Banded Together

I’m almost 3 months post surgery and I am starting to see a slow in my weight loss. I’m really trying to stick to healthy foods and only eating until I’m full, paying very close attention to my body.I exercise at least 30 minutes a day 4 to 5 days a week. I read somewhere that if you don’t get enough calories then you won’t lose weight because your body will go into starvation mode. So my question is, on average, how many calories a day do you take in? I figure I’m eating about 300 calories per meal (3 meals a day), and I’m good for the day. I don’t really have much of an appetite, but I force myself to eat 3 times a day.

There could be a couple of things going on here.  It is normal for people to plateau for a short time after initially losing weight.  What causes this is your body’s metabolism hasn’t caught up with your recent weight loss.  Keep at what you are doing and you will start losing weight again in a few weeks. 

The other problem may be in your hydration.  If you are not getting enough water, it will effect weight loss.  You need >64 ounces of calorie-free liquids (water, Crystal Lite, tea, etc.) per day.  A good daily calorie intake for weight loss is between 800—1000 cal/day, depending upon your build and activity level.  Exercise is very important:  Calories in (eating) - calories burned (exercise) = effective weight loss!

In addition to the above, you should be getting 70—100 grams of protein per day, so you probably need a protein supplement inbetween meals (in order to get 90 grams of protein from beef, you would need to eat 10 oz a day…probably more than you’re able to get in).  Adequate protein intake prevents “starvation mode” with the lower calorie intake that you have.

Good luck in your continuing journey!—Bruce Lovejoy, APRN

Weight loss has various phases and plateaus are a very big part of it. In general with regard to caloric intake, anytime the body gets less than 1000 calories per day, there is not enough energy to sustain body needs. Water intake, physical activity, and protein intake also play a big part in this as well. Sometimes a change in your normal routine may be enough to get you through the plateau phase. For example, go back to a week of liquids like after your initial surgery, sometimes this is all it takes to jump start your metabolism again. Also, changing your physical activity routine can help. If you are walking for exercise, try to add some other aerobic activity for at least half the amount of time spent walking, for example if you are walking 30 minutes 4 days a week, try swimming or dancing for 30 minutes 2 days a week and walk the other 2 or change activity to 4 days a week. Our bodies get used to our routine and become either somewhat lazy at times or just needs a chance to catch up with the changes that have been made. Although these times can be very frustrating, it is important to focus on the positive changes you have made in your journey and not dwell on the fact that the number on the scale is not moving as fast as you would like for it to do.
Lou Miller, ARNP, Wichita Clinic

Change up the number of calories you get each day by getting an average of 1,000.  What this means is today you may eat 900, but tomorrow you may eat 1100.  Don’t keep things so consistent, keep your body guessing what you are doing.  At times weight loss can be like a strategic game in which you need to know your strategy but you don’t dare risk letting your oponent know your strategy.

Thank you all for your replies! I will work on increasing my protein and changing up my exercise regimine. I am already drinking at least a liter of water a day.Hopefully these changes will help.I know I will get over this hump, and it’s only one of many I’m sure!!!

Well, it feels like it’s been forever since the scale went down, but it finally did! I took everyone’s advice and it worked. I’m so glad that we have this board to be able to talk to people and ask questions. The support certainly helps!

I am glad to hear that the results have been positive for you.  Keep up the good work and before long you will be at your goal and the plateaus will be just a memory.