not eat anymore.  Plain and simple, they are not 'my food' and I don't eat them.

March 31, 2009 was the last time I ate cake or cookies --- (thank God) -- and I know that at least for today, I will not eat them.  Once I start with those foods, I cannot resist them and they torture me.  It is truly easier for me to have none than to try to control them.

I lost 131 pounds in about 18 months -- and have maintained the loss for 1 year now.
I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in October - and back up!
I did my third 1/2 marathon last weekend.
I am healthier and fitter than I have ever been in my life.

Stalls are NOT inevitable --- but they are not deadly, either.  The only failure is if your let a stall become permanent.