Poll: once reaching maintenance ...

 Do you continue logging food? ( I currently use myfitnesspal pal)

 YES!!!! I started weighing, measuring, and logging my food pre-op and it helped me to reach my goal weight for surgery. I have continued this practice and I believe that it is one of the main   reasons for my success and ability to have maintained within 2-3 lbs for the past 16 months. I don't plan to stop, because it works, and in the past, when I stopped this practice, I regained weight. I don't plan on stopping this time. I use an online tracker and with all the smartphone technology, it has never been easier. It is an ingrained habit and behavior. It may not be for everyone, but it works for me.



gail

I started logging my food in Feb. '08, had surgery in Sept. '08 and continued logging until about 6 months ago. So about 4 years total.

After a while I learned to trust myself and my body and I got very tired of logging. I do still keep a mental count in my head but I round everything to 50 calorie increments. Like my protein bars are 170-190 calories but I count them as 200.

Now more than ever.  I did not begin logging food until maintenance.  While in the losing stage I kept a mental note.  Maintenance is different.  I try to log everything.

i still write down what i eat on miles and menus every day but only log when the scale starts going up  i find then going back to the measuring cup and scale more useful  it is amazing how easily one ouncd becomes two   

I post on Menus and Miles every day and I've been trying to get in the habit of updating.  I don't keep track very often unless the scale moves I don't understand why. 

I never want to feel like I was on WW counting points again!I drink my Protein and watch my carbs and that seems to be working for me.

Do what works for you!!!!

 I will be 2.5 years put tomorrow. I started logging pre op and still do.  When I don't log I get into trouble because it's so easy to be in denial about quantity and quality. I weigh every morning as another tool.

I was just on a 12 day vacation with carb eaters. I didn't log my food.  My first weigh in on Monday when I returned, I was up FOUR pounds. Thankfully back to low carb this week I'm back down two with two to go.

Not logging makes it too easy to get off track.  I was a logger way before WLS so it's a habit that I will most likely continue forever. It's sort of a safety blanket.

I am hit or miss lately, more miss.  I logged pretty regularly while losing and for a while after maintenance but I find myself getting too obsessed with it.  I stress over was it 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup, 2 teaspoons or a tablespoon, too much food or too little.
Before WLS I had some experience with losing a lot of weight and keeping it off for a while, not too long but up to a year I would guess, more then once.  What worked for me then was pretty much eating the same way every day, changing up the kind of protein or sides but same amounts pretty much.  It was pretty natural and I didn't think about it too much.  I remember that I would cut out refined carbs and only eat 3 meals a day and I would slowly lose weight until I stopped at a pretty good weight without much effort or change.  I did great until I found a reason to eat refined carbs, usually I would convince myself that I could handle bread or a roll and I was off and running.  To be fair many of those times were when I got pregnant (5 times).  Once refined carbs got a hold on me I never knew when I would stop.
Anyway, for the last several months my weight has been very steady and I've kind of felt like "if it works don't fix it'.  I am now, once again, adding in more calories to try and put on some weight, and I may have to start tracking again.  I just don't want to get hung up on the numbers again.  I am also thinking about just weighing weekly, something I have never done since I had my revision.  In the past when I was on the road to regain the first thing to go was the scale so I kind of fear that denial again.
Maintenance wouldn't be so hard if I was at a better weight but I don't like the way I look right now and if I want to gain a bit I have to make changes and I don't like making changes.
I know this probably sounds all over the place because I am all over the place with this maintenance thing.  I still haven't gotten into my rhythm so I am trying on different things to see what works for me.  I don't think I would do well in allowing myself free reign to eat how I want until I see my weight go above a pre set limit.  I know myself and I think that if I let myself do that I may never be able to cut back again when the time came.  I tried that before and it never went well, so I am looking for something that I can live with comfortably within the limits of what works for me and what is doable for me.
This is all new to me.  I have never had a problem with putting on weight before, much less in a healthy way.  I do good at losing weight, and for the last year I have been doing good at keeping it off.  What I don't do good is gaining and not going crazy.  My next big adventure I guess.

Tazz

I know exactly where you are - I really need to gain a couple of pounds now, and it terrifies me. Actually, I don't mind how I look, but my doc has been right on for everything, and he says I need a little more weight because where I am is risky from a nutritional standpoint (and he's right, because I became protein deficient again)   I still don't have complete control over carbs, and the days I give myself free reign, it's not a good thing.  I never anticipated that learning to eat right would be this hard.

Good luck in your journey!

I will add to the chorus of yes answers.

I did not log food during the first 6 months - I just made sure I got 70-80 grams of protein.  But I didn't get enough calories, so I became protein deficient.  I started logging food again, and upped my calories, but still didn't get enough in to stop losing weight, or to prevent hypoglycemia (yes, you can get it even without eating much of any carbs - I sure did!)  So I upped food (added some carbs for exercise) and upped protein again to about 90, logging all the while. and I am now able to manage the hypoglycemia. 

I have noticed that if I don't log, my calories go into the range of 700, and my protein drops  below 80.

All this being said, I'm protein deficient again, and my doc wants me to put on a few pounds (I'm 2 lbs from official underweight) - so I'm upping my protein to well over 100, logging away so I can use the records for discussions with my doc and nutritionist.