This might be a dumb question, but here goes

Once a person reaches their target weight, what steps are taken to increase caloric intake to keep from losing more?  I can see myself losing 100 pounds, only to say to myself that 10 more would be better.  Then continuing to do that until I waste away.

I know that I am addicted to food, but I could easily become addicted to losing weight, and that is a bad thing also.  I am having the VSG on 18 September, and I started wondering about this possibility last night.

Bert

Prior to WLS I have lost a large amount of weight several times in my life.  The problem was I always regained it and more but what I do remember is that I never gave a thought to where I wanted to be.  I just continued eating the way I had been to lose the excess weight and then at some point the amount I was eating matched up with the amount I was burning and my weight loss would stop at a good place and stay there.  At least until I started eating junk again.

This time was different.  I didn't stop losing "automatically" as in the past.  The weight kept going down and I really had no idea what to do.  I started by adding in an extra protein shake or two.  Pretty much adding in a 100 calories a day.  I eat full fat foods like cheese and sour cream and butter.  I had snacks like nuts which are pretty calorie dense since my restriction is still pretty good.

I've found that since I still can't eat a lot I have to eat more often so basically anywhere for 4 to 6 times a day.  Most of my snacks are protein based but I do allow one or two that is more carb based, like popcorn.

I gained about 5 lbs and stayed there for a few years and then last year, without consciously doing anything different I gained another 5 lbs, which is fine.

I am almost 4 years out and I weigh myself daily to stay accountable.  I know it is very possible and maybe even likely that I may put on more weight and that is ok since I wouldn't mind being around 120 - 125 but I refuse to eat badly to get there, so if it happens it happens. 

I can only speak from my own experience.

i lost too much for my appearance, not for my health! But I looked awful and once I finally accepted that, I let myself put some pounds back on. And believe me that's easy! 

I have been part of the bariatric community close to 7 years now. I can probably count on one hand the number of people who had truly lost too much by year 3. I can count well into the hundreds the number of people who have had big regains. By year 3 we can eat more. If we need to increase calories it is much easier to do the further you get out.

Just follow your plan and try to focus on making healthy life choices.

I slowed down quite gracefully by adding some more carbs to my diet.  I actually started indulging in things like a slice of bread or a spoonful of rice or things like that.  At my lowest, I was told I look like a scarecrow, and I was a size 8, quite reasonable, IMO.  Now that I teeter between a 10-12, I look much more normal for my body type

For most of us the body stops losing naturally.  I never did anything to stop.  I was too skinny until year three when I started gaining a pound a week with no changes in my diet or exercise.  After three months of that I went back to Weigh****chers to stop the regain.  As Laura said we see many people who are too skinny during year two and extremely rare to find someone too skinny by year three.

Believe me when I say that you'll look back on this question and probably chuckle a bit to yourself.  Because it's all too easy to stop the losing.  What's harder is to keep the scale from going back up!  

I was told when I hit my goal weight to add 100 extra calories every day until the scale stopped moving.   Pretty simple to do by adding in a bit more healthy carbs and fats.  I've been in maintenance for 7 months now and have maintained my weight within a 3-4 lb. window.  It's a constant learning process but I'm definitely not worried about losing "too much".