I HATE MY SCALE!!!

Okay, I am 3-1/2 weeks out from surgery. No food two weeks before or after and now pureed food. I get on the scale this morning and it shows I have gained 3lbs. What the heck is this all about. I had lost 40 lbs now I am at 37lbs. I have been very weak lately and not getting in my full liquids and almost all my protein (35 grms). I have not been able to drink alot or I just plain forget to drink. Now this morning, I can almost drink like I was able to before surgery. Take a nice mouthful and swallow, no problem. Is this just another "step" I have to go through. I do exercise at least every other day. I just have no umf to do anything. I need any and all suggestions. Thanks bunches everybody and Merry Christmas. Kap

My story is this - I went in for a post op visit. I was upset that I wasn't losing as fast as I thought I should. In fact, wasn't losing for a week and a half. I looked at my doctor and said, "How do I know this is going to work since nothing else has?" He looked at my chart, and with a knowing look on his face, he said, "Yup, 3 weeks, right on schedule." What you are going thru and feeling is VERY common for this time period. Nothing has ever worked before. We are skeptical that this will. My sage advice is, take a deep breath. This surgery will work. Your body has gone thru a tremendous change. You will have periods where you won't lose for a week or longer then overnight drop 5 pounds. The key is to stick to the program. You may be gaining because you aren't drinking enough. If your body thinks it's dehydrating, it will hang on to every drop. Drink more. It's really important especially in the early stages. It will help keep your kidneys healthy also since all you are eating is protein. You should be aiming for at least 70 gms of protein. You need that much to maintain muscle. You should also be getting at least 700 calories a day. Below that the body goes into starvation mode and you won't lose as fast. You could feel weak because of dehydration or lack of protein. Are you supplementing protein with some sort of shake? At this stage, you really can't eat enough to get it all in. If you drink milk, try this - 1C skim milk, 1/3C non-fat powdered milk, and SF Nestle Quick to taste. Makes a great shake with about 15 gms of protein. Early in my program we did 3 a day. Are you taking vitamins and B12? Are you taking calcium? You are very early out so don't expect to have any umf. It's gonna be a while. Be kind to yourself, stay off the dang scale and stick to your doc's program. But get in ALL your fluids and protein. It's very important at this early stage in order to heal and get healthy. And 37 pounds at 3 weeks is great! I was at 27 at three weeks. Be happy with the lose you already have achieved. When in the past did you ever lose that much in 3 weeks? Deep breath!

Lyn, your wounderful. Thank you so much for you wounderful response. I guess I still at times need some reassurance. I have uped my protein by doing two shakes a day and I have really concentrated on drinking more liquids. I need to worry less about eating and more on protein and liquid. It is only 3 weeks out, I am expecting too much from myself. Deep breath taken!! Thank you and a very Merry Christmas to you and your's. Kathy