How Many Lbs?

So, how many pounds do you let yourself fluctuate? 5? 10? Within a certain weight range? Just wondering b/c I see so many people say they allow themselves X amount to play with and I was thinking what is the "norm" around here? Tracy B 328/150 5'9"

Hi Tracy, Well I,m a fluctuater...Since I am 15+ pounds under my surgeons goal, I feel I would be comfortable with a 5(+/-) lb window, even though I haven't actually been up 5 lbs yet...Most days I weigh in at 123/124, been up to 126/down to 121...I'm 5'4" with a BMI of 21.? and body fat runs 24% (according to may scale)... Alesia

Hi Tracy, My original WLS goal was 150 and I made it to 145. Now I am always between those numbers. I weigh on a digital scale and have never gotten over 150.8 since May when I got to 145. I have not been maintaining that long but seems to be going okay so far. I am usually at 150 after the weekends, thats when staying on track becomes the hardest! Candy

Tracy, I don't have a number of lb range, my max weight is 125 lbs. When I see 124 lbs on the scale (usually on a Monday, because my weekends are more lax), I become very aware of what I'm eating and the quantity. Surgeon's goal is 130 lbs, mentally 125 lbs works better for me. Dana

Well, my surgoens goal was 145. I got down to 136 and stayed there for almost a year. Then I had some things going on and I was a little sickly and lost down to 129 which was too small. I looked sick. So, once all was back well I was able to get back to 135 which is where I hover. I weigh anywhere between 134 (lowest) and 140 (highest I allow). When I go over the 135 and start approaching 138 or so I start evaluating what I am doing differently that may be causing the upward fluctuation. If it is due to bad choices ****ep food diary) and not that time of the month I cut back on calories and up the exercise a little to get it back down. For the most part, my body just likes 135 and stays there pretty easily. Weekends are hardest and that tends to be when there is an upward shift if there is going to be one. My nutritionist suggested a five pound acceptable range as that is very easy to control and doesn't seem overwhelming to get off. But 10 pounds can easily become 15 that becomes 20 and so forth. So, I try to stick to that 5 pound rule of thumb he suggested. Too high of a fluctuation tends to put formerly morbidly obese people into panic mode or depression which leads to more bad eating. So, that is another reason I stick with the 5 pound deal.

5 lbs does seem like a reasonable amount to lose and I do believe that if I let myself go to 10 it would snowball like you said! I could see that happening. I have been trying to keep the gains small....3-4 lbs. I was amazed this week when the scale went down an additional four lbs....I haven't seen the scale go down in so long I thought it was broke! It was a great feeling to see I have 6 lbs to get to onderland! Its been so hard. It was so easy in the beginning. Oh well we can't have everything. I hope to get to goal in the future...not sure when...but as long as I keep trying that is all that matters. Debbie

Congratulations Debbie! It sounds like things are going well these days! 4lbs is awesome! You'll make it to your goals very soon I'm sure! Great Job! Tracy B

I wish I knew or understood what I was doing right? I have so much going on that I cannot concentrate on what is going on with this ****tail I call feeding my body! But I won't complain especially since its dropped a few pounds. Thanks for the vote of confidence! Debbie

No more than 2#. Anything beyond that feels like 15# felt when I was morbidly obese! Karen

Great question, Tracy! I just reached my goal a month or so ago so I haven't gotten a good feel for the fluctuations of my body. I'm one that has jumps in weight easily - far too easily. So setting a small window of say 2# or so, just isn't feasible. I can go up more than that overnight without doing anything different and certainly not overeating. My goal was 160 and I was 158 for a few days and then back up to 160. Then I started working out more and added a Power Crunch bar daily after my workout. Hey, it's 190 or so calories... 15 grams of protein and quick easy on my ride to work from the gym. This is the only thing I changed in my diet. Well, in 2-3 weeks I gained 7.5 lbs up to 167.5. I'm not kidding. I also realized that I had dumped twice on the Power Crunch bars if I ate one in the afternoon instead of morning. Again weird. I cut them out altogether and I'm down to 162 in the last 4 days. Obviously, my strange body hates Power Crunch bars. My body overreacts to certain things and I've added these to the list. Argh. I swapped a protein shake with the bar and all is improving. Knowing how my body does weird things... I have to be able to set a wide margin, ya know? I'd like to get my weight closer to 155 if possible and then use 160 as my "ceiling". Obviously with this recent wide swing gain... I knew I wasn't gaining because I was overdoing things. I just had to figure out what was the problem. But under more normal cir****tances... I think a 5 lb margin would be good. Kathy