Question:
Is plateau normal at 3 months
Hi my name is Jennie, I had surgery on April 14, I have lost 52 pounds, and cant seen to lose any more weight, I am very depress and discourage. I am working out walking on by lunch break and 15 min.breaks. every time I get on the scale it says the same or that I have gain 1to 2 pounds . I have a bad habbit of getting on the scale every day cause I am so scared. I dont know what to do anymore. I am crying a lot about this and feel like I am going crazy. Please help or tell me what I can do. Thank you all for your support it means a lot to me. Jennie — zydeko47 (posted on August 10, 2008)
August 10, 2008
Hi Jennie, we crossed paths a few days ago; thanks for your support for the
question I posted here myself...
As for your possible Plateau, it seems 3 months out is a very common time
for most people to hit their 1st PLateau. I hit one right at 3 months post
surgery, that lasted 3 weeks, then broke. I have seen a few other people
that also experienced a Plateau at right about 3 months. Don't worry, they
don't last, they eventually do break. PLease try to resist the urge to
weigh yourself daily. The body naturally goes up and down a pound or two.
Try to get in to a routine of weighing yourself on a certain day, like
Monday morning, for example, and keep a written weight loss chart of your
Monday weigh-ins. Something I learned is keep away from carbohydrates, like
crackers, bread, potatoes, rice. Your first food of choice for life should
always be protein; chicken, turkey, tuna, fish, beans, low-fat cheeses.
Second choices are vegetables, then no-sugar added fruits. Drink a lot of
water, which can be via Crystal Light sugar free drink mix. Take chewable
mulit-vitamins, chewable calcuim, Liquid B-Complex. Have a protein shake,
or protein bullet every day. Please don't feel depressed or discouraged,
you have lost an amazing 52 pounds and yourweight loss can and will pick-up
again!!!! Just think, before you had surgery, how difficult it would have
been to lose 52 pounds. Hang in there, and keep coming here to this
website; the good people here have helped me sooooooooo much, and will help
you and support you and encourage you long term!
Best wishes.
— Gina S.
August 10, 2008
Hi Jennie,
DITTO to everything Gina wrote! She hit the nail on the head. I agree with
her on the no weigh ins everyday. I use Saturday as my weigh in day. The
weight will continue to come off (I promise!) Just be patient and know that
you are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!
— Jean N.
August 10, 2008
Jennie, I agree with what has already been said. Please don't panic! Your
body is taking time to adjust to everything that is going on. As I was told
when it happened to me...." How do your clothes fit? How do you feel?
These are also ways to let you know how you're doing." Watching the
scale daily is more stressful then anything. Stop obscessing over it and
you'll be amazed at how the weight falls off. You'll reach plateaus at
different times during this journey but taking them in stride and not
worrying will get you over those humps and continue you on the path to
health.
— Leprechaun
August 10, 2008
Girl, you are not alone and I will be reading your answers because I am on
the scale every morning and it will stay the same or go up and I am like
how? However, I am reassured that it will pass, but it still is not
comforting. I decided to do no carb for a couple days with all my protein
and water no matter what and excersise. I increased what I am doing to see
if it will jump start the lose. I will let you know Monday. But I feel your
pain.
— tayee24
August 10, 2008
First off, weight loss is not always a straight line loss. Some times there
are plateaus. Some times there are gains. There are a few possibilities
that you need to consider. The first is: Are you retaining water? The
second is: Are you getting enough protein and exercise? In the FIRST
scenario the issue will probably resolve itself given time. In a few days
or a week or so, you will lose the water and lose the weight. The SECOND
scenario is actually a GOOD thing if it is occurring! If the SECOND
scenario is the case, what is happening is that the protein that you
consume is being turned into lean muscle mass on your body by the exercise.
Lean muscle weighs more than FAT per cubic inch so you can't measure your
progress by the SCALE at this stage of your weight loss, but you CAN with a
MEASURING TAPE! If you are NOT dropping pounds but ARE dropping INCHES, you
are GAINING muscle! MORE MUSCLE means LESS FAT! The lean muscle mass will
help to ACCELERATE your weight loss! There is the possibility of a THIRD
option that I did NOT mention before. If one of the FIRST two is not your
problem, then the THIRD option is likely.
The THIRD option is that your body's Metabolism SET Point could have
readjusted itself to starvation mode. This IS possible. Give it some time.
If things don't start working in a week or so you may want to contact your
physician and get PROFESSIONAL advice or go to a CERTIFIED nutritionist. A
CERTIFIED nutritionist will be able to set you up with a dietary lifestyle
that will meet your nutritional needs and your dietary preferences so that
you are likely to STICK with it. You will also be able to LOSE your weight
because he or she will be able to CALCULATE the calories that you need to
consume to lose the weight at the maximum rate that your body will allow
without triggering your body's metabolism set point. This is probably the
problem you are having now. You need to eat a certain number of calories a
day, or your body starts holding on to all the FAT that it has stored and
actually starts robbing your body of it's own PROTEIN instead. What your
body takes instead of the fat is MUSCLE. You do NOT want it to do that.
Muscle BURNS fat! Your body does not discriminate from WHAT muscle it robs
the protein FROM either. It will take it from your HEART muscle as readily
as it will from your LEG muscle. You need to eat a certain amount of both
PROTEIN and CARBOHYDRATE a day, and for each person that amount will be
different depending upon what that person's GOAL is. If your goal is to
lose weight, and you are a SMALL WOMAN, the requirements will be different
than if you were a large MAN who wants to MAINTAIN your weight. This is why
you cannot use someone ELSE'S dietary program to optimize your weight loss.
Your best bet is to talk to a nutritionist and have him or her outline a
PERSONAL diet plan JUST FOR YOU. In order for you to MAXIMIZE your weight
loss, you need to eat the proper amount of both protein AND carbohydrates.
For ME, that ratio is about 20 grams of protein per meal to 20 to 40 grams
of carbohydrates per meal. I eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. I am a 6 foot 3
inch tall MALE, so my needs are going to be different than YOURS. I also
have a severely restrictive diet due to MANY severe allergies. Add to that
the fact that there are some foods that I will not eat for religious
reasons and OTHERS that I will not eat because I dislike them, and my
nutritionist had her work cut out for her. Each person should have a diet
plan worked up PERSONALLY by a nutritionist instead of using someone ELSE'S
information because the other person's information may not hold true for
YOU. YOU may be smaller or larger than the other person, and that
difference will throw off the calculations needed for your optimal weight
loss. You may also have different GOALS or be somewhere ELSE on the
journey. If you are trying to LOSE weight, and they are trying to MAINTAIN
it, you are going to be very FRUSTRATED if you try to use their diet to
lose weight. The GOOD news is that you do NOT have to give up bread and
pasta. Unless you find that it causes problems for you after your surgery.
Of course, If you INSIST on eating bread or pasta, it would not HURT to
make the change from WHITE bread to WHOLE WHEAT bread. The same goes for
PASTA. As long as you are going to CONSUME these things, let's TRY to make
them HEALTHY. We can only eat SO MUCH FOOD now. We need to make sure that
it is QUALITY food and NOT JUNK. Whole Wheat products can count as a
protein as WELL as a carbohydrate. The nutritionist will be able to assist
you to figure out EXACTLY how much you can have of what item without
causing yourself to derail from your weight loss goal. If your weight loss
surgeon provides a nutritionist as part of his services, then you are set!
If NOT, I would HIGHLY recommend that you look into getting one for
yourself. The nutritionist will save you a great deal of headache and
heartache in the future, and will serve to make your weight loss a much
more productive experience.
I hope this helps, Hugh
Hugh
— hubarlow
August 10, 2008
You have already gotten some great answers about plateau's.. you are doing
great!! 52 lbs is awesome in just a few months!!
I hit a plateau at about that same point.. I think mine was when I had lost
51 lbs. I also have a tendency to obsess over my weight loss and it's very
hard for me to resist getting on the scale every day! I still do it from
time to time and everyone tells me NOTto weigh every day.. but it's one of
those things that's hard not to do. Here is one thing I did that worked for
me..
I went shopping and bought a pair of really cute jeans in the next size
down .. they were really cute with rhinestones on the back pockets and
everything. Then I hung them up on the wall in my bedroom.. instead of
weighing every day, I would look at the jeans and tell myself that one day
I'd fit into them. It kept me from getting on the scale every day and gave
me something different to focus on ..
You are really doing great!! Don't get discouraged.. the weight will keep
coming off!! Maggie
— Maggie E.
August 11, 2008
Jennie - thanks for posting this question. First, 52 pounds is great in
three months! I am 16 weeks out from lap band surgery and have lost 45
pounds so far. I have been experiencing the same thing you are. I try not
to get on the scale every day, but it's hard not too. I have noticed a
difference in my clothes - the ones that I recently bought are now loose on
me so I know that working out three times a week, plus walking is working
for me. But after so many years of trying to lose weight and only losing
so much, hitting a plateau is scarey and upsetting. Everyone I've talked
to about this have given me the same answers as those who have responded to
the question. So we're ok and will see the scale change soon! Best of
luck to you!
— Monte57
Click Here to Return