Planning On Transitioning to Primal Eating for Maintenance

I have been doing research and building my "maintenance plan" as I near my goal. Looking at my past experiences, what I have learned about my former pattern of disordered eating, my goals for a healthy lifestyle, and the research I have done has led me to the primal eating lifestyle.

1. I KNOW I can't let ANY simple sugars, grains, legumes and peanuts back into my diet. My body reacts immediately with intense cravings and arthritis flare-up that impede exercise. There is no such thing as one cracker or one piece of bread for me.

2. Protein forward eating works for me and fuels my body.

3. It makes sense to me to prioritize vegetables over fruits.

4. A primal lifestyle includes the occasional Greek yogurt, red wine.

5. Physical movement and listening to your body is an emphasis.

6. This is for all intents and purposes the way I have been eating post-sleeve.

7. I believe a primal lifestyle will be totally sustainable for me.

Has anyone else gone in this direction? Feedback ?

I think the number one thing any long term diet needs to do is be sustainable. If this is something you can do long term, go for it.

I'm a meatatarian. It works for me.

My maintenance plan is nothing like that - but works for me. If that's what you think will work for you, then go for it and good luck! I'm sure you will be a great success. This sleeve is nothing short of miraculous.

Maintenance is trial and error and you try until you find something that works. For me, the key to maintenance is tracking every bite and weighing myself daily.

Sounds like a winner to me! Actually, it closely follows VSG guidelines for eating for life so I don't think you'll have a problem.

I'm the same way with grains or anything with sugar in it: one is too many and 100 will never be enough!

I think your plan is GREAT!!

It sounds very much like the plan that I will be using for maintenance. Carbs are my triggers, so it's just better to stay away completely. My carbs will come from fruits and veggies only, I hope. I'm 45 pounds from my ideal weight, so have time to think about it and make plans.

Not knowing what primal eating was, I immediately pictured a person gnawing at a bone like a scene out of the Croods. 

Sounds like a sustainable plan! Best of luck!

Sounds about right  What worked for me was not changing anything about WHAT I ate from WL to maintenance. That resulted in a very low bottom weight (132 lbs), and people commenting that I was getting too thin.  (Personally I was delighted with 132!)  But the AMOUNT of food I was able to eat has gradually increased, and the resulting increase in calories caused my weight to rebound a bit, to where it is now, 143, which has been holding for a few years now.

I'm not as rigorous about carbs as I was in WL phase - for example I have a couple items in my food plan that contain small amounts of panko, and I will have steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast every so often - but it's pretty close, and seems to work for me long term.  As Grim has said, that's key.  I didn't deliberately add carbs in order to stop losing weight; that would have been disastrous and would have led to regaining everything, as it did in the past.

Congratulations and good luck!