How tight of a rein do you keep on your weight in maintenance?

Also not a vet, but I've been maintaining for about 14 months. My routines are a result of approximately 15 failed diets over my lifetime:

1. How faithfully do you track intake in maintenance? I track all the time.
2. How often do you weigh? Weigh daily first thing in the morning unless a scale is inaccessible.
3. How much of a gain prompts you to make changes in your intake? I allow myself a 3 pound range (I'm pretty short, so it might be a wider range if I were taller). If I am over the halfway point, I try to drop my calories a bit for a few days (maybe by 200 calories****il back to the midpoint or below that.

This sounds so exhausting to me. It's amazing how diligently you plan and track.

Its more or less habit now. My scale is next to the bathroom so I weigh first thing in the morning after I use the bathroom. I track on MFP on my phone which I always have with me. I also tend to eat the same things for breakfast, lunch and snacks so they get added quickly (plus a lot of similar meals for dinner). It works for me right now anyway!

I weigh myself two times daily.

I write down everything I eat. I don't measure it out anymore, for the most part.

I stay between 164 and 172. I have wide fluctuations. At 172 alarm bells go off and I rein myself in.

I eat 2200 to 2500 calories daily. I hardly ever exercise.

My goal is 150 but it's not that serious of a goal because I'm not willing to cut calories and exercise.

In not a vet, but in maintenance. I weigh every single morning. As far as food goes, I had my BMR tested when I entered maintenance. My BMR is 1239. I very rarely eat 1239 cals a day as I find I gain weight at that level. I tend to keep my cals between 1000-1100 my protein between 80-100g and my carbs under 60. I weigh/measure/log in MFP every single day. I have an 1100+ day streak going and don't plan on breaking it. I even logged when I had my revision surgery and was on clear liquids.

For me, intuitive eating will not work. I've found during this process that I need to plan and stick to it or things get out of control

So far I'm keeping a pretty tight reign on my weight. I have a mentally "comfortable range" which for me is about 133-137. if I drop below, I don't sweat it. if I rise above, I buckle down and cut out any grazing or snacking (which happens sometimes on a weekend or during events/holidays).

I don't track at all anymore...today was the first day I entered a meal plan into MFP...just out of curiosity, i really don't need to track anymore. I know what i'm doing or not doing right or wrong. I do still weigh my meat though when i'm food prepping for my week.

80% of the time I am eating the same foods so I know roughly where i stand. If i know I'm going out to a restaurant for a higher calorie meal for dinner, i eat less during the day. I weigh myself every day if I'm trying to drop down from my high swing, otherwise about 3-4 times a week. I came out of the holidays at just over 137 and was ok with that, I buckled down and am back to an all time low of 131.8. I find I drop during the week and gain a couple on the weekend and drop back down during the week. so I'm anticipating being around 133-134 on Monday. Seems to work for me.

trying to keep my weight stable in the mid 130's right now because my plastics are coming up in March and my doc wanted me to make sure that I'm at a stable weight. Been at 137 and under since September, so it'll be 6 months at a stable weight by my surgery date.

Hi

I have a list of basics that keep me on track.....

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery? How many meetings, classes and such did we attend? We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success. And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods. Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling. This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life. Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating. It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband. It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food. Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker. Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself. Make them realistic and small. Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein. If you didn't make a Weight Loss Surgery bucket list when you first had surgery do it now. GREAT reminder of all the things you can enjoy in life after losing weight.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea? I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass. I found once I started carrying one of the metal bottles of water to keep it cold I drank water all day.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving. If I could not go to the gym I would walk. Grab a cart and walk all the isles at your local box store. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back. So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV. Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group. Come here on OH daily for support and participate in one of the food threads. It helps you be accountable and also great ideas for food prep.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

Oh, I'm doing great. I love my sleeve.

Your list is a really good one, almost everything on it is exactly what I do when I find my weight staying a little too high. :)

Right now I'm in a "rein it in" mode because I'd really gotten off track for a bunch of reasons and my weight is up 4# over where I want it.

I want to find a place where I'm not obsessing about the scale or the food diary, but where I'm staying on top of it enough to catch gains before it's a large amount to lose. So I was curious how tight of control the successful people implement.

After staying at goal for years I did have a regain and found I had gotten away from the basics and one of them was checking the scales, logging what I ate and was not moving my butt So for me, I have to keep that in my life to stay at goal. Not everyone is the same but for me it was the reason I kept 200 pounds off for over 12 years and lost 60 pounds regain.

You will "rein it in" and keep it there! We are here for you all the way