Maintenance Question

My husband had RNY in October 2012, so he's coming up on his one year surgiversary. He has reached his surgeon's goal weight and is now at a healthy BMI of 24.7 (he's 6' 4" and 203 lbs). His dilemma, (if you want to call it that) is that he is still losing about a half a pound every other day. He will see his surgeon next month for his annual follow-up, but in the meantime, what should he be doing to slow down the weight loss or just maintain where he is at. He has always been very strict with his regimen and has stayed on track the past year.  Any advice from those of you in maintenance?

Thanks in advance,

If he does not want to lose more, I'd suggest maybe adding some healthy calories in his diet. Does he like nuts?

Yep he loves almonds and pistachios.

If he really wants to stop losing, he would need to start taking in more calories.  Personally, since his BMI is at the top of the normal range, I would not worry about continuing to lose right now.  He can lose a few more pounds and still be a healthy weight.

I just played with the BMI calculator and it seems he can still lose quite a bit more and still be within a healthy BMI range. Thanks for replying!

My recommendation, don't stop it.  Until/unless he becomes underweight of course then it's time to consult a doctor and manage the weight loss.  Many (not all) tend to see a small bounce back sometimes between year 2 -4 and are glad to have some cushion to regain.

Many of us went below our initial goal weight, then stopped losing.

Congrats to your husband!

My recommendation, from experience, is to keep doing exactly what he's doing now.   Almost to a fault, I have seen people who try to manipulate their weight end up gaining more than they wanted to!

He will find that his capacity and appetite will increase in time.

It's very rare for people to lose to an unhealthy weight (BMI underweight) and he'll probably find he'll stop losing sometime soon -he then will have a few pounds to play with.   The body usually stops right about where it's comfortable!

Yeah I've often wondered about our bodies ability to stop losing when it's time. Some of our friends and family think he is losing too much weight because he is so tall and now so skinny. lol They're just not used to seeing him like this. I personally think that "thin"  looks good on him and he's so much healthier. No more co-morbidities and much more active lifestyle. That's what it's all about in my opinion. :))

I had lost all but about 5# by my one year. I continued to lose up to about 15 months and went 10 pounds under what the doctor wanted me to lose. People were telling me all the time that I did not need to lost any more and that I was not looking good. Well now at 23 months I have gained about 7 of the 10 I went under and have been here for about 5 months. I look a lot healthier and I am glad that I lost that extra now that my body leveled off.

Your husband and I have a lot in common. I'm 6'3", and had RNY on 8/21/12. I hit a "normal" BMI at 199 lbs, and was still losing. My surgeon's goal was 250, and my own goal was 225. That's the last time I felt I was in really good shape.

I kept losing, and upping calories to slow things down. For the first eight months, I averaged 1,040 calories a day. I log very carefully. I spent a month at 1,400, a month at 1,700, a month at 2,000, and am now up to 2,400 calories a day. I'm still losing almost a pound a week, but has slowed to a crawl, thankfully. I'm down to 181 now, and have these ludicrous bones sticking out all over. It seems very break-downable.

If he wants to compare notes, I would be very happy to. There aren't many men on here, and very few our size. My highest weight was 475, surgery weight was 359. I'm 53 years old.