I reached my goal about 31/2 months ago. Up until the holidays I avoided all sweets, fried foods et... Didn't step away from the low carb, low fat, high protien diet. I had some treats over the holidays- felt a little out of control at some points. I am confused as to wether I should allow "treats" while maintaining. What do you do? I weigh myself every day and cut back if I gain 3 pounds until I loose it. That has only been neccessary twice. I was doing great working out but haven't for the last month due to plastic surgery. I know I won't keep "bad" stuff in the house but I worry about things like going out to eat or to a party. I have a hard time when the stuff is put infront of me. I have a hard time sticking to a small portion. I tend to eat more than I planned and feel guilty about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I reached my goal about 31/2 months ago. Up until the holidays I avoided all sweets, fried foods et... Didn't step away from the low carb, low fat, high protien diet. I had some treats over the holidays- felt a little out of control at some points. I am confused as to wether I should allow "treats" while maintaining. What do you do? I weigh myself every day and cut back if I gain 3 pounds until I loose it. That has only been neccessary twice. I was doing great working out but haven't for the last month due to plastic surgery. I know I won't keep "bad" stuff in the house but I worry about things like going out to eat or to a party. I have a hard time when the stuff is put infront of me. I have a hard time sticking to a small portion. I tend to eat more than I planned and feel guilty about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

HI,

One of the biggest surprises I have had since being banded June 2008, has been the ability to keep the weight off. Unfortunately I'm stuck at about #20 pounds from goal, but am down 70-75 pounds. I lost all my weight in @ 14 months. I have modest restriction, but enough to remind me of "stucks" and "sliming". Like you, I'll keep track of any weight gain, and then go back to "first principles" of the band. When I hit my plateau I got another 2 fills. It didn't do much.

Sadly to say, I've not pursued the fills and have not kicked it up to the next level, but I'm working on it now. Treats around the house don't seem to matter. We live with 3 teen-age boys. It is best when I totally eliminate eating many of the treats,, (like the cheese cake in the fridge), and limit myself to small portions of my favorites, like maybe a cookie or a small brownie. I'm more of a volume eater. One thing I don't do anymore is make the rounds of the fast food places. That is certain death. I don't ever have "total pig outs"; it is like psychologically giving up.

You may want to decide what 3 or 4 "first principles of banding", have helped you the most, and go back to them from time to time. It may be waiting 20 minutes to feel full, no drinking for 2 hours, no soda pop, record keeping, meal planning, lots of regular exercise, or trying to psych yourself out for "looking good' at the next family gathering. I do think you are on the right track with the regular weights and self-evaluations. My friend who gained back over 100 pounds, just stopped keeping track, and stopped thinking about what he was doing, and it was very easy gain weight. He also quit his daily walking, and his wife gained back her weight. Vigilence is the price of weight loss, and maintenance. Personally, the greatest tool for weight loss, has been a calorie diary, and planning. I've quit doing that, (until now), and things will change. There is a great satisfaction with total control. It is very empowering. For me, it lasted about 14 months, but the weight maintenance has been nearly as fulfilling.

Good Luck,

Brian

Thanks for your response Brian- it helped. Anyone else have thoughts on weight maintaince? Responses appreciated!

While i'm just starting my journey, i would think that its a very personal choice to have a little "reward" now & then. I do not believe it will hurt IF you are in control of your eating habits & exercising and can maintain that control after wards. I've done very well with my own personal goals since my surgery & over the holidays, i allowed my self a sliver of pie here & a drink of wine there. Best choices? Maybe, maybe not depending on the person, but for me i still lost 2 pounds over Christmas and more since New Years. I did pay attention to my diet before & after those planned events and i was certain to make sure i got good workouts done too.

I'm not at my "maintenance" level, but I do treat myself to bites of treats. I feel that it is better to have a bite "here and there" than to eat like a whole slice of pie or cake. I feel that I'm pretty well, so I don't worry about it, as long as I'm careful about everything else I am eating.

I'm currently maintaining with no fill - had it out for a surgery and hopefully can put some back soon. Sad to say, there is no secret. I live my life "on a diet". I say no to treats, Desserts and second helpings most of the time. Every now and again I will indulge, but only very occasionally. I continue to run an hour or so a day or go to boot camp.

Now, the truth is since having my fill out, my portion sizes have doubled. I eat much more normal quantities of food. I make sure te bulk comes from low calorie foods like salad. When I had my fill and was maintaining (which I have done for almost 3 years) I was able to indulge in the treats more often, when I cut all those out, I still actually lost weight. However, looking back i was too tight, the level of fill I had was too much for me to eat enough calories of HEALTHY food to maintain, I had to bulk it out with sweet treats and a glass of wine at night kind of thing. I wont go back to that level but I also dont want to live the way I'm having to right now without fill.

What I can say is that with no fill and without thinking about it, I would probably gain about 30lb or so but I really truly dont think I'd go back to previous levels of obesity. My habits have changed too much.

The nice thing about it is that you can watch the scale and play around with a couple pounds instead of 100+. I am only 5 pounds away from my original goal and have pretty much been maintaining for the last few months. I drop about a pound per month, but really don't care if that last 5 comes off.

I do eat a little treat now and then or maybe have a glass of wine. I just make sure to step on the scale about every other day so I know where I'm at.