Question about transitioning to maintenance...

Judy, I love this board!  So many people are always so willing to share their experiences... really a wealth of information.  :)

I'm glad you and I are doing this together lol... congrats for making your normal BMI, and here's to figuring out how to keep the weight off!

I keep a 10 lb float.  I think of goal as a range not a specific number.  Thats a lesson people on here helped me learn.  

I try to maintain from 177 to 187.  I usually have been somewhat below that just for my own mental comfort.  Bottom line, if you feel comfortable where you are at, have a healthy bmi and body fat percentage - call it done.  If you are like me you will lose that additional 2 pounds without even trying.  

Your weight will fluctuate a lot - a few pounds up, a few pounds down.  Thats perfectly normal.  Try to manage trends not daily numbers.  If you see the weight going up day after day - its time to rein something in.  If you see it going down and you don't want it to, its time to correct.  For me the hardest thing to learn to do is to trust myself to correctly manage that process.

Congratulations!

Thanks, Rob :)  I would have responded before now, but had some internet problems. 

I've been thinking about my goal weight range for some time now, and I had been thinking of it in terms of a five pound range, but the ten pounds makes sense given the amount of activity I do and a few other factors... and my original goal is five pounds below my maximum and five above my minimum, so this makes even more sense. 

Thanks again for everything!

Speaking for myself......

My transition point was very anti climatic........

At the point my surgeon said "Stop your done" my WL pretty much was at a stand still anyway......and as I was waiting for some secret recipe into maintenance..... like now you can eat pizza..... he just said..... keep doing what your doing, add some fiber and hold your weight for a year......

I was like Okie Dokie......

It was maybe a month later that I started adding calories to see what I could get away with..... 100 cals at a time for about 2 weeks every step.....

Now here is the kicker...... you can increase calories several ways...... most people might think more food......

I figured I would not mess with the quantity...... remember, I like to do the under eat capacity thing to preserve restriction for the long haul.......

I started adding fat calories and a few more carbs within the same quantity....... that means adding some fried foods, sometimes with breading. Adding fruit to protein drinks, dark chocolate every so often, not afraid of a sliver of birthday cake or holiday pie.

I'm really happy where I ended up..... still very tight restriction and can eat most foods when I feel it's right. Very comfortable and satisfying new normal....I would say my maintenance guidelines are around 70-100% of my WL plan......depending on activity and what the scale is telling me.

frisco

Thanks for sharing this with me, Frisco... this makes sense.  The adding of 100 calories at a time, for a couple of weeks at a time, and not really changing the amount of protein (I'm already getting in 100-110 grams of protein a day consistently)... this is all pretty much what I figured I'd be doing.  It's good to know that what I was envisioning is what has worked for some.  In my mind, I would probably start by adding more carbs by trying to work in more fruits and veggies, or more fat with a handful of nuts... or like you said having fried foods on occasion. 

I think I may start participating in the daily weighing thread, too, once I start adding calories... that way I can make sure I'm holding myself accountable and not letting things get out of hand.

Through my husband, I have seen first hand how much restriction can be lost if we aren't careful.  He has done a great job of maintaining his loss, but he's also a pretty big guy... 5'11 and 210 pounds (mostly muscle; his body fat is around 16%); I think back on how much he ate right after surgery and look at how much he ate at dinner tonight... I can't imagine ever getting to the point where I can eat that much again, and I hope I never do.  I definitely need to make sure I do still control the amounts that I eat so that I don't lose the benefit of that restriction. 

Thanks for the tips.  I've learned so much from you and everyone else here and wouldn't have made it to this point without you guys!