What is different when it comes to maintenance?

Like everyone here, I have been on countless diets from age 17 to 60.  Several of them got me to goal weight, then I ultimately regained more than I had lost (I know this is an all too familiar story for all of you too).  SO, I've met with my chosen surgeon, nutritionist, psychologist.  If I have done all we discussed, we will be talking about a surgery date (VSG) at my next appointment on 1/4/2015.

My biggest question is what will make this work better than diets?  I get that the weight comes off quickly during the first months, but what about maintenance? What will make this work better than post-diet once I get to maintenance?  

Hi Liz,

Great questions! First, I would say that when you are preop it is very difficult to wrap your head around how the Vsg impacts eating. Not just solely on restriction either- the loss gherlin is incredibly helpful in combination with the restriction. I am similar to you- tons of diets, tons of loss, and even more regains. Vsg gave me a clean slate. The first 6 weeks you have to eat according to the food phases, and if you follow it then by the end it is shocking how much you no longer crave crappy food and instead crave super healthy food. It was a total reset in that regard for me, as I was a huge sugar and carb eater. Next, in the process came the period where you can put some crap choices back in if you succumb to head hunger. Many of us do slip up here and there, but during this part of the journey I really focused on learning how to crawl back on the wagon and the importance of staying very consistent with food choices- not perfect. This continued to goal. In maintenance many of us then elect to continue to eat the same way, but simply add in a little more calories. By 6 months the restriction is less (although still powerful) and some find they need to be extra careful to avoid a lot of carbs and slider foods. I am now 4 years out. Maintenance overall has gone well. I did have  regain over the summer and went over my goal weight by about 10 pounds. I am back under goal again, but will still work on losing a bit more to give me some breathing room. 

I cannot "guarentee" that in 4 more years I will still be under goal of course. But as long as I stay mindful and continue to eat similar to what I have been doing I will be Ok- and I never feel deprived. 

Get the surgery. It levels the playing field and gives you a real shot at dramatically improving your health!

Hi Liz,

All of what happy teacher said!!

this surgery is more successful than diets. it is just as much work, but with sooner visual results.  That helps you stay on course (at least me) seeing/feeling the lbs drop off.  Once you get to maintance, you and only you have to decide if you want to maintain bad enough to do what it takes to stay there.  You will learn a thing or two (or more hopefully) along the way, and that will help set you up to continue the maintenance lifestyle and live a much healthier, happy life.  come back and post any questions, how did surgery go etc, there is a wealth of info on this site, and plentiful encouraging sleevers!  Best of luck to you! Dee

There are a lot of things medically, physically, emotionally that make this different, and I'm sure others will chime in.

But one thing I've thought about is that weight loss surgery might be similar to what people who file bankruptcy go through. We all made a dent in our weights (or debt), but no matter how much we tried, it was impossible to make a big enough dent. We were in a really huge hole, and needed to reset.

This gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean and truly start over. When I was 250 pounds overweight, gaining 5 or 10 pounds didn't even make me blink. Being at a weight I want, those 5 pounds make me act right away. I am not going to dig another hole like I did before.

Like happyteacher said you feel like you get a do-over but with much more life experience & self awareness behind you.  It takes as much work as any other maintence but that restriction is always there & dialing back the hunger hormone is pretty major.

I guess any of us can self sabatoge but for me I remind myself that I chose to have a major medical intervention so keep my head in the game.

So you are saying that I would have to rely on changed eating habits (as I would after a successful diet), but on top of that the hormone that makes me feel hungry would be reduced as well as the capacity in my stomach?  I appreciate the information!  I've made up my mind to do this, because though my younger motivation to look better isn't as strong, now I have multiple health reasons to lose the weight permanently.  Hopefully the added "tools" will allow me to finally succeed.

Yes. For some hunger returns, but it is nothing like it was prior to surgury. Even now it is more like feeling empty than feeling hungry. Unless I get caught up in a nasty cycle of eating a lot of carbs, or if I start to have acid issues. Acid can mimic hunger for us. 

It sounds like you are investing time and thought prior to surgery, learning as much as you can and planning for success. Take that same initiative to start investigating/ planning maintenance, well in advance of reaching it.

Like you, I realized that every time I had lost 100+ pounds before VSG, I treated it like crossing the finish line and "race over". Everything that makes you healthier during weight loss will be a tool for maintenance. There are lots of great posts on this site. I also highly recommend "Refuse to Regain", Dr. Barbara Berkeley. Her book, medical practice and philosophy took all of my research and planning and tied a bow around it.

We have so got this !!!

I started maintenance in August after eating goal.  It has been a challenge but I think I have found what works for me.  At first I bumped my calories to 1,400 per day and just ate more of what I was eating, protein and veggies.  I ended up losing another 4 pounds.  I brought some carbs back in a piece of toast occasionally, rice, potatoes, etc.  I went to 4 pounds over goal.  I dropped the rice and potatoes and now eat my carbs in the form of a piece of bread and tortilla wraps.  

The main thing I've learned is I have to keep making good choices and I still track everything that goes in my mouth.  Good Luck!

Good for you to be looking further out!  Yes the first hurdle is getting all the weight off but the more challenging one is keeping it off.  

For me, I viewed the weight loss phase as playing in a small, tightly controlled playground.  It reflected the level of maturity I had at the time.  In maintenance, I play in the same playground, but the size of the area gradually got larger as I grew up and was able to make good decisions.

But there are still boundaries and there always will be. That's how I stay safe. And at times when I'm not making decisions that keep me safe, I make the playground smaller again for awhile.