At goal and transitioning to maintenance

I am proud to say that as of this morning, I am officially at goal. I had a stall that lasted almost 4 weeks and included some weight gain, but the pounds have started coming off again. I am 124 as of this morning. That is several pounds within the Normal BMI range, which was my ultimate goal.

Now my new challenge is to learn how to maintain my weight. I've always been on a lose-gain cycle and I'm not very good at moderation and balance so this is a big challenge. What can those of you who are in maintenance tell me about how to transition and what I need to focus on? I don't want to regain by eating too much and by eating the wrong things. I have been eating dense protein (plus one protein shake a day), non-starchy veggies and a piece of fruit 1-2 times a week, usually berries. I have also found that I need to have more than my 64 ounces of fluids to keep losing. I don't want to allow lots of junk and empty carbs into my diet even though I am not going to be focusing on losing. What do you change? How is your focus different now that you have reached your goal?

I am proud of myself for my loss and I don't want to regain, so I am asking for help.

Thanks!

I am so excited for you! You have done such a great job!

Maintenance: My original goal was 125 (about the same as yours). I am 5'3". I reached it in mid October last year. I added calories back slowly going from an average of 800-900 prior to that ultimately to my maintenance average (1250). I was so paranoid about gaining that it did it super slowly and lost another 10 pounds before I reached the weight I mostly maintain at now (115). I stopped losing 3 months later (late December 2016). At first I thought I was too thin at that weight but I got used to it and kind of like it now.

Over the last year I have gone from 3 ounces of dense protein at a meal to 4-5. I added some calories to all meals. I have 5-6 "meals" a day (what I call breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) all of which are relatively small because that works best for me. There are fairly protein focused as that keeps me from being hungry. I stay away from simple carbs as much as possible, though I'll allow myself a bite or two when we go out to eat especially. I still eat veggies after protein and I think I have pretty much learned to stop when full. I don't drink during meals or for at least 1/2 hour later. I don't allow my meals to be more frequent than 2-3 hours after the last one. I more or less eat on this schedule: 8 am, 12 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm. If I am having a super hungry day, I have one around 10 am as well.

We are the same height Liz. I can't imagine weighing 115 and even 125 seems illusive, but will see where I end up. You've done so well!

You do get in an eating routine. I never expected to get this low, but so far it is working out okay. And btw, what I said above were the rules I try to follow all the time, but I definitely fall off the wagon. Daily weighing and knowing how to drop calories without being ravenously hungry has helped so far when I have to go back down after some high calorie eating days.

Hi Teena - as I'm sure you know, there's a good 20-30 lb range of normal BMI for every height. So much can depend on your frame size, musculature, etc. I'm 5'6" and weigh 142-144 (normal BMI range for me goes up to 154). I got down to 136 at one point and looked too thin. I think the low end of my range is something like 120. I can't even *fathom* being that low. But then, I have a large frame and am pretty muscular. My fat percentage is 21%, which is on the low end of normal. My bird-boned mother-in-law looks fine at that weight, but I would look terrible. So 115 might be fine for Liz, but it might be way too low for you. I know how you feel, though. I read about people my height who weigh in the 120s and wear a size 6 or 8, but I'm still at a 10 (sometimes a 12, depending on manufacturer). I'm envious, but then, their bones & muscles might weigh a lot less than mine, too...and that's something more-or-less out of my control.

first off- awesome job. second- I have to be vigilant but also do have some off plan foods now and again. I have gained from my lowest. lowest of 118 and now at 130. I will likely remain in the 120-130 range going forward, prefer to be about 125. I'm 5-6. 118 may have been a bit underweight when you take into account loose skin etc.

I weight about 3 times a week to keep myself on track and if I get over 130 I get a little worried and try to back off non plan items.

I am trying to maintain and am 2 years out. Some how I recently lost 10 lbs after being at the same weight for a year. My nut wants me to add some carbs.....smart carbs..... I may start adding a bagel thin and some veggies.

I do not drink shakes anymore would rather be able to chew my food then drink it but thats just me.

I wish you luck its a journey that is for sure. Also congrats!!

I am new to maintenance as well, but my process has been to add 50/100 daily calories each wee****il the scale stopped moving. That took me a total of about 6-8 weeks. I added calories from meat, cheese, nuts, and nut butter. Still avoiding carbs!

Edited to add: I do have off-plan, planned food now. For instance, I had a half cup of frozen yogurt yesterday. I don't do it daily but I'm also not rock solid on my resolve anymore. I plan it into my calories for the day and try to minimize the impact to my carbs.

So I've been maintaining now for several months. I never did actually change anything though... I just let my body do it's thing and I settled in at 136-138. I'm happy with that, and I am comfortable with the way I eat to maintain that. Had I continued to lose, I probably would have just let it happen until my body found it's spot, with what I was eating, and settled in there. I naturally found myself slowly allowing more 'treats/sneaks/carbs/whatever you want to call them', so this just worked for me.

If I find myself gaining, then I get strict about it and pay more attention, but I find that I choose proteins first almost naturally... if I don't, I end up with RH, so that's a great motivator for me. I still measure/weigh my foods (3.5-4 ounces a meal), and still eat 3 meals and 1-2 'snack's a day, but that's almost always protein laden, rarely with things like pasta/rice/bread... They don't make me feel good and bloat my stomach if I try to eat more than a couple of bites, and even then a couple of bites will do it sometimes. If I have a shake it's very rarely, and only because I'm on the go and need something... same with protein bars, I MIGHT have one a week, but I'll go several weeks sometimes without them in the house at all.

Maintenance scares me though... just like you, that up and down thing scares the crap out of me... that's why I still weigh my foods and step on the scale every single day! I hope that is enough down the road to keep me where I am.

Congratulations on goal, and good luck on your continued success!!!

Congrats at hitting goal, really awesome!

We have all been on the lose/gain, lose/gain cycle how do you think we all ended up needing/wanting WLS?

For me there was no real light bulb moment of "oh I am in maintenance I better change my eating/calories." I had a goal of 125 lbs in my head, I got there by eating super low calorie, super low carb, high protein and tons of liquids. That is what worked for me so I didn't change it. I ate around 800 - 850 calories for the longest time, right into year 3 (I am a few weeks shy of year 4). I am very sensitive to carbs & calories. There are lots of people on the boards that are my height and weight and eat a lot more calories than me and a lot more carbs than me and maintain the same weight as me easily. We are all so different. I only started adding fruit in the last year (year 3) and I immediately noticed a weight gain. I can only use SF jam. I may eat berries or grapes once in a while and I know the scale will go up, that's just me. Right now at year 4 I maintain at approx 950-1050 calories, 100-120 protein, 40-50 carbs, 120oz minimum of liquids.

I really think at minimum we all should be striving for 100oz of fluids a day. Coffee/tea, water, milk, protein drinks, popsicles count towards liquids (some post ops who are farther out drink diet soda as well). Now I find it easy to get in over 100oz a day. It was hard in the first year but I notice such a difference in how I feel if I don't get at minimum of 100oz.

I think the most obvious thing I changed when I got into maintenance was adding in veggies. I was a protein only kind of girl, and instead of veggies I would have cheese or yogurt. I now eat veggies daily now with lots of butter (butter is a good fat, helps with constipation and healthy hair/skin/nails).

My focus is not different since I reached goal/entered into maintenance. I still eat really high protein, really low carb, lots of liquids, that will never change for me. My variety of food is different now, I know with my eyes closed what I can tolerate or not, what will give me RH. And as I enter into year 4 I am really keeping a close eye on my lab work. I was not hardcore about my labs until it was too late and my Ferritin was at 4 at 3 years post op and I had no choice at that point to get iron infusions. Now I am monitoring my blood work every couple of months and being really diligent about it.

Want to know what I find hard about maintenance? The head hunger and cravings!!!!!!! Its no joke when you see those of us a few years out from surgery say "the struggle is real." It really is. I was and still am a sugar addict. Do you think I enjoy eating tuna for lunch every day and chicken for dinner, hell no, what my mind and cravings want is donuts, cookies, cake, but I did not come all this way and get to goal to lose sight of what got me here in the first place (high protein, low carb, tons of liquids). So I eat to fuel my body, to be able to work out daily, like gas in a car, fill up the tank when needed, when not needed don't fill up the tank, its pretty simple.

I really find this is a pivotal point in a lot of newbies time post surgery where therapy is actually a really great idea. Especially a therapist that deals with eating disorders and if they have experience with WLS patients even better. I have said this a hundred times, this is a lot to take in. The extreme eating changes, the rapid weight loss, the relationship changes with family & friends/coworkers, the body image changes. I am very pro therapy and start therapy for myself on Nov 13th, wish I had of started sooner.

Best of luck, reach out to us when you need to, find a therapist if you need to.