6 weeks out & haven't lost in 3 weeks

Hello! I am new to this board. I had an RNY done on June 21st. I was 240 on day of surgery and am now 212. (and I also lost 7 lbs pre-op) So, I know that 28 lbs lost is very good. But, I haven't lost any weight in 3 weeks! I am getting so frustrated, I wish that it would pick up. Has anybody else had this happen so early out for so long? At my 2 week checkup my doctor told me that I should be at 187-190 at my 8 week mark. But I am going to be lucky if in 2 weeks from now I am under the 210 mark! I have been getting in plenty of protein and water. I have been exercising several times per week too. What should I do to break this, does anybody know? Can anyone relate? Help!

Hi Tiffany, You lost 28 lbs in 3 weeks! That's wonderful. I had my surgery on June 20th and have "only" lost 30 lbs to date. I too feel that this is a little slow, but I have been continually losing. Maybe it's just taking your body a while to catch-up with the tremedous loss. Keep up the good work! Shirley

I spoke with my surgeon about this because the same happened to me. He said to watch what I am eating, make sure my calories are at least 600 - 800 a day so my body didn't go into starvation. I have done all of this and now have started loosing again. Good Luck. Shelley

I think our body goes into starvation mode no matter what because it is used to us eating the amount we ate before. The first month or two is the hardest and then our body starts to conform. I have lost a total of 54 lbs and I had surgery June 14th..I lost 20lbs post op. Hugs!

Tiffany, I had my surgery on the 22 of June and have only lost 21 lbs to date. A couple of weeks ago I lost only one pound and panicked (sp?) and emailed my nutritionist. After she looked at my averages of protein, fat, carbs, calories and liquid she told me to drink more and up my protein to a minimum of 800 cals!!!! I couldn't figure out how I was going to do it - but I did and now I do get at least 800 cals and 50-60 oz. liquid each day. I have started losing again by doing this. She told me that if I didn't lose for 3 straight weeks then that meant I had gone into the starvation mode - sounds like your situation. I hope this helps - I know it can be a challenge to bump UP the food - sounds strange to us that we must EAT MORE food to LOSE weight! This is the exact opposite of what we have lived by our entire lives. Good luck, you've done great so far so I'm sure you'll get back to it in quick order! Penny

I'm in the same situation. At 5 weeks, I was down 24 lbs. and have hovered around the same weight for the last three weeks. I hope something gives soon!

Hey tiffany... I copied this from a website... http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/32093.htm body stuck in starvation mode 02/08/2005 05:21PM Question: Could you please provide information or sources for information about people who are stuck in the starvation mode but still have weight to lose. They exercise and what their calorie intake and are motivated but can not lose any more weight. It has been going on for years. Please help. Thank you. Answer: When I have patients that hit a plateau, I look at several things. First, have them take a look at their food records. Are they keeping an accurate record of everything they eat and drink? Are they actually measuring out foods or simply guessing at the portions? Next we look at their exercise. Are they challenging their bodies by increasing their workout routines regularly? Are they incorporating strength training? If we look at all of these factors and the individual seems to be doing what they can from a food and exercise point, then I may suggest a resting metabolic rate. With the help of this we can get a better understanding of how many calories they require in order to maintain their weight. Once it is determined what is needed to maintain, then we know the deficit that needs to be made in order to promote weight loss. The resting metabolic rate test takes the guess work out of setting up meal and exercise plans to help individuals lose weight. The easiest way to get this done is by the MedGem, and the company website www.healthetech.com can guide you to a facility that offers these close to you. Here is some more info: What's the link between muscle and metabolism? The metabolic rate - the rate at which the body burns calories - is partly determined by the amount of muscle we have. In general, the more muscle we have, the higher our metabolic rate; the less muscle we have, the lower our metabolic rate. This explains why men, who have a high proportion of muscle, have a faster metabolism than women, and why a 20-year-old has a higher metabolism than a 70-year-old - again, they have more muscle. Ultimately, muscle burns a lot more calories than fat so when we lose muscle, our metabolic rate drops and we burn fewer calories. In fact, research shows that the body loses a proportionately high amount of muscle with a very low calorie intake and this may considerably suppress metabolism by up to 45 percent. This explains why it's crucial to do as much as you can to protect your metabolic rate, especially when you're dieting. And this means dieting sensibly with a suitable, rather than a very low calorie intake so that you lose fat rather than muscle. Is there anything else I can do to stop losing muscle when I'm dieting? As well as making sure you have sufficient calories to burn fat rather than muscle, it's also possible to build muscle, which in turn boosts metabolism. And the way to do this is, of course, to increase the amount of exercise you do. While aerobic activities such as jogging, swimming, fast walking and aerobic classes help to tone muscle and burn fat, strength or resistance training in particular will increase the amount of muscle you have in your body. And this is good news because for every extra 1lb of muscle you have, your body uses around an extra 50 calories a day! This means an extra 10lb of muscle will burn roughly an extra 500 calories a day without you doing anything - and that's a sufficient amount to lose 1lb in a week. But doesn't your metabolism drop when you lose weight anyway? Yes, your metabolic rate naturally slows down a little when you lose weight, but this isn't automatically because you've lost muscle. It's because when your body has less weight to carry around, it needs fewer calories. This means if you weighed 13st to start with and now weigh 9st, you need fewer calories to maintain your new weight than you did when you were heavier. Simply put, there's 4st less of you to carry up and down the stairs, into the bath, around the supermarket and to the bus stop - and because your body doesn't have to work as hard as it did in the past, it can survive on fewer calories! This is why you should regularly update your Goals and Results - as your weight drops, Weight Loss Resources will recalculate how many calories you need to keep losing weight at your chosen rate. Will yo-yo dieting have damaged my metabolism permanently? Fortunately not! The idea that yo-yo dieting permanently lowers your metabolism has been relegated to the archives. However, if you've frequently crash dieted and severely restricted your calorie intake without exercising, it's likely you'll have a lot less muscle now compared with the very first time you dieted. As a consequence, it's likely your metabolism will also be lower so that you need fewer calories to maintain your current weight. This is because when you follow a very low calorie diet, you lose muscle as well as fat (see above). But when the weight goes back on, you usually only regain fat. This means, your metabolic rate is likely to have dropped a little every time you've dieted, making it slightly harder each time for you to lose weight. The good news is you can increase the amount of muscle you have by increasing the amount of exercise you do. This in turn will rev up your metabolism so that you can lose weight one final time on a slightly higher calorie intake than you've perhaps been used to. To Good Health!

Yes I have been there. What I did, I got me some GNC Soy Protein which has 13 grams per scoop. Buy some sugar free pudding and measure them into 4 ounce containers and put in frig. Now, what I do is this: put some ice in the blender and crunch add a container of pudding two scoops of protein which will equal 26 grams a tad bit of skim milk to make it blend better I Drink two or three of them a day for a lot of protein and drink all of my 64 ounces of water and the scales move in a few days. Of course with allthe drinking and protein, sometimes I don't have room to eat, like yesterday, but tonight I ate a little. Make sure you take all your vitamins too. You do not taste the soy protein in the pudding! and It is a fantastic way to get protein quickly and easily throughout the day!!! Hugs