Going into Miantenance Mode - how do you know?

This may seem like a silly question but I was wondering at what point do I consider myself in Maintenance Mode with my weight?  I'm at my goal weight of 120 lbs.  So how do I know?

Good question. I guess I considered my self in maintenance once I had totally stopped losing for a few months and started to see a tiny bounce back. Bounce back would be 3 - 5 pounds above your very very lowest weight.

--gina 

Thank you, Gina.  My bounce back was a little more but that's because my GI specialist told me to go back to eating regular foods (i.e., gluten).  I'll see what happens in the next few weeks as I've cut back on that again.  It seems to make me feel gassy and bloated.

I can't do gluten either.  I can eat gluten free pasta if it's made from brown rice but it sure has a lot of carbs.  So, I try to keep carbs around 70 or so and I don't count calories.

--g

I need to stop counting calories and just pay close attention to the amount of carbs I'm ingesting.  The calorie counting is what drove me crazy before the WLS.  Thanks again!

Calorie counting made me feel like I was on WW again and on a diet.  If you concentrate on Protein and cut your "bad" carbs that is a lifestyle that will keep you maintaining for a long time.  Even to much fruit can cause us to gain weight because of the sugar. 

The most important advice I want to give you is DON'T STOP TO EARLY!!!!!  Go as low as your body will let you.  Don't get anxious to add more food into your menus because once you start it is too hard to go back. 

Are you at the bottom of your Normal BMI?  Are you still losing a little bit each month? 

I had the RNY  over 5 years ago and I lost for about 18 months and then all of a sudden I put on a few pounds even though I didn't change my menus.  I thought....OK it's time to start Maintenance. Everyone kept telling me I was too thin and I believed them so I increased my calories and then the weight started creeping up.  My low was 106, stayed at 112 for awhile and for the last several years I have been at 119.  I have to watch what I eat every day to keep it at 119.

The point is....everyone has bounce back so you want that bounce back to be at your lowest weight possible.

Just try not to think about Maintenance. If you feel healthy then why change anything?  It took me a couple of years to actually feel confident enough to say I was on Maintenance.  If I put on a few pounds now it's because I over indulged myself not because my body decided to bounce a little more.

Thanks, Roz, for the advice.  My BMI is no longer at it's lowest point and I'm not losing weight.  I'm going back to how I used to eat.  I'm doing so not only because of this "rebound" but because I felt so much better.

That's a good way of finding out if it's rebound or weight you have gained because you changed your menus. At only a year out you might have another year of losing.  Hold on to those lower numbers as long as you can.

I had so many goals, I lost track of what goal was.  I just kept on keeping on.  I ended up at 111 as my lowest and that was pretty scrawny and guant.  I think I was best around 120 but am hovering in the upper 120s these days.

go back to where you were comfortable then keep on keeping on.  Let your body tell you when it is done.