Long Term Success - Need ideas from experienced bandsters

[AFmom 3]

I am 7 months out from surgery and already knocking on the 100 pound weight loss mark. I am thrilled that things have gone so well, but I wonder, is it harder to keep the weight off than it was to lose it? I have tried to stick pretty close to the rules my doctor set forth, but I have not been perfect, and yet I have lost weight really easily. I am still 24 pounds away from my goal, so there is still work to be done, but I wonder for those bandsters out there who have been successful long term (2 plus years) what is the key?

Thanks for your input

Michelle

[LapBandBobbi 8]

Congratulations on your success. Sounds like you will be an inspiration to many!

[iwokeupfat 0]

Wow! You are doing an amazing job! I can't imagine losing that much weight in such a short amount of time. Whoohoo.. Way to GO!! :yesnod:

[Apples2 19]

AFmom....first of congrats on your success. You have done an amazing job of taking the weight off. As far as not following your doc's rules all the time....none of us are perfect. We all need to have a few treats once in awhile so as to not feel deprived. The thing to keep in mind is that you can allow the treats but not let it trigger feelings of being out of control

The way I see maintenance is this: Not much different than the weight loss stage...just maybe with a few more calories allowed daily. Once you get to goal you will need to adjust your calories to what you think your body will need to maintain.

Good luck to you as you take off that last few lbs and slide into maintenance.

[vlp1968 83]

I have been maintaing a 107 pound weight loss for about 3 months. I eat pretty much the same foods I did before. I have added good carbs (brown rice, corn, beans). I ate very low carb during the weight loss phase. I also added one more snack to my day. I continue to workout which I think is essential for me to keep the weight off.

[AFmom 3]

Thanks for the great responses! It is encouraging to hear from those who have been successful and are continuing to be successful. I know that Lap Band is different than bypass, but I read something from a bypass patient that said keeping the weight off is much harder than losing it. She warned that the people who were in the first 6 month post-op stage, that even though they were easily losing while not eating by the rules, that if they would be in for a surprise down the road when they had a hard time keeping it off. I guess that is one of the downsides of bypass, is that it is not adjustable. Hopefully if we were having those problems a fill would get us back on track.

Thanks,

Michelle

[Kalipso2 25]

i'm almost 3 years post of and haven't hit MY goal weight yet (i met my surgeons goal awhile ago). i went into this with a relatively low BMI so my weight loss has been s-l-o-w but i'm okay with that.

i lost the majority of my weight the first 6 months after my surgery but then had a slight set-back because of severe acid reflux. i had some unfills and then gradual refills.

it's been 8 months since my 2 year bandiversary. my surgeon told me i was done losing weight... with a successful 60% weight loss but i wasn't happy with that. in the last 8 months i've lost an additional 20 pounds.

the scale is slowly moving and just recently my body shape must have changed because a lot of people have asked if i've been losing weight. they say my face looks thinner.

there will come a time where i have to maintain and i admit, i'm worried about that...

[LapNYC 3]

I have the same question you do. I think that what one of the above posters said sounds right to be--basically the same program with some good carbs added back in. That's my plan, anyway. Best of luck to you and congratulations on your success!

[L12 13]

My two year bandiversary will be on 12/31. I would have been content to maintain 15 or 20 pounds ago, since about June, but the weight has continued to come off without any extra effort. Since I really have no desire to eat more (and can eat pretty much anything except a lot of bread), the last couple of months I've purposely cut down on the lite and lowfat products I use, and even loosened up just a bit on "drinking my calories," but have still lost a few pounds. I still try to eat healthy while adding extra calories, but it's miraculous to me that I must go to any effort to STOP losing weight! :w00t: