Huh? It's only been 6 weeks?

I am only 6wks out and my weight loss has suddenly slowed to a micro-crawl. I lost 32lbs from surgery 9/4-9/30, but have only lost 5lbs since then. I am following everything by the book. One worry is that in the past week or so I have begun to have much less trouble drinking fluids (two-three big swallows instead of sips), and can eat 6oz of yogurt before I feel full. It seems things began to slow down after I started introducing mushy foods, and was no longer really starving myself on just liquids. This worries me because my pattern of being able to lose weight has always been this, starvation is the only thing that has worked. I am trying to have faith in the correct way of losing weight, eating small meals throughout the day, etc, but it is hard to continue this way with these results. If anyone understand if this may be related, I was taken off my diabetes meds the day of surgery, and no longer need them. I did just take my measurements, and yes, compared to August before I had surgery, and especially May when I first began my pre-op diet, they look good. But this is also the first measurement since surgery. I know stalls happen, but this is way too soon. Am I heading toward being one of those who fail from surgery? -Julie

HEY JULIE,        LOOKIE HERE NOW.... YOU CANT LET THIS WEIGHT BALL AND CHAIN GET YA DOWN THIS SOON OUT OF THE GATE.. I HAVE EVEN LOOKED BACK AT MY FIRST TWO MONTHS OUT AND THIS IS WHAT I FOUND OUT JUST FOR YOU......ONE WEEK WOULD BE FOUR LBS AND NEXT WEEK TWO AND BY THE SIX WEEKS OUT A FEW TIMES HAD SLOWED TO SNAIL THEN PICKED BACK UP. YOU WILL BE READY TO SMACK THAT SCALE AROUND SOON ENOUGH SO JUST BE PATIENT AND ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS.... JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT LOSING AT OTHERS PACE DOESNT MEAN YOU ARE DOING ANYTHING WRONG OR OUT OF THE WACK...TRY TO SLOW DOWN THE BIG SWALLOWS... MIGHT MAKE THE TUMMY MAD IS ALL... YOU HAVENT STRETCHED NOTHING OR ATE ANYTHING WRONG. HECK IF ANYTHING, HOW GREAT THAT YOU ARE GETTING IN ALL THE LIQUIDS YOU NEED AT THIS EARLY IN THE GAME... I FOR ONE COULDNT DO THAT. AND JEEZ.... NO MORE DIABETES MEDS... OMG THATS GREAT IN ITSELF. SO JUST DONT BEAT YOURSELF UP AND IT WILL COME NATURAL... YOUR BODY HAS HAD SUCH A CHANGE IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS TILL ITS SAYING... WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON... I WANT MY SUGAR, FRYED FOODS AND GOODIES LOL..... SO IF IT BOTHERS YOU MAYBE YOU SHOULD PUT THE SCALE SOMEWHERE AND WEIGH LESS. ME MYSELF I NEED REHAB IN THAT DEPARTMENT. KEEPS ME HONEST AND ON THE RIGHT ROAD WEIGHING EVERYDAY... BUT DO WHATS RIGHT FOR YOU... SAD THOUGH HOW IT MAKES US OR BREAKS US MOOD WISE... HUGS MARGE

Thanks, Marge. I needed to hear this. I feel so grateful I don't crave things other than salads and as much water I want as fast as I want whenever I want. Oh, and pizza. I wish there was some way to know I haven't done any damage. I start seeing a new surgeon next month, and since I never got to see the one who did my surgery, I have never gotten any reassurance. Hopefully the new guy will be able to give me that. -Julie

stalls are NORMAL - heck just lookie at me!  lol

yes, its normal to be able to gulp more. also normal for 6 oz of yogurt to fit in your pouch. i was amazed that i could eat that much at about the same time as you are. but think of this too, yogurt just kinds slides right through that pouch and out the other end . your pouch is healing. its not  'quite' as tight as it was and you are getting more comfortable with it. hope you dont mind me butting in - yet again- just sharing my (so called) "wisdom" with you.

Hey Deb, I think that is part of the problem. I am scared of the fact that I am getting too comfortable with the pouch. Sometimes I forget I have it, mostly when I go to drink something. Even worse, I keep having dreams that I forget and gulp or a large quantity of food really fast and then get in huge pain. I know one of the things that has also worried me (and you can laugh, it isn't the first time I have worried about something that may be ridiculous, but it makes me think something didn't go right with my stoma) is that I didn't have the foamies, vomitting, taste aversion, etc like everyone did. -Julie

I stalled from week 5 to week 8 and a lot of people seem to stall around week 6.  I really don't think its anything to worry about.  Your body just needs a break.  Keep doing what you are doing, but also remember that you might not actually have the feeling of fullness totally developed at this point, so you still might want to measure your potions a little bit so you don't overeat and get sick.  Also things like yogurt that are slippy can slide right through your pouch, so more seems to fit than when you eat something like meat that is heavy and thicker.  I can eat a whole lot of watermelon and it kind of freaks me out, but then I try something like cheese and I am only able to eat a little bit.  The fact of the matter is that just your basal metabolic activity requires a lot more calories than you are eating (unless you are grazing all day) so you will lose weight because calories in do not equal calories expended.  Exercise will help even more because it increases your muscle mass so your basal metabolic activity is higher.  It also keeps you burning fat instead of muscle.  You know all this.  You are just freaking out.  I understand because I was doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago, even though I knew I shouldn't be.  We've failed at so many diets, we are expecting to fail at this too.  It'll work this time, though, so that eases my mind.  I hope it eases yours as well.  *hug* Jenn

I guess I'm one of those people who has heard this so many times that if I really believed it I would have lost weight a long time ago. For some reason I am very dissociated from the reality of the inner workings of my body. Until I got diabetes and spent a lot of time testing my blood sugar 2hrs after everything I ate I didn't even believe that food effected my body in any way but to make me fat. Literally, I thought it went in and went to the fat cells, period. Needless to say, science wasn't a good subject for me.   I am still using everything I learned as a diabetic in choosing my food, especially the glycemic index, which should make my weight loss even easier. Arghhhh. But I will keep in mind that science is your field, and trust that you do know this stuff is true. And that you have been where I have yet to go. Thanks, Jenn. -Julie

It sure eases mine. I love your post.  It is very reassuring. Thanks. Jo

Thank you so much for posting this. I have been in a stall too and I am only a bit over 6 weeks out too. Hugs to you for posting this.

Blessings,

Annie W.