I feel like giving up!

I'm 5 weeks post-op...The very first week I lost 20 pounds...then 5 pounds over the next 2 weeks....now for over 2 weeks, I've lost nothing. I'm keeping a food diary and sticking to the plan. I only consume 800 - 1000 calories a day...I get all of my protein....I drink the water..yet the weight isn't coming off.....I went through with the surgery because I thought it would help me....but almost 3 weeks with no loss...I'm beginning to wonder.

Has anyone else experienced this? I haven't had a fill yet...I stay hungry all the time....I just don't understand...it's so frustrating to be hungry and yet not lose.

I too lost a good amount the first week and have actually gained some now. I am almost 8 wks post op and I am not eating right and I have NO restriction at all. My belief is that maybe you are eating too little. Do you know about "starvation mode" and all that? Your metabolism will slow down if your body thinks it's being "starved" and low calorie diets do that, that's why you gain back MORE after dieting. 800-1000 calories is VERY low. I do not follow that advice from my doctor. I bet our regualar physicians would even agree that's too low. Talk to your surgeon and see what they say, and metnion the starvation mode. You have done really well so far. Don't give up. Sometimes the numbers on the scale could be extra water etc...be glad you haven't GAINED like I did!! My scale varies up and down about 3 pounds from day to day and I know it's impossible to gain or lose 3 lbs in one day. Be patient

I agree w/ dmstear-it sounds to me like you're eating too little!  Last week I tried to eat around 1000 calories every day & my weight didn't budge!  It was so depressing!  But this weekend I didn't track my food & ate when I felt hungry & stopped when I felt satisfied & I dropped 2 lbs. in just 2 days!

Today my new philosophy is to stick with that: eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm satisfied.  You might consider doing the same!

The surgery only works if you WORK IT!

What's up with your avatar? I am new to Oh but your avatar photo makes me uncomfortable. Do you mind me asking why sis you choose that photo?

Stay with it. I felt hungry all the time too but yesterday it got better. I have not lost any weight since surgery Sept 21, 2009.

Writ down everything you eat and drink and share with your nutrionist. Good luck!

Surely you can find a better photo?? I hope!!
Judy

Are you replying in reference to my post?  Lucky I checked back to this thread or I would not have caught your message.

The avatar I chose is a scene from one of my favorite TV shows, and requires no justification. 

In the future, please don't reply to more than one person in one post without making it clear whom you're referencing.

I'm new and I don't totally understand what you mean by replying to more than one post. I am so sorry, I j am just very new to all of this talking in a forum. I'll try to do better but I am not sure what I did wrong. Please forgive my ignorance!! So SORRY  !!!!! Judy

Your previous post both chastised me for my avatar choice, and gave advice to the original poster.  But instead of making it clear with whom you were replying to, you mixed up both messages by beginning with chastising me, then giving advice to the person who started this topic, and then chastising me again.  (Luckily the topic creator didn't have an avatar or she might've thought you were chastising her for her avatar choice.)

I am so sorry! I di not intend on chastising any one especially a fellow Oh person. I Totally don't understand all of this yet but I hope I will soon. I just did not understand the nature of your avatar. I think I've listened to too many news stories about the internet. Please forgive me!! 

Now will you help to understand some of this talking on message boards? When I posted my last message about the avatar I thought I was posting to the message(person) right above me? What should have I done? 

I like these boards so I would like to continue but I need to understand them more. Please accept my apology.

Any other advice??? Judy

I've uploaded an image of the board below.  If you open the link, you'll see two red boxes with red arrows pointing towards them.  You can click Reply directly underneath a person's post for it to apply directly to that person.  If you have a general comment or want to reply to several topics then you can click the Post Reply button (highlighted with a blue box and blue arrow.)

Your last few posts have been directly to my posts (using the Reply button in red), and I have set up my preferences to receive emails when I receive a direct post, so its very helpful that you've replied directly so I know there is a message waiting.

http://i38.tinypic.com/35i8yts.jpg

Other advice-don't take what everyone says personally.  Everyone here really does care about each other-but we do all have bad days & sometimes snide comments are made. 

Here is my "stock" answer to newbies who worry about weight loss. I hope you find it helpful:

(01) I spoke to a close friend, who is a Certified Fitness Trainer, about losing weight. He gave me some information I found interesting, and thought I’d pass it along.

 

The first thing he said is “You have to EAT in order to lose weight". He further explained, this does not mean to OVEREAT, but eat sensible portions.

 

He explained the body is a marvelous machine, and it will protect itself. If one doesn’t eat enough, the body’s metabolism will slow down - in order to keep itself functioning. If a person intake is less then what it expels, the body will start to “store" food. If a person stay on this type of eating regiment over a prolonged period, the body starts to “eat itself" - which is extremely unhealthy and could be fatal.

 

According to my friend, the first thing the body will first start to “eat away" at is all the stored sugars in the body. After that has been depleted, the body then attacks all the (both good and bad) carbohydrates and fats. Finally the body starts to “digest" the proteins in the body. The proteins are mostly stored in muscle. One of the most important muscles our body has is the HEART. That’s why many anorexia patients die of heart problems - basically the body ate it away. 

 

He said don’t worry if you’re losing right away. He said as long as we follow the guidelines our Doctors/Nutritionist has set for us, we will lose weight. The body sometimes takes a while before it “resets" itself.

 

(02) Recently a friend of mine had WLS. While she’s been successful on her lost, she’s a little upset she hasn’t lost the same amount of weight as others have. I explained to her to stop comparing her success to others. Just as long as she is losing, is the true measure of success.

 

Some of us (me include) believe scales should be used only for fish or piano ... However, many others like to weight themselves regularly. They feel it helps keep them on track.

 

Many compare their lost to someone else’s, and get discouraged. The amount of weight lost is affected by many factors. Everyone loses weight at different rates. It has to do with age, gender, one’s weight, exercise, etc.. A 10 pound lost to one person could be as affected as a 40 pound lost to another. Think of it this way: If a 400-pound person loses 40 pounds; a 300-pound person loses 30 pounds, a 200-pound person loses 20 pounds, and a 100-pound person loses 10 pounds – the 400-pound person didn’t necessarily lose more weight than the others. All three lost 10% of their body weight. 

 

And sometimes it is not the number of pounds that someone loses in a specified period of time that is important. Remember, if you are toning up muscle – your weight loss may seem to have slowed (or stopped), when in fact you are replacing fat with muscle. Muscle is heavier then fat. Someone weighing 200 pounds with a body fat percentage of 25 is carrying around 50 pounds of extra fat. That same person weighing 200 pounds with 10 percent body fat would be carrying only 20 pounds of fat. So it’s not the number that is important.

 

Remember there are other “scales" you can use to monitor your success: your constant hunger reduction (eliminated); reduced clothing size; increase energy; re-familiarizing yourself to body-parts unseen for years (errr… toes) ; “common" activity becoming easier (walking, climbing steps), just feeling good about yourself; sleeping better (reduced snoring); the mirror; better medical exam results (lower cholesterol and/or blood pressure); etc.

                    

Finally, we a generation of instantaneous results, however remember we didn’t put all the weight on at once, it took years. So don’t you think losing it would take just as long? This isn't one of those miracle instantaneous weight loss programs. Those types of programs always fail. This is a way of life. Plus in all my years of losing weight I’ve come too realized with instantaneous weight lost comes instantaneous weight gain.

 

Nowhere does any of the literate state you will lose x amount of weight in x days. Think LONG TERM. That’s what I am doing. My new outlook is  “Slow and steady wins the race".  Even if it take me over 5 years to lose all the weight I want to, I know in the long run I will be happy and healthier. My doctor firmly believes the slower you lose weight, the better chance you have of keeping it off. My doctor reminded me that each pound I gained took time to put on, and it’s going to take some time to lose those same pounds. Try to remind yourself that even if I lost only 1 pound per week, in year’s time I’d be 52 pounds lighter.

 

Be proud of your lost. No matter how small it may seem. Remember, it’s better to lose not a pound than to GAIN a pound.

 

 

(03) In the beginning don’t be too concerned/worry about “calories, fats, sugars, carbs, etc". Make sure you are getting your 60 to 80 grams of protein. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO WEIGHT LOSS. In the future you can worry about all those other things, but for now - WORRY ABOUT THE PROTEIN. Now don’t get me wrong - I don’t want you to eat a bag of chips, or whole cake or drink tons of ice cream shakes in order to get protein in. You need to use some common sense :) !!

 

Last year when I first had the operation I noticed if I ate 4 ounces of protein I didn’t feel full - however if I ate 6 ounces I did. I spoke to my Doctor about it. FOR ME he said that those “numbers" are somewhat guidelines. He went on to explain there are some folks who feel full on 2 ounces of protein while some need 6 or 8. He also explained that the calories intake should not be too much of a concern in the beginning. The way he explained it to me was: Prior the operation I may have been taken 3,000 calories per day. After the operation, with the amount of food I was taking in - I may have been taking in 1700 calories. While that’s 500 calories more then the recommended daily allotment - it was actually 1300 calories less then what I normally took in. So not only was I losing weight, but was also feel full. We need to worry about calories when our weight slows downs/stops or starts going up. ADVICE WARNING: TALK TO THE DOCTOR BEFORE INCREASING /CHANGE YOUR INTAKE.

Know we're all here to help. Feel free to PM me of if you have other questions.