Weight Maintenance Long Term

Hello All,

I just had my 8 year surgery anniversary for RNY. I came today to sincerely seek out your opinions from anyone whether you're 8 years out or not as to how you have been maintaining your weight, labs and diet in general. This has been quite the journey for me so far. I went back over the whole ordeal from the first time I sought out the surgery to where I am now.

For the most part, I have done well to maintain my weight, although I've had struggles. I finally got to the point that I don't really get on the scale anymore unless I go to the doctor. That is probably a mistake, but what I go by to determine if I am still on track or not is how my clothes fit. I am still wearing the same clothes that still fit from when I first lost my weight. It seems like my body has reset and settled into a weight that I can maintain, or at least still able to wear my same size clothes.

I would just like to get some advise and words of wisdom from you. The biggest challenge for me right now is, while I can still wear the same size, I would feel much better if I got the last 10 pounds off that would be a goal that I never achieved. Just wanting to hear from you out there about your weight maintenance and some pointers. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

Monica, surgery on September 7, 2011

I can easily gain ten to fifteen pounds and still wear my size 8. When I wore size 4, I had about 5 pounds of leeway. In size 20, I could gain 20-30 pounds without noticing much change in my clothes.

The only way I am sure that I am not gaining weight is by weighing daily. I did maintain easily for nine years, then started gaining and have to really work hard now not to gain.

Thank you White Dove for your response. I totally get what you're saying. I am one of those people who wear my weight well if there is such a thing. What I mean is agreeing with you about being able to gain several pound and it not effect how your clothes fit. You're saying exactly what I need to hear, and that is to get back on the scale so that it holds me accountable and quit being in denial by going solely by how my clothes fit. Right now I wear a size 6 but went down to as low as a size 2 at one point in the first two years of my loss after surgery. I have been staying in a 4 or 6 depending on the designer. But, who's to say that I couldn't fit comfortably in a size 8 or 10 even. With that said, I will do the right thing and get back on the scale every day or every other day in order to hold myself accountable and quit being in denial and get honest. That is why I love coming to this site because you guys are going to speak truth and be real. I do feel that it's gotten a little bit harder to maintain my weight. Even tough there are many things I still don't eat, just being older is enough to really watch it. I think sometimes I justify my eating because I still don't eat bread, pasta, fried food of any kind foods with too much fat, no sweets, and limited rice and potatoes. My biggest weakness is eating popcorn that I pop myself. I really have to watch it because I have a tendency to go over board with it. Thanks again for your comments and I look forward to hearing from others about their experiences who are more than 5 years out. I would like to hear from those of you who struggle with carbs and how you have successfully dealt with it. Thanks.

My best advice at 17 years out is take your vitamins!! I did faithfully for years and then got lax. Now i have osteoporosis, anemia and my B12 is horrid. Now i take my vitamins but my body is paying for my neglect

Thanks for your reply Kathyjs,

That's the best possible advice any of us on here can receive, given the health implications of what happens when we neglect to stay on a regular vitamin schedule. Interestingly enough, the last time I was in to see my family physician, she said my B12 was a bit high and recommended a slight reduction. She also recommended that I cut back my vitamin D a bit as well. I do definitely take my calcium very faithfully, as I want my bones to stay strong. It's the reason why I can still run at my age. I take my D, B12, and my two chewables every day. My labs look good for the most part though. I do need to get in to see my bariatric doc though because I am long over due for an appointment. I have decided that I am going to start back tracking my weight and updating my online food diary to see exactly what I am doing. I believe that after a number of years, some of us need to just go back to basics. I will say also that my restriction is definitely still there, as I have found out when I've taken one bite too many.

I don't weigh regularly either ... I'm not sure if that's a good thing but home scales are so cheat able lol ... just rock em back n forth on a non perfectly aligned surface and you can get a thirty lb variation !

I pinch my tummy ... if it looks round when I'm sitting or lying down ... if I see rolls in a mirror from the side - if I see the dreaded bra overhang or God-forbid a double chin ... I up the workouts and the salads lol :)

in the end it's about feeling n looking beautiful - when Ur comfortable trying on tight jeans or a teeny cute bikini U know Ure in a comfy weight place ...

I agree that daily weighing's are a big key to maintenance for me. It is much easier to lose a pound or two then 10 or more. Most of the time it stays very stable but if I do see it going up by more than a few pounds I just make a few easy changes. I usually know what is going on, like you do with the popcorn, and it is much easy to nip a bad habit in the bud than it is to wait a few months when it is more firmly ingrained.

I get regular labs and keep up with the vitamins so that is also pretty routine at this point. Having a doctor that is on top of things really helps.

I agree about clothing. At one point I wore the same clothes from 150 to 220. They went from being very lose sweat pants and t-shirts to very tight but I never bought anything new so it was easy for me to be in denial. I swear when I finally got on the scale at the doctor's I would have sworn I would weight 170-180. Seeing the scale go over 200 was a real shock to me.

A biggie for me is always avoiding things with sugar. Not wanting to dump is a big motivator and also avoiding snacking. I pretty much stick with meals and if I am hungry between meals I make sure it is protein like meat or cheese and not things like crackers or chips. Those things I can eat and eat and never feel full.

Even though I have been maintaining for over 9 years I still get nervous when I hear about others who also maintained for a long time and than after 9 or 10 years started gaining so I know I am never out of the woods.