Help.

where do i begin?

i've read a million posts about stalls etc. i realize that bodies need to adust. but i find what people eat confusing.  

i am averaging between 800-1000 calories per day, and true i am not doing a ton of exercise but the loss is so so slow.

so when people talk about their loss do you include pre-op weight loss or just since surgery? 

I lost 36 lbs pre-op, 14 lbs 10 days post surgery Dec. 21. since then a measly 11 lbs.

where's the magic?

what if i never make it out of  BMI 50?

if i don't lose the weight during the critical first 6 months will all of this have been in vain?

in fairness, i also am feeling really sensitive-i keep hoping i'm going to lose enough weight so that people will see me first and not my weight. i'm really afraid this is never going to happen-i'm starting to feel as though this might be a "life sentence". 

Hey, I feel your pain. I hit my first stall at 2 months out lasted 3 weeks. Then the scale moved again. Now I am in my second stall and its been 2 weeks. I know it will move again. Just keep up your protien and water. Try to exercise more. Even if you just walk the mall. Thats what I do.  You will loose. Just keep the Faith.  Tommi

Hi There :) I weighed in at 392 on june 14th 2007 and started my medifast that day on the day of my surgery I weighed 344,    after my surgery i did not have a huge drop or the 30 lbs a month for the first 3 months like some say I felt the same way you do, actually alot of times I still feel that way on nov 26 the day I got home from my vacation in Chicago I weighed in at 298  that means from sept 26 to nov 26th i lost 46 lbs then I really didn't do much weighing in that I wrote down anyway untill 01/08/08 and i weighed 285 so from nov 26th to jan 8th I only lost 13 lbs. Before weight loss surgery I would have gained 15 or 20 lbs during the holidays so I tried to take it as a win win. (but wasn't so easy) but for the last 2 weeks I have lost 4 lbs one week and 5 the next(maybe because I have started posting my food on here makes me more accountable to myself even) Plus I joined the gym and really like going! Try not to beat yourself up,   you will do fine! Estelle

If you do everything right you will lose. I started at 440, and was 405 on surgery day.  I count those 35 lbs in my total.  Then in the first month after surgery I lost 33 lbs, but I had SEVERE complications and was on liquids basically the entire month.  Month 2 was my first stall.  The entire month.  I lost just a few lbs (4 or so) that month.  It was extremely frustrating because I still wasn't eating much of anything.  Then it became steady average 15 lbs loss for months 3,4,5 and then stall number 2, which I am still struggling with.  Its different for every person, but I do know that a great majority seem to have a stall somewhere starting between weeks 3 and 6 and lasting a few weeks.  Its probably the shock of surgery.  Trust yourself and trust your surgeon, get your protein, drink your water, follow your surgeon's instructions, and you will lose weight.  Its so hard, I know, but just try to be thankful for every pound as it comes off.  Best of luck! Jenn

I think your calorie intake might be a bit high for a fairly new post-op.  Are you getting in plenty of protein and water?  What are you eating on a typical day? If you are anything like me, I don't burn one single calorie unless I do some sort of exercise.  Even if all you do is walk up and down a hallway five minutes of every hour, try to do some kind of moving around to get your body actively burning calories.  As you become more fit, you can increase your activity level. It's not magic.  It takes work.  You will make it out of BMI 50, and what exactly do you mean about the critical six months?  The "window" is 18 months, and you can still lose weight once the "window" period passes.  Several folks here have lost weight after 18 months. Stalls happen, and they suck mightily!  Just keep following the program (protein, water, exercise) and things will shift.  Trust me, I'm the loudest whiner on this board when my weight doesn't shift, and yet it does, eventually. Kix

I started out at 366 lbs as my high and 334 at surgery.  Today I weigh 262.  Not as fast a some.  I was really discouraged at about 6 weeks out from surgery because I hit a stall.  I was lucky to be eating 500 calories a day at that time, but the stall broke after about 2-2 1/2 weeks - I just had not expected it to be so soon post surgery. We all lose at different rates.  Try and hang in there - it will come off.  Exercise, drink plenty of water and eat your protein, I know...that is what everyone says, but they say it because it is true. Take care, Shirley

Thanks for all the feedback. why is it so hard to accept how this process works?

sigh! 

It is so hard to accept how the process works because you want to be done already!! My husband and I were discussing this just last night. He can tell I am chomping at the bit to 'be done' and not have this as such a large focus of my life. I think we prepare ourselves very well but there is a part of us that still hopes against hope that the weight will fall off in a steady drop. But when it doesn't it makes our heart ache eventhough our heads know better. You got wonderful advice so I will just add my support and hang in there.