Question:
Gaining Weight? Constant Plateaus? What is up with this?
I can handle a plateau or two...but it seems that I am getting into this pattern of losing one or two pounds and then plateauing for 2 or more weeks. It is so disheartening. I don't know if I can cut back on food much more without starving. I am averging about 750-875 calories a day. This morning I got on the scales and actually gained 1.5 pounds! I am so sad. I can't understand how I can gain on so little. I don't think it has to do with water weight or that time of the month since I haven't gained any weight related to that since the surgery 6.5 months ago. I am upping my exercise and water, but I am thinking that this is it for me. I figure I must have a super slow metabolism and will be forced to continue to cut back on food until I am eating virtually nothing to lose more weight or even to maintain for that matter! I could have starved myself WITHOUT the surgery. I am fasting today to try and lose that 1.5 pounds I gained and get back on track. I wish I had tried to eat a whole bunch in the first few months after surgery, so I would have something to cut back on now. I know people in my support group that can eat all day long and still lose. Why not me? What am I doing wrong? The only time I seem to lose is when I am hungry. When I try to increase my calories and protein and eat like everyone else I know who had the surgery....I stop losing and start gaining! Please Help! (open RNY 7/23/03 -112 lbs) — Shawnie S. (posted on February 9, 2003)
February 9, 2003
um, you have lost 112 pounds and you are complainning? i had my surgery
the day b/f you and i have lost 92 pounds. i would say you are doing
pretty good.
i have been stuck at 90 pounds for three weeks now and have gone up and
down. so i started exercising more(really breaking a sweat) and increasing
my water and protein and eat no carbs and i broke my plateau last week
while i was on my cycle. so i was happy.
you have lost an enourmous amount of weight and your body has to adjust.
good luck
— Jennifer S.
February 9, 2003
This from my Weight Watchers days....DON'T fast! Your body shuts down to
conserve, thinking you are starving. From what I have read, it sounds like
you are consuming way too FEW calories. Eat MORE protein and keep on
drinking the water. Do you get exercise? I bet if you INCREASE your
calorie intake with the right foods, you will lose again. Good luck to
you. You have done a TERRIFIC job! (Open RNY 10/30/02 -95 lbs)
— Ginger M.
February 9, 2003
Shawnie - you are doing great. Of course, I have told you that every other
time you have posted this same question over the last couple of months.
112 pounds in 6 1/2 months is great. I've lost 152 pounds in 6 3/4 months
(I was operated on a week before you), but then again, I weighed
significantly more than you did pre-op (427). You should be doing at
least 1000 calories a day. I was doing 400-600 a month ago and things
were slowing down and when I stepped it up to 800+ (I am still not up to
1000), my weight loss picked up again. Are you tracking your intake
through fitday.com or another similar site?
<p>
You also need to put that scale away. If you eat right and get in your
protein and water and exercise, you are doing the right thing - even if the
scale says you are not losing. How have your measurements been during
these plateaus? Have they remained constant or are you losing inches
despite not losing the weight? JR
— John Rushton
February 9, 2003
I know plateaus can be extremely frustrating!!! Whenever my weight stalls
for a few days, I switch to NO carbs at all and all protein. Drink all my
water also. I don't worry about the calories or fat, just no carbs at all.
Best of luck!!!
— Stacy L.
February 9, 2003
Hi Shawnie:
I had lap rny on 8/21/02, and have lost 67-69 pounds, roughly half of what
you have lost. However, my pattern is similar to yours. I only record my
weight weekly, but some weeks I will weigh more in between. For example, I
record my weight on Wednesday, the day of my surgery. Sometimes on that
Sunday, my weight is up a pound or two. By the following Wednesday, it is
down a pound, sometimes two. Maybe you are at the point where you are only
going to lose one or two pounds per week. I have been doing that since
month two. Don't worry it will come off. In fact, I think if you vary
your calorie pattern, having 1,200 calories one day per week, and 1,000
calories per day the rest of the week, your weight loss may jump start. I
just read an interesting article in a magazine about the things you don't
learn at Weight Watchers. According to the article, those in the 22-28
point range who eat 22 points every day, plateau easily. The secret, so
they say, is to eat 22 points two days, 28 points 2 days, 25 points 1 day,
and 30-32 points two days. Varying the calorie intake, even increasing it,
jump starts your weight loss program. I think there is some validity in
this article. Eating 700-800 calories for so long will actually slow your
weight loss. Try increasing to 1000 calories or 1200 calories, and
alternating 800 calorie days. I think you will get good results from this.
Love Grace
— Grace H.
February 10, 2003
Hi Shawnie,
Congratulations on your weightloss. Plateaus are to be expected.
Fluctuating a few pounds due to water weight are too. Please don't get
fixated on calories. Just up your protein intake, lay off fruits and any
carbs other than non-starchy veggies and drink your water. AND, be sure
you're excercising at least 3 times a week if not more. In a week I bet
you lost a few pounds and get back on track. It works for me. And please,
don't fast. It's not good for you and doesn't accomplish anything.
I'm 10# from my goal and the end takes time, but who cares? We're so much
better off than we were over 100# ago, right?
Diane
www.WeightlossSurgery.ws
— DianeN
February 12, 2003
I think you are beating yourself up needlessly. You are not a slow loser by
any means. I weighed 313 lbs 2 months before surgery, lost 15 and weighed
in at 298 the day prior at my surgeon's office. My surgery was 2/28/02,
almost a year ago and I have lost 97.5 lbs since then. That is nowhere near
the amount you have lost in 1/2 the time. Why are you worried? Stop
comparing, concentrate on eating good protein sources and veggies. The
worst thing to do now is starve yourself. Take it from me, eating one meal
a day while a freshman in high school for months doomed me to years of
morbid obesity, why go through that again? I eat what I want now, almost a
year out and the weight is still coming off, albeit VERY slowly. I lost 8
lbs in the last month, so I know I am still in the window of opportunity,
18-24 months out. And, I am going to up my exercise to see if that helps
shed more. For right now though, considering the stage you are in at this
point, I wouldn't fret or worry unless you consistently gained over a
period of months, then start worrying. Otherwise, stay off that scale, it
lies!! One day you will be 1.5 lbs heavier, the next you'll be down 3.5, it
isn't an accurate measure of how you're doing. The only real measure is
your clothes. Good luck and relax!
— Diana M.
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