Question:
How long is TOO long, to be on a plateatu?

Hi, I am 10 weeks post-op and have lost 45lbs total...about 5 weeks ago was when I hit my plateatu, and have been battling with losing and gaining the same 2lbs!! I have read the other boards and know that this is "normal", but I just had to put this out there...HOW LONG IS TOO LONG? I am grateful for what I have lost, but this has become very discouraging!! I get my protein in, my water, and I walk 40min. at LEAST 3 times a week... Please help with any advice, or words of encouragement! thanks!    — Paige M. (posted on May 19, 2003)

May 19, 2003
Yes,platueas are normal. I've had a couple that were 5 weeks and more. Don't despair,your doing well. I'm glad to hear your walking. It's a wonderful exercise and it's something we can all do. My suggestion is to add another 40 minute walk each week. Your body gets used to your current activity level and will taper off with the weight loss. So in order to jump start your weight loss again. You need to shock the ol body with either more exercise or a different exercise. Try walking more times each week,try walking for longer periods of time, or try something new like, swimming. Best of luck. Let me know how your doing. [email protected] Becky
   — perpetualuv

May 19, 2003
Boy can I relate to this one! I have battled with the same 2 pound fluctuation for the past two and a half months!! I guess I am completely done losing weight, which is somewhat okay I suppose, since I'm at goal, but I would ideally like to lose 5 or so more pounds. I excersize 5 or 6 days per week, doing weight training, running, walking and abdominals. I haven't been drinking my water as religiously as I should, but my protein level is pretty good. I'm pretty frustrated, as it seems to me what small amounts I'm eating (in comparisan to people who haven't had surgery) combined with my vigorous excersize I should be able to lose a bit more. Anyone been at a standstill for this long and still managed to lose more?
   — Samantha S.

May 19, 2003
Paige, I think its time to shake things up. To break a plateau you have to "fool" the body into thinking its OK to let go of that weight. To do so, in addition to varying your exercise routine (add a work out session one week, do one less the next week and vary the type of exercise), change up the diet. You may not be eating enough calories. If your body thinks that you are starving it, it will try to hoard the remaining calories and fat and not let go, or do so very grudgingly. Add a few extra hundred calories a day (if you can't eat that much, do an extra protein shake or two). Do this for a week, then cut back a few hundred for several days, then up it again. Keep up the water, protein and exercise and it will move again.
   — Cindy R.

May 20, 2003
I feel your pain, Paige. =) I will be 7 weeks postop Friday and I hit a plateau about 3 weeks after surgery and was there till last week. I gained and lost the same 2 pounds about 30 times. =) I reduced my calories to about 700/day. I think I may have been getting too many, about 1200/day. Then I started walking at lunch, 2 miles in 30 minutes, which is brisk for my little, short legs. In the evening, after work, I was doing water aerobics 3 times a week but I've started doing Bodypump instead which is really awesome. (bodypump.com) I only use 2 1lb weights on my bar but it's all the reps that do it. I love the music! I'm going to try to incorporate a spinning class in there somewhere too. I would like to try the kickboxing and yoga class as well. I'm so glad they have a gym in my area with such a large selection of activities. It really helps keep me going back if I have a large variety of things to do. I've lost 40lbs and I've gone down 3 sizes in my blue jeans, in a 20 now down from a 26 preop, so I'm happy but I still get discouraged when I do everything right and still don't see the scale move. I've decided to try and weigh only once a month but I don't know if I'm gonna have any luck with that. I'm a scale junkie, totally compulsive. I have a hard time going a whole week, let alone a whole month without getting on my scale. Hey, maybe I'll put it up somewhere where I will have to actually go get it with a stepstool or something =D. Having it there on the floor is just too tempting. Just keep pluggin' away as my Dad always says. It'll come off. Good luck. [email protected]
   — macanudomiss B.

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