Stupid Question

First of all the only stupid question is the one not asked but I couldn't think of anything else.
I have met my goal and am wondering for those of you that have been here a while how do you maintain. My goal was 150 and never in my life did I think I'd need to gain weight but I keep creeping down I'm only 4.6 lbs below my goal but I don't want to wait until I look unhealthy to start asking questions. Not sure what my calorie intake is and I guess that where I need to start but what should it be or how do I find that out. Any comment is Greatly Appreciated

Some people add in a few more healthy carbs; others add in something like a spoonful of peanut butter or some nuts -- healthy protein with a little more fat than during the losing phase.  Just make sure you don't add in garbage calories!!  Did that, and you can see below what happened to my weight, dang it!
--Dorothy

Do you use an online tracking system? This method can help you to keep track of calories and various other nutrients. Have you spoken with your dietitian? Your daily caloric amount is based up on your height, age, and activity level. The calculators can give you general estimates, but there are many variables, including your metabolic rate.

If you need to add calories, I would start with small amounts of healthy fats, like avocado, peanut butter, and nuts. The fats really do need to be measured, since the caloric content is so concentrated. Some people add a protein drink, but I was never one for protein drinks.

You maintain by adding some more calories and continuing with the same behaviors that helped you to lose weight in the first place.

To begin to add in calories, you need to know what your baseline is now. Keep track of your daily amount of calories and increase the amount by 100 cal/day and do this for a week or two, and see if maintain, gain, or lose.

I would highly recommend speaking with your physician and/or nutritionist, especially, if you don't how much you eating at the present time. They will want a food log.

Gail

well you really do need to start counting calories and then increase them by 100 per day. see if that stops weight loss and if it doesn't, add another 100. at least thats what my surgeon says. and make sure those calories are not carbs. they can be nuts, cheese, , in my case a gob of peanut butter, yogurt with 1 or 2% fat, or some other healthy thing. i lost about 15 below goal before i got this straightened out as sleeve restriction limited amounts i could eat but i found a balance and my surgeon actually thinks the extra weight loss is good. dietician also suggested adding an extra protein drink but yuck, didn't want that. I also put half and half in my coffee freely. My maintenance calorie count is only 1200 but it works for me as I only did 6 or 700 in losing phase. you can increase your carbs with fruit and such but try not to do white flour. my surgeon said if i wanted to gain a little to do it with whole grain carbs. But I wouldn't do that at this point. also make sure you get your 70 g protein in always.

Lots of people go through this and it does settle out and you will wonder why youa re worrried. GL. Diane

My comment is to not worry about it just yet. Yes, you may look unhealthy for a few months as part of this process. But 2 years out from surgery when you are experiencing a bit of bounceback, you'll wonder why you were so worried about stopping the weight loss.

Of course, this didn't stop me from worrying like crazy.... but now I can look back at the big picture and I can see that what I really needed to do was to (a) wait - I found my fat redistributed over time and I lost that gaunt look and (b) lift weight - it's much better to have your ribs  not showing because they are covered in muscle than because they are covered in fat!