Did I make a MISTAKE? ???

Hi Everyone, 

I started on this Vertical Sleeve Journey on Nov 10, 2016, by Dr Ismael vazquez Bailon at around 196 lbs, in the fist 2 weeks I had lost 20 lbs, now since Nov 25, maybe a pound, currently at 175 lbs. I'm finally at the point where I can get about 40 grams of protein in, anymore and I get sick, getting my water in, strictly limiting my calories. ...I'M not exercising, but haven't lost one pound in at least 5 weeks. Not eating more than 650 calories a day....I don't know what to do, I really don't have time to exercise or the money for a gym, I live in a room. Any idea why I'm not losing? ANYONE with similar story? Do u think the surgeon did something wrong? Should I get tests to see is he made my sleeve too large? Thank u so much for any replies.

Revision to Sleeve

Surgery Weight 196

Current Weight 175

Surgery date Nov 10, 2016

On average, revision patients lose 20 pounds.  Part of that is from the liquid diet before and after surgery.  After that big loss, you should be able to lose 1/2 to 1 pound a week.  That is not from the surgery, but the surgery helps make it easier to eat small amounts of food.

That will put you at your goal weight by the end of this year.  The big impressive loss after the first weight loss surgery for most of us is a once in a lifetime thing.  Exercise can help a small amount.  Eliminating bread, cereal, rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, peas, pastries, and other carbs will give you an advantage.

Sometimes we need to make time to take care of ourselves.  The things I cannot do without are a good scale, a food scale and MyFitnessPal.  It is so easy to get in too many calories by estimating what I eat and by forgetting what I ate. 

Today I start my annual after hoIlidays diet.  I will be logging my food and adding more exercise.  I am in my 10th year after surgery and will say that surgery helped me to get to a normal weight and now hard work and will power help keep me there.

Do you weigh everything you eat on a kitchen scale and log it? Eery last bite? Because if you are just estimating portions, I guarantee you are eating more than you think.

If you are truly eating 650 calories a day, you will lose weight. It is absolutely, positively not possible to maintain your weight over time on 650 calories.

In my personal experience eating to low in calories always causes a stall. Especially if most of my calories are liquid calories..so i have to eat solids and vary my calories each day. The first two weeks go really well on a low cal diet then i hit a stall. Thats when i know i have to switch it up..then i start to lose again...i know you said you dont have money for fitness. But just taking a walk or even a run in you neighborhood counts...you can buy some cheap dumbells and do some strength exercises in your room. Im one of those people that just diet alone wont help me lose. Not everyone is the same though.hope this helps and good luck

Stalls are frustrating. Just work through it and keep yourself on plan- it will work. If you are not logging everything to make absolutely certain you are eating the calories you think you are I strongly encourage that. It is shocking still this far out how quickly calories pile on when you are not monitoring. 

How tall are you and what is your goal?

Losing weight over the holidays is really tough.  Do you weigh and measure, and log your food?

As far as the gym....I just joined Planet Fitness....$1. sign-up and $10.00/month (plus $35 annual fee).  To be honest, I joined the gym more for fitness purposes than losing weight...I need to build up my stamina and balance.  But hopefully it will give me some extra incentive to stay on program.

Losing weight and maintaining the loss is hard work.  I'm still working at reaching goal; I know what I have to "fix" and I refuse to give up.

I don't write down what I eat all of the time. But, I remember throwing up for 2 solid weeks everything I consumed and didn't lose a pound!

Well, I don't eat bread at all, or pastries. I actually splurged on popcorn New Years Eve and I lost 3 lbs! I understand my loss is going to be slow,  I just didn't expect to only lose 3 lbs every 7 weeks...

Start weighing and logging your food. It only takes a few minutes a day, and will do wonders to keep you on the right path.

Knowing for sure exactly how much you are eating goes a long way toward giving you peace of mind.

When you throw up it is unlikely you are purging all of your calories.  If you were unable to keep anything down including protein you probably lost a fair amount of lean mass which will lower your metabolism further.  

Since you do not have much weight left to lose it will happen slow if you follow a plan.  

I would suggest making time to build muscle.  You have had two weight loss surgeries so likely have a slow metabolism. Muscle can help.  To get muscle you need protein and exercise.  

The sleeve doesn't guarantee weight loss but is only a tool to help make the process a little more manageable. 

Good luck.

It is real possible that you hit the three week stall which is totally real. With Thanksgiving and then the Holidays, you may just have stretched out the stall. Measure, track, and move. You will see the scale move!!