Longest weight loss stall

I've been so bummed lately watching the scale go nowhere. I know better than to let that get me down because I can tell I'm becoming healthier: clothes are looser, skin looks better, more energy, and I sleep better. It's still disheartening to lose nothing for 2 weeks; however....

It finally happened! I'm still adhering to my surgeon's guidelines and lost 4 lbs just this weekend. I've also dropped my percent body fat by 2% since surgery (31 days post op).

This is a shout out to anyone who is having a weight loss stall and is getting frustrated: it will happen!

Isn't it sad that I was 16 lbs down in 2 weeks and it still wasn't enough? Why am I so hard on myself? Looks like besides goals to becoming physically healthy I need to work on realistic expectations too :)

Anyway- cheers to you all and keep your chin up: you're on the right track and will meet that goal!

Under 200 lbs

I was getting really aggravated at my weight loss stalls too, so I started tracking my weight loss in two week periods. Apparently the way my body works is to lose 8 - 12 pounds in a two week period and then the next two week period I will only lose 3.5 to 4.5 pounds. This has been happening since my surgery date in the middle of March. I just went back last week and tracked it all. I have decided that I am going to try to get more exercise in, in the two weeks I am losing slowly.

That's a good idea. Or even different exercises. I'm trying more water. I'll be floating around but I bet it'll help!

Changing up exercise patterns and even eating patterns seems to help break through those weight loss plateaus.

Losing 15 lbs in a month is super fast albeit some lose as much as 20 at first but the heavier you are the faster you lose.

A half pound a day is nearly a 2,000 (technically 1,750) calorie deficit. As in you're eating 800 cals but burning 2,800. In the non-bariatric world that's quite a remarkable feat when you consider we do it over a very long period of time.

I think staying active all day is important. Walk in the morning, afternoon and night. And eating. Try to eat a little something every couple of hours. Starving yourself can make your brain slow down your metabolism. That's not you want.

this is called the three week stall. Do an oh search and you will see thousands of posts just like this. There is at least one posted every day on st least one or more of the forums here.

it is totally normal and you can likely look forward to more than one to happen again in your weight loss journey.

Congrats on the loss, and on recognising that unrealistic expectations can make things more difficult. We all hit stalls, and we all hate them, lol, but as long as we're eating on plan, it's all good.

Biggest congrats ever on reaching Onederland; woohoo!

A friend who is a veteran of WLS gave me one piece of advice at the beginning of my journey: When you stall, increase protein and water and activity. I also cut ALL carbs for a day or two, only getting incidental carbs from meats or cheese. I also cut fat intake briefly. For me, this seems to aid in breaking the stall more quickly. As stated here, there is an individual pattern to our losses and stalls. Figure out what yours is. I tend to drop about 4 pounds pretty rapidly after a stall and tend to stall about every 3 weeks. In addition, I can't look at how rapidly others lose; I don't lose that fast, and that is OK. This may not apply, but look at what you ate before a stall. ANY pasta or dense carb will cause me to stall. Even a bite.

I was extremely despondent over my first stall right after surgery, especially because it took a WEEK to relose 7 of the 10 pounds I lost before surgery as I came home from the hospital 7 pounds up from when I went in! So hitting that first stall just about 3 weeks out really threw me. And it lasted about 10 days. I have not had a stall that long since as I began using the strategy my friend advised, tweaking it to my own metabolism. And, as you mention, training our brain to accept a stall as a natural and necessary part of this process. When I hit a stall, I say, "Hey! You are going DOWN, and that is the right direction. Remember when you were going UP and loved hitting a stall, how you thought you were doing something right because your weight remained stable? But you weren't. You always resumed gaining. On the flip side, you are not doing anything wrong when you stall going down. Your body needs to rest and stabilize. It's fine. It's all good."