I started thinking seriously about surgery when I did research on 5 yr outcomes of surgery vs diet and exercise alone. With surgery, people maintain their weight loss quite well. With diet and exercise alone, at five years hardly anyone has maintained their weight loss. So tell me, how long have you maintained your weight loss? If you aren't in maintenance yet, how confident are you that you can maintain your weight loss over the next five years?

Surgery 5 years ago....aside from the usual 10lb swings, 5 lbs up and down....everything has been fine since reaching maximum weight loss 4 years ago.

I don't diet, but I do exercise regularly and eat healthy....

I am extremely confident for the next 5 years, my lifetime as a matter of fact., providing I do not encounter andy medical complications.

Surgery 5 years ago....aside from the usual 10lb swings, 5 lbs up and down....everything has been fine since reaching maximum weight loss 4 years ago.

I don't diet, but I do exercise regularly and eat healthy....

I am extremely confident for the next 5 years, my lifetime as a matter of fact., providing I do not encounter andy medical complications.

That's so encouraging to hear!

I reached my goal weight right at my one year surgiversary and have been maintaining for the past 5 months. While 5 months isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, it is a long time for me! I have managed to lose weight many times in the past, but it always came right back as soon as I was "done" with my diet and exercise. Obviously, I can never be done with sleeve. The real test for me came when we moved back in late October/early November.

In the past, when I had lost weight, it was always stress in my real life and getting out of my routine that derailed me and caused me to pack the pounds back on. An injury, an illness, a move, a new job, etc. So in late August, right as I was hitting my goal, we listed and sold our old house, had to do a lot of work to it to get it ready to list, then a lot of work after the inspection, then a lot of packing, putting stuff in storage, and getting rid of a ton of stuff. Then we moved to the new house in early November, had a million projects to do to that house before we settled in and unpacked. While I was doing a lot of physical activity through all of that, I was also dealing with a LOT of stress and I was WAY out of my routine. I wasn't exercising regularly at all. I was having to eat when I had time instead of on my usual schedule. It was EXACTLY the kind of perfect storm that would have caused me to gain 20-30 pounds in just a few short months pre-sleeve. But with my sleeve there to help me, I didn't gain one single pound through the whole process! Now I am back into a routine with food and exercise and don't feel like I have ground to make up like I would have in the past.

how long have you maintained weight loss? how confident are you that you can maintain your weight loss over the next five years?

@@careya123

hi newbie

i have been maintaining for the past 3 years

i do fluctuate at times a few lbs here and there

but i consider myself at GOAL

i am very confident (NOT cocky) that i will always maintain my weight

to think anything else is not good/acceptable

i must continue to follow all the eating, drinking, Protein etc rules

they are what helped me reach goal

i have become a little lax at times

usually i'm PERFECT LOL

i weigh myself daily (not a good idea for everyone)

that way i know if i've gained a few lbs

i better get back on the wagon

working with those rules helped me reach that 4 letter word GOAL!!!

why would i change now??

good luck

kathy

I hit my goal at 18 months post-op and have maintained now for 10 months. I never had a problem losing weight before, however I always gained it right back. As an adult, my lowest weight after I hit my 20's was 137 which I literally maintained for a day, haha. I gained it all back within a year, as was the case for every other time where I would usually hit the 140's then start to gain. I have stayed within a few pounds of goal for almost a year now with relatively little effort. I have found that if I eat sweets, I gain, so I had one month where I jumped up to like 8 pounds over goal. It took me weeks to lose that weight and as long as I avoid Desserts, I don't have to exercise all that often and I seem to be able to maintain at not only a lower weight than before I had the sleeve but with a lot less misery and effort.

Goal at a year and maintaining almost 15 months so far

Maintaining 3 years

I hit goal 10.5 months ago and have remained normal BMI ever since. Actually I've lost 15 pounds since then, but very very slowly. Have weighed essentially the same weight the last six weeks.

I, too, am confident, not cocky, that I'll continue to maintain. I think I'm one of *those* people.

I reached my goal weight right at my one year surgiversary and have been maintaining for the past 5 months. While 5 months isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, it is a long time for me! I have managed to lose weight many times in the past, but it always came right back as soon as I was "done" with my diet and exercise. Obviously, I can never be done with sleeve. The real test for me came when we moved back in late October/early November.

In the past, when I had lost weight, it was always stress in my real life and getting out of my routine that derailed me and caused me to pack the pounds back on. An injury, an illness, a move, a new job, etc. So in late August, right as I was hitting my goal, we listed and sold our old house, had to do a lot of work to it to get it ready to list, then a lot of work after the inspection, then a lot of packing, putting stuff in storage, and getting rid of a ton of stuff. Then we moved to the new house in early November, had a million projects to do to that house before we settled in and unpacked. While I was doing a lot of physical activity through all of that, I was also dealing with a LOT of stress and I was WAY out of my routine. I wasn't exercising regularly at all. I was having to eat when I had time instead of on my usual schedule. It was EXACTLY the kind of perfect storm that would have caused me to gain 20-30 pounds in just a few short months pre-sleeve. But with my sleeve there to help me, I didn't gain one single pound through the whole process! Now I am back into a routine with food and exercise and don't feel like I have ground to make up like I would have in the past.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for! I have the same story. I lost weight when I put my mind to it, but as soon as it wasn't the #1 priority it came right back. I've never maintained a weight loss for any decent length of time--certainly not as long as 5 months. Wahoo!!

I reached my goal weight right at my one year surgiversary and have been maintaining for the past 5 months. While 5 months isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, it is a long time for me! I have managed to lose weight many times in the past, but it always came right back as soon as I was "done" with my diet and exercise. Obviously, I can never be done with sleeve. The real test for me came when we moved back in late October/early November.

In the past, when I had lost weight, it was always stress in my real life and getting out of my routine that derailed me and caused me to pack the pounds back on. An injury, an illness, a move, a new job, etc. So in late August, right as I was hitting my goal, we listed and sold our old house, had to do a lot of work to it to get it ready to list, then a lot of work after the inspection, then a lot of packing, putting stuff in storage, and getting rid of a ton of stuff. Then we moved to the new house in early November, had a million projects to do to that house before we settled in and unpacked. While I was doing a lot of physical activity through all of that, I was also dealing with a LOT of stress and I was WAY out of my routine. I wasn't exercising regularly at all. I was having to eat when I had time instead of on my usual schedule. It was EXACTLY the kind of perfect storm that would have caused me to gain 20-30 pounds in just a few short months pre-sleeve. But with my sleeve there to help me, I didn't gain one single pound through the whole process! Now I am back into a routine with food and exercise and don't feel like I have ground to make up like I would have in the past.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for! I have the same story. I lost weight when I put my mind to it, but as soon as it wasn't the #1 priority it came right back. I've never maintained a weight loss for any decent length of time--certainly not as long as 5 months. Wahoo!!

That is actually a great way of putting it. I have kind of an obsessive personality and as long as my obsession was losing weight, I was good at it. As soon as my obsession turned to anything else (like selling/buying a house and moving), then the weight came right back. The great thing about my experience in these 5 months since I reached goal is that I have been able to focus on other things and still maintain my loss.

Thanks for asking this question, @careya123. I'm thinking about this too. I made it a couple of years on Atkins, but gained it all back and then some.

I started thinking seriously about surgery when I did research on 5 yr outcomes of surgery vs diet and exercise alone. With surgery, people maintain their weight loss quite well. With diet and exercise alone, at five years hardly anyone has maintained their weight loss. So tell me, how long have you maintained your weight loss? If you aren't in maintenance yet, how confident are you that you can maintain your weight loss over the next five years?

Long term is a good question and I don't know what the next 5 years will bring. I do know that I have never been at a weight this low in my entire adult life. I also have never maintained a significant weight loss this long my entire adult life. Three years out, hit goal at 13 months and been maintaining within a 5 lbs swing above or below ever since.

I'm happy and healthy at the same weight over 8 years now.

The bmi charts would have me lower, but I am perfectly happy in a size 12... Sometimes a 10 if it has been a good month.

I'm very compliant with my band... Protein... Exercise... Water, my hardest practice...

So thankful to have a very " normal " life