weight loss stalls?

I had RNY surgery a little over a month ago and I feel like I've done really well. Although, I feel like I havent dropped any weight in a week and I am not eating alot at all, in fact I probably should eat more. I have heard about weight loss stalls on the message board here, is that something that can happen early on, or is that on down the road? Im scared half to death that the weight isnt gonna come off. I have lost 31 lbs but, why havent I lost any in a week? Am I expecting too much too soon?
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post :)

First and foremost weight loss stalls are going to happen. My surgeon mentioned this to me as part of my initial appointment that no matter which surgery option I chose there will be a point where the weight loss stalls. You also have to remember even though some here on the board have had RNY also like myself. We are all unique and all do some things slightly different based on our surgeon and primary care doctors. So, everyone's weight loss is going to be different. The weight will come off if you follow your surgeon's instructions, diet, exercise, take your vitamins,drink plenty of fluids, eat and/or drink your protein. We are our own worst critics and sometimes we may forget that weight loss surgery is a tool. It is natural and part of human nature to have doubts when something does not seem to be going the way we would like to see them go. One good thing you are doing now should help and that is seeking support, which the Texas Message Board provides a lot of support for the members. Also do not be afraid to ask your surgeon questions even after surgery you are going to have questions about what you body is doing. The amount of weight loss is going to be different everybody some people lose a lot the first few months and other lose a small amount. Again several factors are involved in the weight loss equation and not all of them can we control. We can control what we eat, portion size, when we eat, exercise, take our vitamins and protein, and drink plenty of fluids. You also have to remember our home scales are not the most accurate scales in the world. I use my scale at home as merely a gage of my weight loss and use the calibrated scale at my nutritionist office as my official weight. I know that my scale at work one week did not show any weight loss for one week and the next day my doctor's scale said I lost 3 pounds. I apologize for such a long post, but feel that it is more important to help you relax and not worry so much if you have reached a stall point. It will pass and the weight loss should continue as long as you follow the rules set down by your medical professionals. There are many experience RNY people on the forum who will always give you support and helpful advice. One important piece of advice that a member of the board mentioned and I live by that advice is listen to your body if you believe there is something wrong call your surgeon or primary care physician. They can provide you the answers to your question or can tell if you have a medical problem that needs to be addressed.

Thank you sooooo much for the info. I appreciate it!

Stalls happen early on.  I have seen many people panic at week 3 because there was good weight loss the first two weeks then nothing.  I experienced a stall for a couple of weeks (week 3-6 I think) and then lost 6 lbs overnight. 

Your body is in starvation mode and it holding on to every ounce it can right now.  Keep following your plan, walk a little more, sip a little more and be patient. 

Thanks for the info :)

Everyone hits stalls (well almost everyone - some strange peeps just keep dropping at a steady rate) One thing that will help you in this and future stalls is YOUR MEASURING TAPE - get it out and measure every place you can think of from the crown of your head right down to your big toe
b/c it's ALL going to shrink and I found as many other people have that the weeks I wasn't losing pounds I was dropping inches

ok TOTALLY of topic here but i noticed you live in tomball. i have heaps of family, huffsmith, aand magnolia.  If you ever eaten at Mel's cafe in tomball, my cousin ownes that.
we must catch up sometime :)
Oh FYI none of them know i had surgery and i plan to keep it tthat way ;)(
liz

Yep - stalls happen.  The following is the BEST explanation I have ever read about why stalls happen.  Before I read this I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that you can eat so few calories and NOT LOSE WEIGHT.  It's goes against the old calories-in = calories-out theory.  If you aren't eating you MUST be burning fat, right?  Well, you are - but it is more complicated than that:

When you magically drop x pounds per day or x pounds in the first week, two weeks, three weeks, etc. after surgery, it feels like a dream come true.

But: IT. WILL. STOP. Because it is NOT fat. It is WATER. This is what is happening:

Our bodies use 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, 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 a diet.

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 that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a sabertooth tiger. So, 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, 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.

Me:  I think this happens over and over while we are losing weight, which is why you see the pattern drop... plateau.... drop..... plateau.... drop...etc  And this is ESPECIALLY true when you start exercising - you just speed up the process since you are burning more calories and if you are doing a lot of aerobic exercise then you are burning up your glycogen stores quickly so your body is retaining the water to keep it soluble.

Thank you for the info Sarah! Very helpful!

Also, in case you haven't done so - take your measurements - they are a much better indicator of whether or not you are losing than weight.  The number on the scale is not the best indicator in the short term because of fluid retention.

I took my measurements every Sunday morning for the first year and on Monday was my "official" weigh-in day (even though I weighed every day) because that is when Mari posts her Monday Morning Weigh In Thread.  I kept a log in a spreadsheet of my weight and inches and noticed the weeks I lost the fewest pounds I lost the most inches and vice versa.  I thought it was just me and I was weird until I posted about it and found out it happens to a lot of women.