stalled and depressed and in need of feedback

shaahboogie

Hey gang!!

i figured i could come here and cry because you all are VSGers and will understand. i am almost 9 months out. in june i hit 185 and have been stalled ever since. i was eating 1000 calories a day and watching what i ate. i wasnt exercising much at all. by July i said hey i need to get active and get this stall moving. i signed up with a persnal trainer for an hr twice a week doing mixed cardio and weights. i burn between 650 to 1200 calories in a session. after a month, i lost inches, but no lbs. the scale has moved 3 lbs up and gone down 3 lbs in the same week. i found myself tired and either starving or barely eating after working out. i was burning all the food i had eaten during the day. i go from work, right to the gym, no time to eat dinner first. i decided after the first month and still at a stall that maybe i should bump up my calorie intake to 1200 a day. Yesterday was month 2 of training. an inch or half an inch here or there, but again no lbs. im happy with the tone up and inches lost, but i want to see lbs go away. its been almost 3 months. i dont always make the best choices with food but i dont go over that 1200 mark. my trainer's husband wanted to give me a diet plan but im not sure about that. he trains people who do and play sports and i cant eat like them. and he wants to fill me with protein which i have a problem drinking. according to MFP i am getting enough protein in.foods since increasing my calories i am not tired and starving like before.

Last night my trainer got the best of me. from the gate i was wondering should i have gone to a trainer who has worked with people who have had weight loss surgery or does it not matter. last night my trainer's husband tells me to throw out all high frutose items in my house. dude i have a spouse and 3 kids, i cant throw things they like out because of my weight issues. im an adult i know what i can and cant eat. then he says he wants me to go on a 2 week no carb, no surger diet. im sorry i require a certain amount of calories a day. he says if you do this you will see results. But wait, i pay you guys to train me and i have come in as scheduled and worked and i have seen results just not weight loss, so it took you 2 months to tell me this is what i need to do in order to see results ie:weight loss? and my trainer says i dont think you are going to continue to work out after your contract is up and if it wasnt for you coming and training with me, you wouldnt have been able to maintain like you have been. talk about pissed!!! all the weight i have lost, i did on my own after surgery. eating right, tracking calories, exercising on my own. all training has done is tone me up and make me lose some freakin inches. am i wrong for feeling pissed and should i try to not eat any bread, pasta, cereal,rice or anything with sugar for 2 weeks?

spfldpam

Sounds like you need to find another personal trainer. He sounds like a jerk. Why after 2 months did he now tell you this? Stalls are normal throughout the WLS journey. Are you getting enough grams of protein in and 80 oz of liquids a day? Protein and liquids burn fat. You might be gaining muscle with your exercise program so that might be why you haven't lost pounds but you said you have lost inches so maybe your body is just redistributing your weight at this point.
Good luck and don't give up! Just work your program. Can you call your nut. from your bariatric program to see if they can help you also?

pawoodhull

Rather than talk to your trainer or their spouse, talk to your surgeon's dietician. My surgeon's dietician told me to eat about 1,000 calories a day. MFP said 1,280. So I started eating the 1,000 and like you, the scale wasn't moving, so I bumped it up to the 1,280. I'm usually under by a few and I rarely eat back the calories burned during a workout, but then I'm not working out as much as you. I've done this a week at 1,280 and I lost a pound. I'm anxious to see if that continues.

Get at least 1,000 per day. If your workout burns 1,000, then you need to eat 2,000. Make sense? Be careful about what you are eating to get the 1,000 calories per day too. Watch your fat intake and make sure to get enough protein (also get that number from the dietician). I understand the frustration as I've only lost 4 pounds since April. I'm 15 months out from my surgery, but I should still be losing a couple of pounds a week.

actg95

I agree that you need to talk to your Nutritionist. I go to see mine on Tuesday and honestly, can not wait. I haven't been in four months and want to make sure I am doing what I should be. I think everyone is different, but I know part of my issues have ALWAYS been carb - pre and post surgery. I have to really try to keep my carbs to all natural carbs to lose more, but realize that is not realistic for myself. I also have children in the house and try to work with that. They have foods that I don't and I have to be cool with that.

That being said, I really think you need a trainer that is going to help you - regardless of any contract, or not having a contract. You need the right person with the right heart - you are paying for it and deserve what they have, not the grief they want to give. I went to my gym, talked to them and asked for a recommendation from them - told them about my medical history and that I have a hip that needs replaced. They provided me a great guy named Greg - he was wonderful, helpful and gave a crap.

Good luck and let us know how you are doing. Feel free to friend me if you want to have someone to chat with.

Melanie

JillyInAZ

So sorry that all these challenges are hitting you! I agree with what the above posters have said.

Get a different trainer, and speak with them upfront about your history and point blank ask them if they have challenges with working with bariatric patients. Certainly from a loss standpoint, even though you are stalled, you ARE making progress wtih the inches and clothes fitting.. I know, I know, you want the number to drop, I completely get that.. but your body is going through huge changes and it just takes some chunks of time to reset.. and with the weight training, you are increasing your muscle mass! Stick with it!

Yes, please do go talk to your surgeons nutritionist, first of all when they weigh you, (if it's like my bari office) the scale measures body mass and muscle mass, and they will be able to show you the muscle mass increase and the fat mass decreass, which is the TRUE story of your weight loss, not just the lbs dropping down. So that might make you feel a little better.

Print your food diarly from myfitnesspal and take it to the nutritionist, they will then be able to clearly see what is going on. My nutritionist is always thrilled when I bring in the printouts, because it really spells it out.

That being said, I agree with the poster who mentioned to be careful in how you are getting your calories. I looked at your diary (since it was public) and while I'm not a nutritionist or MD, it really does look like your protein might be too low (you look to be averaging around 40-45g/day) just speaking for myself, (at 6.5 mo out) I know I average about 70-85g/day normally and about 90-110g/day when working out with weights. (on 900-1000 cals/day) Also, to me it does seem that your carbs are mostly on the simple carbohydrate side (crackers, snacks, pre-packaged foods) rather than the complex carbohydrate side (fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains) and also maybe a little high. You might try switching things around so that you are getting more calories from the proteins and fewer calories from the carbs in the total picture. Again, please print out your diary and talk to your nutritionist.

You've been doing great, and making progress and I know you want to continue! And you can! The trade off is that it probably generally gets slower and slower as time goes on, and the VSG does less and less of the "automatic" work for you. (damn it!)

It's so good you are working out and working with a trainer, that helps so much with accountability, but a training, just like a therapist or doctor is a very personal relationship, and you both have to be on the same goal plan. Sometimes the relationship is just not the right fit, and you need to try another. But don't give up on having a good trainer!

Stay strong! And stay focused!
-Jill

vmudgett

First of all, don't get discouraged. Tha's the most important thing. As others have said, there are stall for all of us, I have just had one for two months and just broke it. You need to see a nutritionist as others have said, especially one who works with bariatric patients. There are all kinds of diets out there, as we all know, as we have all tried all of them, but for us sleevers, protein is extremely important as well as the great advice another poster gave you about legumes, veggies, etc. The inches that you are losing are good though. I wouldn't be discouraged about that... The number is not as important as how you look and feel. Anyway, stay on these boards, and find some friends to keep you going, that's what has kept me going!!

MzzAshley

I'm about 10 1/2 months out and have been in a stall just like yours, losing and gaining the same 4 pounds for over a month! Its very frustrating, but its very common that we go through these. Today I have finally lost 1 pound lol I guess I'll take it!