The Big Stall and Discouragement

Feb 25, 2011

Not me...Honest. I HAVE hit the "Big Stall" the dreaded "6 month out plateau from hell" where you can gain up to 4 lbs back and have your scale not move an ounce for well over several months...

It's NORMAL. It really is. According to nearly 40 post ops (over 2-5 years out) they have ALL hit this. My doctor says it's normal, countless healthy WLS veterans says it's normal, and guess what...It's normal.

There is a reason that time and time again when anyone ever asks me (Pre-Op) what is the most important thing they NEED I say "Save some of your old "fattest" clothes, and though it will be uncomfortable...Take photos of you from EVERY angle (Front, side, back) record your full weight and measurements of your CALVES, BICEPS, CHEST/BUST, WAIST and HIPS . Keep all these measurements and photos in a very safe place....

When you get to a really BAD discouraging time, then you do this... You post some comparison photos of you and or your clothing!!!



You see where you have COME from...Sometimes I see photos or clothing and FORGET just how OBESE and miserable I was...After seeing the clothes compared I look at my Day before Surgery shot and my current monthly shot...

and now...


The point of all this, is that we have been given a "rough forumla"....We will lose 1/2 our excess weight within the first 6 months or so...Then, over the NEXT 6 months we will only lose 1/4 of our excess weight, and then up 18-24 months later, the LAST 1/4 of any excess weight...

And yeah...You gotta work it. WLS isn't a free ride. We ALL know that. We gotta be active, we gotta follow the rules of our surgeon and the American Bariatric Association regarding our vitamins, calcium, etc. We gotta do the "E" word....... E X E R C I S E!
Our pouches or rerouted intestines are NOT broken...The surgery isn't "messed up", no this is NOT all you will lose...Unless....You stop following the rules.
If you drink WITH meals, if you eat refined (White) carbs and to much sugar, if you DON'T eat at least 60-90 grams of protein a day and do ANYTHING...Even walking the dog around your block a few times. If you go back to the old habits of eating chips, crisps, crackers, "bad" snacks or grazing all day... You will "out eat the surgery.

Also remember that our bodies are LIVING organisms. They lose weight, then rearrange inches and flush out fat, and firm up (Or shift things around) then lose some more weight. This whole journey is NOT an "Easy Way Out" to be thin, because you still have to do the work of choosing to eat and be healthy. No one is saying you can never have a piece of cake, or a bite of ice cream (assuming you don't dump...And most RNYers DON'T dump, so we still have to be good and work on choosing whole and healthy foods.)

During my WHOLE WLS from start (pre-op liquid diet until now) I NEVER "lost weight continuously"...It was like walking down a staircase...I'd lose a couple pounds...then lose NOTHING for a couple weeks, then lose another 2-3 lbs, then lose NOTHING for several weeks. I'm cool with that.

I KNOW I look good! Just look at them photos! That baby is a 47 year old Mama who can bench Press nearly 200 lbs who can so some AWESOME weight lifting at the gym (even out-lifting some of the men!) and who looks 15 years younger! I FEEL a lot better and now am only on 4 prescription medicines (where as before I was on 13!!!!!!)

So the next time you are depressed about a "stall" or a plateau or that you haven't lost anything for 2-3 weeks...Do what I did (Compare how you looked 6-8 months ago!)...And then pull up your big girl (or boy) pants and be thankful that the surgery is WORKING for you! Count not was is NOT happening, but count ALL you can do!

Hugs and love to all my fellow Losers!
Warmly,
Jackie E.

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