Pre-op diet frustration.

I'm two weeks pre-op and I'm halfway through my 30 days Medifast program.  I'm literally eating between 300 and 550 calories a day on this diet.  In the first 10 days I lost 7 pounds.

Then I did something bad.  I was at a friend's house and ate a cheeseburger.  A very big cheeseburger.  If I had to guess it was probably about 650 calories.  I'm ashamed, deeply so.  Still, I went right back to my Medifast diet not topping 500 calories a day.

Still, somehow, I've gained back 4 pounds of the 7 I lost.  How can this be scientifically possible!??!  It takes 3500 calories to make ONE pound and I gained FOUR after eating one cheeseburger.   I'm hoping maybe my body is just trying to start a period (I am HIGHLY irregular) and maybe it's water gain, but I'm freaking out.

Now that I've gained back the 4 I now have 10 more pounds to lose by surgery in 2 weeks.  So frustrating.

Well, just like 1 cheeseburgers not really 4 pounds, those first 7 pounds you lost were primarily water weight.

So, the sodium and fat from the cheeseburger are showing on the scale.

Whats done is done .... Stay back on your program, focus and pay less attention to the daily scale numbers.

You can only control your intake, you cant control what the scale shows.

Bestof luck

That might very well be true about it being water weight, but I started a diet in February and had lost 74 pounds on my own before starting my Medifast diet so I'm guessing the water weight was long gone by then.  I went right from my own diet to the Medifast without any weight gain so I can't be sure but I don't think it's water.  It might, as you suggested, be that ol devil sodium since it was a fast food burger.  Gah, why did I do that?

For sure I have to just do what I can do and not beat myself up for it.  Just stay on my program and hope it comes back off.

Thanks for reply, I appreciate it.

any time we eat carbs,especially bread,our body has to draw in and hold  water to process the carbs. It can take up to a week for that process to happen and our bodies to release that " water weight". 

This happens every time we eat carbs. It is a cycle. 

Did you have a 35000 calorie deficient in the ten days on Medifast? 

It takes 10 calories a day to maintain one pound of weight.  Multiply your starting weight by 100 and then subtract 5000 from the total to determine how much you lost "scientifically" in 10 days.

It is not possible to gain four pounds from a 650 cheeseburger, so this is water and sodium shifting around.  Sticking strictly to the Medifast for two more weeks should get ten pounds off.

Thanks for that formula, using that my number was 32,800.  

I'm going to extend my daily swimming by another 20 or so minutes to help out and stay strictly on my Medifast.  Hopefully the numbers will work out.

Thanks again :)

I used to argue that the numbers did not really work because there were days when I ate so much that I should have gained a lot more than I did.

Now I realize that it is what I do consistently day to day that counts and not a binge or crash diet that determines my weight.  The body can be very forgiving or be very unforgiving as what happened to you with the cheeseburger.

What helps me the most is tracking what I ate and also weighing daily.

Surgery will be a wonderful journey for you.  I am looking forward to hearing about your success.

You lost 74 lbs on your own!!!! OMG, that is amazing. How'd you do it? If you're doing it on your own, is the WLS necessary. What's your start weight if you don't mind me asking?  And why are they keeping your on medifast for 4 weeks?? You are doing well imo

Hi and sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you.  Things have been busy.

My starting weight was 446 pounds and I am now down to 365 so a total now of 81 pounds.  I still feel the weight loss surgery is vital because the weight I'm dropping has slowed down considerably and I am afraid of not having that precious tool of the sleeve to help me go forward. 

When I first saw the surgeon in February he said he needed me down to 360 pounds to have the surgery at his outpatient clinic.  Also, the weight loss would improve my chances of having a safe and successful surgery by improving my health and shrinking my liver per-operatively.  So his dietician gave me a simple program to follow.  She had me drink 3 meal replacement drinks heavy on protein and light on carbs and sugar.  In addition to those daily shakes I was allowed to eat 2 small meals of lean meat and green veggies.  No bread or starch of any kind, no fruits because of the sugar, and no dairy.  If hungry in between I ate sugar free jello or a pickle. 

Don't worry about the cheeseburger. We all had fallen off the wagon as they say. I am 3 1/2 years out from my Gastric Sleeve and it's been a roller coaster of changes. Not only will your body go through drastic weight loss at one time then hit a wall at another then start ip again. Which is normal. You have to remember your body will shut down the purging of weight when it thinks it's being starved. It's not, your new stomach is smaller and you'll get full really fast. So the brain is playing catch up.  Don't be surprised if you can only consume 5 oz of anything, including water at a time. For the first 6 months  The pre diet you are on is designed not to really lose weight, much less 50 or more pounds. It's designed to teach you to read labels and understand portion control, because once they remove 85 % of your stomach you will need to be able to look at food and know what 5, 6, 7 ounces looks like. Eat and STOP!!! You do not want to over eat ad it takes your brain to tell you your full after eating in 15 minutes. I can assure you this will be painful if you overeat accidentally.  Don't put expectations on yourself, your body will do everything in time. Just have to learn to listen to it. I lost 90 pounds the first year, 58 pounds the 2nd year and the remaining 42 pounds my third year. Yes 190 pounds total. If I had lost all that weight really quickly I would have been ill. Just know there is a lot that will change and it could happen in the first 6 months then take a break. This is normal....I kept a journal of what I ate the first year, very helpful if you can photo your meal before and after you'll start learning portion size for YOU. I say this because everyone is different. You'll do great and love your results, just be patient.