I had WLS and can't lose - did I mess up my metabolism?

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  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
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    ominousdusk wrote: »
    I don't have any health issues but if i eat below my BMR (which is 1800) I don't lose weight, and if I do this long enough I will gain.

    No, you won't.
  • CoraGregoryCPA
    CoraGregoryCPA Posts: 1,087 Member
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    I had RNY. The DS is so interesting. Off topic, but what made you choose that surgery especially if there aren't knowledgeable people around to help you?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Bypass here, this past June. I was warned after a year my loss would slow. Look at it this way. You aren't gaining which is good. If you don't change something you will continue to get the same results. I suggest trying one new thing for a full month and then check the results. I suspect you are retaining water weight. How about eating more frequently based on what your new little tummy can absorb?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Have you ever tested your eating level to try to find potential maintenance for your level of activity?

    Obviously, whatever you are eating at right now is maintenance because you don't lose or gain. But that may be from stressed body changing the formula for your normal burn on you.

    If you ate 250 more calories daily for 2 weeks, you would only gain 1 lb of fat.

    If you gain none, then prior eating level wasn't truly maintenance.
    If you gain more faster, then you just topped off muscle glycogen stores with attached water, and if you had truly been at maintenance, there wouldn't have been any to top off, again showing prior eating level wasn't maintenance.

    Your body may be willing to maintain at a much higher eating level, then you take a good deficit off that amount, reasonable and unstressful level, since your body is already under stress with a disease.

    Or you go the opposite direction if you think you are truly eating at potential maintenance.
    Find a real 500 calories to leave out of your current eating level daily.
    And see if you lose 1 lb weekly.

    Seems like a lot WLS patients have to lose some amount of weight first - that effort could indeed have jacked you up, making body adapt beyond what you are desiring.

    Despite lack of losing weight, when was the last time you weren't in a diet trying to lose weight?
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    catecholamine wrote:
    eat ~1500 calories a day, but don't absorb like 1/2 of that, my TDEE is 2575 calories. Why in the hell have I not lost any weight in 2 months? I've been losing and gaining the same few lbs.
    You appear to have found your maintenance level for your current weight.
    You're not losing weight because you're not eating less than your body needs... just like anyone with a regular digestive system.
    Obviously your caloric needs are lower than you think.
    .
    We heavily malabsorb fat - 80% is malabsorbed, though it can vary as low as 50% malabsorbed depending on the person. You also don't absorb 40% of protein, so you need at least 100g a day. Malabsorb 40% complex carbs, but FULLY absorb simple carbs.
    Is my metabolism just EFFED? I have PCOS and hypothyroidism, but the hypothyroidism is being treated (not much they can do about the PCOS).
    Not sure about the metabolism... see a doctor for that. You certainly have more health challenges than most, including the deliberately induced ones (malabsorption being huge).


    re: nutritionist not knowing diddly
    Contact a national group dealing with stomach surgery. See if they have a member in your area who's a dietician. Contact your insurance company. See if that person or persons is available to you, or if you can get a special referral.

    Info from the NIH on the various surgeries.
    Which gives a link to the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery.
    They have lots of members in Nashville, and a few in Knoxville. Search their directory here. Call some of them & see if they can recommend a registered dietician they work with who understands the problems which come with that surgery.

    Here's where you can search the American Dietetic Association to find someone near you. Or contact the national office & ask if there's someone who specializes in people who have had stomach surgery.

    Johns Hopkins references the ASMBS in its article about the procedure, and says among other things:
    "The ASMBS also recommends that you eat small but nutritious meals that are high in protein, along with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and omega-3 fatty acids. You should avoid meals high in sugar."
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    dusk wrote:
    Did you say your TDEE is 2500 but you are only eating 1500? How do you expect to lose weight and burn fart (sic) :grinning: if your body needs every single calorie you are giving it? You aren't feeding it enough nutrients so its going to hold on to everything. It is physically possible to gain weight from not eating enough.
    :banghead:
    Here's a very well-done article about starvation mode - what it is and is not.
    That seems to be what you're referring to when you say that if you eat below what your body needs, your body will magically hang onto calories, and even gain weight (which is impossible).

    If you eat less than your body needs, you will lose weight.
    You have to, because science.
    That's the only way to lose weight short of amputation.

    The body has to have energy to run.
    It prefers to get this energy from carbohydrates - glucose, then glycogen.
    After that, it prefers to burn fat.
    As a distant third, it will burn protein (muscle), but this is an inefficient conversion compared to the other 2 sources of energy. It's also a hail Mary, hoping that you'll find food before your heart &/or diaphragm can't work any more & you die. THAT is starvation mode.

    .
    if i eat below my BMR (which is 1800) I don't lose weight, and if I do this long enough I will gain. Eating below your BMR you will lose but then eventually you will lose more slowly and then not at all. You will lose lean muscle mass instead of fat and when you start to eat to maintain you will gain weight again.
    :banghead:

    The only way to gain weight is to eat more than your body needs.
    If you are eating at maintenance, by definition you are NOT eating more than your body needs, therefore you will not gain weight. (Other than the transient water weight from a high carb or high sodium meal.)

    I have been eating several hundred calories below my BMR for most of the last year, minus a few days here & there where I went over my calorie goal. I have lost weight, lots of it, and according to this calculator I have maintained my lean body mass so that weight which was lost was fat. My doctors are all very happy with my progress and my health.

    MFP says my current BMR is 1612. I'm 5'10"-ish-erso, 46 and right at 200 lb. My current calorie goal is 1400. (That's actual total calories, not net.)
    .
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  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but has your WLS caused most of these issues your struggling with? If so, has it been worth it?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    ominousdusk wrote: »
    Did you say your TDEE is 2500 but you are only eating 1500? How do you expect to lose weight and burn fart if your body needs every single calorie you are giving it? You aren't feeding it enough nutrients so its going to hold on to everything. It is physically possible to gain weight from not eating enough. I don't have any health issues but if i eat below my BMR (which is 1800) I don't lose weight, and if I do this long enough I will gain. Eating below your BMR you will lose but then eventually you will lose more slowly and then not at all. You will lose lean muscle mass instead of fat and when you start to eat to maintain you will gain weight again.

    I don't think someone is going to go into "starvation mode " eating 1500 calories a day :huh:

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    ominousdusk wrote: »
    Did you say your TDEE is 2500 but you are only eating 1500? How do you expect to lose weight and burn fart if your body needs every single calorie you are giving it? You aren't feeding it enough nutrients so its going to hold on to everything. It is physically possible to gain weight from not eating enough. I don't have any health issues but if i eat below my BMR (which is 1800) I don't lose weight, and if I do this long enough I will gain. Eating below your BMR you will lose but then eventually you will lose more slowly and then not at all. You will lose lean muscle mass instead of fat and when you start to eat to maintain you will gain weight again.

    I don't think someone is going to go into "starvation mode " eating 1500 calories a day :huh:

  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
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    Since she is no longer diabetic, I'm sure she thinks it was worth it.
  • sliverqueen
    sliverqueen Posts: 13 Member
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    Have you tried switching up your workouts? Taking measurements? Taking pictures of before, during and after? Just because you aren't losing weight doesn't mean you're not losing inches. Your body has been through a massive overhauling. It sometimes needs a moment to readjust. Keep at it, stay strong, it will pick back up. And make sure you keep exercising and logging your food diary. Excellent work.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Your diary is completely empty.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited March 2015
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    QuilterInVA wrote: »
    Since she is no longer diabetic, I'm sure she thinks it was worth it.

    Yep
    this all sounds good:
    Good news: Diabetes was gone instantly, left hospital on no diabetes meds. High blood pressure is better. Sciatica is better. Arthritis is better. I've lost 110lbs.
  • brhoard
    brhoard Posts: 1 Member
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    Hi,
    I had my DS a little over two years ago and stalled hard just like you at around one year out. No matter what I did my weight would not come off and it plateaued like that for around three months. After talking to a lot of old time DS'ers at my support group, a lot of them recommended upping both the protein and fat. I don't know how, but this protein and fat shock started my metabolism again and I got past my sticking point and started losing weight again. As time goes by, it seems that after about a year or so, the weight loss does slow down significantly. I find myself having to refocus on the basics of the diet, just like right after surgery. It's big reason why I'm on here now, so close to my goal yet so much harder to progress.

    AND like you there are no nutritionists, doctors or specialists around me that know a thing about the DS surgery, vitamin regimen or specific diet. Luckily I live somewhat close to the Doctor's office who performed my surgery in San Francisco and can make an occasional trek there to check in with him and attend a support group.
    Good luck!

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