Almost a week out and the scale isn't moving. Weird.

I had my surgery six days ago and when I got home Monday and weighed myself I weighed 279lbs. Now being a relative lightweight I didn't expect to lose as quickly as the bigger guys, but since I didn't do any pre-op diet I figured I'd see something encouraging right out of the gate and then would setting in to a couple pounds a week.

Now I know I should only be weighing myself weekly, but I'm just too damn curious. I'm the type that tracks everything, I've been recording all of my food intake and daily weight on TheDailyPlate.com.

Check out my stats for the week, it's only four days recorded, but has surprised me a bit.

Monday. 279lbs. 80 grams of protein and 350 calories eaten.

Tuesday. 279lbs. 80 grams of protein and 350 calories eaten.

Wednesday 279lbs. 80 grams of protein and 350 calories eaten. 30 minutes of easy walking.

Thursday 279lbs. 80 grams of protein and 350 calories eaten. 30 minutes of more strenuous walking, 15 degree incline on the treadmill, heart rate between 145-150 beats per minute. Seeing a pattern yet? At this point I'm just doing 80 grams of unjury protein chicken broth. Haven't been tempted for anything else yet and I am on clear liquids for a week.

I would have thought I would have seen at least a pound dropped. I feel great, plenty of energy, not tired. All I can think is that I am dropping weight but for some reason (maybe too much sodium in the broth) I am putting on an equal amount of water weight?

I'm not really worried yet, too early to expect much, but when I'm reading about guys who have allready dropped 150lbs and are still dropping 4-6lbs per week it seems strange that on my first week the scale isn't moving a bit. It goes up a bit during the day as I drink my fluids, then drops back down the next morning but weighing myself first thing in the morning it's the same damn thing every day. One day soon I had better wake up to a change.

It WILL happen! Just concentrate on exercise, drinking and getting in your protein. Very important to minimize muscle loss. Just take good care of yourself and you'll still be healthy when the weight loss occurs. The scale tells only part of the story. I didn't experience the stellar weight loss that some guys talk about. It bothers me a little when I read those stories because of the  the effect they may have on some of the others. Like we say: Your mileage will vary. Not to worry, things are happening just the way they are supposed to for you. Doug

As Doug said, stay the nutritional eating and exercise course and it'll work out. It has to given the finite law of calories in vs. calories burned. Your results will probably be slower given you have less to lose that a lot of others but it'll come off.

remember they gave you a million gallons of IV fluid during your hospital stay. After you **** that away man the lbs will start to fly.

Hey I was about your size when I started my journey and I didn't see anything for the first 7-10 days weight wise. You have a lot of swelling, gas, IV fluid, blood and so on. Your body has just been through a battle its just holding on to all it's troops until it can get a grip on whats going on, then your going to start dropping. I know your thinking damn I the one person this crap didn't work for! Well it did, it will, just keep doing exactly what your told, keep sipping and walking in three weeks you'll be posting a big Stinky FART! Good Luck Bob

As others have said, IV fluid and swelling from the surgery. Pretty common. There’s an 8 to 10lb. volume of “wiggle room” due to water alone. And it comes into play a lot. This has to do with our bodies using 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, (Like when you drop down to your calorie intake) 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 any diet. (in your case, your body is holding tha****er in traumatized/healing tissue) 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’---- (by way of your liver releasing hormones signaling low Cal intake) ---That fat can't be used for short bursts of energy – 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, (Thus showing negative Calorie load overall) 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. Yes? The whole ‘weight-loss’ process is not a straight “Slide” down the scale. More like “Stair-Steps,” (Down then forward, then down, then forward, etc... As your body cycles fat out of “deep storage” and through the Liver Into the muscles as Glycogen. The muscles and Liver can hold about a 3 weeks supply. This is why many people find that their “Stall” or “Plateau” Breaks when adding a bit of exercise And upping their water intake, or in the case of an “extreme exerciser,” The total Calorie or Protein Intake, To signal the liver to let go of more Glycogen. Fear not, many people who are now enjoying life at a normal BMI Once had a few weeks or so of thinking- “...my weight loss has stopped...”? Give it another week…..or two,

(‘seems’ your calories are a touch low, but just opinion. Follow YOUR Doc's recommendation)

Hope this helps some.

 

Keep it Up! Best Wishes- Dx

 

First, everything everyone has already said is correct.  Lots of fluids, etc., post-op. Second, do NOT weigh yourself more than once a day; that way lies madness.  If you do, you'll notice every glass of water, every meal and/or protein drink, every extra shake of salt, and every **** BM you take.  Seriously, the recommendation to weigh yourself only once a week is a good one.  If you can't limit yourself to just once a week, allow yourself as many as twice a week. Third, if you think this "stall" is driving you crazy, steel yourself.  Most people hit a "stall of death" at 3 to 6 weeks post-op.  They're doing everything right:  eating, portion size, exercise, and several weeks can pass without the scale moving.  Then they post to an OH forum incredulous that this is happening to them!  But eventually, they'll lose all the weight they would have once the stall ends. And then get ready for this to happen again and again and again.  (Additional cries for help after the first are optional, but encouraged!) I finally figured out that this kind of step-wise weight loss is my own personal pattern.  And I now feel a lot better. I used to think that women were crazy and self-delusional when they posted "I'm not losing weight, but I'm losing inches".  I mean, who bothers to take their measurements when the only thing that counts is the scale?!  But in the middle of a 3 week stall, I lost 4 inches on my waist (as evidenced by my pants). > but when I'm reading about guys who have allready > dropped 150lbs and are still dropping 4-6lbs per week > it seems strange that on my first week the scale isn't moving a bit. I never ever lost at that rate, other than in the first 3 weeks post-op.  Looking back now at 5.5 months, I've lost on average 10-11 pounds a month.  I wi**** were faster, but it ain't going to happen, at least for me.  /Steve

BTW, how does someone eat 80 grams of protein a day and take in only 350 calories?  80 g/day seems an impossible task for a recent post-op.   Most surgeons don't expect you to reach that amount of protein/day until 3-4 months have passed! /Steve

Whoops!  I missed the part where you said you were getting your 80g protein from the Unjury Chicken Broth. This *may* explain why you aren't losing weight quite as fast as you sometimes see others do:  each serving of Unjury Chicken Soup contains 780mg of sodium; 4 servings gives you 80 grams of protein, but 3120 mg (3.12 grams) of sodium.   That's more than 100% of the RDA for a normal person's sodium intake.  Unjury Chichen is effectively a chicken boullion cube with 20g of whey protein, and a boullion cube is effectively chicken-flavored salt.  That's not a dig at Unjury, that's just basic food science! That much sodium might at least cause some degree of water retention, especially when compared to someone immediately post-op whose daily sodium intake is effectively nil, or at least a lot, lot, lot less than it used to be and less than it eventually will turn out to be.  It's all water weight, so there's nothing much to worry about weight-wise. /Steve

While my weight is falling off, I would almost trade with you. I am busting my ASS trying to get my water and protein in every day. Now I'm being yelled at because there's potential for malnutrition because of only hitting 50 grams a day. It'll happen, I don't think your intake could be more perfect providing you're getting all your water in.

How's the chicken broth taste? I got mine last night and haven't tried it yet.