I am trying to decide what I want my long term diet to look like. Everyone's doctor seems to have a different take on their eating guide. I'm confused about what's best for me-

I'd like to open this up for debate and to see what others think.

What has worked or is working for you? Any long term maintainers out there who can pitch in? What do your doctors say?

Portion control is forever... regardless of diet plan.

Portion control is extremely important but carbs for me are a trigger. I am doing both. I eat low carb, high Protein. Seems to be working so far. Would love to hear the veteran's take on it.

With the sleeve it's kind of hard to not eat your portion sizes correctly... so that is not a problem for me...

I do include carbs in my diet, because my surgeon said everything in moderation. I avoid sugar like the plague though, but will indulge in bread, rice, Pasta, but only a little bit. A bit or two.

Agree, portion control is easy early on with the sleeve, don't know how that works later on down the road. My experience is that carbs really slow the process down, at least this is my experience. I am a slower loser anyway so I avoid them most of the time. I had a sweet tooth before surgery but am glad to say I really don't miss them much, I do occasionally have a dessert if I am out but a few bites and I am good. Certainly follow your program but it's very individual as to how you choose to eat. I try to always remember why I did this to start with and I really do not want to have to experience of being overweight again or have any of the health complications that come with obesity. Good luck.

Portion control and high protein. Focus on getting in all your protein and making healthy choices and the rest takes care of itself.

I am trying to decide what I want my long term diet to look like. Everyone's doctor seems to have a different take on their eating guide. I'm confused about what's best for me-

I'd like to open this up for debate and to see what others think.

What has worked or is working for you? Any long term maintainers out there who can pitch in? What do your doctors say?

As someone who gained the weight back after my band I vote for healthy eating whole foods low but not very low carb. I would focus on whole healthy foods and avoid carbs. Avoid binge eating and trigger foods whatever they might be. At a certain point maintaining gets harder for everyone but if you learn to eat and cook healthy foods you love I think you will maintain better. My mistake with the band was that I lost weight effortlessly in a year but never really reformed my eating habits. I just couldn't eat. Once band problems started I gained weight rapidly because I wasn't eating healthy foods.

The people that gain weight back are USUALLY the "little of this, little of that" mindset.

Healthy Protein, fruits, veggies, low sugar and carb is the way to go. At a year out, I am finding I can eat MUCH more than I could early out.

Pop quiz. Now that I can eat more quantity, what makes more sense to put on my plate? More carbs that turn into sugar or more protein, veggies, fruits and nuts?

The answer is simple.

I am two years out and I am not a low-carber. I tried low carb in the past and as soon as I ate carbs again, I gained the weight back quickly. I wasn't willing to spend the rest of my life not eating carbs, particularly since I don't do very well in terms of energy and feeling well when I really drop out the carbs. I eat what I want to, just in small portion sizes. I weigh everyday and if I have a day where I gain a pound or two, I log my food in MyFitnessPal for a few days and I always drop right back to where I was. As an example, I woke up this morning somehow 2 pounds heavier than yesterday, probably because I ate these cheese puffs from Trader Joes that are supposed to be healthy, but tend to make me retain Water. So, today, I logged my calories, I stuck with only healthy food, and as of tonight I'm already a pound less than this morning. Sure, I didn't really lose a pound today and I didn't really gain 2 pounds last night, but if I am always conscious of what I weigh and I never let myself get over a certain weight, then I don't have to worry about tackling 10-15 pounds when I realize my clothing doesn't fit.

I have been successful with moderation just because it is something I can do for the rest of my life. I am not willing to give up a sandwich, a few bites of Pasta, crackers, or granola bars forever and I knew if I started with low carb I would drop weight quickly but I would also gain it back quickly if I didn't develop a plan that I could use forever. As such, I lost weight slowly...it took me 19 months to lose 108 pounds, but I have not had a terribly hard time maintaining for the last 5 months because I eat in a way that I don't have a problem doing forever.

It's definitely portion control, combined with calorie counting and carb counting for me. At almost 3 years out, I can eat plenty at one time that would allow me to gain, so I have to really watch it. If I grazed, I would weight over 300 pounds again in no time. I need way less calories to maintain than one would think - somewhere around 1300-1400. I avoid bread, rice, past, and usually end up around 60-80 carbs a day.

Portion control is forever... regardless of diet plan.

Agreed!

The thing that people early out from WLS seem to forget or not even realize (and I consider myself still early out) is that restriction isn't forever. There's going to come a time where you will be able to eat a normal sized portion of food, albeit smaller than the humongous portions most Americans eat. Either way, more than we can now. So what you're choosing to put in your mouth will be that much more important when the time comes to maintain the weight you've lost. So I guess my point is lean protien and veggies should still make up most of the bulk of our meals in order to maintain. You start making carbs and sugar the priority--which I've seen happen when people start getting lax with them because they are addicting--THAT'S when weight gain happens. Don't believe me? Ask my husband who had an RNY 9 years ago and got lax with drinking empty calories, sugar and carbs and started packing on the pounds. It wasn't until he went back to the basics of very limited carbs and protien first and then veggies did he get it back under control. Does he indulge occasionally? Sure, but VERY occasionally. Otherwise, he will be right back to square one.

You all are fooling yourselves if you think you can moderate those things and live happily ever after. Sorry, but I speak the truth. We have the disease of obesity, and the only ongoing treatment is moderation and even avoidance of certain foods for the rest of our lives, or weight will be regained.