I'm just curious and want something kind of like a roll call to see where we're all at.

I'll be three years out in one month and I'm five pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight and eight pounds away from my original goal.

If you're at goal, how long have you been maintaining within a 5 pound window?

If you're not at goal, how far do you have to go?

How do you transition your mind and eating from loss to maintenance or back to loss from maintenance? Do you go back to basics, restrict calories, get more active, etc.?

I'd like to see some experiences shared here. I'm finding that I just don't make the time to come to VST much anymore. Sure, there's a small measure of burnout (I just avoid most of the topics when I do come around) and sure, I just had a baby a few months ago. But I think a major thing is that I don't like being here as a vet and not at my goal weight. It's silly, because this is exactly where I should be as I'm trying to lose.

I'm struggling. Eating isn't that bad. I'm very fortunate, because I've read a number of threads lately where even vets are having trouble with non-stop hunger or food thoughts. I'm not dealing with that.

But I maintained so easily. I'm not bragging...it's just how it was, and I honestly feel like I deserved it after struggling for 17 months to lose 107 pounds a tenth of a pound at a time! Transitioning from maintenance to pregnancy to loss again SUCKS. I hate it. I log my food and I track and no, I don't feel hungry (thank goodness) and I don't really want to graze or binge (thankfully) but I feel like the SLOWEST LOSER IN THE UNIVERSE and I'm really struggling with my body image and with the idea that I have to eat 700-900 calories a day, and skip the extra cups of coffee and actually pay attention to what I eat.

I want to be lazy again, honestly. I want to be back in maintenance, back at goal and I want my size 5/6 pants to fit perfectly, without being slightly snug. I want to go back to hopping on the scale each morning and not minding if I see the number go up a touch one day and down a bit the next, because I'm already in my maintenance window and a small change won't hurt. I want to see progress again!

I cannot wrap my head around making this transition smooth. It's not a huge amount of stress but there is a very real underlying fear that if I don't manage to get back into loss mode mentally, too, that I won't ever lose the weight and I'll slide into regaining.

Where are the rest of you on this?

~Cheri

Hi Cheri,

I'm at goal and have been maintaining 15 months now. I was two years out from surgery in May. I maintain by weighing every day and cutting back on Snacks if I am not within bounce range. I had a bounce range of 5 lbs but decided that was too big of a window and have reset my bounce range to 2 lbs.

I do exercise, but I do not exercise more to get in range. Currently, I'm walking about an hour four days per week. I walk first thing in the morning because I simply won't exercise later in the day.

My basic clean eating plan is:

Low fat meats, non fat dairy, non-starchy veggies, fruit, and whole grains. I've outlined it below, but often eat part of the meal as a snack. So for example, I may have a soy latte at 8 a.m., then around 9 have the Protein and fruit.

I shoot for:

2 oz. of protein, 1 serving fruit, and 1 serving non-fat dairy or soy milk for Breakfast

1 starch, 1-2 servings veggies, 2-3 oz. protein and 1 fruit for lunch

3 oz. protein, 1-2 servings veggies, 1 starch at dinner

1 serving non-fat dairy or soy milk after dinner.

I know we are out there at goal weight. On the OH board there are few long-timers who stay at goal too.

For me, one key is staying vigilant. It's one of the reasons I stay active here. When I was in WW I always swore if I managed to get to goal again (which I never did), I would teach, work, or volunteer with WW so I would keep the weight off. Staying active here helps me keep my focus on staying at goal.

I do think it's important to lose the weight and get to the goal you want. As far as transitioning my mind set, the fear of weight gain is enough to do that for me. It's why I reset my bounce range too. After this long at maintenance I know that for me it takes continued eating of crap to gain 5 lbs and I'm just not comfortable with that. I probably would need a bigger bounce range if I still got the monthly, but I'm past that! I could always count on a few lbs of Water weight with that for a few days.

Lynda

Hi Cheri - first of all, congrats on the new addition to your family. Second, congratulations on the weight loss. I reached goal quickly, five months to reach my doctor's goal and a month later to reach MY personal goal, five pounds less. 145 give me that 5 pound pad! I THINK more like Lynda though. MY goal is 145, but I don't wait until I hit 150 to cut back a little, if I weigh 147 in the morning, I know I need to 'adjust' my calories, just for a day or two. I've been maintaining for 2.5 years now and although like you, it's been easy for me......I'm like Lynda, I am vigilant. The fear of regaining keeps me a "little" obsessive. I weigh every morning, and I know that I should weigh between 144 and 146. I also weigh again at night, it's kind of a game I play, then I guess what I will weigh in the morning! I do not let the scale dictate my mood though, it's more like a "dashboard" for me, it lets me know if things are 'running' right, kind of like the dashboard in my truck!! lol At night, I will weigh between 146.5 and 148. I am not a exercise guru, but I have made 'life style' changes that are second nature to me now. Like I said, I weigh every morning. I weigh or measure my food when I'm home. I log it all on line. (MFP) This is not what I just do, it isn't a chore, it isn't a choice. It just is.....it's how I stay in check. I am accountable to ME and after 30 years of dieting, I know how quickly eight or ten pounds can sneak up on us. Losing weight has never been a problem for me, keeping it off has been. Not this time and now I'm equipped with the knowledge of what works for me, I really can't imagine this 'routine' wouldn't work for everyone. I am missing 85% of my tummy, self control is much easier now, at least it is in my case. I don't feel like I have sacrificed anything. I make choices. I do not skip extra cups of coffee, there are line to draw Cheri!!! About two months ago, since fear of weight gain seems to never leave us, and I personally think that is a good thing.....I just wanted to 'test' and see if I could still lose weight if need be. I need 1300 to maintain, give or take 50 calories. I cut that back by 100 calories and in 2.5 weeks, with just one hundred less calories, I lost 2 pounds. I was happy, I know I can do it. I don't get hungry, so cutting back and/or resisting when I should or when I want to....is not difficult. You and I are lucky. I don't do what Lynda does, but I am soooooo glad to see how SHE is. I thought I might be the only one who is a bit on the obsessive side, I love it!!!! I do not have everything planned down to how much protein, veggies etc per meal. I track and plan ahead, but not quite like that. I get in between 65 and 100 grams of protein a day. During the losing phase, I had NO bread, but now, if I want my tuna fish on a piece of bread, nothing but cokes are off limits, although there are thngs I choose to avoid most times. When I did my "test" a while back, I did make sure I was getting at least 85 grams of protein a day, I know that helped. You will do fine, don't stress out, just be diligent with tracking your food, that is something I personally believe we have to do forever, track and weigh/measure. The things I do, are MY keys to success. I don't ever want to forget what it was like to shop for size 20's in the ladies dept. Been there, done that and I don't want an encore!!! It keeps me humble, and keeps me motivated. Good luck, I predict you are going to do just fine!!

Cheri, you have done so well, but I know how hard it is to really accept that and not obsess about the few pounds left. I was also a slow loser, it took me 18 months to reach my goal weight and then I actually dropped a couple pounds below my goal weight. Then, for close to a year, I was maintaining easily. I always watched what I ate (but did not track) and weighed myself daily. Then I made a switch in medications and that little switched caused me to gain 7 lbs in 3 weeks. I quite taking the medication and stopped gaining, but have been struggling to get those pounds off now. I have been diligent watching my food choices and it is helping, but frustrating none the less. I was like you, happy where I was. I wasn't obsessing about my food. Don't get me wrong, I have always watched what I ate since getting the sleeve and made many changes to my lifestyle in order to lose and maintain. But I was ok with having a treat here and there, I was OK eating garlic bread at the restaurant and not feeling guilty. Now I am back to the guilt, feeling bad about eating anything.

And with my cycles I have huge weight fluctuations, so now I am hitting numbers that I haven't seen in a long time. Even though I know the numbers will go back down, just like they did 6 months ago, they stress me out just that little bit more.

So I am trying to relax a little. When I lost the first time, I was relaxed about. I think because I never thought I would really reach goal, I didn't stress about as much. When I stopped losing a few pounds above goal, I just thought I was done losing and I was ok with that. Then, after a few months, I started losing again. Now that I have been there, I want to be back there. Plus, I have the same fear that I will regain all the weight that I lost. I know that stress is terrible for weight loss, so I am trying my best to just take a deep breath. I am watching everything I eat. And now that the weather is warmer, I am more active than through the winter. I am trying to just roll with the punches.

You are not alone in your feelings, I am right there with you! It is hard to get back in the mode of "dieting" when you felt that you were done with that. The thing that differs now though is that you are aware of it. You have not gained 20, 40 or 100 lbs back. You are up 8 pounds. Back in the day, we would have scoffed at that! You will get there again!

I don't ever want to feel like I'm on a diet again. Like you 'Supersweetums', I have treats/sweets, in fact, I had ice cream twice last week when our granddaughter was here visiting, and I don't gain, but I am aware that I could and if I went back to the quantity of food I ate previously, it can and will happen. I am real torn, I don't feel guilty, but I don't want to ever feel overly confident. I've never been one to think 'It can't happen to me' (whatever IT is) because I know "it" can.

Who here doesn't fear the regain? I'm within 10 pounds of my docs goal, but honestly I wouldn't mind getting down another 10 on top of that. But my weight loss pretty much stopped. Then I started doing a bunch of long running, training for half marathons, and eating all the carbs the running experts recommended. That was a mistake. First of all, my weight jumped up 10 pounds in a month, and that was while training for the half marathon. Second it made me physically ill during the race and didn't help me run any better than I did on low carbs.

Well I've cut out the carbs and those extra pounds went away but no additional loss yet. In the last 2 months I've added in some serious weight training again and I see and feel the results...except on the scale which I'm beginning to fear is broken or stuck in some kind of a time warp. Every morning when I step on it I feel like I'm in a scene from the movie Groundhog Day cause no matter what I do that morning weigh in is still the same.

I still log my food, still weigh and measure, still feel better abstaining rather than trying moderation on certain foods. I don't feel bad or guilty about food unless I eat sweets, which are my Achilles heel. Not only do they wake up my carb monster, but my sleeve apparently has no restriction against them. I cannot get full or satisfied eating anything with sugar.

I'm just curious and want something kind of like a roll call to see where we're all at.

I'll be three years out in one month and I'm five pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight and eight pounds away from my original goal.

If you're at goal' date=' how long have you been maintaining within a 5 pound window?

If you're not at goal, how far do you have to go?

How do you transition your mind and eating from loss to maintenance or back to loss from maintenance? Do you go back to basics, restrict calories, get more active, etc.?

I'd like to see some experiences shared here. I'm finding that I just don't make the time to come to VST much anymore. Sure, there's a small measure of burnout (I just avoid most of the topics when I do come around) and sure, I just had a baby a few months ago. But I think a major thing is that I don't like being here as a vet and not at my goal weight. It's silly, because this is exactly where I should be as I'm trying to lose.

I'm struggling. Eating isn't that bad. I'm very fortunate, because I've read a number of threads lately where even vets are having trouble with non-stop hunger or food thoughts. I'm not dealing with that.

But I maintained so easily. I'm not bragging...it's just how it was, and I honestly feel like I deserved it after struggling for 17 months to lose 107 pounds a tenth of a pound at a time! Transitioning from maintenance to pregnancy to loss again SUCKS. I hate it. I log my food and I track and no, I don't feel hungry (thank goodness) and I don't really want to graze or binge (thankfully) but I feel like the SLOWEST LOSER IN THE UNIVERSE and I'm really struggling with my body image and with the idea that I have to eat 700-900 calories a day, and skip the extra cups of coffee and actually pay attention to what I eat.

I want to be lazy again, honestly. I want to be back in maintenance, back at goal and I want my size 5/6 pants to fit perfectly, without being slightly snug. I want to go back to hopping on the scale each morning and not minding if I see the number go up a touch one day and down a bit the next, because I'm already in my maintenance window and a small change won't hurt. I want to see progress again!

I cannot wrap my head around making this transition smooth. It's not a huge amount of stress but there is a very real underlying fear that if I don't manage to get back into loss mode mentally, too, that I won't ever lose the weight and I'll slide into regaining.

Where are the rest of you on this?

~Cheri[/quote']

I hit goal really fast (6 months) and I have maintained and continued losing for the past two months. I'm currently under my original goal weight and maintaining pretty easily.

Before 305lbs

After 198lbs

So as not to bore you, my story is almost exactly the same as NTVTXN...quick to goal, same weight, blah blah. I will be three years out in September. I am at surgeons goal, but am over my own personal goal, holding there for about a year.

I was 15 pounds lighter at one point, but was way too skinny and when I looked at pictures of myself I looked unhealthy. Then menopause hit about a year ago. BAM, 10 pounds added within two months.

Yes I would like to lose 5 pounds and can do this within a month if I eat correctly as my sleeve allows. But, sadly I eat like I used to which is bad, really bad. I eat crud and slider food. Am I hungry? Not physically hungry but I am mentally hungry. Mind games. Know what I need to do.

Conclusion, you map your own success. Follow the diet plan and you too can be successful. Eat crud often and you will gain back weight.

Hugs to all my fellow vets...and of course any newbies reading my warning.

Hiya Cheri...

Oh how I feel your pain!

You know my story oh so well, I have never reached goal so I don't know how good that feels.

I have been stuck in my current weight range for 20mths - some may call it maintaining, I call it damn frustrating!

Again, as you know I am still trying to get those last pounds off to reach my surgeon's goal - and then I have more to lose to reach my personal goal! My body just doesn't want to co-operate; my mind and body continue to fight each other!

I really don't know what to suggest for you my lovely friend... I wish I could wave a magic wand so our scales would read what we want!

But in reality, that isn't going to happen and all I can offer you is my support and encouragement - don't give up!

You will get back to where you want to be... remember those long months before you saw the goal weight? You persevered then and you can do that now... then remember how good it felt to get to goal... well, you can and will have that feeling again too! Ok, it might take time, but who is counting?

Just remember we are here for you... if you ever want to have a moan or a groan, just give me a shout!

Hugs to you my friend xx

So as not to bore you, my story is almost exactly the same as NTVTXN...quick to goal, same weight, blah blah. I will be three years out in September. I am at surgeons goal, but am over my own personal goal, holding there for about a year.

I was 15 pounds lighter at one point, but was way too skinny and when I looked at pictures of myself I looked unhealthy. Then menopause hit about a year ago. BAM, 10 pounds added within two months.

Yes I would like to lose 5 pounds and can do this within a month if I eat correctly as my sleeve allows. But, sadly I eat like I used to which is bad, really bad. I eat crud and slider food. Am I hungry? Not physically hungry but I am mentally hungry. Mind games. Know what I need to do.

Conclusion, you map your own success. Follow the diet plan and you too can be successful. Eat crud often and you will gain back weight.

Hugs to all my fellow vets...and of course any newbies reading my warning.

If they could just do surgery on our HEAD and our tummy!!! The head games plague us all, but a few of them keep us 'aware' of what we are doing.....MAYBE!!!

I also hit goal pretty fast. I was 10 lbs below my goal at 6 months. I eat about 1,800 calories to maintain now with about 120 grams Protein. I stopped exercising because I needed to stop loosing, Looking forward to getting back to that soon. I miss having muscles.

Sent from my iPad using VST

I'm a year and a half out and not at goal. I'm not overly worried about it, but I'm making a new push to get to 215, I started around 300. I've reached all of my other goals (less body aches, off medications, more energy, etc), except for the weight goal. At 6-3, I think 215 (if I make it), will be a little slimmer than I prefer to be, so I like where I am now and will probably settle back in to the low to mid 220s. I have about 8 pounds to go, so we'll see.

As for reasons, perhaps because I lift weights quite a bit, was a fairly low BMI'er to start with and also because I do slip up every once in a while with my food, but it's fairly rare. So my focus to help me get to goal is to do a little less resistance training and more cardio, absolutely no food slip ups at least until I make goal and also watch my salt since Water rentention can play a bit of a role as well. I've lost 2 pounds the past week and a half, so this may be helping some.....we'll see.

I'm a year and a half out and not at goal. I'm not overly worried about it' date=' but I'm making a new push to get to 215, I started around 300. I've reached all of my other goals (less body aches, off medications, more energy, etc), except for the weight goal. At 6-3, I think 215 (if I make it), will be a little slimmer than I prefer to be, so I like where I am now and will probably settle back in to the low to mid 220s. I have about 8 pounds to go, so we'll see.

As for reasons, perhaps because I lift weights quite a bit, was a fairly low BMI'er to start with and also because I do slip up every once in a while with my food, but it's fairly rare. So my focus to help me get to goal is to do a little less resistance training and more cardio, absolutely no food slip ups at least until I make goal and also watch my salt since Water rentention can play a bit of a role as well. I've lost 2 pounds the past week and a half, so this may be helping some.....we'll see.[/quote']

Congrats bro

I'm a year and a half out and not at goal. I'm not overly worried about it, but I'm making a new push to get to 215, I started around 300. I've reached all of my other goals (less body aches, off medications, more energy, etc), except for the weight goal. At 6-3, I think 215 (if I make it), will be a little slimmer than I prefer to be, so I like where I am now and will probably settle back in to the low to mid 220s. I have about 8 pounds to go, so we'll see.

As for reasons, perhaps because I lift weights quite a bit, was a fairly low BMI'er to start with and also because I do slip up every once in a while with my food, but it's fairly rare. So my focus to help me get to goal is to do a little less resistance training and more cardio, absolutely no food slip ups at least until I make goal and also watch my salt since Water rentention can play a bit of a role as well. I've lost 2 pounds the past week and a half, so this may be helping some.....we'll see.

I know the sheer joy of accomplishment makes GOAL seem really exciting but as I read your status, I was taken back by how we think GOAL is only a number on a scale. With only eight pounds from where you want to be on the scale, it almost seems laughable to say you arent there, doesn't it? Coming where we all came from to where we are now - WE ARE AT GOAL!

Healthy in body and spirit - life to look forward to in a way we never did before! Boy, how proud of yourself can you be? Keep it up! I have no doubt those 8 lbs will be lost but in my mind! GOAL!!!!!!

Thanks "Georgia"! Yeah, the only real goals that mattered to me to begin with were getting healthy and feeling better. And the numbers that I really cared about referred to LDL/HDL, blood sugar, systolic/diastolic and body composition, which are now all satisfactory and considered healthy. My actual weight or BMI numbers (as far as my priority) fell somewhere behind the rest of those that I just mentioned. But since the scale number is the only goal left for me, I'm still wanting to get there, so we'll see. If not, I'm still healthy, happy and strong.

Cheri this is truly a struggle for all of us here too. I hear u are working really hard to get back to ur old goal weight before having ur beautiful baby and have done really well. I know that u will drop those pesky lbs really soon and will be rocking your sexy body soon, even though ur body is totally sexy right now. You are a very determined lady that is doing what you know will work. Keep doing what ur doing. I have these times too and am working on seeing my body for the size it is and not the size it was. You have healthy eating habits and u are very healthy which is the most important factor right now. In fact u have had a lot of stressors lately which have affected u too. You are still Rockin that sleeve!