Question:
Please help.. really confused!

I am 16 days post-op RNY and I have lost 16 lbs. I weighed myself this am and I gained 2 lbs. I don't understand why I have gained. I have not lost any weight in the past 5 days. I just advanced to a soft diet today, I had two small bites of scrambled eggs this am- went to sleep ( I work overnights) then I woke up and had two bites of tuna fish with a small piece of lettuce. I don't know if my work schedule is interfering with the weightloss. Somedays I work overnight and sleep during the day, other nights I function during the day like normal.. Any suggestions as to what is going on would really help. Also I should throw in there that I am not 100% up to the daily required protein or fluid intake yet.    — slreis09 (posted on September 18, 2008)

September 18, 2008
Relax, nothing is wrong. You said you work nights, well try weighing yourself when you get up for work not after work. Also hide the scale. It takes a while before you can consume all the protein and fluids. Don't push it. :-)
   — Kriola

September 18, 2008
I dont think you are doing anything wrong. Your body needs time to catch up with all the changes so you are going to have times where you dont lose weight and some times where it seems to melt off. I personally gain a pound or 2 just before my time of the month, I still cant get in all my water and protein my little pouch just wont hold that much, Im getting better as time goes on.
   — Kimberlin Katayama

September 18, 2008
First off; weight loss is not always a straight line loss. Some times there are plateaus. Some times there are gains. There are a few possibilities that you need to consider. The first is: Are you retaining water? The second is: Are you getting enough protein and exercise? In the FIRST scenario, the issue will probably resolve itself given time. In a few days or a week or so, you will lose the water and lose the weight. The SECOND scenario is actually a GOOD thing if it is occurring! If the SECOND scenario is the case, what is happening is that the protein that you consume is being turned into lean muscle mass on your body by the exercise! Lean muscle weighs more than FAT per cubic inch so you can't measure your progress by the SCALE at this stage of your weight loss, but you CAN with a MEASURING TAPE! If you are NOT dropping pounds but ARE dropping INCHES, you are GAINING Muscle! MORE MUSCLE means LESS FAT! The lean muscle mass will help to ACCELERATE your weight loss! There is the possibility of a THIRD option that I did NOT mention before. If one of the FIRST two is not your problem then the THIRD option is likely. The THIRD option is that your body's Metabolism SET Point could have readjusted itself to starvation mode. This IS possible. Give it some time. If things don't start working in a week or so, you may want to contact your physician and get PROFESSIONAL advice or go to a nutritionist. A CERTIFIED nutritionist will be able to set you up with a dietary lifestyle that will meet your nutritional needs and your dietary preferences so that you are likely to STICK with it. You will also be able to LOSE your weight because he or she will be able to CALCULATE the calories that you need to consume to lose the weight at the maximum rate that your body will allow without triggering your body's metabolism set point. This may be the problem you are having now. You need to eat a certain number of calories a day or your body starts holding on to all the FAT that it has stored and actually starts robbing your body of it's own PROTEIN instead. What your body takes instead of the fat is MUSCLE. You do NOT want it to do that. Muscle BURNS fat! Your body does not discriminate from WHAT muscle it robs the protein FROM either. It will take it from your HEART muscle as readily as it will from your LEG muscle. You need to eat a certain amount of both PROTEIN and CARBOHYDRATE a day and for each person that amount will be different depending upon what their GOAL is. If your goal is to lose weight, and you are a SMALL WOMAN, the requirements will be different than if you were a large MAN who wants to MAINTAIN your weight. This is why you cannot use someone ELSE'S dietary program to optimize your weight loss. Your best bet is to talk to a CERTIFIED nutritionist and have him or her outline a PERSONAL diet plan JUST FOR YOU. In order for you to MAXIMIZE your weight loss, you need to eat the proper amount of both protein AND carbohydrates. For ME, that ratio is about 20 grams of protein per meal to 20 to 40 grams of carbohydrates per meal. I eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. I am a 6 foot 3 inch tall MALE, so my needs are going to be different than YOURS. I also have a severely restrictive diet due to MANY severe allergies. Add to that, the fact that there are some foods that I will not eat for religious reasons and OTHERS that I will not eat because I dislike them, and my nutritionist had her work cut out for her. Each person should have a diet plan worked up PERSONALLY by a nutritionist instead of using someone ELSE'S information because the other person's information may not hold true for YOU. YOU may be smaller or larger than the other person, and that difference will throw off the calculations needed for your optimal weight loss. They may also have different GOALS or be somewhere ELSE on the journey. If you are trying to LOSE weight, and they are trying to MAINTAIN it, you are going to be very FRUSTRATED if you try to use their diet to lose weight. The GOOD news is that you do NOT have to give up bread and pasta. Unless you find that it causes problems for you after your surgery. Of course, If you INSIST on eating bread or pasta, It would not HURT to make the change from WHITE bread to WHOLE WHEAT bread. The same goes for PASTA. As long as you are going to CONSUME these things, let's TRY to make them HEALTHY. We can only eat SO MUCH FOOD now. We need to make sure that it is QUALITY food and NOT JUNK. Whole Wheat products can count as a protein as WELL as a carbohydrate. The nutritionist will be able to assist you to figure out EXACTLY how much you can have of what item without causing yourself to derail from your weight loss goal. If your weight loss surgeon provides a nutritionist as part of his services, then you are set! If NOT, I would HIGHLY recommend that you look into getting one for yourself. The nutritionist will save you a great deal of headache and heartache in the future, and will serve to make your weight loss a much more productive experience. I have had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and have lost 103 pounds in 6 months with the help of a CERTIFED nutritionist and PERHAPS with the added benefit of not consuming dairy products, eggs, pork, and red meat. Some of these I avoid due to allergies, some due to religious reasons. I am also allergic to Cane Sugar, so I avoid ALL products containing sugar because they usually do NOT label what TYPE of sugar, they contain. This has PROBABLY kept me on the, "Straight and Narrow" more faithfully than MOST. I am allergic to BEANS, otherwise I would likely have remained a STRICT VEGETARIAN and ELIMINATED a lot of the BAD HABITS that I had picked up such as eating FRENCH FRIES and CHIPS to help me lose the weight. I hope this helps, Hugh.
   — hubarlow

September 18, 2008
I am 3 weeks post-op RNY and had the same situation happen just this week. On Tuesday I was down 25 pounds. On Thursday I weighed myself and I had put 3 pounds back on. I figured it was because I had a rough day on Wednesday and Thursday and didn't get near enough water in (My first days back to work). I got on the scale again this morning, and the needle hasn't budged. I'm not worried, because I've been told it is normal to have a plateau. And I'm pretty sure my 3 pounds I put back on are just water retention because I've starved my body of water for two days.
   — Ursie77

September 18, 2008
I work nights too. I usually weigh after I have NOT worked overnight and have slept a normal 8 hours during the nighttime. Otherwise I tend to have a lot of water weight in my legs just from being up all night. Hope that helps.
   — MAG

September 19, 2008
When you cut your food intake drastically, your body tends to think it is literally starving to death, so your metabolism slows down to practically non-existant in order to keep you alive. It takes awhile for your body to realize that you are still taking in enough to stay alive, but it might be a slow process. You should have peaks and valleys in your weight loss progress. I am sure healthcare professionals could word this much better than I can. Sometimes it helps to eat something with a few extra calories and then burn them off with exercise. I do salute you in your courage to go through with the surgery. I am contemplating it, but have not yet summoned the courage, and am trying to lose on yet another diet. Best of luck to you!
   — peteyp1

September 19, 2008
Don't weigh everyday! So many people get discouraged by the scale and fluccuations. You are doing GREAT! Any little gains are water retention usually. You'll lose it in a day or two and then some. You cannot possibly eat enough to gain fat...at any given time you can hold a good 2-5 lbs or even more water weight. Try to get in more fluids and your body will release some water once it feels hydrated and will be less likely to store water for you! (I know, easier said than done!) You could be getting your TOM too...I still gain a few pounds during that time, myself...I weigh about once a week...or I drive myself insane...Also I can eat a WHOLE lot more during my TOM that it almost scares me how much...As soon as it's over...I am fine. I don't gain weight though...I think it boosts my metabolism to eat hearty once a month! And then go back to low cal, low fat, low carb. You are doing great! Doncha worry!
   — .Anita R.

September 21, 2008
I am 7 years out. Hang in there. Your body tries to protect yourself. Stick with it. Watch the amount you eat. Eat from a saucer or small plate and use the long tea spoons. Get your protein in by eating or those drink additives with protein. Get your water and exercise. Get sleep. Get your blood work followed yearly by someone that really knows what to follow. A lot of General practitioners don't know the things to monitor. Take your vitamins without fail.Measure yourself, muscle weighs more than fat. you may be toning. good luck
   — Rebec