Losing the old Harley

Furthermore, considering your 11 months PO your portion size of 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup seems to be the normal. I was just looking at a barbaric site and it said.
"Eat small amounts. Your meal portion size will range from ¼ cup to ½ cup of food 3 to 9 months after surgery. After 9 months you may be able to eat ¾ to 1 cup of food at a meal. To keep the weight off, you should eat no more than 1 cup of food at meals. You risk gaining weight and making your stomach larger if you are eating more than this."

Yes, even though i measure around 100-150 grams of food I never finish it. The mental struggle sometimes lol. I'm trying to maintain now so trying to work out how i can do that with the limited capacity I have to fit food in.

Soo the 1/2 - 3/4 cup size would be around that 3.5-5.5 ounces i would assume ?

Eating that small of an amount is crazy if he expects you to do that forever! that small amount you wont even get a good mix of Protein and veggies in. Maybe early out that is recommended however, long term its far from possible. Its been proven that stretching your sleeve will happen overtime naturally regardless. Yes you can prevent it stretching more than it needs to be ensure you consume under 1/2 cup per serving 100-150 grams (3.5-5.5 ounces). The whole idea of this surgery is by the time you reach 2 years out you will have a solid foundation of what to eat and what not to eat or what to eat in moderation.
I will attach a video below it explains about your sleeve stretching no matter what. It also explains that 99% of the time people regain their weight not because the pouch has stretched but because we have learnt how to manipulate the pouch (eating high simple carbs, sugars, processed foods and fats). Our stomachs will NEVER be able to stretch out to be the same size it was before however, overtime natural stretching will occur and you will be able to fit 6-9 ounces of food 3+ years out which in turn will regain weight if you eat poorly.

Create healthy eating patterns and behaviors now that is the only way you'll succeed life-long.

Furthermore, considering your 11 months PO your portion size of 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup seems to be the normal. I was just looking at a barbaric site and it said.
"Eat small amounts. Your meal portion size will range from ¼ cup to ½ cup of food 3 to 9 months after surgery. After 9 months you may be able to eat ¾ to 1 cup of food at a meal. To keep the weight off, you should eat no more than 1 cup of food at meals. You risk gaining weight and making your stomach larger if you are eating more than this."

Great so I shouldn't be worried about gaining 1.5kg over the past week lol. I'm still trying to work out my maintenance calories, on one hand i lose then the other hand i gain meanwhile my calories have stayed the same lol, weight training and cardio have increased though as i'm prepping for a half marathon. Plus when i say I'v gained 1.5 kg I'm acutely going off the weight I was when i returned back from a camping trip and may have been slightly dehydrated.

What I am worried about though is increasing too much and gaining weight lol. I'm happy to maintain but would hate to gain if that makes sense.

Hey !

I'm consuming about 6 meals a day at the moment, Today if all goes to plan i will consume 1766 calories and stay around that for the next week to see what happens weight wise. Looking at my TDEE its sitting around 2016 so give or take around 1800 should be good.

Hey !

I'm consuming about 6 meals a day at the moment, Today if all goes to plan i will consume 1766 calories and stay around that for the next week to see what happens weight wise. Looking at my TDEE its sitting around 2016 so give or take around 1800 should be good.

What I am worried about though is increasing too much and gaining weight lol. I'm happy to maintain but would hate to gain if that makes sense.

I was sleeved in June of 2018.

I’m a little over 7 months PO, 72kg down. I can’t believe the difference!

When I was fresh out of my surgery I found it to be, at times, a struggle with knowing what to do and what not to do. There was conflicting posts everywhere.

I’ve been studying nutrition for the last 12 months pre and post op and have worked alongside my dietician very closely and had great results. I’ve learnt so much when it comes to Health and Fitness which has helped me have such a great result in a short period of time. I have decided to share the things I have learnt to other people in hopes I can ease some of the confusion and unanswered questions that people have.

So I’ve created a personal group on Facebook, If anyone is interested in following my journey I will post daily “what I eat in a day” posts, along with exercise routines and nutrition education and meal preparation idea If anyone wants to join feel free.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/229652411279566?ref=share

I just done a quick calculation. Since September i have lost since September 2018 an average of 8 kg a month, (32kg in 3.5 months), which would mean i would be in a calorie deficit of 28,000 calories a month averaging out to be around 800 calories extra i would need to add a day does this make sense?

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question with an in depth response. Yes i can see why I couldn't maintain on 700-900 calories lol however it would be a lie if i said it was easy consuming 1300 calories let along 1500 lol this early out. It takes me about 7 small meals as my restriction is very much real haha.
Great to hear I'm not the only one that reached goal weight so early out my dietitian is amazed and hasn't seen it happen this quick before. I work out 4 times a week and run and live a very active life so extra calories is a must to try to maintain.

I was getting really concerned when the scales wouldn't stop moving I don't wish to be very thin (i know how ironic). My dietitian said that I was one of the "lucky" ones where my metabolism has adjusted really well and took a full 360 degree change and is burning at a high rate.

Thanks Rick for such a good reply it was very helpful. Glad to hear your still maintaining, yes my metabolism is very strong lol

Six months is not the norm. I was not expecting to get to goal this quickly either. I would have been just as happy if it took me a year or more.
Never thought about what it would be like to stop weight loss. It was something my team did not touch on much. Most things are weight loss related. Great to have support here to go into maintenance. It's kind of a chore to up you calories when you are used to 700/900. It will get easier with time.

Thanks Rick for such a good reply it was very helpful. Glad to hear your still maintaining, yes my metabolism is very strong lol

You lost fairly quickly, which implies that you still have a relatively strong metabolism, so you have some work to do. As a very rough approximation of where you should be, take the average of your last couple months' loss; for every 5 lb (2.3-ish kg), that's about a 500 calorie per day deficit that you need to make up. For instance, I was losing at 10lb per month the last three months of serious weight loss, which works out to around 1000 calories per day deficit; I was averaging 1100 calories per day, and am now maintaining (for the past 6-7 years) in the 2100-2200 range. This will at least give you an idea of how large the steps up that you should be making to ease into your maintenance range.
I started working toward maintenance at the six month mark when I was 10 lb from my goal (or about a month away) so I started increasing things then to slow things down; as this was early November, I in part just let the holidays happen and it took another two months to lose that final 10 lb, and I had minimal overshoot; I still needed to fine tune things from there, but I was pretty close by then.

@Losing the old Harley
Woah !!!!.......700 to 900 is weight loss mode calorie, No wonder you couldn't stop losing weight. Glad your moving your calories up. Hope you get to your sweet spot soon.

how long did it take trial and error to find that “sweet spot” where you didn’t gain nor lose?
Can't remember how long it took. I just remember is was frustrating. i wished it was a magical set calorie and macros for all of us..Just takes fine tuning.
I'm female 5'5" Maintaining for me is staying with in a ten pound bounce range. If the scale moves up I change my calories and macros to bring it back down. I eat mainly healthy but, I like having the freedom to choose when to indulge and live life.

How many calories do you need to consume to be able to maintain?
I'm at 1000/ 1100 to lose weight. I can eat 1300/1500 maintaining. Distance running/ carb load for seven days - around 2300/3000 calories.( Takes many small meals)
How long have you maintained for?
four years.

How long PO were you when you had to move into a maintenance routine? 
I got to goal 140 in six months. After goal I dropped to 125. I like to maintain in the 130's It's where I feel healthy.

Hey guys and girls,

I posted not that long ago regarding calories required at maintenance, I’m near 8 months PO and have reached my goal weight about 2 months ago (176 pounds), over the past 2 months I have continued to keep losing and now sitting around 152 pounds.

I saw my dietician two days ago and she had requested that I up my caloric intake as it was sitting at 700-900 calories a day before. She done up a draft plan with items she wanted me to consume, some of the changes she made was changing my no fat milk to full fat milk.

The last two days I’ve eased into it and have been consuming around 1300 calories a day which include 105 grams of Protein, 90 grams of carbs and 60 grams of fat. Still losing fairly quick .5 or a pound in 3 days.

Today I will up it to 1500 calories and see how I do, those of you hitting the maintenance stage.

how long did it take trial and error to find that “sweet spot” where you didn’t gain nor lose?

How many calories do you need to consume to be able to maintain?

How long have you maintained for?

How long PO were you when you had to move into a maintenance routine?


I have been incorporating healthy fats as requested, what are some of your go to meals/snacks that are healthy to up the calories?

The losing stage diet is pretty much dead on to what I did to lose my weight with the exception of low fat guideline.
Maintenance, yeah that's a big fat NO. I continued to drop weight on 1000-1200 calories, limited carbs. My body needed a minimum of 1500 calories, and preferably 1800 calories a day to stop losing. Even at almost 22 months, if I slip below 1500 calories, cut my carb intake, I drop weight. I'm not talking 1-2lbs a week, I'll talking like 5-7lbs a week. Maintenance is tricky for a lot of people, and it really takes a lot of tweaking to figure out what works for each individual. And, I'm fairly sure that I consume more fat grams than this recommends. Going low fat/fat free introduces tons more carbs, sodium, and sugar.
I think it's a great guideline, but it's definitely not a "one size fits all" plan. I'm just sharing my experience so others are not discouraged if they have to adhere to a different guideline.

Thankyou, I'm male.

Hi all,

I’m 7 months PO and have been fluctuating between 70.8 - 72kg for a while now. I’ve reached my goal weight but I’m just wanting to know what everyone else’s fluctuations are like at goal.

How do you handle these fluctuations mentally. I struggle when I see the scale go up because I question my eating and ask myself “am I eating too much” but in fact I know my eating is fine and I’m not eating much and everything I eat is healthy food.< br />
If I were to guess I would be consuming 800-1000 calories a day.

I’m happy my weight loss seems to have stopped. My eating hasn’t changed.

Hi all,

I’m 7 months PO and have been fluctuating between 70.8 - 72kg for a while now. I’ve reached my goal weight but I’m just wanting to know what everyone else’s fluctuations are like at goal.

How do you handle these fluctuations mentally. I struggle when I see the scale go up because I question my eating and ask myself “am I eating too much” but in fact I know my eating is fine and I’m not eating much and everything I eat is healthy food.< br />
If I were to guess I would be consuming 800-1000 calories a day.

I’m happy my weight loss seems to have stopped. My eating hasn’t changed.

Hi all,

I’m 7 months PO and have been fluctuating between 70.8 - 72kg for a while now. I’ve reached my goal weight but I’m just wanting to know what everyone else’s fluctuations are like at goal.

How do you handle these fluctuations mentally. I struggle when I see the scale go up because I question my eating and ask myself “am I eating too much” but in fact I know my eating is fine and I’m not eating much and everything I eat is healthy food.< br />
If I were to guess I would be consuming 800-1000 calories a day.

I’m happy my weight loss seems to have stopped. My eating hasn’t changed.

Thank you for replying to my question, Yes sounds like it will be trial and error. I never thought i would need to worry about loosing too much weight lol. How many calories are you currently consuming a day, I posted a similar question on a Facebook group I'm in and laugh when people suggest eating "McDonalds" to add extra calories *shakes head*. Totally agree with the "Grazing" Its impossible to limit it to 3 meals a day and hope your weight stops. I eat 5-6 small meals a day all of with are health, nutritionally dense foods.