gained a pound?

I don't think I can physically eat many more calories than that. I am glad to see that ups and downs are normal. TY! I will try to worry more about the bigger picture.

It's totally normal. Once a month I see the scale going up and I'm powerless to do anything about it. I just have to keep on with my course and know that it will go away.

If you're curious about what your basic calorie needs are, take your weight and multiply it by 10. That is roughly what you need to keep your basic processes going and does not take into account any activity you do. I had my BMR tested several years ago and I came out at 9 calories per pound per day, so right now I need around 1600 calories to maintain my current weight. As long as you're under your basic caloric need per day, you'll lose weight. Any little blips, especially from day to day, are likely water.

Jen

happens to all of us. Just keep pressing on and I'm sure next week will be better

I'm only six months out, and I'm not very good at following the advice of those wiser and far more experienced than I am. That being said, for the last three months I keep thinking "OH MY GOD! I'VE STOPPED LOSING!" I stall, I gain a pound, I stall then the scale swooshes down a few pounds! While it's slowing way down, I'm still losing, and I'm still on track with my goals. I'm also really working hard on getting fit. This "fitness forward" approach is having two impacts to my weight loss- it's driving my hunger a little (swimming makes me so hungry!) and it's helping me keep and even build some heavier muscle mass. The times where I'm stalled out, I generally see my fat% dropping and my muscle % growing (I have a Omron scale that gives estimates based on impedance - I use this for trends only, it's not totally accurate due to many variables like gut contents etc.)

Keep the faith, follow the advice here (do as I say, not as I do!) and it will come off.

32 pounds in 6 weeks! Holy crap! That's fantastic!

You didn't think that was going to continue, did you? Because that's impossible, unless you start out at 600 pounds or something. My high was 475, and I might barely have touched 32 in 6 weeks. Once.

Rwad babsinga's reply above. Many people lose exactly in that manner. It's called a stair-step pattern. Lose nothing for a bit, lose a bunch, repeat. This may be you.

You're doing great. If you don't weigh and log your food, give it a try. What it does is buy you peace of mind. If you know, for certain, exactly what your protein, carbs, and calories are, you can ignore the scale short-term. Because it will be impossible not to be successful.

And ignore the starvation mode metabolism wrecking stuff. Not only is it 98 percent crap, it doesn't apply after WLS. I ate low calorie just like you, and my metabolism is just great.

The body needs to catch up with weight loss. 32 pounds in 6 weeks is astounding :)

You need to just give your body a break. Often we experience a stall where you are.

Also, hormones and natural body fluctuations cause us to gain and lose weight. The body is a dynamic system. It is not a machine that has the same inputs and outputs regarding weight. Most people have a natural variation in weight from 1-5 pounds in either direction - that's just how physiology works.

Fluctuations happen. It sucks, right?

I recommend using something like TrendWeight to track your trending weight. That's really helped me stress less about normal fluctuations.

I do track everything I eat. Haven't weighed and measured yet but that is coming. I get all my protein in that 400 calories. I average actually, 430 calories on MFP. I am sure my calories will go up as the weeks progress. I'm not intentionally eating that amount. It is, all I can physically eat this early out. I suppose I could add more meals but I choose not to get into that habit. I choose to eat 3 meals a day, 4 hours apart. It is what is "safe" for me. With all this said, I had my 6 week check yesterday and the scale was down 3lbs. So I have now lost 35lbs in 6 weeks. I had labs checked because I am still a bit fatigued. Thank You all!

I ate about the same number of calories at 6 weeks out. You're doing great -- this is just a weird little stall/blip/water retention.