Share Your Keys To Success! How did you maintain your weight loss (Stay In Maintenance). Come on spill your secrets!

[Mspretty86 176]

As we all know loosing the weight after bariatric surgery can be quick and easy, but I have noticed throughout various bariatric groups, That maintenance seems to be the hardest. What were some of your Keys to success that helped you maintain your goal weight over the years? What was steadfast and True?

[ms.sss 15,383]

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.

[SpartanMaker 755]

I'd suggest taking a look at The National Weight Control Registry at http://www.nwcr.ws/. This is a long term list of over 10,000 successful "losers" that have lost weight and kept the weight off for long periods of time.

If we dig into the data a bit, a few things seem to come to light as keys to successfully maintaining weight loss:

• 78% eat Breakfast every day.
• 75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
• 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
• 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day

Of course, another thing you'll see in the data is that there really is no one size fits all model for success. While the trends above are helpful for most people, there are people that are successful that don't exercise, that never weigh themselves, and don't eat breakfast.

The point is that ultimately you have to find out what works for you.

[Mspretty86 176]

Love it! Great points, successes and Data.

[Arabesque 7,131]

Almost 5.5yrs post sleeve and also have maintained below goal.

• I try to eat regularly & to a schedule. Helps me avoid unnecessary snacking and making poor choices because I’m overly hungry.
• I try to meet Protein & fluid goals every day.
• I don’t track but check ingredients & nutritional content of new foods & recipes where I can and do random checks to ensure I’m not overestimating portions or calories, etc.
• I try to ensure I eat meat (yep I’m a carnivore), vegetables, fruit, dairy, and complex multi/whole grain carbs everyday. Add Beans or lentils to various meals at times.
• I adopted a way of eating (not a diet) that is working for me & is sustainable. It doesn't stop me socialising or make it a challenge to make food choices.
• I do some sort of exercise almost every day (about 20 minutes a day total & not traditional ‘exercise’ but stretches & resistance bands).
• I weigh myself at least a couple of times a week.

I can’t control every aspect of my life every day so I don’t beat myself up if I go off piste or decide to treat myself or can’t follow my regular schedule or can’t meet my goals or whatever. As long as it’s not the norm and a regular occurrence, I’ll be okay. And if something changes (ill health, the crap life throws at us, etc.), I’ll look at my options, make changes where I can or just work with my new reality.