Not losing weight after gastric sleeve surgery could be a post-operative concern for some patients. Gastric sleeve surgery typically helps patients achieve substantial weight loss for about 18 to 24 months.

Individuals undergoing sleeve operation need to have realistic expectations and follow the post-op diet as well as a healthy lifestyle. A good bariatric surgeon will ensure that their patients understand all of the benefits and risks associated with gastric sleeve surgery.

When people know what to expect before surgery is performed, they can make sensible goals for themselves. If you are concerned about reaching your goal weight, check out the expected weight loss timeline, and discuss your stall with your surgeon or nutritionist. If you cannot get near your ideal weight after two years post-operation, you may consider revising your gastric sleeve to RNY gastric bypass, mini bypass, or duodenal switch.

Myth vs Reality: Losing Weight After Gastric Sleeve

Myth: You will always have substantial weight loss results after undering gastric sleeve surgery. This is not always true.

Reality: Weight loss after gastric sleeve varies for everyone. In rare cases, the sleeve gastrectomy can be less effective for some patients. It is not like getting liposuction which fat is extracted and weight loss is immediate.

why am I not losing weight after gastric sleeve surgery 2020

Gastric sleeve procedure helps stimulate weight loss by reducing appetite and portion sizes. In fact, it is common to see little to no weight loss in the first few weeks after the surgery, as you are adapting to the procedure. Realistic expectations help patients achieve safe, healthy, and successful long-term weight loss.

Why Am I Not Losing Weight With Gastric Sleeve Surgery?

One issue that a patient may have is the lack of weight loss after gastric sleeve surgery. Here are five common reasons why a patient may not be losing weight after gastric sleeve surgery.

Reason #1: You Are Not Eating Enough Calories

Yes, I know this is a mind stopper. It is hard to believe that not eating enough calories can contribute to not losing weight. After weight loss surgery one of the major hunger hormones; ghrelin is removed so you don’t feel hungry and your stomach has just gone from the size of a flattened football to the size of your thumb. Get high protein products that you actually enjoy.

You have no desire to eat, so you don’t. Many people think, that the less I eat the faster I will lose weight. Unfortunately, not the case for many. When your body is not nourished properly, your body will start burning fat as well as muscle for energy. The more muscle you lose, the harder it is to keep losing weight and the increased chances of stalls or plateaus.

Also, your body begins to think you are starving it, so your body begins to work against you, making it harder to achieve weight loss. It will hold on to every ounce increasing the number and time frame that you experience stalled weight loss.

How many calories you want to aim for depends on how far out you are post-operative. It is helpful not to force the food but to have goals. First, do not stress about your intake. Just be mindful of what you are consuming. You will not focus on calories until you are at least three weeks post-surgery. At three to four weeks assess where you are at and your first target is 800 calories, 1,000, and 1,200 calories.

1200 calories really are the baseline for everyone. Eating below this will slow down weight loss long term. Many of you will need more than this, depending on your individual needs.

Gastric Sleeve Expected Rate of Weight Loss

Reason #2: Lack of Balanced Meal Planning

If you are four or more weeks out, it is important to slowly incorporate more solid proteins and healthy fats into your meal plan. The first step is to make sure you are getting enough protein. You can determine your baseline protein needs by taking your ideal healthy weight and dividing it by 2.2.

For example, if you aim to weigh 150 pounds, you would take 150 divided by 2.2, and your optimum protein would be 68 grams. Remember, this is a general baseline recommendation; for best fat loss results, you may need a higher percentage of protein.

After determining protein needs, look at the overall balance of macronutrients. A common question many people ask is how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates should I have for optimally fat loss. There is no exact number that will work for everyone, so it is important to take these general guidelines and play with the percentages until you find what works best for you.

Not Losing Weight After Gastric Sleeve? - Plastic Surgery Options

Daily Macronutrient Goal

Macronutrients make up most of the calories we eat. These major food categories include protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Balancing macros after gastric sleeve could very well fix your weight loss problem and get you back on track with a more “balanced diet.”

After gastric sleeve, we recommend a high-protein macronutrient distribution of 10-35% Carbohydrates, 30-40% Fat, and 35-50% Protein. Also, be sure that your overall total sugar intake is less than 25 grams per day.

Reason #3: Eating Too Many “Slider Foods” (Snacking)

After the operation, many people have difficulty transitioning to whole food-based solids. People often say they can’t eat chicken or any solid protein foods.

Over time they develop a food aversion to solid proteins. When this happens they end up choosing what I call slider foods. These are foods that are easy to go down like yogurts, potatoes, tomato or cream soups, ice cream, etc…

These types of foods lack balance and substance which cause you to feel hungrier faster and many times have more simple processed carbohydrates than lean proteins and fats. Look at your overall intake of foods, and if you are predominately eating “slider-based” foods, this may be affecting your weight loss.

5-Day Pouch Reset: Lose Weight After Weight Gain

Reason #4: Exercising Too Much Too Soon

Once you make the decision to have bariatric surgery, you are focused and ready to have this extra weight gone. You are eager to experience the fast results that you have read about in many cases after having weight loss surgery. With this eagerness, you are ready to hit the gym and start running.

Believe it or not, if you are not eating enough calories and you start an exercise program, you may be hindering your weight loss. Walking post-surgery is always encouraged and helps you in many ways. Outside of a walking program, you want to make sure you are healed before starting any other forms of exercise.

The general recommendation is to wait six to eight weeks post-op before starting an exercise routine. You also want to make sure you are eating your baseline calories before going into extreme exercise.

Kettle Bells Working Out - Not Losing Weight After Gastric Sleeve Surgery

If you are not eating a minimum of 800 calories I would stick to a walking regimen. Focus on increasing your calories at a minimum of 800 to 1200 and once your calories are in check then incorporate an exercise routine.

Reason #5: I Don’t Like to Lift Weights

Although I tell people you can never out-exercise a bad diet, and that diet is at least 80% and exercises being 20% – it still impacts the efficiency and the rate at which you burn fat. This does not mean just running on the treadmill. Building lean muscle increases your metabolism because it takes more calories to maintain muscle.

The more lean muscle you have, the faster you burn calories. If you are six to eight weeks out and you are eating a proper amount of calories resistance training may be the thing you are missing to take you to that next level of fat loss.

If you do not know anything about resistance training to build muscle it may be beneficial to hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to create a plan for you. If you do not like going to the gym, you can create a home workout. If you are reading this and thinking, “I don’t want to get bulky;” trust me, you won’t. It takes a lot of work and a consistently balanced meal plan to build muscle.

Overall you want to be patient with the process. You did not gain the weight overnight and although for many this is rapid weight loss it will not come off overnight either. Stalls or plateaus are a normal part of the process.

Considerations

For many of you, you are weighing yourselves daily or every few days and if you don’t see the scale change you are quick to say, “I’m not losing weight”. Give yourselves a few weeks for your body to adjust and process the fat that has been utilized. Patience is a crucial part of this process.

It is important to remember that each one of you is a unique individual with specific needs. There are general guidelines that can steer you in the direction of the optimal fat loss but there are many factors that can affect the rate at which you burn calories and fat.

Be mindfull that over time you will need to tweak this information to make it work specifically for you. There is no specific diet that is perfect for everyone.

Sometimes patients are discouraged when they aren’t losing weight as fast as another patient. Note that everybody works differently and there are many differences that affect the weight loss rate. Consult with your bariatric nutritionist if you have any specific issues related to your rate of weight loss after your surgical procedure.

Gastric Sleeve Revision in Mexico

Gastric Sleeve Revision

If none of the above seems to be the reason for not losing weight, then the primary surgery may not have been the right one for you. Revisions can be made with a second surgery to make the stomach pouch even smaller or you may need a different type of bariatric procedure to fit your needs.

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy can be easily converted to RNY Gastric Bypass, Mini Gastric Bypass, or Duodenal Switch. A professional surgeon from Mexico Bariatric Center® will work directly with the patient to ensure the safety and effectiveness of a conversional operation.

Quick Fix Diet to Lose Weight After Gastric Sleeve

Quick Fix: Balanced Meal Plan

For optimal fat loss, macronutrients will vary for each person. Ranges will be between 10 – 35% carbohydrates, 30 -40% fat, and 35 – 50% fat for most individuals. These are general ranges to start with.

Soft Solid Phase Meal Plans:

Until you can eat six to eight ounces at one meal, you will have to eat six or more small meals throughout the day. Between three and four weeks most people can eat around three ounces at one meal. These sample meal plans are based on 3 oz. at each meal. If you can not eat three ounces you can increase the number of meals per day. You can not force the food but it is important to work at getting proper nourishment.

Example one:

Provides 831 calories, 80 grams protein, 45 grams carbs, 34 grams fat (40% protein, 22% carbohydrates, 38% fat):

  • Fruit smoothie, not losing weight after gastric sleeve surgery, healthy foodMeal 1:
    2 eggs (3 ounces)
  • Meal 2:
    ½ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
    1 TBSP Barlean’s Omega Swirl
  • Meal 3:
    Canned Salmon (3 ounces)
    2 TBSP Salad Dressing: Asian Toasted Almond
  • Meal 4:
    Protein Smoothie:
    Protein Powder providing 20 – 26 grams of protein
    6 ounces Fairlife Whole Milk (lactose is removed and has an extra enzyme added)
    ½ small banana
  • By adding 1 TBSP of natural peanut butter to your smoothie and adding one more meal of a ¼ of an avocado, you increase your calories to 1000. (84 g. protein, 51 g. CHO, 48 g. fat. 35% protein, 21% carbohydrates, 44% fat).

Example two:

Provides 898 calories, 89.3 grams protein (37%), 50.7 grams carbohydrates (21%) and 45.6 g. of fat (42%)

  • Meal 1:
    ¼ cup oatmeal
    6 ounces Fairlife whole milk
    ¼ cup pumpkin puree
    Cinnamon to taste
  • Meal 2:
    ½ cup 4% cottage cheese
    2 TBSP sun-dried tomatoes
    1 tsp. basil
  • Meal 3:
    3 ounces of tuna fish
    1 TBSP real mayo
    salt, pepper, seasoning to taste
  • Meal 4:
    Protein Smoothie with protein powder 20 – 26 grams protein
    6 ounces Fairlife Whole milk

Meal Plans Based on One Month and Beyond:

Meal plans based on 4 to 6 ounces of food per meal and 1200 calories

Example 1:

Provides 1,209 calories, 112 grams of protein (36%), 73 grams carbohydrates (23%), 58 grams 
fat (41%)

  • Meal 1:Healthy meal, not losing weight after gastric sleeve surgery, healthy meal plan
    2 eggs
    1-ounce cheddar cheese
    2 TBSP black bean and corn salsa
    1 small tortilla
  • Meal 2:
    Chicken salad:
    2.5 ounces (½ can) of white shredded chicken
    ¼ avocado
    salt, pepper, and seasoning of choice
    8 crackers of choice
  • Meal 3:
    3 ounces grilled salmon
    ½ cup green beans
    1 tsp olive oil
    seasonings of choice
  • Meal 4:
    Protein smoothie:
    protein powder with 26 grams of protein
    6 ounces Fairlife whole milk
    ¾ cup of frozen mixed berries

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