Question:
what am I doing wrong?

I'm 4 1/2 weeks post-op and have been on a plateau for 2 1/2 weeks. Today I got on the scale and I had gained 3 lbs. How is this possible with what I'm eating? Yesterday I had an inch sized cube of watermelon and 1 tbls of ff yogert for breakfast, then protein shake, for lunch I had about 2oz of hormel turkey chilli w/ a saltine craker, then another portein shake, for dinner I had 1/3 of a plain hot dog w/ no bun(I know this isn't great but I was stuck at a friends house). Then as an evening snack I had a sf popsicle. I'm having trouble with water so my doctor said it was ok to drink diet snapple. Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong? I also walk about 3 miles a day.    — Alison N. (posted on April 13, 2002)

April 13, 2002
I am still a pre-op, but from what I understand from my PCP, this could very well be just a period of your body "adjusting" to your new eating habits. Especially for us MO's that ate very heartily in the past, that is what your body is used to. Your body "thinks" that it should hold on to every calorie that you take in! Don't be discouraged at all! This is fairly common in lots of extremely low-cal diets, and factor in the malabsortion and your body is just saying "Hey, wait a minute! I'm used to getting loads more than this!!" The GOOD news is that if you are patient (I know how extremely hard this is!) this will pass fairly quickly and you will be pleasantly surprised when the weight starts falling off! *Important* Also make sure you are trying to get some sort of movement, walking etc, into your day especially during this adjustment phase, as it will help it to pass that much more quickly.....Hang on and get through this and you will be SO HAPPY that you did! Good luck and I can't wait to join you on the losing side!
   — Renee D.

April 13, 2002
It sounds like you're doing everything perfectly. Your body is probably just taking a breather. Don't worry ... your weight loss will start again soon. Don't be a slave to the scale!
   — Terissa R.

April 13, 2002
Snapple TEA? Or juice like ones? The food is not prfect, but not bad, not bad, esp for having to make do. Could be much, much worse, so a good start for having to wing it. Water. More water. Can you water down your Snapple as you go? If it is tea, then you'll have to drink twice as much water to cancel it. How are you making your protein shake? Can you do another before bfast?
   — vitalady

April 13, 2002
sounds like 'starvation mode' to me. your body is rebelling against the drastic reduction in food that it has become used to & is afraid of starving so it is hanging on to whatever calories it is getting for dear life. i think we all experience this at one time or another. for me it was at 3 weeks out. i would also like to remind u that when the scale does not move, the tape measure usually does...so measure urself! what a boost that will be to ur ego when u see the inches melting away.
   — sheryl titone

April 14, 2002
I'm the original poster of this question. I wanted to say thanks for all your support and answer some of your questions. I don't drink the iced tea, mostly the diet pink lemonade. I must confess to only getting the minimum of liquid since it's hard to get it all in without feeling sick but last night I tried fruit 2o water again and it went down fine. I managed to get down 64oz which is what my doctor wants us to have. The 3 lbs must have been water because this morning it's gone but I'm still on the plateau. Yesterday I had no processed foods, only real whole foods and more water hopefully if I keep that up my plateau will break Thanks again
   — Alison N.