Good Morning. Maintenance...diet or lifestyle

Design a maintenance plan for yourself considering your surgery type and given what you know about it long term.

What I know, or think I know, about mine:
1) at about the 5th year post-op my guts are much better at grabbing and filing away carbs as fat
2) I will always malabsorb micro nutrients (A, D, E, K, calcium, zinc and iron)
3) I might still be malasorbing fat
4) My sleeve will stretch some but not nearly as big as it was
5) There's a good chance hunger pains will return

Maintenance Plan:
Watch the carbs and even reduce them if the scale starts going up. Get on the scale and weigh at least 3 times a week. Stay connected to a support group like OH DS and LW boards and my surgeon's support group. Keep protein at about 100 grams a day and continue to use protein shakes to help curb the cravings. Try to walk some every day. Take vitamins religiously. Have labs done every year or 6 months as warranted. I will always be a grazer...that's just me.

I'm trying to figure out my maintenance plan, struggling a little.

I don't malabsorb anything, so that part is fine.

I will continue to work out hard, it has become a very important part of my life, it's good for me, and it's an amazing energy booster and stress reducer.

I have started eating like a "normal" healthy person. I watch my percentages of carbs/prot/fat and eat the recommended amounts of each.

I obviously need to up my calories a little further for now to stop losing, but will continue to keep a close eye on things. I do not eat one thing that I don't track and have not been going out to eat because I need to track my intake as accurately as possible.

I will continue to see my surgeon, nut, and trainer as scheduled and more often if needed. I will continue to get my labs done annually and adjust my vitamins accordingly.

Good Morning!

I'm not close to maintenance yet so I haven't thought about it too much at this point.

I don't malabsorb so no worries there.  

I go to a support group once a week and will continue to walk with my WLS buddies forever I hope.  I'll probably continue going to the Kaiser meetings as well, but I love my small posse that comes to my house and walks the lake with me.  We get to say all the honest things that we can't always say at the Kaiser support.  I'll stick close to my LW's!!

My plan calls for daily weighing, so I'll continue that.

As far as protein etc, I'm still clueless how to get the pounds off and I hope that keeping them off won't be as  much a struggle as getting them off has been.

I'll continue to walk walk walk and hopefully add more gym time.

Fluids and vites forever.

I'll get rid of all the fat clothes and believe in my ability to keep the pounds off!

It's definitely a lifestyle for me. I don't feel like I'm dieting at all...

I weigh daily except when out of town
I try to eat 150 g of protein a day except during race weeks
I workout 6-10 hours a week
I limit carbs
If my weight creeps up, I cut out indulgences for a while until it goes back down
I see my surgeon regularly, get annual labs, and participate is numerous support groups.

Lifestyle for me. 

1.  My innards are already good at grabbing and filing away carbs as fat... I know this because I was eating cashews - and gained.  Cut them out, and lost....

2.  I will also malabsorb nutrients and will be on vitamins forever!

3.  I think I am still malabsorbing SOME fat - but not nearly as much as before.  I eat like I don't malabsorb... way of life!

4.  My pouch has already "matured".  I don't pu**** to make it any bigger.

5.  My hunger pains returned about 5 months post-op... I deal with them by protein shakes... but also by making sure I take my Prevacid (so I don't mistake them for hunger when they really are irritation pangs)

I eat 2-3 meals a day and MAYBE 1 snack.  Protein coffee is my breakfast.  Cutting down on the snacks has significantly reduced my re-gain chances.  Figured that out the hard way!!

I weigh daily unless I'm out of town.  I do believe that keeps me very accountable.  I primarily get support from OH.  I need to do better with protein - but have found when I up it, I'll lose....

Insurance won't pay for my Vit A test...

 I am not on maintenance yet...still working on the last bit...HOWEVER...I am concerned about
it...I realize now that I am someone *****ally does not know how to have a normal relationship with food...and I guess once you're sleeved you always have to be vigilant and aware..but I am someone who always either dieted or binged...there was no middle for me...even though my dieting failed I considered myself dieting and then I would binge....I have no middle ground where I just have a normal relationship with food...these last 6 months have been very workable and in a  sense dieting has become the norm and the successful norm...adding food back in seems daunting....eating carbs again like bread or white stuff is not even a possibility because I consider them evil and leading to a landslide of eating...so again ...no normal relationship to those foods...I will most likely learn to eat more of the healthy foods...but this is an issue for me that I am just putting out there.....SEAVIEW

Good morning Everyong...

Great subject today...since I am nearing a year post op now...and within 10 lbs of lowest goal for me...this is great to talk about.

What I know: 

1 - Always take vitamins
2 - Always make protein as important as vitamins
3 - The pouch will mature and I have to be careful of intake of calories. Also the gut will adapt and malabsorption will change...
4 - I will always battle head hunger and emotional eating

My maintenance plan will be to continue on the plan I know and love. It is not a diet for me. Clean eating and eating protein, fruits, veggies, and exercise are a way of life for me now. For my longterm living, getting a handle on #4 above is critical!! 

I'm not quite to maintenance yet, but getting close and have been thinking alot about it.

I will always have to take vitamins and supplements and have labs atleast 2 times a year.
I need to go to my surgeon annually for the rest of my life.
I'm responsible for my success and I need to find a plan that will work for me and not just do what somebody tells me to do.  Protein Shakes help me stay on track and not to snack even if they do not work for someone else.
I will have to watch my mindless eating and emotional eating for the rest of my life or I will end up where I was before WLS.
I feel like this is a lifestyle change for me and not really a diet because I'm not hunger - I might feel differently when the hunger returns.
I will have to watch my carbs and fats. 
I weigh daily to help with my accountability.
I need to stay with my support group here on OH.
I need to do some type of exercise.
Stay away from soda's(even diet) and don't start drinking with my meals.
Linda