HIT A WALL SINCE NOVEMBER! HELP

HI ALL!! (I posted this on the exercise forum also)  I am at my witts end here amigos/amigas!! Had gastric bypass NOV 2 2008 down almost 100 pounds........ Since October/November time frame my wieght loss just STOPPED! I have tried everything... mixing up my work outs my eating habits... I even went all liquids for over a week lost 4 pounds then went back to eating about 800-950 calories a day and the weight came back on.... I am now between 227-230 pounds .... What do i do? Its just like when i was at 327 pounds..... i work out like crazy watch what i eat and can't lose the wieght. I want to get to 200-205 range...........AM I ASKING TOO MUCH HERE? Is anybody else having this problem? I am still eating about 5-6 ounces at my dinner and breakfast after the gym is usually a protien shake a small lunch usually some lunch meat or tuna.... my claories are tracked daily on Livestrong.com's daily plate... its from 800-950 calories a day........ getting about 90-110 grams of protien; 40-60 grams of carbs 20-45 grams of fat 10-20 grams of fiber... any advice will help good or bad!! thanks all!! VICTOR in California

sorry bout the stall thats along one. I do have a question though. At 800-950 caleries a day, are you still hungry? Or does your pouch make you feel full? Seems a little low numbers wise to me, could that be whats hanging you up?

I/ve been told that your body reacts as if you are trying to starve yourself if you are eating less than 1,000 cal per day.  It tries to hold onto every cal you take in to avoid starvation.  I suggest you increase your caloric intake.  I know that I lost 50 lbs last year 5 years post op by eating between 1,444 and 1,600 cal per day.

I too have been stalled since @ December. I went to my support group last night and asked my doctor about it. He said to up my calories to about 1100 per day. He also said it my be my body adjusting to the new weight?

How tall are you? I'm 5'10" and my BMI is 33.3. The Doc told me he wants my BMI at @ 28/29 no lower.

MIKE;
I am 6'1" tall. I kinda think that my body is DONE losing weight..... but I want to go to the 200-205 range so if i fluctuate a little it seems more controlable...  VICTOR

Victor: 

I am a newbie so I'm not in your shoes yet.  However, at our center, they want us to stay on 35gm of carbs even at maintenance.  Try cutting down the carbs part of your diet and see what happens.

Thanks for the tip!! But what do you eat for only 35 grams of carbs a day..How many calories a day do you consume? From what everyone else has posted they are eating about 1100-1300 calories a day........I have physically tried to cut down carbs but its a pain in the butt..............Does anyone else  out there eat that few carbs??...Waiting for answers but I will try....
VICTOR 

I just went back thru my livestrong/My Plate diary.... My carb intake is about 60-80 per day mostly on the low end...... maybe 35 gm of carbs isn't as hard as it seems........ thoughts imputs.............. THANKS EVERYBODY....................   

Victor:  Of course I am in the early stages (very early) for my pouch, so it is pretty easy.  However, they told us as your pouch gets bigger, always get your protein in first, and carbs last so that you have less carbs.  One of my favorite "foods" is to drink a large Isopure (I only like the Alpine Punch flavored) daily as one of my meals (40gm protein and no carbs at all). 

Hi Victor,

Couple of things... is any of your excess weight skin?  You won't lose much weight from excess skin.  The body will metabolize some over time but the only way to get it off is to cut it off. 

Second, based on your surgical date, you are 18 months post op.  At 18 months p/o, I am pretty sure you should be eating a little more than 900 calories a day.  Check with your dr. of course but for me, at 18 months p/o I was eating 1600-1800 cals a day and burning 3000-3500 with workouts.  Sounds like you are in starvation mode.  Again I am no expert but the body is smart.  Ask yourself how someone in Africa can survive on 500 calories a day and increase body mass.  The same pricipal is true for WLS patients.  Your body is sacrificing other key systems in order to maintain your current weight with your current intake levels. 

I recommend seeking the counsel of a good bariatric dietician along with your docs recommendations.  Make sure you are drinking enough.  Finally, just a quick question.  When I hit those stalls, I usually had to up my intake a little and modify my workouts to burn a little less.  The first body system to shutdown is skin repair.  When I would notice my skin not looking so good or wounds slow to heal, and my weight loss was flat, I knew my body was in starvation.  So I kicked up the water and food and then things went back to normal and the weight started flowing.  Are you having any noticeable skin issues?   

Today, at 2 years postop, my weight is stable at 185ish and my intake is around 2200-2300.  With burn rates from workouts at around 3000+ (dont want to lose anymore), I have been working on kicking calories up to the 2800-2900 levels, usually through added protein shakes.  Hope some f this informastion helps.  Good luck dude.

Dalton