Losing or Maintaining....your preference?

Okay graduates...I need you to weigh in. Okay...well...not literally. I am kind of curious if you found the intial weight loss (after WLS) easier or harder than actually maintaining. I lost all of my excess weight years ago using Weigh****chers and maintained it for about 5 years. I found that overall it was easier to maintain the loss than it was to lose it (couldn't have been that easy since I gained it all back...I guess).  This makes sense to me, but I thought it would be a good question for all of you pros who have been at this for a bit longer. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this and thank you in advance. John

Maintaining is hardest, absolutely!  Because of the surgery  itself, the malabsorbtion, the ephoria of losing fast and feeling great, the weight loss is definately the honeymoon.  Just like with marriage the hard part is learning to live with WLS.  Knowing your limits, keeping your exercise level up, taking your supplements, making sure your lab levels are OK, not grazing or resuming any of your other bad habits, this is the hard part.   As you said in your other post, John, WLS and staying healthy is a lifetime commitment.   Michele

Both.  Hard to change old habits. Hard to lose and not give in, hard to maintain and not give in. Hard to exercise, to choose protein first. Easy to buy size 4, easy to have someone say " you are so tiny!", so worth every bit of "hard"! blessings, Tami

Not even a close call, in my opinion!!  Maintaining is MUCH harder!  For me, the weight loss was flat-out easy because of the surgery itself, my super-compliance, and the constant "high" of losing!  Maintenance has been r-e-a-l-l-y tough!  The effects of the surgery are extremely lessened, my compliance is equally lessened, my faithfulness to exercising is much less, and the immediate feedback from the scale and from other people is now gone.   I would never change having the surgery--but maintaining is much, much harder than I expected even though I thought I had read/heard a lot of realistic things about how it is difficult for most people.

For me, Maintainance is harder!!!! I feel like I'm constantly working at it and that I might not get it right b/c I've never been good at it. Now alot of this is self induced I know, LOL. I am still an emotional eater so I deal with those issues from time to time too. It takes constant monitoring to maintain at 3yrs out.  Good LUck to You!

I think maintainance is easier for me.  Probably because for the first time in my entire life I don't have the pressure to lose weight.  I had never known a moment where I wasn't significantly overweight, and the knowledge that I am at a healthy weight, and don't need to lose another pound is a huge relief.  I do work very hard at maintaining this new weight, but I allow myself a greater range of foods.  I am back to my exercise program and am very happy with my body (well, there is some more plastic surgery in my future). So it would be an entirely different question for me, if I had never gotten to my personal goal. Debra M. 351/150/133 starting/goal/current

Maintenance, because it lasts forever

IMO maintaning is the hardest part. Like said before it is like a marriage. That needs hard work on all ends of the journey. With making sure I work out every day of the week for two hours a day and during the nice time of the year walking eight miles a day. Plus in the winter months I trade the walking for riding my bike for 2 hours a day while I am online . Plus I work on my feet. ( meaning my job is not a desk job)any where from 8 to ten hours a nite five days a week. That I am finding it harder as the months past . To keep my lab work in normal ranges. Seeing now I have been the chosen one to have a major deficiently with vit D and B12. Yes I take my vits and have even had them increase but right now nothing is working for me. Plus on top of that I visit the cancer center for iv iron. According to my dr's and according to the hematgolist (SP) none of this is due to the surgery in there opinion the surgery saved my life seeing. How I switched to a new pcp where she found the problems and where my old pcp was just blowing it off even before I had the surgery.Yes I still have the emotional demons that still haunt me with food issues. But I learned with following the rule of the tool things work out the way they are suppose to. But I also learned since I am according to the dr who did my surgery that I am 30 pounds under his goal for me. I hear form the evil ones in my life that I look like my husband starves me. Plus all the surgery did for me was to make me into a cut up barbie doll because. I could not do it without the surgery. No I have not had any plastic surgery and they will not do any due to the fact with the right diet and exercise . I do not have enough skin for them to cut off. Yes I would have this surgery again in a heart beat. Even thou it means I have to work hard every day to stay where I am at and I am enjoying life to it fullest. IMO the wt lose part of the surgery was the easiest for me . Because the wt just to seem to fall off. And allowed me to go 30 pounds under. My dr's goal wt for me . Yes I work out four days after my surgery to help my skin get tight. Yes I do have some hanging skin but according to them not enough to cut it off in there eyes. have a wonderful day Taichi

I have to go with the majority here and say maintanance is the harder of the two.  Losing was actually pretty easy as I didn't want to eat and many of my tempations I couldn't eat.  And there was the clear reward of seeing the numbers go down.  Now everything is about not gaining--a negative measure.  And I can eat things that I couldn't before.  Throw on top of it all the body's natural desire to regain.  And it is forever.  Like with most things in life, it is the little daily decisions that are so easy to get out of control but have long term consequences if they do. I'm heading into my third year, a time when it seems like lots of people regain.  So I'm having to start now focusing on keeping control to avoid any regain.   Vigilance is never ending! Sally

i'm about 10lbs from my personal goal of 115 and cannot wait to get into maintanance phase. i think the first year or so maintaining is going to be a little stressful as i learn what/how much i can eat w/out the scale going up (hopefully at least 2000cal) and how much exercise i need. after that, it should become easier and less of a focus (hopefully)