Thoughts on Maintenance

I think the most important thing to ward off regain for me is the fatty rule.  If my weight creeps up to a certain number, I put myself back in weight loss mode until I am back to good.  In the beginning that number was 195, my goal weight.  Didn't take long to realize that I fluctuate by 5 pounds just in fluid retention alone, so I dropped the number 1o 190. As time went by I kept dropping it a few pounds here and there, with it settling in at 182.  I just had PS though, so once recovered I will need to reassess.

I do still try to balance things out.  If I eat dessert, I try to counter with a low calorie high protein meal.  Just normal stuff- nothing magical.  If I feel myself struggling with eating I go back to tracking everything.  Many times my eating can be poor for several days wiith no repercussions on the scale, but it is not my goal to see how much crap I can get away with eating before gaining either, so I track.  I still exercise, but not nearly as much and have long periods where I am recovering from surgeries where I can't at all.  

Overall I eat much of the same food now as I did in weight loss.  I weigh a few times a week.  It all works.  

I agree with you about maintenance being easier than weight loss in my personal situation. I was also scared it wouldn't work, I'd still be fat and diabetic, and my family would be let down.. Let down would have been an understatement. I would have been crushed beyond words. I was really stressed all through weight loss mode and now I feel like I can breathe a little more freely now. I also eat the same things I did in weight loss, and I had been doing that for a long period of time before the sleeve because of my diabetes diagnosis about a year before my sleeve. I kept imagining my toes being cut off due to diabetes and I think that kept me on the straight and narrow. It still does keep me that way. Fear is a strong motivator.

The only thing I added in maintenance is more complex carbs. Good job happyteacher. Although we clearly haven't always agreed on sleeve size lol, I do believe there is more than one way to success in this journey and you clearly have shown that. I still can't believe some of the things people alluded to about you reaching goal weight. I think you earned every bit of it. I understand more now that some people lose well on higher complex carb content than others. I think one of the main reasons I was so adamant about low carb high protein is because I'm a diabetic in remission and carbs spike my blood sugar and stall my weight or increase it and also because it seemed to be the surest path to goal based on the experience of vets.  I understand some people need to eat higher carbs. At least now in maintenance I can eat a reasonable amount of complex carbs and my diabetes appears to be in remission even with the higher count. I know some people require more carbs and you obviously did for your own health reasons and it worked out. Congratulations on all of your success and on your plastics. Best wishes

Thank you :)

I am glad to read you are doing splendidly not just with the weight, but also remission of diabetes.  Yes, there are different paths in weight loss just as there are different paths in maintenance.  The idea is for each person to find their path that maximizes their health.  My path is a little different than the majority, but it is what I needed.  I find it both offensive and almost comical simultaneously that those who walk a different path feel the need to attribute my weight loss success to my cancer status.  It just shows how much they don't know about dealing with cancer- but I am glad they don't have to deal with it and it is easy enough to let slide of my back.  I didn't go through this process to make anyone else happy; it was purely to improve my health.    I am very glad, as I always am, that a person finds the path that gets them to goal- and I am very happy about your success for you!