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I am coming at this thread from a slightly different perspective. I'm not a long termer (whose experience I know you were asking for) so please do place more weight on those people's posts. I do rely SO MUCH on the stalwarts here to be my guiding stars and four of them have shared their wisdom already. I have struggled a bit to maintain my loss. I reached my original goal weight about a year after my surgery. The second year or so I lost much more slowly but ended up about 20lbs under my goal. In my third year I slowly regained 16lbs. I eat pretty well I think. I cannot, and never have, eaten breakfast. Coffee only before about 11am. Looking at the link above I do wonder whether I should just start stuffing something down. I think my regain has been due to bits of sneaky sugar creeping in, and alcohol (totally empty calories - if you can do without then this is the smart way forward, I simply cannot completely LOL). I reached a point a couple of months back when I was unhappy, thought I'd gone beyond the well known third year rebound and decided to cut out the sugar and (mostly!) the alcohol. Since then I've lost 10lbs of the 15 I gained. Still loosing now. My maintenance calorific intake seems to be 1500 or a little less. I am pretty tall and moderately active. It's weird because I lost large amounts of weight consistently on much more than this a year ago. I think some people get blessed with a new set point weight that is easier to maintain with a much higher calorific intake and some get cursed with a lower set point so that inhaling a random breath of air containing just a whiff of bacon can disrupt. Sadly I appear to be in the latter category now. Take home message - everyone's weight loss in the initial and the maintenance phases seems to be individual to them. Yes we can look for patterns and try to emulate those in order to maximise our own losses, but it doesn't mean our own loss will follow any particular trajectory. Sugar and alcohol are our enemies. I wish you all the best after your op OP. Keep posting, it's endlessly fascinating to hear others' experiences.

Sorry to butt in as I'm only a little over 10 months post GS but I feel I can share a little of what I'm doing to maintain. I reached my initial goal 3 months post op and continued to lose until about 9 months post op, went much below goal weight and stabilized (I think as I've been the same weight with one +- 1KG fluctuation for 1.5 months). I lost weight very rapidly and the weird thing is, during weight loss I never tracked, I would only check my calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks to see where I'm sitting at but the whole theme was barely eating to survive and insane restriction. Now that I've stabilized I track my intake 3-4 times a week to know where I am at and what daily average intake is. There are non hungry days where I don't bother to track (plus weekends) and days where I'm ravenous and I make sure I track to know. I have also picked up the habit of weighing myself at least a few times a week, sometimes daily or twice a day (during weight loss I weighed once a week only), now at maintenance I weigh more often and only because I never did pre WLS and my weight kept creeping up and I refused to face reality (if I didn't know then it didn't happen). I also believe that what gets measured gets managed. I cook most of my food and eat out about twice a week, I prioritize protein 90% of the time and eat fairly well. I get in at least 140 grams of protein a day but I also don't deprive myself of anything. I eat bread, rice, pasta ,dessert and everything else really, just not in substantial portions and usually after I've gotten my protein in. I workout a lot. Always have and always will and I believe this has been a huge factor in my success so far. I built back all the muscle I lost and I believe my muscles are allowing me to eat much more without worrying about weight gain (I eat between 1500-1900 calories a day, depending on how hungry I am). I walk between 8k-10k steps a day too. Lastly, I have worked out a wriggle room for myself, If I do gain a little of weight then it is no big deal, it does not distress me and I will deal with it when/if it happens. I try my best everyday and I accept that I am not perfect nor do I set unrealistic standards for myself. I also believe maintenance is a mindset shift as much as it's a physical adjustment. Portion control, constant check-ins, daily movement are great habits to build, but also liberating ourselves of food fear and relinquishing the all or nothing sentiment.

Best advice is to go back to how & what you were eating when you reached your stabilised weight. This was likely the calories and nutritions you needed at that weight. However a bounce back regain isn’t that uncommon. It’s like your body hits a low point but it was actually too low & then you gain a little & your body bobs up to get to what is actually your new set point & where your body is happiest. Check to see if you’ve let a few things slip like with your food or drink choices or or you’ve not been as vigilant about portion sizes, calories, activity, etc. It’s easy to get a bit over confident or complacent with our choices & behaviours. And life sometimes gets in the way of our best intentions. Unfortunately too, many medications, like those you may be on for your depression, can contribute to weight gain. Worth a conversation with your prescribing doctor to see if there are alternatives & also your surgeon to discuss your options to manage it.

I agree Sugar is the devil for me plus I'm diabetic. Due to WLS I'm no longer on any meds (whooo hoooo 🎉 ) and I have avoided processed/ white sugars like the plague if I even start to indulge my food addiction will lead me down a slippery slope to hell 😂. In other news obesity as a disease is life long and I assume we will be working a lifetime to stay in maintenance..tweeking this and that.

Woooooooow

I am 3 years out this month. I track my food religiously every day. I try to eat clean and cook almost all of my food. My calories are on average 1500 a day and as this was my first trial number at maintenance, I was lucky. I don't restrict myself to diet foods. I eat full fat versions. It eat good quality food, even chocolate. I weigh myself every few days. My exercise is limited to walking a few miles, a few times a week. Oh and window shopping in town, once a week. I also stay on this site and read it almost every day as it seems to keep my focus.

Most of the people on here have said it. I do cook most of my food now, hence the name. I think I’m weird because I like to food prep. I weigh myself at least once a week or check how my jeans fit. Then jump back on track (if I’ve wandered) by weighing food, measuring, recording and checking in with my son or a friend to hold myself accountable. I stay in touch with my bariatric group of fellow WLS patients because it’s good positive energy from people working hard to maintain weight loss. I pop on here too, again nice positive energy from folks trying to be supportive and helpful staying healthy!

Good morning all! I am struggling. Surgery was 10/01 and I have been dealing with morning nausea. It sucks. I can’t really eat or drink anything till 10am ish and the through of protein shakes and yogurt 🤢. Please tell me I am not the only one experiencing this. It’s causing me to NOT hit my goals for water or protein. UGH

Surgery date buddy! I'm in Bakersfield, CA

for me: (1) continuing to track my food intake (via MFP) and weighing myself daily...and making adjustments when a moving weight trend shows up in either direction i dont really want. also, (2) regular exercise (which morphed into a love for exercise) and (3) striving to maintain an angst-free existence: understanding that i am not perfect, that nothing is forever, that i believe i can and will adapt, accept OR change, whatever the circumstances. i am 6 years post op next week and have maintained below goal weight this entire time, following my own advice above. i know that my M.O. is not for everyone...but i also know that each one of us can figure out what works for us (and what doesn't) and act accordingly, if we choose to.