Plateau, anyone?

Weighed today after 3 weeks and haven't lost a thing. 22 weeks out from surgery on 10/12/04. This was an old stopping point on the way up the scale, so that might have something to do with it, eating too much salt, not enough exercise.... This is disappointing and discouraging. I hope this isn't the end of my weight loss. Anyone else experiencing this? Anybody else move beyond it? 370/286/????

Plateaus are the worst. I have 3 weeks out of every month where I don't lose. I too get very discouraged. And the disappointment I feel when I weigh in once a week just makes me want to binge on comfort foods. Now I know this would only stall my loss even more. But yesterday I couldn't take it any more and ate one of the woopie pies a friend brought in for the kids. OMG, it tasted so good that I gobbled down the whole thing in a few minutes. Yep, I dumped. This was the first time I dumped on sugar. Its a terrable feelling. I never want to feel like that again. I also have stick points in my weight. I was 235# for a while and that is where my loss stalled the first time. Another time I was at 200# for a while and now I'm stuck there. So I do think we have set points in our loss. Please hang in there, I know your weight will start to move down again as will mine. I just have to be stronger than the need to comfort myself with food. Barbara

Hi Barbara - thanks for your encouraging words. It is scary to wonder that after going through this surgery I won't lose any more weight - but logically - I WILL lose more, darn it. Just have to have more patience and stick with the drill. Hope you are well.

HANG IN THERE IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WEIGHT LOSS. I WILL BE 5 MONTHS ON THE 21ST, I HAVE HAD A FEW LONG LASTING PLATEUS MYSELF, THEY PASS. JUST KEEP DRINKING H2O AND EXERCISE. YOUR BODY HAS TO ADJUST TO THE FAST WEIGHT LOSS, SO IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR STALLED BUT YOU WILL RESTART AGAIN SOON...JUST REMEMBER YOU WILL LOOSE FOR ABOUT 18 MONTHS POST-OP, BUT IT SLOWS DOWN. KEEP REMINDING YOURSELF THIS IS NOT A OVERNIGHT FIX, THE WEIGHT WILL COME OFF. 357/245.... THIS IS THE BEST THING FOR ALL OF US. YOUR DOING GREAT, SMILE WE'RE ALL GOING THROUGH THE SAME THINGS JUST AT DIFFERENT TIMES.

Just have to hang in there - cut the salt and get more water ... + exercise + protein. But this is one of my old set points. If/When I get beyond this, I'll be in weight range territory I've not seen for more years than I care to think about. It looks like you're losing really well 357 -> 245. Way to go - feeling better, too, I suppose! Thanks for the encouragement!

Hello Kiki, I had hit a stall period and here is what I updated today on my profile (perhaps it will help, perhaps not): Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Well I have a lot to post today. The last time I posted was over a month ago. The reason being is---> I hit a stall!!! For nearly 4 weeks I hadn't lost one single iota of a pound. I did lose inches, but no weight. I attributed this at the beginning of the four weeks to running out of my fluid pills. I was without them for nearly a month, the same time I lost NO weight. In fact from 2/22/05 - 3/01/05 (a total of one week)I gained 5 lbs. Then a week later I started losing again...slowly. On March 1st I weighed 330 lbs. and not until March 8th (a week later) did I lose a pound and was now at 329 lbs.! Three days later (March 11th) I was down to 327 3/4 lbs. On March 12th I was 322 lbs., on March 13th I was 316 lbs, on March 14th I weighed 313.75, on the 15th (TODAY) I weigh 309.25. That is a total loss of 20.75 lbs in two weeks! Take a guess when I received my new supply of water pills? March 11th (4 days ago). Do you think not having any water pills made any difference to my body? You bet it did. What I am trying to say here is...if anyone who is/was super morbidly obese and they tend to retain a LOT of fluid (I have retained a lot of fluid since I was in my mid twenties)and you find that you have come to a stall (and aren't taking water pills/not losing weight), just possibly it could be because you are retaining fluid. I think I will probably need to stay on fluid pill the rest of my life or until I am at least at a "normal" weight. I do exercise more then I did starting out on this journey, I have increased (exercised harder) not longer and have included a few more aerobic activities to my exercise regimin. I feel a culmination of the exercise AND the water pills are helping me to lose again. Yes, my body may/could have been in shock from losing so much weight (75 lbs) so fast and therefore went in a slow down period. Let me tell you, I was really depressed and worried that I wouldn't lose any more weight then the 75 I already had lost. I had feelings and thoughts of "did I go through this life altering change, for only a 75 lb loss when I have so much more to lose"? I am very thankful for my belief in God above and for having perserverance in sticking to the rules of the pouch through this temporary stall. It wasn't easy, but I had faith and (hope) that is was just temporary. Not to mention the wonderful support I received from other WLS people here on OH. It isn't to say also, that there were times I got very depressed and would take long naps during the day when I was on this stall. I am writing this, not only to give information to those out there that may be in the same situation, but to document it so that I have it to fall back on in case I need a reference of some kind in the future. I have also noticed that in the past two weeks I haven't missed any day of exercise and I have increased my workouts using various exercise. As of today I am down 90 3/4 lbs in 20 weeks and averages to 4.5375 lbs a week. I started out with a BMI of 62.6 and today I am down to a BMI of 48.4. I have reached Morbidly Obese from Super Morbidly Obese!!! It can only get better from here. I honestly believe you will start to lose again. I did everything I could to figure out why I wasn't losing, did so much research, questioning here on OH and also found a great website that I go to all the time now. It is: www.thinnerself.com What an awesome website, check it out! I wish you the best of luck! Audrey

ive been on playeaus for a long time off and on since the first 2 months out of surgery. yes they can be discouraging but I console my self with thnking back on my thoughts pre - surgery. I remember sayig to myself that my goal was to lose 100 pounds by the end of the f irst year, and how successful I would have considered that goal to be. Imagine losing 100 pounds in 12 months thats a bit over 8 pounds a onth which in the old days pre surgery would have seemed like a mountain to high to climb. I was surprised by the rapid weight loss at first for me, I beleive I went down 60 pounds int he first 6 weeks after surgery, then the stalls set in... bottom line here it is 5 months out and I am down roughly 90 pounds , lets see that puts me nearly 7 months ahed of my pre surgery goal assuming I cn drop the next 10 pounds quickly. but even if they continue to come off slowly and only a bit each month its still a masive loss since surgery and I dont feel like I should be complaining. My only true complaint is that the weight I am lsoing is not comming off from my middle area which is of course where I want it to come from, my butt has disappeared and my chest has now sagged into my middle(g) but my extra innertube of weight is still right where it has always been probably a lot less of it but still plenty to see . ah well one cant have everything and I am sure it will be thelast place to leave. one note, I did try to start doing situps the other say, now bear in mind even at my highest weight I cold do sit ups, but no more, I got down on the ground and tried and could not bend from the middle, I figure its due to the muscles having been cut during surgery but it was very frustrating. I amgiong to have to find a medium that works those muscels slowly I guess. I have started bike riding in the evening, only a mile a night, and beleive me I have not ridden a bike in over 35 years, and that first night when I tried to get off the bike my legs felt like jello and I wasnt sure id make it into the house. it gets better but I can still tell that I need a lot more exercise. i was surprised that bike riding did more for muscles than walkiing and I hope to continue by increasing my riding to 3 miles a day eventually. hope all are having a great day. one of my wow moments? well , I was walkign the dog the other day and a van went by , then stopped and returned and the lady whom I dont relly know asked me if I was ok , as she had noticed me walking recently and wondered why I was losing so much weight. kind of weird to have total strangers stop you but felt great the rest of the day on that high feeling.

Kiki, Its a horrible feeling. It is so ironic that we had surgery on the same day and we both have hit a plateau. I feel as if I haven't lost in over 3 wks as well.I felt so good when I bought my scale and it said that I was at 350lbs, meaning I had lost 100lbs. Then it went down to 345lbs and have been their every sense. I am scared to death but i try to ontinue doing daty to day things. I really hope that we point pass this plateau VERY SOON so that we can get back on track. If you would like to talk, please email. Erica

Hi Erica, Sent you an email - it is difficult when the #s aren't coming off as they were at the start - to not get discouraged. Went through another stall a way back and it all made sense at about the 4th - 5th week when the weight just dropped suddenly. HOWEVER, when it is happening it can be very frightening. But, I have to believe that the weight will continue to drop - even if I've had a not so great day with the carbs or the food choices. Sooner or later, the body will catch up and drop the weight. All along, the weight loss has been slow for about 3 weeks, then drops - this latest stall doesn't seem exactly like that. Are you now at an old set point weight from when you were going up the scale? This weight I'm at is an old set point. I am eagerly looking forward to moving beyond this and hope we can both stay encouraged by our successes so far. The scale WILL move again!!!! Hang in there and email me if you feel like it. Kiki

Kiki, Thank you so much! I feel that I want it to move so bad that the weight is just being stubborn! The weight I am now is the lightest I ahve been in years. for a long time I was at 380lbs. I am at 345 and I am stalled for now. I just need to be patient until my body catches up with me. Erica