Question:
4 wks postop and already at a plateau for over a week....
Why is this happening? I have lost 9-1/2 inches according to my measurements and I am happy about that. Should I be concerned? I have only lost 18 pounds since surgery on June 18th. Others who had the surgery the same day and a week AFTER me have lost 25-35 pounds. I have to make myself eat 3 times a day and am still on a soft diet. Eating good protein foods, no junk foods. Drinking over 64 oz of water. Trying to walk when it's not so hot that it makes me sick. I'm getting discouraged. My doctor has had 100% of his patients lose their weight and of course I'm thinking I'll be the one who doesn't. I haven't lost any weight since July 5th. Today is the 15th. Should I be worried?? Is there a reason why I'm losing inches fine, but not pounds? Thanks. — Tracy B. (posted on July 15, 2001)
July 15, 2001
I had surgery on 6-19-01 and also experienced a plateau during week 3. It
was for about 7-10 days and now the scale has begun to move again, but I
don't think that it ever will move as quickly as those first two weeks. I
have read from other post-ops on this website that we have to plateau at
times for our bodies to catch up to the weight loss. They all stress to do
what you seem to be doing by drinking your water, concentrating on getting
the protein and vitamins in, etc. How much protein are you getting? Are you
doing protein supplements or not? We both have lost about the same amount
of inches which makes me feel good and the others posters say that during
plateaus we may often be losing inches, but just not pounds on the scale.
How rapidly we lose also depends on our starting weight it appears as well.
My BMI starting was 44 or 46. I wish you good luck and feel free to email
me so we can share our progress.
— Molly S.
July 15, 2001
My dr. "fussed" at me because I wasn't eating every 2-1/2 - 3
hours ... that's what keeps your metabolism going and you lose weight. He
said waiting too long to eat would make me very hungry and I will be more
apt to over eat and stretch my stomach. ALSO, drink a minimum of 64 oz. of
water per
day. I've also heard that going on a plateau is your body is trying to
catch up with the weight loss. EVERYONE has plateaus, so don't worry too
much...you will lose. Good luck!
— Betty Todd
July 16, 2001
First of all, I don't even bother to call them "plateaus" anymore
because I've had so many...EVERY SINGLE MONTH! I lost slowly also, and
here's how I've lost and continue to lose: I won't lose a pound all month,
then the 3rd of 4th week I'll drop all the pounds at once. In April I only
lost 7 pounds, in May 5 pounds, so it appeared to be slowing donw. In June
I lost 3 in the third week, but then in the 4th week I dropped 7 more
pounds! This month I haven't lost a single ounce yet, I'm hoping I lose in
the last week, but not sure that I will. Every month has been stressful
for me, not knowing if I'll lose or not, or is this the month it STOPS
COMPLETELY, especially since after about 4-5 months you can eat so much
more food! So as you can see by my strange weight loss pattern, I don't
think calling it "plateaus" truly describes it. I think we each
just let go of the fat differently. I will be six months out on 7/24, and
it hasn't been as easy as many people made it sound when I was researching.
It's hard work, and a support group may help if you get anxious, as I do!
Good Luck!
— Tina C.
Click Here to Return