The Maintenance Thread

[FluffyChix 17,415]

1 hour ago, catwoman7 said:

I can just answer this for me (although I know a lot of people report that they start gaining weight during year 3), but I hit my lowest weight exactly two years after my surgery date (I just checked my Excel spreadsheet). I maintained there for about six months, and then it gradually started going up (admittedly, I needed to gain back about 10 lbs, because my weight had gotten way too low for me). I'm now up 20 lbs from my lowest weight and would like to lose 10 lbs....but it is a BEAR!!! When I weighed over 300 lbs I used to roll my eyes at these normal weight - or slightly overweight - women who moaned and groaned about how hard it was to lose 5 or 10 lbs. HA! I get it now!

Thanks for explaining that!!! I am still terrified of this time frame!

[ms.sss 15,585]

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

So if you do some heavy eating over the holidays and gain five pounds

And this is it exactly, isn't it? The weight gain is because of the heavy eating. Not from being merely years out from WLS. If you don't do the heaving eating, you won't gain the weight (malabsorbtion or not)?

But you are TOTALLY right about LOSING the weight (once you gain it back). It takes much longer now. When I was 235 losing 5 lbs took days. Now it takes weeks. And years from now it may take months. So you are right again in that the trick is to not gain the weight, which is very difficult for most.

Let me also say that I am only a little over a year out (so i'm still pretty newbie-ish and what do I know, really?) AND I've had it pretty good in that my results were/are very straight-forwardly related to my efforts. I eat more, I gain weight, I eat less I lose it. I get that this is not the experience reported by many.

Edited March 4, 2020 by ms.sss

[ms.sss 15,585]

...and who knows...maybe 1 year from now I will be 50 lbs heavier from all the whipped-cream-mascarpone filling I've been eating and be signing a different tune.

...but I really hope not, I don't want to have to buy new clothes...

[AJ Tylo 1,399]

There is no way i would go back to the old ways - healthy fats and only healthy foods, No way i will ever go back to the old days, Yes i was being a smart ass, but in reality it is a pain. The working out has definitely added a little muscle and really tightened up the loose skin only after a few months i can see the difference. One thing i have never had during the journey is lack of energy so that is one issue I got away with. Been thru a lot and My nutra girl is very experienced with Cancer patients, WLS and others. The only reason she is assisting me is because of a mutal friend. She is a conceir nutra to the Naples Wealthy!

[catwoman7 11,212]

1 hour ago, ms.sss said:

And this is it exactly, isn't it? The weight gain is because of the heavy eating. Not from being merely years out from WLS. If you don't do the heaving eating, you won't gain the weight (malabsorbtion or not)?

But you are TOTALLY right about LOSING the weight (once you gain it back). It takes much longer now. When I was 235 losing 5 lbs took days. Now it takes weeks. And years from now it may take months. So you are right again in that the trick is not not gain the weight, which is very difficult for most.

Let me also say that I am only a little over a year out (so i'm still pretty newbie-ish and what do I know, really?) AND I've had it pretty good in that my results were/are very straight-forwardly related to my efforts. I eat more, I gain weight, I eat less I lose it. I get that this is not the experience reported by many.

All i can say is.... just wait... it gets really tough. I'm on an internet forum with vets who are all 3+ years out (some much further out than that). I can only think of one who has not experienced bounceback weight. That first year an occasional bout of overeating really doesn't affect you that much. Not true when you get further out. It's a constant, daily struggle just to maintain. This is just my experience and the other 3+ year out vets i know though... but there are a lot of us!

P.S. I'm done with this conversation now.

Edited March 4, 2020 by catwoman7

[ms.sss 15,585]

It's a date! I'm making a sweeping declaration (a la HIMYM) and promising this: Even if I am no longer an active member on BP at that time, I WILL log on here on (or around) Oct 24th, 2021 and report on my status (fatter or not) ❤️

P.S. To clarify, I'm not denying that there can be bounceback weight, only that there is bounceback weight because of a change in eating habits. If I continue with eating the way I did yesterday (2000+ cals with minimal exercise), I fully expect to report a significant weight gain on Oct 24th 2021. And I would have no excuses for the gain other than the choices I made.

P.P.S. I hope you have not been offended with my personal views, and that all is cool. I'm Canadian: We hate confrontation and apologize for everything. Sorry!

Edited March 4, 2020 by ms.sss

[Kateishere 5]

Hi gang, just wanted to jump in with my "maintenance" experience. I'm 10 yrs post in June. I hit my main lowest weight about 6mths post surgery and stayed close to there for the best part of the first 8 years. (I lost a bit after a break up, but I don't really count that!) I never went well under my goal so never had the conundrum some of you do of having to actively eat more to maintain, so I'm zero help there.
However, I have gained recently (7kg total, I think that's about 16lb). Mostly the last six months, but up and down a bit the last year. I'm still not overweight, but I don't fit my clothes at all and that is an expensive nightmare you want to avoid!

Anyway, I have hindsight and so have these points to share (which like all of this will hit home for some of you and be totally off for everyone else!):

1. obvious, but bears repeating: try your best not to regain, it's a **** trying to lose it again (especially if, like me, you gain over 1000cal a day!)
2. if you were ever a snacker, don't use extra meals or Snacks to up your calories - eating too frequently has been my main downfall (procrastin-eating)
3. don't push the boundaries of the guidlelines around bulky carbs/slider foods/larger meals etc to "just try them to see if you can". You'll be able to eat much more of them than you think and it's a slippery slope. Just stick to the rules which got you to goal.
4. I had two points where my capacity to eat bigger serves changed, first around 2 years and then another jump at about 6/7, so please re-read #3!

For those of you who feel a bit underweight and wanting to increase a bit, I'd suggest two options to avoid messing up your achievements long term. First option, don't do anything and leave it to the inevitable portion creep which will happen in a year or so. And don'y buy too many tiny clothes in the meantime ;) ; secondly, add a fatty cheat day/meal so the rest of your good habits are unchanged (I say fatty because sugary I think would be harder to keep in check). This option obviously means you'd need to be the sort to keep control of that, but it works for lots of people.

Sorry for the novel - hope it's helpful, ask me anything :)

[summerset 5,265]

16 hours ago, AJ Tylo said:

There is no way i would go back to the old ways - healthy fats and only healthy foods, No way i will ever go back to the old days,

How many times have I seen this written on an internet board? Countless times. 😕

Wishing you all the success you want though.

[summerset 5,265]

16 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

All i can say is.... just wait... it gets really tough. I'm on an internet forum with vets who are all 3+ years out (some much further out than that).

True. Most people on here are out less than two years.

[AJ Tylo 1,399]

I have read a lot of people crash at 3 years even my own doctor warned me, Guess we will see, At this point i do not see how you can feel so good and healthy and slip back to being miserable and unhealthy? but only time will tell.

I have the dang flu right now and it has whipped me, Never been this sick in my life, Can not eat or barely drink Not been a good week so far, It appears to be going away slowly but wow knocked me to the ground fast

[summerset 5,265]

19 minutes ago, AJ Tylo said:

I have read a lot of people crash at 3 years even my own doctor warned me, Guess we will see, At this point i do not see how you can feel so good and healthy and slip back to being miserable and unhealthy? but only time will tell.

I hold the opinion that it might be dependent on the amount of effort you have to put in and how happy (like really happy) you are with the changes you've made in your life, e. g. how much does one really enjoy going to the gym five times a week or talking a walk during lunch break or how much does one really miss certain higher caloric foods etc.?

Is the diet/exercise plan a person is on really a schedule that makes this person happy? Or is it at least a regimen that the person doesn't really mind to have? Or does it feel like a chore every damn time?

I think that one will run almost inevitably into burnout sooner or later if the lifestyle that was chosen feels like a millstone around the neck. And even if you're managing to hold up your routine - most likely you'll feel very miserable on it in the long run.

However, this is just my personal opinion based on the mistakes I made in the past.

[shanza 685]

13 hours ago, Kateishere said:

Hi gang, just wanted to jump in with my "maintenance" experience. I'm 10 yrs post in June. I hit my main lowest weight about 6mths post surgery and stayed close to there for the best part of the first 8 years. (I lost a bit after a break up, but I don't really count that!) I never went well under my goal so never had the conundrum some of you do of having to actively eat more to maintain, so I'm zero help there.
However, I have gained recently (7kg total, I think that's about 16lb). Mostly the last six months, but up and down a bit the last year. I'm still not overweight, but I don't fit my clothes at all and that is an expensive nightmare you want to avoid!

Anyway, I have hindsight and so have these points to share (which like all of this will hit home for some of you and be totally off for everyone else!):

1. obvious, but bears repeating: try your best not to regain, it's a **** trying to lose it again (especially if, like me, you gain over 1000cal a day!)
2. if you were ever a snacker, don't use extra meals or Snacks to up your calories - eating too frequently has been my main downfall (procrastin-eating)
3. don't push the boundaries of the guidlelines around bulky carbs/slider foods/larger meals etc to "just try them to see if you can". You'll be able to eat much more of them than you think and it's a slippery slope. Just stick to the rules which got you to goal.
4. I had two points where my capacity to eat bigger serves changed, first around 2 years and then another jump at about 6/7, so please re-read #3!

For those of you who feel a bit underweight and wanting to increase a bit, I'd suggest two options to avoid messing up your achievements long term. First option, don't do anything and leave it to the inevitable portion creep which will happen in a year or so. And don'y buy too many tiny clothes in the meantime ; secondly, add a fatty cheat day/meal so the rest of your good habits are unchanged (I say fatty because sugary I think would be harder to keep in check). This option obviously means you'd need to be the sort to keep control of that, but it works for lots of people.

Sorry for the novel - hope it's helpful, ask me anything

A true Vet. Thank you for sharing. This gives insight for alot of us.

[Sheribear68 3,200]

On 03/04/2020 at 08:53, AJ Tylo said:

Definatly not waiting till year 3 Gotta throw the Anchor on weight loss out now. High calorie good foods here i come! Dammit that wont work i hate eating, Do they make a calorie pill? JK

Getting a whole new plan this month from the Nutritionist she says she can fix this!

Okay so I want to urge caution and patience here.

I too got freaked out a few weeks ago with my continued loss and then I finally realized that should embrace it
I mean, I’ve been fighting a war with my body for over 2 decades and I’m sick and tired of it.

So for 20+ years I couldn’t lose enough and now I’m gonna stress bc I had WLS and I’m losing “too much??”
Nah, instead I’m just gonna relax and see where this ride stops.
I talked to my NUT last month and she reassured me that my body won’t let me die, and I just had my 1 year labs done and they are BEAUTIFUL!
I have zero deficiencies and personally I feel better than I’ve ever felt before.

I now that I’ve spent almost 2 months <140, I kinda like it and it’s becoming more of my comfort zone.
Give yourself time and TLC before doing something radical and fighting against your body.

[Recidivist 1,141]

Hi, all. I haven't posted in a while!

My last post related to losing too much and going my best to gain weight. After a low of 132, I got up to 140, which seemed ideal for me.

Over the course of about two months my weight has crept up slowly to about 146. I know that's not exactly a major fail, but enough to be concerning and not a path I wanted to continue. I made a very conscious effort to avoid carbs for about three weeks, and that did the trick. I'm now back down to 141. Still trying to find that perfect balance!

Happy isolation to all!

[rs 1,473]

Hi, all. I haven't posted in a while!
My last post related to losing too much and going my best to gain weight. After a low of 132, I got up to 140, which seemed ideal for me.
Over the course of about two months my weight has crept up slowly to about 146. I know that's not exactly a major fail, but enough to be concerning and not a path I wanted to continue. I made a very conscious effort to avoid carbs for about three weeks, and that did the trick. I'm now back down to 141. Still trying to find that perfect balance!
Happy isolation to all!

Yay you for nipping it in the bud early and getting back on track right away! Pat yourself on the back! I hope if/when it happens to me that I can be as strong as you.