Okay, so I've overshot my final goal, and my wife is upset that I'm getting "too skinny". Now what? I'm still losing, slowly, but I really need to stop, and maybe even put 2-3 pounds back on. I guess I need to get out of ketosis. My doc suggested adding back carbs that you'd eat cooked with a meal (brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole wheat Pasta, etc. And I'm guessing quinoa, barley and oatmeal would probably be okay, too. Can any of you vets who have successfully transitioned to maintenance advise about how you did it? What can we do to stop the weight loss – and what shouldn't we do – in order to prevent weight gain? Thanks in advance!!!

Proteins is what will build muscle

Carbs will make you hungry

It's a very slippey slope

Everybody's body is different, we will all have to expeirment with what works and what don't.

I hear too many horror stories of people that had the sleeve gain all their weight back plus some.

So I asked one lady "how- how is that possible" she said "Large sugary coffees everyday from that famous coffee place, (not sure if I can say it) fried foods (although not much at one sitting but throughout the day) Diet cokes, donuts, cakes, Cookies, popcorn all the typical "slider" foods- never really followed the rules"

OK, this is ridiculous. I can do this. This afternoon I went to the grocery store and bought for the cupboard / refrigerator:

Nuts (almonds) - offers some Protein and a lot more fat

Ground round and black Beans - for delish, high-protein beef chili

Greek yogurt - I can surely eat more than one a day

2% milk (instead of skim) for morning skinny lattes

Two small Hagen Dazs chocolate ice cream containers (270 calories each). Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

For lunch today, I had a sweet onion chicken 6" sandwich on half of the flat bread and a whole bag of Sun chips (220 calories). Yeah, chips for lunch -- haven't done that in a while.

For dinner tonight (meeting my niece at Ruby Tuesday), I'll have a 5 ounce glass of chardonnay and the Thai Phoon shrimp appetizer -- all of it!

I'll total out at 1,771 calories and 90 grams of protein for the day.

And we'll just see what the damn scale says tomorrow morning.

Oh to have this problem......just sayin'

Yeah, in two months I'll probably be in full-blown disgust about the posts above.

Whatever -- this is like all the prior WLS phases: it's the phase I'm in.

P.S. I'm stuffed!

I bought a Fitbit and I really like it. It estimates how many calories I'm burning each day, so I have a good idea of how many I should be eating. It has already helped. I'm back up to 109. That's only a pound, but it may mean I'm finding my healthy calorie allowance.

Edited: that weight gain was just a digestive fluctuation, I guess. I'm down even lower than before. Now at 107.

Excellent. This morning the scale went back up half a pound to 144.2. The laws of physics and biology are apparently still operating.

If anyone cares ...

I just calculated my last 21 days' average of calories eaten. If I ignore the daily weight fluctuations, it looks like during that time I lost a pound. Assuming that pound is "worth" 3,500 calories, my 145-pound maintenance budget (at my current level of activity) is 1,750 calories.

Obviously, I don't eat the same number of calories every day. During the last 3 weeks my daily calories ranged from 1,140 - 2,090. My daily Protein grams ranged from 57 - 127 and averaged 98.

Like I've said before, this could just be what my CURRENT maintenance budget is. It's possible that maintenance budget could go up or down for any number of reasons.

This is just one long science experiment. But with a sample of only one subject. Me.

As always, others' mileage will vary.

I am having a hard time finding maintenance calories also. Keep dropping weight and it's time to stop without gaining I am 5'9 and weigh between 129-131 depends on digestive habits I have found.

If anyone cares ...

I just calculated my last 21 days' average of calories eaten. If I ignore the daily weight fluctuations, it looks like during that time I lost a pound. Assuming that pound is "worth" 3,500 calories, my 145-pound maintenance budget (at my current level of activity) is 1,750 calories.

Obviously, I don't eat the same number of calories every day. During the last 3 weeks my daily calories ranged from 1,140 - 2,090. My daily Protein grams ranged from 57 - 127 and averaged 98.

Like I've said before, this could just be what my CURRENT maintenance budget is. It's possible that maintenance budget could go up or down for any number of reasons.

This is just one long science experiment. But with a sample of only one subject. Me.

As always, others' mileage will vary.

I was told there'd be no math....

No, seriously. I hate math. And if I need to use it for maintenance I'm seriously screwed.

A year ago I was 20# thinner, way under goal and had ribs sticking out on my chest and back. While being thin was awesome I also didn't really look that great and my doc was concerned about my health. When i look at pix...well...some of them weren't that great.

Now I am annoyed that my size 2 shorts don't fit but I look way better, I feel better...

I think this bounce is somewhat normal.

I am 3.5 years post op.

OK, this is ridiculous. I can do this. This afternoon I went to the grocery store and bought for the cupboard / refrigerator:

Nuts (almonds) - offers some Protein and a lot more fat

Ground round and black Beans - for delish, high-protein beef chili

Greek yogurt - I can surely eat more than one a day

2% milk (instead of skim) for morning skinny lattes

Two small Hagen Dazs chocolate ice cream containers (270 calories each). Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

For lunch today, I had a sweet onion chicken 6" sandwich on half of the flat bread and a whole bag of Sun chips (220 calories). Yeah, chips for lunch -- haven't done that in a while.

For dinner tonight (meeting my niece at Ruby Tuesday), I'll have a 5 ounce glass of chardonnay and the Thai Phoon shrimp appetizer -- all of it!

I'll total out at 1,771 calories and 90 grams of protein for the day.

And we'll just see what the damn scale says tomorrow morning.

OK, I'm edging into maintenance WTF?! territory, too.

I'm eating 1600-1700 cals a day (on average) and still losing weight. Scale has dropped 2 pounds this week (after maintaining for several weeks). Damnit! And this is NOT a humble brag post. This morning when I got on the scale and saw another pound gone I literally cursed.

So here's a specific question for vets who are a few years out: Is this normal to go down "too low"? Do you then naturally / organically / gradually gain back 10 pounds? Any patterns out there you guys are aware of?

@@CowgirlJane

I have been assuring all my concerned friends that my current foray into the underweight category is temporary. From what I have observed, very few people have that problem when they are over two years out. That's why I don't want to overreact. My sister (who had RNY) purposely gained when she was told she was too thin, and ended up regaining a significant amount of weight that she is really struggling to lose.

I had the same problem at about 10 months out and went back to my nut for guidance.

She calculated the calories and carbs levels, based on my characteristics, to halt my weight loss and it worked.

She recommended getting the extra calories and carbs with Protein bars.

Well, it looks like things are stabilizing. I'm more often at 145-146 than any other weights from 143-148 like I was wobbling there for a few weeks.

I'm starting to feel more comfortable and confident about this.

And it seems like, for me, I'll probably wind up eating less during the week and more on the weekends when we're a lot more social. I'm not overly hungry during the week either. Last two weeks both modes seem like just what I want to do at the time.

I'm still meal-planning and tracking at all times though. I enjoy the feeling of control I get from doing it that way.

I'm still meal-planning and tracking at all times though. I enjoy the feeling of control I get from doing it that way.

I have come to believe that tracking is the real key to long term success. The people who track are able to spot problems and patterns right away and adjust accordingly. If you don't know what you've been doing, you can't easily correct it. In the past, I would put my head in the sand and just hope for the magic fairies to take care of everything for me. That didn't work so well.

I'm still meal-planning and tracking at all times though. I enjoy the feeling of control I get from doing it that way.

I have come to believe that tracking is the real key to long term success. The people who track are able to spot problems and patterns right away and adjust accordingly. If you don't know what you've been doing, you can't easily correct it. In the past, I would put my head in the sand and just hope for the magic fairies to take care of everything for me. That didn't work so well.

Tracking is a requirement for me. Takes a little time but works well to always know where I stand. Sometimes I'm actually lower in calories during a day which leaves room for a small treat, like an extra Protein bar.