Weight Maintenance / "Rules of the Pouch"

For all of you who have had Roux en Y surgery, and are in your weight maintenance phase, I have a few questions...

Up until now, while losing weight, I've been following all the guidelines re: not drinking for 30 mins before meals, not drinking with meals, and not drinking for 30 mins after meals.

I'm now 125 lbs (sooo surreal!!!).  I originally thought I'd be happy to lose 80 lbs, but now that I've reached my 4th revised goal and lost 102 lbs, I want to start a maintenance program.  I've been reading and re-reading the "Rules of the Pouch".  I'd like to find out if you follow these rules, and if you find they work.  Specifically, do you stop drinking 15 minutes before a meal?  Do you take only 5-15 minutes to eat and finish each meal?  And, more importantly, do you wait at least 1.5 - 2 hours after each meal before drinking?  This last rule sounds very difficult.  I've adapted (not happily, but c'est la vie) to not drinking with my meals, but I'm thirsty after meals, and even waiting 1/2 hour seems long, sometimes.  I really don't know if I could wait 1.5 - 2 hours to take a drink, following each meal (even if I manage to do the pre-meal "water loading").

Also, how did you approach the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance?  I track my protein and calories (and sometimes my carbs), and thought I was eating more than before, but the weight is still coming off, albeit more slowly.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but I want to be realistic and maintain at where I am now.  Did you start adding a certain amount of extra calories each day, for example on a weekly basis, and seeing if your weight stabilized?  I would have thought that the calorie malabsorbtion would be over by now (my surgery was almost 9 months ago), but perhaps it's still happening.

Would appreciate your input and hearing about your experiences.  Thank you and have a great day!

Hi,

May we suggest you post this on the RNY forum?  Also, here is a link to the Pouch Rules.

http://www.gastricbypassfamily.com/PouchRules.html

Regards,

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