? If you are 3 years or more out and within 20 pounds< from goal?

What are the steps you have take to keep the weight off??  Was it consistent exercise, portion control, staying away from simple carbs??  I would like to hear from those who are OVER 3 years...Yeah, I am sure someone who is 2 years 8 months must answer (and waste our time)...Please don't answer.  But those who are over 3 years and are 20 pounds or less (or at or below) goal...I and others would like to hear your secrets...

Protein first, which limits the carbs - I rarely eat simple or white carbs, about 1500 calories per day is my maintenance intake.

Exercise at least 5 days per week for about an hour - walking, hiking, cycling - depends on the weather. Personally, I think this is non-negotiable the further you get out - not just for weight maintenance but for overall health and metabolism, particularly for those of us over 40!

Vitamins every day and I have labs every three months because I have diabetes and two auto immune diseases.

I believe you are a WLS veteran when you are 5+ years out - that's when the hard work really starts!!!!

Just wondering what changes between years 3 and 5 that makes you say the "real work" doesn't begin until 5 years out?  The caloric malabsorption is gone by 3 years, the pouch is a mature size by 3 years, and the behavioral issues that contributed to our obesity are not time limited (they frequently reappear within the first year).

Lora

The changes are that the further out most people get the less mindful they are. We all read the newbies saying that they'll never regain, they'll never eat bread, they'll never drink a soda etc - you and I know that that is probably nonsense for the vast majority! Statistics on regain after 5 years do bear this out.

Like the OP said, people seem to consider themselves vets at 1 and 2 years out. I could have sat on the couch and eat bon bons for the first 3-4 years and not gained an ounce. It was years 4-5 that I became aware that I would have to take the bull by the horns in terms of my health. I have always followed the plan, but I could mindlessly graze (fruit mainly) up to that point and not worry about it in terms of weight.gain - that is not the case now.

People who are not long term vets do have valid experience to offer newbies (I have nothing to offer on protein drinks and how much they should be eating), but it's not the same experience that you and I have to offer, is it? I think that most newbies and vets on here are not really interested in what we have to say most of the time - the newbies are not even thinking about maintenance yet and the "new" vets think they have it covered!

Another reason I think it is harder is that most of us further out are getting older - we find exercise more difficult as our bodies don't want to co-operate as well as when we were in our 30's (when I was not MO and could run for miles) - there are few people that become marathon runners in their 40's and 50's, although I know there are a few exceptions. Our metabolism slow down as we get older etc etc. I have a couple of auto immune diseases that are getting worse as I age and I also have diabetes now - all these things impact my long term health and maintenance.

Thanks.  I do agree that it becomes easier to be less mindful as we progress beytond the first 2 years, but I guess in my experience the realization that I would always need to be mindful came much earlier than yours... it was clear by the time I hit 3 years out that regain was not only a possibility but a probability  if I stopped paying as much attention to what I was eating for even a few days, especially since my knees (one in particular) keep me from doing much exercise.

Yes, I cringe when I hear newbies say "never again"...  but I (usually) bite my tongue (my fingers?!?).  I was not one to ever say "never again" because I had no plan to eliminate anything completely... my plan was to figure out how to control myself and be able to enjoy the less healthy things in very small amounts.

Aging and metabolism... check and check, LOL.

Lora

I am almost 4.5 years post-op and am maintaining within 5-7 pounds of my goal weight.  I have a knee that needs replaced, so my exercise is quite limited (and I have to factor that into how much I eat, of course).  I do pretty much what I have done since the beginning:
1) all my meals and snacks -- I eat 6 or 7 times per day -- are protein forward (and I still eat almost all my protein first at each meal)
2) I try to limit white and processed carbs (but I eat fruits and veggies and whole grains, some of which are simple carbs)
3) I wait at least 20 minutes after eating before drinking (I don't get physically hungry, so only waiting 20 minutes instead of 30 isn't a big deal for me)
4) I still limit portion sizes by eating slowly and stopping (usually!) as soon as I start to feel full

Lora

I was doing the math the other day and was startled to realize that it was 4 years ago that I was on teh merry-go-round of six-month supervised diet and preparations to have surgery. In March it will be 4 years since surgery.

My goal was set at 154, 20 lbs over chart perfect, but seemed about right for me since I do have a large bone structure (every doctor who looks at my ex rays says, wow, you have big bones)... I got to 30 lbs from goal at 12 month**** goal for one hot second along the way before jumping back up ten pounds, then at 29 months I hit goal again and dropped to 8 pounds under. I knew when I was AT goal that I needed to be around 163 or so lbs (9 over goal) but still liked teh stupid NUMBER on the scale when I was 146, even though I was literally just skin and bones. I'm now 18 pounds heavier than my lowest weight, and 8 to 10 pounds over goal, and exactly the size I should be (I'm in smaller pants sizes then when I weighed this much on my way down the scale).

What do I do to keep it off? Most who know me around these parts know that I never had much hunger, still don't. Though one day this weekend I went without my typical protein shakes, and I found I was hungier sooner, so perhaps the fact that I still drink between three to five protein shakes a day has a lot to do with hunger control. I don't eat much -- still -- for a long time I had a bit of a phobia about eating because I dump and I hate dumping, but then I got severe reactive hypoglycemia, and I don't fear dumping, I fear the RH far FAR more. I have to carry an emergency syringe in case I pass out. My food phobias have increased to ridiculous levels. Mostly I have quiche.

Okay, so I sat there for five minutes and I tried to think what else I eat. Regularly? Nothing BUT quiche. I snack on Kudos 100-calorie bars and wheat thins Fiber Plus crackers. I have as I mentioned 3 to 5 protein shakes a day, always between 18 and 22 g of protein, 2g sugar, 2g fat. 120 calories each. I had a lot of restriction from about the eighteen month mark on. Now that I have stopped much in the way of variety, and dont' try to eat anything new and exciting, I never have restriction because I never eat more than a pre-determined amount of food in one sitting. Other than my Kudos bars, I stay away from almost all simple, and frankly most complex carbs. Carbs and I are enemies. My endocrinologist told me no more than 25 g of carbs per meal, and he could care less about simple or complex.

I don't exercise. Ever. I teach and am on my feet actively teaching 4.5 hours every day. I used to be a more physically active teacher until they stuffed 50 kids in teh classroom designed for 30 kids, so I don't have the physical room to walk all around the front of the classroom anymore and be more dynamic. I feel a little more flabby for the lack of walking room in my classroom. Other than work I'm a total lump.

So in summary.... food scares me because of the RH, and it did before the RH because of dumping. I don't have a varied diet, so I always eat the same size portion. It's easy. I can eat a lot more in a sitting when I eat non-typical foods. Sometimes I'll have a six inch sub, and eat the whole thing. Yup. Bread too. But most the time it's the same thing, the same time of the day, day after day after day. No variety, no RH, no dumping, no weight gain. I did shoot up nine pounds after back surgery in march, to the weight I needed to be, and haven't budged from that spot since.

My general work-day food schedule:
* quiche - 225 cals
* protein shake - 120 cals
* kudos snack bar - 100 cals
* protein shake - 120 cals
* kudos snack bar - 100 cals
* protein shake - 120 cals
* quiche - 225 cals
* peanut butter - 180 cals (2 tablespoons @ night, to help me to metabolize meds I take at night) 
Approximately 1200 calories on a normal day... more on weekends when I don't have a schedule to keep. I tend to consider the protein shake calories as "invisible" and so long as everything keeps fitting me in my warddrobe, I don't worry what hte scale says.

Good question and good responses so far!  Thanks!

I'm 45 years old and 3 years 3 months out. I've been at my goal weight for over 2 years now. I weigh 140 with a BMI of about 22. I don't track my food on a regular basis, but do weigh everyday. If I'm up 3 pounds I cut back. I eat anywhere from 2000-2500 calories on a normal day and cut back to 1500 when I need to lose a couple pounds.

The healthy eating habits I learned along the way just come naturally now. I am determined to remain healthy for myself, my kids, and my man. 

Laura