I Hit my OMG I could never do that goal...

So, I just hit another goal. I hit my 3 year at 18 months, my 5 year at 20 months, and now my wish goal at less than 22 months. It will be 2 years on 11/29/18 and I'm not sure what to do.

I thought about doing 1 more goal, everyone I've talked to says to lose more than you want because of regain. So I thought I might do 10 more pounds... at the same time I'm working on find my maintenance way of eating. I've adjust my calories up by just a 100 a day and added 10 more carbs. After the first weekend I'm down another 1.6 pounds.

For the veterans of the group should I just keep adding more calories slowly until I hold a weight for a few weeks? Should I increase carbs too or only do 1 at a time?

I did a lot of research on how to eat to lose the weight and I'm having a hard time finding articles on maintenance. If I keep eating the way I am, I'm going to get too thin... I can't believe I just typed that!

Currently I'm up to 1,600 calories a day, around 120 protein, and never over 50 carbs.

So what to do?

Thanks,

Liz

Once you reach your ultimately goal weight (or stop losing) start figuring out how to maintain the weight for you and your habits.

Not sure why you track calories. I've honestly never done that and have no idea how many calories I eat per day (but my guess would be at least 3000). You had the DS so your only concern should be protein and carbs (if you're still losing).

The only way to stop losing weight (maintenance) with the DS is to increase your carbs. I honestly don't track carbs anymore (I'm 15 years post-op). I get a minimum 150 grams of protein per day and I drink at least 64 ounces of water per day. I would guestimate that I eat at least 200 grams of carbs a day (some days more and some days less). It also depends on what kind of carbs and how my body will react to them.

You have to find what works for you. Start increasing your carbs and watch the scale/your clothes. You can't predict regain but you can be rest assured that you can lose if you need to.

My low weight was 140 - I was anemic and felt terrible. Once I got the iron under control and started to feel better I added a few pounds. I got as high as about 168 about a year ago. I knew the DS still worked, so I just cut back on the carbs and I'm not in the mid-150's which is good for me. I was out of town last week and didn't eat the way I normally eat (I'm a grazer). When I got home I had lost about 5 pounds simply because I had cut back on carbs.

Thank you for your reply! My doctor started me on calorie counting with the protein. Now I mostly count the carbs and protein and just double check the calories to make sure I don't eat too much. I get about 96oz of water plus 20oz protein drink then some coffee. Normal total is about 140 oz of liquids. You know the rest. I think I might lose a little more, not more than 10 pounds as I'm feeling great at my current weight and I can do so much!

Liz

Janet, i like your response. Just curious, what are your meals like? I'd like to drop 10 lbs from 160 back to 150; when I try to get in 150 grams protein daily I can't seem to get much of anything else in. I think your approach sounds good and I'd like to stay with it for a while. Can you describe what you eat? Thanks for your posts, I enjoy reading them.

Congratulations! The DS wins again! You can look at maintence as avoiding the three biggest factors associated with weight gain: 1. sugar in the form of sweet foods,candy, and soda; 2. Overeating and binging; 3. Not weighing yourself daily. I have an additional rule: To eat with the same daily rhythm, starting with a protein breakfast, and 5-6 additional protein-first meals at regular intervals. (I do less counting than others, but I am never hungry and I rarely overeat.) I am pretty strict about carbs, but I don't count them. Milk and vegetable carbs can be eaten as much as you want. Healthy brown carbs can be eaten 1-2 times a day in small 1/2 c portions. And white carbs, desserts, bagels, breakfast pastries, etc are reserved for once or twice a week. I did bounce back the first year, about 10 pounds, and I needed to. In the 12 years since then, I've had only one stressful year where I went up 10 more pounds, but lost it when I decided to. I am currently at my bounce-back weight happily. Two words of advice-- don't buy a lot of expensive clothes at your lowest weight, and also know that none of us are saints when it comes to food during maintenance. It's just a matter of being reasonable with risks. The DS will carry you through a number of bad days, but you can't have an unlimited number of bad days. Happy for you in reaching goal!

Thank you for the reply! I do a weekly ins on Monday morning. It works great as I super good during the week and have set meals and times I eat. My hard days are Saturday and Sunday but with my weight in on Monday, I feel it keeps me on track! I do step on the scale on other days but nothing counts until Monday, I'm finding this works really well.

After reading both of your replies I think I add some healthy brown carbs into my diet. To be honest I still can't eat most bread or any pasta at all! White rice can be done in same amounts and I save that for special dates with my son and daughter law to have sushi!

As far as clothes go... That ship has sailed! Nothing pricey at all but a lot! It's so nice to be able to buy regular clothes... I love buying stuff at Costco, jeans for $10!! And they look great!

Liz

Congratulations!

I would try to lose more. Unless your BMI is actually too low it's very good to be on the skinny side of normal then when you quit losing and experience the bounceback, you will be perfect.

Thank you for your reply!

My BMI isn't even close to too low. It's within normal range, at the high end but normal. At my current weight I feel great, I can do anything I want and a few things that I never even thought about! After talking it over with my support team, I decided that the weight I am now could be my high end of what I want and that I'll lose 10 more pounds and have that be my low end. That way I'll have a magic number to stay under and I should be in the same size clothes... Which I have a lot of right now!

Liz

how did you eat to lose the weight? just curious.

thanks!

Low carb, high protein and moderate fats. 20/45/35 and under 1,600 calories a day, walked 5 miles or more every day, 3 days a week at the gym for 30-45 minutes of weight training, drinking 96oz of water a day plus 36 oz of other liquids, and some bike riding as well. I'll be keeping my exercise the same and slowly increasing my caloric intake and carbs until I find the right balance for me.

(I started low carb in July of 2017 when I stalled really bad... Technically I do bariatric keto, I started out at under 1,400 calories and 20 carbs a day and slowly increased as I worked out more. When I started I was only walking 8,000 steps a day, now it 12,000 steps which for me should be 5 miles.)

I've worked really hard to fix my metabolism and it seems to finally be paying off.

Liz

Also, I'm going to try and maintain until October then I might lose a little bit more weight before my 2 year anniversary on Nov.29th.