Read my last post to Ratsack. We all have stalls, pauses whatever. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others. Hang tough this to will pass and another will come again later. You are great, revel in yourself.

It is very common for the scale to get stuck at some time during the first weeks post op, and it can stay stuck for several weeks. That is because your body is going through a huge adjustment as well as healing.

HOWEVER, it is not a true stall, not a true plateau. A genuine, I'm Stuck Here Stall occurs when you lose neither inches nor pounds for two full weeks.

What is happening to you now, is that your body is holding fluids. I suggest that you begin to take comprehensive body measurements and keep them, dated, in a journal. Do them weekly. You will be very encouraged to see that even when the scale appears to be stuck, your body is melting away the inches. :)

You asked, "What have your stalls been like"? The longest pause I had was 5 days. I used the word pause because the meaning implies a short time. Words have power. During my pauses I increased my protein and water and worked on whatever the mental/emotional issues were at the time that came up for clearing. Every time I cleared a piece, the shedding would resume. Every time!

Pauses are important times to pause, take a deep breath, reevaluate, tweak, integrate, and process. They are important times to notice the worry and stress in our lives, and evaluate whether we are getting the sleep we need. As you know stress affects weight loss greatly. Self judgement, comparing, and stressing over numbers increases our stress levels and slow the shedding process.

Here are a few reminders about plateaus, pauses, and stalls from the What Newbies Need to Know post.

29. You WILL have LOTS of plateaus/pauses! Get used to it! The first plateau usually happens around 3-4 weeks. Protein first thing in the morning!!! Water, protein, adequate sleep, less stress, addressing emotional number memories, and exercise will help them to pass. The weight will shed whether you drive yourself crazy along the way or not.

30. As you backtrack through time, weighty memories surface, usually during plateaus. Working through them helps to move through the plateaus, and the whole journey, faster. When you hit a pause, look at what was going on in your life when you were at this weight before. You are releasing more than fat. You are releasing years of weighty emotions, memories and pain that you have stuffed or eaten: worry, anger, resentment, grief, sadness, guilt, fear, drama, victimhood, self- punishment, fears of the future, what ifs, old patterns, old beliefs, and attitudes that no longer serve you, etc., etc.

31. Questions to ask yourself during plateaus: What am I afraid to let go of? What am I hanging on to? What was going on in my life when I weighed ___, that I dont want to address or look at? What old attitudes, beliefs, or thought patterns am I resisting releasing? What is it about succeeding with this that scares me?

You are only at the beginning of the shedding process and as long as you stick to your program, you will naturally shed the weight.