Question:
How do maintain weight once you reach goal?

I'm just wondering, once you reach your goal weight, how do you stop losing and maintain it? Right now I eat pretty much what I want and how much I want and I am still losing weight good. I am almost 7 months post op, lap RNY, down 80 pounds, 40 pounds to goal. At this point, I can't see that I would be able to increase my calories to stop losing weight. Just wondering how the "maintanence" part of all this works.    — Kim B. (posted on July 1, 2002)

July 1, 2002
At 7 months post op, your pouch probably has not "grown" to its final size. By one year, your pouch should be about 8 ounces. (According to my doctor). In my experience, I was losing 7-10 pounds a month until my 11th month. Then it stopped completely. I was about 139 pounds (goal was 135 but I got a nice size panni). Anyhow, I am proud to say that one year later I have neither gained nor lost more than 5 pounds! Yesterday I got on the scale for the first time in 2-3 months. I was afraid that I had gained weight. Lo and behold, I finally did it and almost hit the ceiling when I looked down and saw 141!!! Now how have I maintained it? Eating a healthy, high protein diet. I know that my pouch can hold at least 10 ounces now and my stoma is wider than it had been in the past. Thus my quantities are pretty significant. So, I watch what I eat. My tool is pretty much retired I think. Now I can't eat 4 slices of pizza like I used to but I can eat two. The moral is that during your honeymoon stage, you must learn to eat well. Limit wastful calories and fats. Focus on protein, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Live a "normal" healthy life and you will neither gain nor lose significantly.
   — Jeannet

July 1, 2002
You will probably gradually (or suddenly) start to eat more. For the first 7 months I ate 800-1000 calories a day. I had an increase in appetite and the amount I could eat (suddenly--scared the owl poop out of me--thought I had a staple-line disruption!) and was eating closer to 1500 calories a day. I lost the remaining weight slowly and now maintain somewhere between 1500-1800 calories a day. I am now 14 mos post. If you (and/or your dr) feel like you are losing too much weight, you could always increase the amount of carbs you are eating--that ought to put a stop to it! Just make sure you get adequate protein to sustain your muscle mass. Happy losing!
   — ctyst

July 1, 2002
I could go into a long lecture about what I do to maintain, no milk, no sugar, no grazing and all the protein I use to ward off the hungries, and other tricks. BUT it might be easier for you to just go here & lurk. You'll soon see what does & does not work. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG
   — vitalady

July 1, 2002
I think you will find you will be losing less and less as time goes on. (For me the loss pretty much quit at six months). Once you get a few more months in you are not going to be worring about how to stop the weight loss, but rather, how to get it going! ;)
   — Danmark

July 1, 2002
For me, my weight loss gradually slowed down at about months 11, 12, 13 & on. From 10 pounds lost in a month, to 4, to 2, to no pounds lost. I find I don't have to work too hard to maintain my weight, but still, I do have to keep an eye on it. For me, this means that while I can eat *mostly* what I want, I can't just go hog-wild. I can eat almost anything, including sugar, fats, etc, but I know if I ate everything I wanted, I would gain weight. I weigh very frequently & that helps. I think an important part is having an active, physical lifestyle. Some people exercise & work out & are happy with that. I prefer to be more involved in sports & activities that burn calories like skiing, rollerblading, biking, walking & a little jogging. I have to say that overall the maintenence part is pretty darn good. I can eat quite a bit larger quantities than early on, so that's good, but I am still limited in my amounts--one piece of pizza is the most I can do at a time. I am satisfied with so much less. I can make a dozen m&ms last for 8 hours & feel totally satisfied & indulged.
   — Kathy W.