Very Concerned...

I am almost 8 months post op and am down 109.5 pounds since surgery. I still need to lose according to my surgeon another 30 pounds. I've hit a many plateaus on my road to the new me. The past couple of months it's been almost at a stand. What gives? I hear you lose weight up until 18 months post op. Why am I having such a problem?? I'm concerned that this is it for me. I weigh 192.5 so I know there's some more fat to get rid of!! Please help!! Jen

It sounds like you need to take a very close look at your habits and figure out what needs to change to make the scale move again.   * Are you logging your food intake so you know how many calories you're eating? * Is your calorie balance in line for protein/ carbs / fat? * Are you snacking or grazing throughout the day that could be adding hidden calories? * Are you drinking with your meals that could cause you to be hungry sooner? * Are you eating refined carbs or processed food that adds caloires, fat and sodium you don't need? * Are you exercising? * Have you changed your exercise routine to accomodate your more energy-efficient body? * Have you added strength training so you maintain  your lean body mass/muscle? If there's anything you can change to make your body more efficient at burning fat, then make those changes and see how you do with the scale.   Just because the honeymoon window is said to be 18 months doesn't mean you can't lose weight after that point.  Your tool will always be there for you and if you use it correctly, you can continue to lose the weight you need/want to. Pam

Jennifer,

Congrats on losing 109.5!!  I know that when we did the biggest loser thing at my school I had been doing real well (and no I wasn't cheating in the competition!).  Well, there were a couple of weeks I slowed way down and when I looked at what I was doing my carb intake had gone up and my exercise had gone down.  What really surprised me was that in the last couple of weeks as three of us went head to head with 4-6%/week weight loss I was able to lose 12 pounds.  What I did was go back to the beginning as an immediate post-op.  I focused on drinking my protein shake for breakfast, a protein bar for lunch and a snack, and a small dinner.  I found after doing this for 3 days I had re-vamped my weightloss.  In addition it got me back to eating the good stuff and the right portions.

Good luck!

--Sax

Thank you both so much for your advice.  I feel I'm doing good with exercise. I have been from the beginning. Right now I do 30 minutes of strength training and 45 minutes of cardio 5x a week. Maybe I need to increase the cardio to an hour and add an extra day?? I don't journal what I eat. But now I will start tomorrow. I don't monitor my carb intake or calories. I was told it shouldn't really be an issue. But it can't hurt to take a good hard look at it.  I really hope that I haven't "streched" out my pouch already. That's one of my biggest fears. But I'll take a look over the next week and see what I can see.