The voices are getting to me...Vets, chime in, please

OK, so I am 6 months out as of the 7th of this month. Early on in my journey, Elina helped me find a path that I think has been very successful thus far. I have lost a total of 93lbs, 81lbs since surgery 8/7/12. I am now 23lbs from my goal of 150lbs (within normal BMI). That puts me at around 90% EWL.  My loss is still going pretty well. I lost 11lbs last month. The problem is, for SOME reason, I have felt confused lately, mostly due to input from fellow healthcare practitioners (I am a nurse), nutritionists, etc. who say that I should be eating at least 1200 calories, 100 carbs, blah blah. At first, I was like "screw them, what I'm doing is working". Still, some of the people I'm hearing from are people I respect very much and it is difficult to remain un-phased. In the beginning, it made sense that the "rules" were different for bariatrics because we have so much excess to pull from. Now, I'm not necessarily bariatric anymore. Does that mean the rules have changed? If not, why? I would just love to have a scientific answer that would bolster my confidence on the last leg of this journey. I want to know that I'm not jacking up my metabolism or putting myself through unnecessary Hell.  Hope this makes sense...HELP!

Just keep doing what your doing..... if you lost 11lbs. last month.... don't change it up !!!!

If anything to lose the last weight your gonna have to cut back.... not add.....

The next 23lbs. will have no effect on any type of metabolism issues you may have.....

You got this !!!!

frisco

Thanks, Frisco. I am ashamed for even acknowledging the "dark side" when I know the force is with me!! LOL

Well, you could increase your calories now to 1200.  This is pretty close to what most people find is their maintenance level and you will most probably continue to lose a bit here and there and might even make it to 100% EWL.  You are already at 90%, so it's really up to you.  I can tell you that my metabolism has not been harmed by eating around 800 or so calories (toward the end of my loss).  Also, most of the other people that are long term success stories only went up to 1200 calories or so after reaching maintenance and are doing just fine.  Remember, most of us, the formally obese, need less calories to maintain in general and 1200 calories is usually our maintenance or there about.  Nothing horrible will happen if you increase your calories now, you might even see a spike in your weight loss for a month or so, eventually, that will be balanced out by less weight loss overall.  If you are looking for scientific evidence, just talk to Ruggie, he is the resident scientist and all around smart guy around here.  I would say the plan has served you quite well so far.... Do you really want to change horses now?

Elina...you have been my guiding light throughout this journey thus far. I will never be able to thank you enough. If ever we meet, I will likely hug you and cry...be forewarned. I think a combination of things is happening...I am scared...the brass ring is so close now and I fear not quite grasping it. Plus, I work in an environment with a lot of educated, opinionated people offering what they think is best out of concern for me. Even though the constant comment I get is "Damn, you don't even look like you had WLS. You look AWESOME!". So...I guess I'm not starving myself too badly, right?? LOL.

 Still, it can be hard not to doubt myself after getting so much of that feedback. I have been doing 800cal, 40 carbs since the beginning. I am diligent about protein, shooting for 100g daily as well as 100oz fluid. For the last couple of months, I've been in the gym. My body is shaping up very nicely, loose skin is not even too bad. I have thought of tightening this up to 700cals, 30 carbs. What do you think? I didn't lose hardly anything last week but lost 6lbs in the 2 week period before that. I weigh 173lbs. I'm hoping to be able to maintain 10lbs per month loss...

I'm thinking..... all things staying the same........

The next few months would look like.......

- 8lbs.

- 6lbs.

- 4lbs.

Progressively.......

frisco

I'm thinking you're probably right. Actually, I lied. I just calculated and I only lost 9lbs last month. 11lbs the month before that.

The real danger is that as your weight loss naturally slows down (that happens to just about everybody), you will have weeks where you don't lose very much and months where you might only lose 4-5 pounds.  You could get frustrated and decide that the other plan would work better.  Then you switch, a few pounds will fall right off, then you stall.  Eventually you want to go back to doing what you were doing all along, but now it's harder.  I don't have a crystal ball, but I have seen this same pattern over and over and over.  I get posts all the time about "how do I go back there again".  The truth is that it is harder to go back to what you are doing than to move to eating more now.  You say that you can see the brass ring and are afraid of not getting there.  We were all afraid, now we are there.  You will be too.  You have really good guides to help you get there.  We have all walked this walk and know your most likely future.  I don't need a crystal ball to predict your outcome if you just stay the course, I have seen the outcome in my support group on a monthly basis as we celebrate anther person reaching their goal.  Tell them, "You can argue with my methods, but you can't argue with my results". The end. 

If you just keep doing what you are doing, you will get there.  You can tighten things up and you will get there faster and still stay healthy, but that is really up to you.  My labs are fantastic and have been all along.  Don't listen to the other people, you are now the poster child for success.  They should close their mouths and open their eyes.  You are a walking, talking success story, and they presume to tell you "how you should lose weight"?!?  That's almost funny.  They might be very smart people, but they are not very wise.  :)

As far as that hug.... I would love it! 

Don't steal defeat from the jaws of victory--Author unknown

 How silly would it be if you changed things now and never reached goal?  You would kick yourself, heck, even I would kick you. :)

I'm going to agree with Frisco and Elina. I kept to 800 calories a day the last two months and had to really work diligently to get the last 11 pounds off. I would not switch up my calories until I hit maintenance, if I were you. That's what I did and all I can really recommend.

I will also take issue that you are no longer necessarily a bariatric patient. Yeah, you are. You had most of your stomach removed. Once we cross over in to the obese, MO, and SMO categories we change. We need far fewer calories to maintain our obesity. Most people - even those in the medical field - aren't up on the latest findings of the best ways for bariatric patients to lose and maintain weight. As well meaning and well informed as these medical professionals are, do they have a serious working knowledge of how obesity works and how it changes the way the body works to metabolize calories and nutrients? If not, I would take what they have to offer with a grain of salt.

Just my opinion. It's my opinion, too, that you are doing fantastically well. You are almost at goal and are losing well. Why, why, would you even consider changing what you're doing?