How did you transition to maintenance? Nuts and bolts!

"Mini.Me says - This is the 2nd scariest part of the journey so far (having the actually surgery still is #1) ... I've lost before (never this much though) and never have been able to maintain.  I feel very positive about my success this time, but not really sure what to do & how to go about it.  I look forward to your ideas and tips.

Did most people start out just adding a couple hundred calories a day or did you try something else?  If it was upping calories, how much and what type of calories did you add?"

I know Drs C&J have you add a hundred or so calories a day for a while until you even you - I will ask their patient's to give us the full scoop.

For me - I went from tracking my food on myfitnesspal.com to using dietpower.com because it just does more things.

I told it my height, weight, nutritional percentages I wanted to have, and it told me based on X weight I need X calories.  Granted that was for a "normie" and so, while in the beginning, I did not eat all of those calories - I logged my food and my exercise and within a week the number came down (because I weighed every day and logged that too) and when it stayed consistent for a day or two, then I would eat those calories, plus the exercise calories.

Of course, that's just the math on the food part - for my head part, I still cycle through Beck Diet Solution, Shrink Yourself and 10 Thin Commandments.

Next?

Thanks so much for starting this ... I can't wait to see input from others.  

I know everyone is different ... but it helps so much to see what others have tried.

Welcome!! And I agree it helps to know what other folks have tried!  Because just because you were given X way to do it, does not mean some other way might be more efficient for you!

It was a great question for a new topic!

I am VERY interested in this also..... As I am on the verge of maintenance

I also am VERY scared as I have failed maintenance every other time I have lost weight in my life!

My appointment with surgeon and nutritionist is coming up and my main topics are going to be maintenance related.

Brandilynn's method is without a doubt the "Smart" way to go and I may do that (if it can run on my Mac's or iPhone)

I'm maybe looking for the "Dumb and Dumber" method of maintenance. During weight loss I have never ever written or logged any food or weights. That doesn't mean I don't keep daily track of my weight loss daily goals.... I just live day by day, meal by meal, exercise by exercise..... I know where I stand every minute of the day on a "Plus or Minus" system. My plus or minus system is like I keep track of my Golf score without a score card. On track is "Par" than plus or minus after that.
Not saying this is the best method...... Just admitting to my unconventional system.

frisco

I think this is the most scariest part of the journey. Losing weight has always been easy for me when I put my mind to it. The most difficult part was keeping it off.

When I hit goal I ran back to my Dr.s office to see the nut and asked how do I make this stop. Her reply scared me. She said it's really not up to you. Your body will stop when it's ready. I said I thought I could just increase my calorie intake. She said you can try that. Just make sure you don't eat junk have an extra protein shake or two.

I've dropped five pounds below my goal to 215. I'm starting to do more strength/weight training. Been taking classes at the gym. I figure I'm going to gain muscle. I really need to concentrate on toning. My stomach, arms and thighs are all flab. I have extra skin but it's not bothering me. So I'm not looking for plastics.

Did blood work this past Saturday. I have my annual physical exam with my Primary and a followup with my surgeon next Thursday. I already talked to my nut as she was at our monthly support group meeting last week. She said she'll be in the office next Thursday and we can sit down and create a detailed menu.

I posted this on the VSG forum...I feel like the guy from thinner...I'm hopping I don't waste away. Generally I don't listen to peoples comments. But I'm hearing from many..."You've lost enough weight and should stop". Its really starting to irritate me.

Looking foward to hearing others responses on this as well. This way I can create a plan with my nut based on other responses.  

I unintentionally or intentionally learned how to maintain during my losing phase... I did not want to lose quickly... I always do that...

I did not want to diet - I always do that too...

I did not want to rush to goal and gain it all back - been there done that...

I did not want to forget I had to work on my head in order to make this work - I never worked on that before, when I would lose weight...

So....... as I lost, I would eat some carbs, I would eat some snacks, I would eat some treats, etc.  It definatley affected my rate of weight loss, but I was good with that...  I also did Shrink Yourself along the way...

When I got to 'goal' of 155, I started to try to maintain... then realized, quite quickly, I wanted to lose more... when I got to '145', I started to try to maintain again, but with no formal plan, and I started the whole diet, binge, diet, binge thing again... and I knew that had to stop, right away!!!

Soooooo... I made up a Maintenance For Life Plan last week.  I posted what I 'wanted' to eat to maintain to everyone on the VSG forum, in order to get their feedback.  Several thought I was over thinking things, some thought I was allowing myself too many calories, some thought I should eliminate the M&M's :)  I took it all into consideration and still did what I thought would work for me... I can always incorporate the changes people recommended later...

I figured out from several different sources, that with my 4 mile walk, and my almost 6 foot height, I would need over 2000 calories to maintain!!!!!!!  WHAT??? No way... I knew I could not eat that much and still feel like I was on plan...

So I found a happy medium.  I am on my plan, with some variations.  I have added a flour tortilla and M&M Peanuts to my plan... I don't beleive they will make me gain... and they will eliminate any feeling of dieting and the need to binge.  They will also allow me to indulge and feel rewarded...

I have also added some healthy snacks like raisins, almonds & PB, I will play with these in order to maintain, adding more if I lose, adding less or none at all if I gain...

1st Day, I gained a bit
2nd Day, I lost that and a bit more
3rd Day is today....

So I will let you guys know how it goes for me... I am excited, today is an all time low for me at 142 lbs!!!!!!!!  Yeehaw!  (I know I am not supposed to be losing, but it's not my fault :)

Hugs,

I really didn't change anything formally, like conciously adding calories, and I continued to lose slowly for 18 months. I wasn't worried about losing too much, and Dr. Jossart warned me about the bounce back thing of 5-10 pounds that happens very frequently, especially if you go way below your goal. Now, during that time, snacks and indulgences did creep in as I was experimenting with how much I could eat. For a long time, it seemed like no matter how much or what I ate, I continued to slowly lose. That finally did stop, and I have regained about 5-6 pounds from my absolute low. I'm still at my signature weight, +/- about 3 lbs., below my goal, and I'm very happy where I am, but it is more of a struggle now because I really do have to watch the bad stuff, which for me is sweets and grazing. I still have good restriction after 3+ years. I still definitely focus on protein first at meals and really limit rice, pasta, bread. That, so far, allows me to have my little treats. I recently bought the Beck Diet Solution and am going to start going through that because I realize that I will always have to be fighting my grazing and head hunger...

Lizanne

My experience has been a mixture of your experiences.  My body did continue to lose until it was "happy".  My doctor believes in being able to eat a normal diet, just small amounts.  Although I do try to focus on proteins and rarely eat refined carbs, if I'm going out, I will have the wine, try the appetizer, share a meal, and have a bite of dessert.  For the work week, I pretty much stick to what worked during my losing stage-
7 a.m. protein coffee (recently added in preparation for The New Rules of Lifting for Women)
10 a.m. hard boiled egg
12 noon 1/2 Wendy's chili
here's where I start to lose control
3 p.m. 1/2 an apple
5 p.m. cheese and coffee, nuts
7pm dinner (whatever I cooked for the family)
9p.m. the snacking can get out of control!

I find that if I keep busy, I don't feel hungry, and I will forget to eat.  But if I come home to an empty house, I open the pantry and look for something to eat.  And if I start on carbs, I'm lost!  That's why I try to hit the gym at least 3 days a week. I track my food of sparkpeople and livestrong(i can't decide which I like better).  I'll look into the one Brandilynn recommended :)

Hey Summer -

myfitnesspal.com was my favorite free online one - but I just wanted to give this warning about sparkpeople, some of their values are way skewed - someone was fussing and the board asked them to post their food, and they pulled their sparkpeople page in and there were a lot of instances with way too wrong nutritional information!! 

I did nothing special really. My weight stopped dropping on it's own about 14 months ago. Before that I lost no matter what essentially, and now I am steady regardless of what I eat. I sense I am a bit of a freak though, lol.. It has all been a bit too simple for me... So far..