1 YEAR 2 MONTHS POST OP - gained a little

Hi Everyone!! It's been a while since I've been on this board. I had the VSG on 12/16/14 my weight at the time was 242 pounds. I got as low as 135 but gained about 9 pounds back. I work out 5 days a week  from weight training to different forms of cardio ( cycling, boxing etc.). I have a personal trainer through this all. The question I have in order to lose this last 14 pounds where should my calorie/carb intake be 1 year 2 months post op? I would actually like to settle at 125. Forgot to mention I am scheduled for a tummy tuck at the end of March. Lots of skin on my stomach not anything outrageous. 

You need to figure out where your "maintenance point" is by tracking all your food and then reducing your calories appropriately according to your goals. The key will be weighing measuring and tracking everything you eat. 

I would suggest to ask yourself what weight can I comfortably maintain for the next 10 years?  I think many of us get caught up in the race for the bottom, then end up struggling and possibly yo-yoing our way into troubling weight behaviour territory.  Perhaps that is why the surgeons suggest a finished weight that seems high, but they look at the studies and know the science behind weight management.

Look to the long term for yourself - and remember excess excersise is no guarantee of long term success either.

It doesn't matter where someone else's calorie count is. If you want to lose, you'll need to eat fewer calories than you have been. To do that, you'll need to track your food closely. If you aren't losing after a few weeks, you'll need to cut back some more. It gets harder at month 14 than it was at month 4, but you can still do it.

It's great you are working out so much. Very healthy. But losing weight is all about the food.

You'll have to play with the numbers & find out what works for you. One person can have 1 set of numbers & lose, yet someone else will have the same numbers & maintain, & yet another same numbers & gain. Do you have anything written down when you got to 135lbs? Maybe you can use those numbers as a jumping off point & work your way down from there.

You have already taken the hardest step by saying enough is enough and now I want to get back on track.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...  Also, be sure and join the Back On Track Together group.  

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits. 

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing