Nervous about goal

I'm eight months out and 6 lbs to goal. It's wonderful. I'm wearing size 6 jeans for the first time in my life and all my weight related health issues have resolved.

But I'm starting to get a little nervous. My Doc said to expect to lose for 12 to 18 months. Yikes! I will be skin and bones if this does not slow down soon.

I started adding more carbs to my diet about two months ago and the weight loss has slowed, and I'm eating six small meals a day, but the idea of trying to eat more just seems impossible.

Eating feels like work much of the time.

My BMI is still in a normal range for a woman of 5'7" at 141 lbs, so I'm fine for now, but my family and friends are starting to make lots of comments about not losing any more weight.

This is the thinnest I've ever been in my adult life. It's great. It's healthy, and I know getting a little underweight is OK because most of us will have a "bounce back" of 10 to 20 lbs after the first year.

If my weight loss continues slowly for another 3 months I think that will be fine, but if it extends beyond that, well, I'm starting to feel like the guy in Stephen Kings book THINNER.

Has anyone else been in this spot? If so, have you any reassurances or tips to share?

I was in the same situation.  I lost almost 100 pounds in just over 6 months and although I was happy, I too was concerned about what was ahead for me for the next 6 months.  After that point, my body started slowing in weight loss and I lost another 20 pounds over the next few month****ting where I wanted to be weight wise in 8-9 months.  

At that point, I considered myself maintenance and very slowly adjusted what I ate a bit to maintain.  I too eat about 6 small meals a day mainly because I can't stand drinking my meals (protein drinks) and I can't eat enough in one sitting to make it to the next "meal."  As you may know, everyone is different.  I also believe that lessens the change to expand the size of my stomach (only my opinion, no medical professional has actually told me that).  So you will have to find your maintenance balance because what works for me, I know doesn't for everyone else.

I adjusted what I did to make sure I was eating enough protein, eating veggies and got enough fiber in, but felt like I was more normal (things in moderation).  I have no "forbidden foods", I don't feel deprived and I don't count calories.  Although I already know most of the calorie counts of what I mostly eat by heart and always read label and nutritional info of what I am eating so I am aware of how many "extras" I intake.  So if I feel like I want to indulge, I know that I have to balance that with exercise or "cleaner" eating through the rest of the week, etc.  Many may not think that is normal, but to me it feels like something I can do for the rest of my life.

Hope this helps...didn't want this to go too long as I could have kept typing for pages  

Weight gain of 10-20 lbs is NOT normal bounce back weight. Up to 5 lbs may be bounce back, but anything more, is return of former eating habits. Your surgeon may have told you 12-18 months to get all the weight off, but if you reach your goal before then, you can work on maintaining. The previous poster gave you good suggestions.

I reached my goal in April and have been maintaining within a 2 lb range since that time. Not everyone needs 12-18 months to get the weight off.

I had this issue too and was concerned and talked to dietician. I felt like I couldn't get enough calories in with healthy food to stop losing and refused to eat sugar and carbs. Ultimately I began to eat a big blob of peanut butter every day which helped settle out. And after a litte more time you will be able to eat a little more and you will gradually even out. Talk to your dietician if you want but don't be too anxious. I was worried about this too and after maybe 12 to 14 months after surgery it kind of evened out. Now I find I can eat more and have to use a little discipline to not eat too much peanut butter or other stuff but its not hard to do. I bet you will be fine. My surgeon said really no one end up truly underweight long term from this surgery.    Diane

Don't worry, your weight loss isn't going to continue just because of what month it is on the calendar! Any time you are ready to stop, you can up your calories. There lots of ways to do it that don't involve bringing back bad habits too.

But one thing I would caution you is to not panic and not actively try to gain weight because you feel a *little* thin. The thing is, bounce back is real and also weight redistributes after you stop losing. So often we have our ribs showing and maybe our spine when we get to goal but we still have fat on our tummy, thighs and bottom. That fat will move around so our ribs and spine aren't boney without having to gain weight or you can do some strength training and build up muscle there.

(It's very hard to gain muscle mass when operating at a calorie deficit so most of us put on muscle after getting to goal even if we strength train while losing.)

Wow. Great advice. Thanks everybody. Ya'all are wonderful! I appreciate the feedback so much.