Figuring out how to transition to maintenance

So, I am one pound from my goal weight, and wondering how people transition to maintenance.  I am still losing, but I need to stop soon.  So, I need to figure out how many calories to eat in order to just maintain.  Also, since I am only 8 months out (I started as a lightweight), my malabsorption is still probably in full swing, and I know that means that someday I am going to have to eat less or work out more when I start absorbing calories more.

So, I have several questions for those who are in the maintenance phase:

How did you go about figuring out how much to eat?  Did you count calories, or jus****ch your portions and limit the consumption of certain foods?

What is your current eating strategy for staying at a healthy weight?  Are you still tracking your food? 

If you reached your goal weight early on, did you have to eat a LOT to stop the weight loss?  

What was like when the malabsorption stopped working for you?  Was it sudden or gradual?

I appreciate your insights!

Just trying to prepare for the future so I don't start backsliding.  I'm not very good at turning myself around once I start in the wrong direction.

I lost 120lbs (20lbs under goal) in 6 months and didn't do anything different - your body is capable of deciding where it wants to stop and you just keep doing what you are doing ...

Over the years I have seen many people facing regain because they tried to manipulate their weight rather than letting their body decide and settle down.

The diet we are eating at 6 months is the one we eat for life ... the portions will vary as you are able to eat more, but the types of foods will be exactly the same.

If you keep the transition from losing to maintenance organic, you will likely have a much easier time in the long term (5+ years).

I hope some of the longer term vets reply to this because I believe that few (if any) of us who have been around a long time and are successful manipulated their diet to stop losing!

Yep, I eat the same way I was eating before I was a year out... and my body just decided when it was done.  I do eat a few more carbs now than I did then (and I have added my daily treat) but I added those after it was clear that my body was NOT going to be forced any lower unless I half starved myself.

Personally, I decided that I would rather be able to reach and maintain a realistic body weight than try to force my body to a lower weight and discover that I had to eat next to nothing -- which is not healthy -- to maintain that weight (if I  could at all).  Yeah, I would have liked to have been 5-10 pounds lighter, and was not very happy that my body had other ideas but, on the other hand, I like that my body allows me to maintain my weight without being ultra strict.

I sometimes wonder how many of the people who come back with regain after 2-3 years and swear they have not changed anything are just experiencing their body saying "no, that weight is too low"...

Lora

Omg I love your questions and can't wait to see the answers! Congrats to you on teaching your goal.

 I am 5 years out and maintaining my weight loss, but I eat pretty much the same amount that I was eating before my weight loss stopped.  The only real difference is that I allow a few more carbs and I now have a small (100 calorie or less) treat almost every day.  My portion sizes are a bit larger than when I was 12-18 months out, but not much.  My body just decided it was done losing.  I have never counted anything but protein.

The loss of the caloric malabsorption is gradual for everyone.  It actually starts within just a couple of weks after surgery!  Some people have lost more of their malabsorption as early as 12 months out and some as late as 24 months, but for most people it is complete by around 18 months out.  I did not look at your surgery date, but if you are close to your goal, you have probably already lost a fair amount of your malabsorption.

Lora

Uh... there's an official transition for that? I've been eating like this since about a year out. I didn't have an issue of losing too much weight. In fact, I could stand to lose another 20 since I didn't get to goal which was 30lbs lower than where I'm at now and as I figure, unrealistic.

All I've ever done differently is having kick the carb monster out of my diet a few times when it snuck back in. I can still eat only up to 4oz of dense protein and a few bites of veggies or complex carbs at a meal so I didn't feel a need to change anything. It's just the way it is now.

 I'm just over a year out and have lost another 5 pounds. I have decided to put a alarm on my phone for every 3 hours to remind me to eat. I feel like I look like a stick figure. I am 5 9 1/2 and weigh 130. I was told no exercise until my weight stabilizes. Wow who thought this would ever be a problem for me. I would like to be at 145-155 but my body says otherwise. I still eat like I did at 6mths. I eat on a saucer and measure(visually) all my food.

I usually get in at least 60grams of protein a day. I do have treats everyother day or so.

 I eat around 1300-1500 per day.

I thought the same thing when I was losing...wondering if it would stop on its own. It did.  LOL  But that's okay. I like the way I look, I like the clothes I fit into. And the weight I am at now is really easy for me to maintain.  I can slip a little on my eating here and there (bread, sweets, etc) and I don't see weight gain. 

I still weigh my self pretty regularly.  Usually once a week on Monday mornings.  Weighed myself daily for awhile and realized that my weight fluctuates by a couple lbs throughout the week, but always seems to stabilze, without much effort, so went back to once a week, sometimes longer. 
Once everything stabilized for me, losing weight become a completely different ballgame than it was before.  Now when I make changes to my diet and exercise routine, I see the results (before, i was never able to).  If I want to lose more wieght, I know how.  Cut my carbs, watch my potions and no cheating, and hit the gym more!  Actually getting ready to start an exercise training program (changing up my regular routine to more regimented one, for the heck of it). And my goal is to lose another 10 lbs on the program, but I'm just doing it as something to do, to have a goal in mind.  And to see how much easier this program is at my current weight  lol.  We'll see what happens.

 First & foremost - I consulted with my NUT before changing to maintenence. SHE's the one who told me what my stats needed to look like for the long-haul, so it's not an arbitrary decision based on my "wisdom" (.... cuz that's one of the things that got me obese in the first place. I've had to learn to take professionals' experience over the "I wanna's").
So here's my answers.....

1. Portions are based on surgeon's plan guidelines: around 4oz meats, no more than 1 cup of most servings (yogurt, veggies, etc) at a time. Continue to count calories, NO refined crap.

2. Contine to log, continue to measure/weigh, continue to THINK about food choices, plan meals/snacks, and listen to my body

3. Reached goal pretty early (around 7 months postop) so just kept letting the process go. I'm now around 20lbs under goal and modified my calories/carbs to maintain that. It was NOT very excessive to slow down the loss - maybe 200 extra calories and 30g carbs? If that. Just a small change put the breaks on the loss, plus my body was probably at the point where there was just very little extra fat to burn.

4. Not sure how much malabsorption has stopped or not. I know I dump on less things, so I can tell my body has adjusted in that sense. But until I start seeing an increase in weight with the same diet & exercise, I believe that I'm still in pretty active malabsorption.

I reached goal in 14 months, losing 170 pounds (and about 30 pre-op). I chose my goal weight and worked hard to get there. I lost more than that and worked hard to gain a bit back. At the 2 year mark i was probably eating around 3000 calories to maintain my weight. Then practically overnight, I gained 10 pounds. The honeymoon was over. I then cut back my calories to about 1500 to lose the 10 pounds before it became 100. currrently at 4 years out I eat around 1700-2000 calories a day to maintain between 135-140 pounds. I believe I chose my goal weight. NOT my body. It did not settle where it wanted to. It settled where I wanted it to.

I still track my food most days. I limit my crappy carbs and overall eat a healthy "normal" diet. The best advice is to set a weight gain limit. I weight everyday. If I hit 3 pounds above my goal, I cut bac****il they are gone. I do not understand why people wait until they have gained 20 even 50 before doing anything to stop it. 3 is much easier to lose.