I'm a newbie...but stalled

Hello all. 13 months out, and feeling alive. I stopped losing weight at 10 months post op. I'd love to think this is a stall, but I'm not sure. Any advice would be great. Thanks so much.

Water/Powerade zero-60ounces a day

Protein- 50 grams a day.

I need to count calories and carbs. Maybe a food journal?

Ok, I'm not an expert as I am only a few months into this journey and haven't had my VSG yet, but here are a couple of things that stand out to me from your post:

-You're drinking Powerade regularly? How much? That stuff is loaded with sodium which is so unhealthy, but will also make you retain fluid, so you'll weigh a bit more when you step on the scale.

-You may need to drink more fluid. My surgeon and dietician recommend a minimum of 64 ounces per day. I know it is hard to get a lot of fluid in, but when a lot of that fluid is loaded with sodium, it's just not going to be as beneficial to you.

-You would likely benefit from increasing your protein. Do you remember what your surgeon/dietician recommended? I know that I am supposed to get a minimum of 60 gm of protein per day. The more protein you consume, the less room you have for carbs and the less hungry you will feel.

Actually, most of us get really low blood pressure after surgery, and that first year are prone to orthostatic hypotension. We are told to have more sodium, and put extra salt on our food. I drank aboy 400 million gallons of Powerade Zero that first year.

My nutritionist recommended Powerade zero because I usually stay very dizzy. My labs are fine, but blood pressure was slightly low. ?

Look up orthostatic hypotension. It's very common. More salt and other electrolytes are good. Lots of extra fluids are too.

Yup, I had a lot of trouble with that in the first year after surgery, and my nutritionist told me to drink Propel and other sugar-free sports drinks, and to eat stuff like pickles. It got better, and now I only get dizzy if I stand up from a low squat really quickly and am also hungry/thirsty at the time... but I was like that before surgery, too. I have always had low blood pressure and a sensitive vagus nerve, so it's not surprising.

What does your daily menu look like? If you're only getting 50g protein per day, that says you may be eating a lot of carbs. That is definitely going to affect your weight loss. It may be that your daily calorie intake is at maintenance levels, which is why you haven't lost in so long.

Back to basics is the key. You need more fluids, and definitely more protein, minimum of 60g/day. You should go back to weighing and measuring every bite that goes into your mouth. Log everything...otherwise you have no way of knowing how many calories you are taking in every day. Do a sample of what you're eating now, and whatever it is total, subtract 500 cal/day to lose a pound a week. Cut out all carbs except complex carbs.

If you're the journaling type, then that will work. Most use some sort of app...the majority use My Fitness Pal (MFP) to log and track their food. Personally, I use Baritastic, but any will do if it works for you.

You lost weight for the first 10 months, you know how to do it. Just get back on that horse!

The standard answer for breaking a stall is:

• A minimum of 64oz of calorie free liquid per day, but really pushing liquid during a stall is key
• At least 60-80g of protein and to err on the higher side during a stall, even pushing up to 100g
• Track everything that goes into your mouth. Every bite and every sip. I use MyFitnessPal.
• Weigh/measure all your food, because we didn't get to be MO by eyeballing our portions!

Yes to what pretty much everyone said. Weighing/measuring/tracking every single thing is key. You will see how many calories you are getting, and if you're not losing weight, lower them. You will eventually lose weight if you do that. It's not easy, but it is that simple.

And remember, as you lose weight and get smaller you burn fewer calories. So you may have been humming along and losing weight at, say, 1400 calories a day, but now you are at a weight and activity level that 1,400 calories a day is your maintenance caloric intake, and you need to drop below that to begin losing weight again. Your body just doesn't need as many calories to survive at 150 lbs as it does at 300 lbs (I don't know what you weigh, just an example).

If you haven't lost weight in three months, you're in maintenance, not a stall. In order to get back to losing, you need to get back to your basics. Here are mine, yours might be slightly different:

1. Prioritize protein and water
2. Deprioritize carbs, especially the refined and processed ones
3. Make the most of healthy fats
4. Eat three meals a day with no snacks
5. Avoid liquid calories (protein shake for breakfast is my exception since I've never liked putting solid food in my stomach first thing in the morning)
a. Don't drink with meals or for 30 minutes after eating
6. Weigh portions and track/log what you consume
7. Eat mindfully and with no distractions aside from real live people
a. Try to eat at a table
8. Move as much as possible
9. Weigh yourself daily
a. But focus on the trend of your weight, not the day to day fluctuations
10. Be kind to yourself

What, exactly, are you eating every day? Give us a few sample meal plans and we can try to troubleshoot for you.