XP -- GOAAAAALLLLL!!!! -- Now What? [Long]
I posted this over in the main RNY board but I'm not getting a lot of concrete suggestions. Thought I'd cross post over here for some ideas.
When I started this journey, I set my goal with my surgeon at 185 lbs. So, on Saturday, Sept 5, 2009 at 5 1/2 months out from RNY surgery, I hit 185 lbs -- at total loss of 118 lbs (30 prior to surgery, 88 since surgery). Now comes the hard part. What do I do from here?
I've lost weight before but I've always gained it back plus more. I don't want to do that again. This is the point at which I've always screwed it up in the past. So I need to REALLY make sure I nail this maintenance transition correctly.
New Goal?
I see my surgeon and nutritionist tomorrow for my 6 month post-op visit (not quite 6 months but this is when they scheduled it). Given how fast I hit goal and that I'm still in the "honeymoon period", I'm guessing that we'll be discussing setting a new goal. I can see myself going down maybe another 10-15 lbs to 170. Right now, I don't think I want to go below that. If we set a new goal, that may make all these questions moot for today. However, I'm going to have the same questions a couple of months from now, so I really want to understand it.
Any advice on this conversation with my surgeon and nutritionist tomorrow would be greatly appreciated.
How do I slow things down?
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this given the struggles I see folks having with stalls here. But, how do I slow the loss down? I was assuming that I would come in for a "soft landing" at goal but I'm still losing at a pretty good clip.
Month 1 25-Apr -23.5
Month 2 25-May -22.7
Month 3 25-Jun -13.5
Month 4 25-Jul -13.0
Month 5 25-Aug -10.4
Month 6 25-Sep -5.2 (so far over 2 weeks)
I had been shooting for 850 net calories per day (total intake minus exercise as per DailyPlate). So for me this normally worked out to 1100 intake and 250 or so exercise per day for a net of 850. I'm always between 85 and 110 on my protein but usually closer to 95 - 100. I exercise usually 7 days a week but it isn't extremely vigorous. Right now I'm walking 2.85 miles in 45 min on 5 days, weights on 1 day, and EA Active 30 day challenge on 1 day. I shoot for approx 250 calorie burn on each of those.
For the past two weeks, I bumped up my calorie intake to 1300-1350 to try and slow things down a bit (going for the soft landing), but, if anything, it may have speeded things up. I zoomed right by the goal and I'm still going.
So, how do you find that right point of calorie intake and exercise to maintain?
What am I really burning per day?
So, last week I bought one of those GoWear Fit monitors to see what I'm really burning. I've only had it 3 days but my calorie burn for those three days was 2601, 2504 and 3108. So according to that I'm running at a calorie deficit of at least 1150 per day. Which works out to a 2.3 lbs/week loss ((1150 * 7days)/3500 cal per pound lost). I don't see how in the world I could get up to 2500 calories per day to even out that calorie burn.
Bottom Line
So, I'm thrilled to be "at goal" but now a new "hard part" starts. For those of you already in maintenance, how did you make the transition? What do I need to be doing?
Thanks so much for your support and help over this journey. Even though I may not post here that much, I'm on here everyday learning from the rest of you. I try to help out when I can but most of the time, others have already jumped in with what I would say before I get around to reading the post.

It appears you planned it well. Daily plate is a great site to chart calories. I try to shoot for a bedtime -600 calories and 85-100 g proteins and a goal fat mass of 18
My PCP believes the learning period up to 12 mos out is the key to maintaining. Food choices, quantities and exercise levels must be life long. He has seen a dramatic increase in regains in the last 5 yrs. He thinks WLSers believe they're lean, mean and bullit proof when they hit goal.Vanity, life style changes set in and before you know it the lbs creep back on resulting in regains of up to 110%. He says many of his WLS'ers are not weighing in/ annual physicals after 12-15 mos out. He thinks they dont want to be confronted by their regain. Hes guessing that 40 - 65% are regaining 20%+ weight back
Scary scenerio right?
I'm at 1900 cals but must end up with 600 cals to burn at bedtime. This is hard work. 100-120 mins gym time and a min of 10000 steps plus a high protein diet. I dont look forward to this forever.
I guess we all have to find that perfect balance and be aware of the corrections and adjustments we must make
Good luck. I have not reached goal and may be there by 12 mos out
Truer words have never been spoken. We've got to relearn everything during this time period to be successful long term. That's what I'm fearful of -- I've learned the new habits for "losing" but I need to now figure out the new habits for maintaining. I know that many/most of the "losing" habits will carry over, but I'm not sure how to transition over to the new habits for maintenance.
So, let me make sure I understand your post above. You are taking in 1900 calories a day but I'm not sure I follow what you mean by "end up with 600 cals to burn at bedtime"
thanks for the help
The hardest part of RNY or Maintenance is finding ballance in everything. You need to ballance protien against fiber and intake of calories against calories burned. There is no easy answer because we all are different. The best advice that I can give is not to increase calories per meal, but to add or subtract meals. The more often we eat in a day the better our metabolism moves. If i burn more calories one day than the previous, I change a snack into a meal, or add another snack. At 5 years post I still have to work at it, and you will too.
Robert
I have been thinking about a lot of the same issues. At a Labor Day family gathering, I was trying to decide what I would have eaten had I been in maintenance mode (I'm still on the post-op liquid diet at the moment).
I am convinced that carbs, not fat, have always been the main source of my weight gain. So I figure as long as I stay away from starchy stuff (which usually comes with a side of fat!), I should be good to go as long as I maintain my exercise.
Something else you said I think is key -- weighing in. My reading from other goal-weight folks is that daily weighing is a must. You just have to do it. That by itself should be ingrained in you by now. Even at 2 weeks out, the first thing I do when I wake up is pee, strip naked, and get on the scale. Nothing else will keep you as accountable. I wouldn't want to wait until my clothes didn't fit to realize I'd regained.
Lot's of great insight and advice.
Update -- I went to see my surgeon and nutritionist for my 6 month post-op check-up yesterday. I'll have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in the advice. The surgeon passed my questions about calorie levels off to the nutritionist. The normal nutritionist I see wasn't available so I saw someone new. She looked at my charts and my progress and said she was "comfortable with me continuing what I'm doing now" and "my body will figure out where it wants to stop". I'm sorry but letting my body figure it out is what got me to 303 pounds. I need a plan. So, after I had that discussion with her she said "well, perhaps you could try bumping it up 100 calories and see how that works". That's where I'm going to start but right now, according to my GoWear Fit, I'm running at a 1400/day deficit (burning 2600-3000 per day and taking in 1100 -1200 per day).
As I said above, I can see myself getting down another 10-15 pounds, but after that, I'm calling a halt to it.