How I Broke My Stall

From March 30, 2011


I was pretty much stuck most of the month of March. When I went from liquids to mushies I figured I was going to stall for a bit but I increased my exercise to make up for the additional calories that I was getting. During the liquid phase I was probably eating/drinking around 400-500 calories. Once I got to the mushie phase I was eating/drinking about 600-800 calories and now that I'm on pretty much regular food I eat anywhere from 800-1200 calories, depending on the day and my activity level. I was stuck at 260 from the end of February until March 15. However, I stuck with everything that I was doing with my eating plan. I followed my doctor's plan about 95% of the time which includes eating 2-3 oz. of dense protein first, 2-3 bites of potatoes or mushy veg and eating every 3 hours. I kept my exercise level consistent except for 1-2 days per week when I increased my time at the gym by about 10 minutes. I've lost 2 pounds in 2 days this week and I didn't go to the gym at all this week yet! I've been taking 15 minute walks with my dog at night, I did a Zumba DVD in the morning and yesterday I took my son to the museum and we walked around and played for about 2 hours. I was too tired last night to do an exercise video and somehow, I dropped another pound!

So I think the thing about stalls is to remain consistent. If there is something in your diet that needs tweaking, like maybe getting too many carbs or not enough carbs, go ahead and tweak it but following the doctor's plan does seem to work for most people. Of course, I was banded for almost 10 years so I think that has helped me with certain eating rules like chewing food really well and slowing down to eat. The biggest rule that I have a hard time with is not drinking while eating as I get pretty thirsty when I'm eating.
The thing I learned while being banded is that it doesn't really matter how long it took me to lose weight, what mattered was that I had a difficult time keeping the weight off once I lost it. I am more concerned with long-term diet and exercise changes than losing weight quickly. When I lose it, I want it to stay lost!! 
Good luck to those of you struggling~