Need advice on maintenance

 Hi everyone!  It’s my turn to ask for advice from the experts..it’s gonna be long so bear with me.  I am just a couple of weeks over 1 yr post op.  I have lost 122 lbs and have landed at 174lbs.  My goal was 180lbs but I kept losing before I could stop it (if I have in fact stopped it).  I’m happy with myself at this weight and my size 14’s are getting loose.  At my 1 year follow up my doctor was a little upset with me that I wanted to stop loosing and urged me to get closer to 150-160lbs and said that according to the “charts" for my height (5’4) I should be more in the 120ish range.  I told him thanks but no thanks.  He proceeded to tell me that in about 6 months I would have a 10-15 lb regain and in 2 years I would be struggling to keep the weight off and said he didn’t know what I was worried about because it’s not like I “look like a concentration camp victim".  (Yes, he really did say that to me .)  Basically, I’m ignoring what he said and I’m going to do what makes me happy and that is stay where I am. 

 

I read somewhere that in order to maintain you multiply your current weight by 11 to get the number of calories you should eat.  In my case this would mean 1914 calories per day!!  I used a website from my gym that indicated I should be getting in 1753 calories per day with light activity to maintain.  I really haven’t worked out that much while losing but I am trying to start more and incorporate some weight training as I want to build some muscle.  My question is, wouldn’t I actually gain if I start packing in 1700-1900 calories per day since I was eating so little during the losing phase? Is my body going to think it’s party time??  Also, how in the world will I eat that much without eating crap?  I would be eating every hour or so to get that much in.  I would love to go on a sugar binge to maintain but of course I’m joking…especially since more than a tiny amount of sugar sends me running straight to the potty. 

And finally, if I start weight training but I want to stay the same size I am now would I need to try and put on a few pounds?  I wouldn’t mind if it would actually go to my butt so that I wasn’t in pain sitting all the time.

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys have.  I'm so confused about this whole maintenance phenomena because my whole life has been about losing...not staying where I was!

I hate to say this, but your doctor is correct in this instance. You are still overweight according to the charts. I know, it is good to feel healthy and happy with your weight, but you have room to improve on this. Losing more weight, would also help to lower your co-morbidity risk factors.

Use those charts with a grain of salt. They are generalizations and don't apply to WLS people. Can you talk with the dietician in your program and see what he/she recommends?

Staying the same size and weight training, is an oxymoron. Weight training will make you smaller, since it will help you to build lean muscle mass, which will help you to burn fat. Lean muscle takes up less space than fat. Doing squats, leg presses, lunges, etc., will help to build up muscle in your glutes. It won't take care of all the loose skin, but it does help somewhat. You may end up staying the same weight, but look smaller, or you could actually lose more weight in the form of fat.

Maintenance is all about continuing to practice the same behaviors that helped you to lose weight in the first place, except you eat a bit more. Excercise, including weight training, is vital for maintenance.

When I started this entire process, I told myself that I would follow medical advice, since what I had done in the past, didn't help to make me successful at keeping the weight off. I have followed most of the recommendations, with a few deviations, but for the most part, I have stayed with the plan and it helped me to get down to a normal BMI for the  first time in my life.

Has doing it your way helped you to be successful in the past? I think your doctor was trying to help you.

Gail

congrats on your 122lb weight loss that is fantastic..
Im not going to tell you, whether you should lose more weight or not, because i think its a personal thing on how you want to look..  not every one wants to be a "normal bmi"..
But do keep in mind that it is really easy to gain a few lbs, i know this from experience and had to take them off again... the further we get out food does not tend to last as long in our tummies so we can find grazing alot easier to sneak up on us and alot more foods that once kept us full seem to become slider foods that we have to be more careful of... so I think planning for a few lbs of rebound is sound advice because it does seem to happen..

 Doing weights to build muscle is a great thing, and if in doing that you lose a size or two id not be so worried as your replacing body fat with healthy muscle... and in doing so you will be able to eat a few more calories.

What ever you decide i wish you all the best...

Hi
What you decide as your final weight is your own decision but be mindful that it will never be easier to lose than it is right now and losing a couple extra wont hurt.
Beyond that, determining calories for maintenance is a personal thing and  charts and formulas are useless. Some of us have really slow metabolisms and can't eat that many calories while others can. So what you do is increase your calories 100 per day and see how it works and increase by another 100 each wee****il you stop losing. You are right to not go for sugar or processed carbs. Increase calories with cheese, nuts, fruit and dairy. Be sure to keep tracking and get 70 or so g protein. This is how I transitioned to maintenance and I maintain on 1100 to 1200 per day. GL
Diane

Only you know what you want to look like, feel like and have as your end result of your VSG.  I can tell you that at 20 months out from surgery, I track my food daily and eat aprox. 1000 calories a day.  Sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less.  I exercise 1 hour a day of either pilates class, walking or hiking with some weight workouts but not very often.  I struggle to keep off the weight. If I eat 1200 calories for a few days in a row, I can expect to see a couple of pounds back on.  I eat low carb and immediately gain weight if I up the carbs.  That said, I've been a very slow loser all along but now have to be very careful.  I think that while we don't have malabsorption the way that the RNY does, our metabolism is somewhat changed for a period of time post-op.

Whether you'll be happy with your body if you have some regain is up to you. Your body will change with weight training.  I'm the same height as you are, 5'4".  I'm happy in my size 10 petities but I will be happier maintaining at a size 8 because they say that leaner is better as we age and i'm 61.

Remember that the good habits we establish post-op are the ones that will take us through life. Adding unhealthy food isn't the answer. If your body wants to continue to lose, maybe you should take it one day at a time and see how it goes.  I know that many of us got fat in the first place because of trauma and perhaps are afraid of shedding the fat suit and having to deal with the reasons we put it on in the first place.  A good support group and friends to talk to and exercise with is so helpful for me.

Good luck in finding your perfect path towards a happy, healthy life!  We're all in this together.

How do you think our metabolism is changed post-op? At what points does is change? Initially, we couln't eat very much due to the swelling of the sleeve and this helped to take the pounds off. At what point does metabolism come into it?

Gail

Gail, I'll have to look for the article.  I think that the metabolism is changed because we're eating so little. 

I think eating so little can slow down the metabolism, which why weight training and exercise are so important. They help to preserve the lean muscle mass, which helps to keep the metabolism higher. At least, that is how I understood it. Is there something else that comes into play?

From what i read surgery itself and the healing process from having stomach surgery alters the metbolism for up to 6 months

Speeds up the metabolism for 6 months?