Help! Stall!!

Things have been moving along slowly but somewhat consistant. I have now been stalled for over a week and starting to panic. I don't know if it is new birth control or gym. Any suggestions? I really want to break this so I can get under 200. Also, what is a good suggestion for fiber??? Thank you guys for all your support and good advice!!!

Stalls are normal.  I have had one last for a month.  Breaking them can be as easy as switching up your routine.  We are creatures of habit, eating pretty much the same combos each day.  Throw in some extra calories for a day or two.  If you are a gym rat, Danni will probably tell you that you need to ramp up your calories anyway.  New birth control could certainly contribute to a stall.  Upping your water is another thing that might help.  It certainly wont hurt.  I wish you luck.  The stall will break, just keep doing the next right thing, and you will be good to go.  I feel for you.  We have all been there. 

Much love,

Jenn

Regarding fiber, take a look at what you're eating and increase or include more veggies.  Especially things like cucumbers, bell peppers, celery...  They are very high in fiber with no calories to pay for.  Also, you might consider adding a daily dose of oatmeal to your diet (also high in fiber).

Fiber choice also makes a chewable fiber tablet that tastes good (picked them up at Wal-Mart).

Hope these help!

First of all, stalls are normal and it doesn't mean your surgery isn't working or you are doing something wrong - sometimes your body just takes a break.

Also, nearly everybody who starts exercising or increases their exercise level stops losing weight for a period of time.  Very frustrating, since you expect the opposite!  Are you taking your measurements?  I took mine every Sunday and I always laughed that the weeks I lost the least seemed to always be the weeks I lost the most inches. Crazy, isn't it?

I have an article on my home laptop that explains why you quit losing weight when you start to exercise - I will post it for you this evening.  It has to do with burning your short-term energy source (glycogen) vs long term energy storage (fat).  Basically when your body replenishes your glycogen stores, it has to store a lot of water with it to stay soluble and it shows up as either a weight "gain" or no loss as the extra water storage = fat burned.

I was going to say that I stalled for a couple of weeks every now and then. Like previous people said it is a combination of things.  Make sure to measure yourself, your body might be readjusting its weight and where things are stored so that it can better utilize and release that stored energy. 

Dont get discouraged!  Everything is working.  I think someone on here said they stalled for a month or so (AGH!) but kept plugging a way at it, because the inches are changing. 

Birthcontrol would be one factor as well - you are adding a hormone to your body and your body has to figure out how to process that.  It takes a little bit.

Exercising is also going to do it because of the great reasons someone gave above.  KEEP PLUGGING AWAY! Increase your water intake (need more since you are working out), and add some calories.  If you are working out and eating to few calories your body goes to starvation mode, and holds onto fat. 

Stay with it! I am rooting for you!!! 

 Ok, Im sending the stall breaking fairy your way! 

Seriously though... stalls are so normal. I have a pattern with them! I lose for 2 weeks, then stall for 2 weeks, off and on since surgery. Crazy & frustrating. But...when the stall is over, and I start losing, it is usually daily or every other day. I usually end up with 15lbs lost during those two weeks. I am not sure why my body does this, or why I have them so often, but I do. I try to get used to them and ignore it, but it can be frustrating. Hang in there. IT WILL happen...

Hey girl!! Why didnt you text me little momma!!! 

I know how you feel! Remember I was at the Dr. on the 15th, well I've lost 1 little lb since that Dr. appointment dude! 1!! things have been pretty quick for me because I had a little more to loose then you. My strategy for getting through this, is staying off the freaking scale! I weigh myself like 1 time a week, or every 2 weeks because after being here on OH and seeing all the posts about stalls, I know it happens. This is just the way our bodies work. Next week is my first week of hard-core working out, so I'm for sure worried that it's going to start stalling up, but I'm am just also ready for the inches to start dropping too... I really want to be down to 200 by the end of september, so I'm just going to keep plugging away and following the rules!!! It might be slow, but just keep trying to think about where you were before... could you have lost any weight after EVERYTHING you tried pre-op?? Could you have been dropping all these inches?? You are doing GREAT and I'm so proud of you!!! Keep texting/calling me and we can work through these issues together!!!

I was glad to see this post because I am currently stalled out and waiting for it to break. I have been really busy lately and maybe that is it.  I am 2 months out and I have lost 50 pounds.  I keep thinking about that because I think that is a great accomplishment.  Anyway for fiber I have snacking on almonds and it has been working great at keeping me regular. i don't eat but maybe one serving of almonds per day since they do have fat in them...but I don''t dump with it and it has protein and fiber in it.  I also have been adding frozen fruit to my drinks. For example I add strawberries to my lemon aide and it tastes great especially since it is summer it is very refreshing.

Hope this helps!
Tonya

Stalls: do like everyone says-change your routine, shake things up and be patient.  It WILL pass.

Fiber:  Benefiber powder has NO taste.  I add mine to my protein drink everyday and have no problems with constipation.  BUT if you do get constipated, cheap ole glycerin suppositories ($4 for 50 of them at Walmart) will take care of the problem in about an hour.

Courtesy from a poster on another OH forum board:

When you magically drop x pounds per day or x pounds in the first week, two weeks, three weeks, etc. after surgery, it feels like a dream come true.

But: IT. WILL. STOP. Because it is NOT fat. It is WATER. This is what is happening, courtesy of Diana Cox, who is a molecular biologist Ph.D. and taught stuff like this in medical school:

Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when you are not getting in enough food, your body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen, you also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of a diet.

As you stay in caloric deficit, however, your body starts to realize that this is not a short term problem. You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But your body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a sabertooth tiger. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body, your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while as you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.