SCREW this effing scale! (sorta!) (sorry kinda long)

So, I am STILL bouncing up and down the same 4 or so pounds, have been between 171 and 175 for the last 2 1/2 months. I have been tracking my food and am doing well in terms of high protein (80 -100 grams), low carb (<30 grams, not counting fibre), averaging 1000 calories a day and as a rule eating healthy whole foods.

Exercise has picked up a bit too and despite my total slackerhood for the last  months, I found when I make my 5K rounds of the local track that having shed an additional 20-30 pounds has made me faster and fitter ...I am now able to do a modified jog/speed walk for some of the walk and now do the 5K in 45 minutes instead of an hour (Not very fast I know, but still, a 25% improvement.)

Am I hot and bothered about the stubborness of the scale? Am I freaked out about my lack of progress towards the weight loss goal my surgeon and I set?

Well, occasionally I am - but actually not so much, because I am TOTALLY losing inches right now... which honestly, I know it happens, but makes NO sense to me. I am not exercising anywhere near enough in terms of either duration or intesity to have been building up enough muscle to account for lost inches but no lost pounds.

The other thing that is happening is a general smoothing out of the lumpier and wrinklier bits of my back, bum, stomach and thighs (and most glorious of all, a bit of reduction in the turkey neck left behind as a souvenir when my extra chins disappeared) I am not ready for the Sports Illustrated bikini shoot by any means, but there is some visible improvement.

So a question to those of you who have been through this - is this maintenance? Is it even a stall if I am losing inches? Has anyone else experienced this, and did the weight loss start again -assuming that I stick with my eating routine and continue to increase exercise now that the weather is improving and my academic schedule is lighter (back to weight training later this month).

And does it matter? My surgeon was pretty clear that he wants me to work harder to get to his goal for me of 165 - reasoning that as I hit menopause I am likely to pick up a few pounds and he would like to see me with more of a buffer in terms of weight lost. I am still officially overweight according to my BMI of 26.0 (a flawed means of measurement I know) and the army method of caluculating body fat has me at about 30%, within acceptable limits for a woman of my age.

Labs are good, lipid profile good, blood pressure low etc. Still have a small bit of back flab although this has reduced significantly over the past couple of months, and a fair size belly pouch - which has deflated a lot but seems destined to remain in my posession without surgery.

I am not really asking for advice as to what I should do - my plan is to continue to eat as I have been and to focus on trying to be more active - but, other than the exercise, I think I am doing a good job of living a healthy lifestyle that I can sustain in the long term.

I am asking those of you who have been here before me to share what your experience has been - if you have had similar trajectories in terms of post-op patterns of weight loss, if you are identifying problematic thinking on my part that is likely to lead me down a path of regain, if this all seems normal and that to keep on keeping on is a sensible strategy... Ya know - feedback!

P.S. I do still weigh myself daily - I do want to know if I am seeing myself gain so that I can address it sooner rather than later, but really that damn scale just isn't showing me the love recently - so I make a note of what it says and then move on with my day!

I wish I had some advice for you. But, it sounds like you have this figured out. You have a solid eating plan, you are exercising, your labs look good, and you are monitoring your weight fluxuations. You got it.

I'd just say keep up what you are doing. Your body has to give way eventually. I bet you've added muscle while losing those inches. You are on the right track!

I don't know what to tell you either. You are doing everything right. You might try changing to some other form of exercise and mixing it up. The body gets really used to us doing the same thing over and over.

I gained 8 lbs over the holidays and I finally have them off. It took me 4 months to lose 8 lbs. So I do know the last few lbs are harder to take off.

All I can tell you is that it took me 8 or 9 months to lose the last 15 lbs.  I just kept doing what I knew to be right and it came of at 2 to 3 lbs a months.  I also exercise a lot and have for 20 years now.  So my body was used to it and did not wanna give in very easily.  I just kept at it and now my BMI is 21!  You're doing good, just don't give up.

I went to a local support group the other day and was shocked that most of the people about a year out still had more to lose, but just somehow seemed to stop caring.   And their diets are reflective of this.  They say they don't track or exercise.  This is a recipe for regain for most people.  sounds like you have a great plan and I wish you luck reaching all your personal goals.

Laura

Well Margo this is a post i could have made,  i'm kinda in the same boat.  This last 16 lbs does not want to leave me.   I was happy to see Laura's post that the last lbs were the hardest to get rid of,  now i don't feel quite so bad.    I'm really loving the weights and my kettle bell.   Hopefully soon for both of us  LOL   :o)  Jeani

Oh and Jeani, those last 25 lbs I went down 4 sizes.  To me that's a lot of inches/sizes for just 25 lbs!  Lifting weights makes all the difference in the world.

Laura

That's so good to hear,   I'm loving the weights and i'm hooked on my kettlebell,  i love it,  i'm depressed that i can't do it every day,  But you have given me hope,  the last of my weight is in my tummy area and that will be the last to go,  i have no butt, skinny legs,  so excited to get rid of this tummy.  Thanks for the good news  :o) Jeani

Well our surgery dates were close and I have found just recently that I was losing inches instead of weight.  I went down 2 sizes and had only lost 3 pounds over a 2 month period.  I attributed it to the exercise I have been doing.  Now the past couple of weeks, I've lost 4 pounds, so I think it has kicked in again.  I only have 5 pounds to lose till goal, so I'm working a little harder at it. 

I still weigh daily and still log all food and drink.  It keeps me honest.  I also belong to TOPS club, so I weigh in there weekly.  It keeps me accountable to others besides myself, because quite frankly, I don't trust myself!

I would MUCH rather lose inches than pounds - sounds like you are doing fantastic. please enjoy it!!!

with me, at maintenance the pounds stay the same but I notice a certain thickening in my abdomen, darn it. I need to exercise more.

you rock!

sounds like you are doing well and that moderate amount of exercise is doing more than you think! so i think you are right to keep doing what you are doing. inches lost count for a lot!

If you can, get your body fat percent tested at a dunk tank or bodpod. lots of gyms and places have them. might be eye opening.

maybe only weigh weekly. i bet you are losing small amounts bu****er and the ususal variation factors account for that bounce around.

my last pounds came off about the same rate as the middle ones so i didn't have the same experience. But in maintenance my weight does go up and down the same few pounds and there is absolutely nothing i can attribute it too except sun spots or aliens messing with my scale.

So keep at it. you will get to your best weight soon.   diane