What things have made you successful in maintenance

 For those of you in maintenance....do you meal plan, track, weigh and measure all your food still?  Or do you just count your protein grams and eat to your appetite?  Do you limit carbs?  On days that you feel more hunger, do you allow yourself to eat more food or do you rigidly stick to your calorie limit and meal plan?  

How many meals and snacks a day do you eat?  

I'm just trying to figure out how this whole thing is going to work out in the long term.

Thanks for your input!

 I am OCD about tracking my food.  If I lick a spoon I log it.  But that's what I need to keep me accountable.  The weight comes back on so easily if I stop paying attention.  I don't have a limit, I just like to always know where I stand.  I tend to fall anywhere between 1000-1800, but usually right around 1200.  I count my protein grams.  I need to get above 120 grams a day.

I'm not rigid.  There are days where I eat too much, and days where I don't eat enough.  It evens out.  But I need to pay attention.  Right now I'm in a not enough "phase".

I don't PLAN meals per se, but I am a creature of habit so I pretty much eat the same things repeatedly.  My breakfast is always the same.  My lunch is a rotation of a few things.  My dinner is pretty standard.

I eat 3 standard meals.  I have a "snack" of a protein drink around 4:30-5ish.  I have an apple at some point in the day usually a little before the gym.  I may have something just before bed if I'm especially craving it or my calories are too low.  Like now I'm about to have another protein drink.  I didn't eat dinner... oops... never even wanted it.

I don't really feel hunger yet, but if I go too long between I'll start to feel crummy.

I work out A LOT.  I can watch my food all I want, but if the workouts aren't there... the weight isn't staying off.  5-6 days a week I'm at the gym or in the yoga studio sweating or running or group fitnessing it all off.

I eat 1800-2000 calories a day to maintain my weight loss of 200 pounds at a weight of 131 pounds. My height is 5'4".

I do not participate in a formal exercise program due to Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. I do move around a lot more and do a lot more walking.

I eat every 2-3 hours. I eat 3 main meals and 3-4 snacks daily that include protein.

I eat at least 100 grams of protein a day. I eat dairy products that are no fat/low fat. I eat simple (dairy, fruit) and complex (beans, vegetables, whole grains) carbohydrates (I do not count daily grams). I also eat eggs. I am a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.

I have never introduced a food into my mouth that I have not planned to eat. I always consider the protein and nutritional value of each morsel.

I know this rigid, controlled way of life is not for everyone, but it works great for me!

I am 5 years out.  I don't track anything except protein (and have not since before I was a year out).  I limit all processed "white" carbs (except for the one 100 calorie treat i allow myself each day, which is usually something sweet), but I don't worry about carbs in dairy, fruits, or veggies.  Eating a healthy, well-balanced and nutritious diet is more important to me than some arbitrary carb limit.  I generally limit breads/crackers to whole grains and eat very little bread of any type.

I eat 6-7 times a day, 3 meals and 3-4 protein snacks.  My surgeon's number one rule, no matter how far out you are from surgery is protein first ALWAYS, and I truly believe that is one of the keys to the success that I have had.  I eat only 2 or 3 bites of side items until I finish my protein, and then I eat more of the other items if I have room.  Much of the time I don't, so I only expect to eat a few bites of anything but the protein.

I limit my portion size and stop eating if I am full before the food is gone, but I don't feel physical hunger, so I don't have "big pouch days" and "small pouch days"... but I do have days where my snack cravings are much stronger than other days.

Lora

Unlike when I was in the losing stage, now in the maintenance stage I weigh every day, without exception.  When I have eaten off plan, really off plan, for several days I find I'm very hesitant about weighing and may skip a day.  When that happens that is a HUGE red flag for me, and I stop what I'm doing and weigh.  I read a post 3 years ago that said "Don't let 5 pounds become 50," and I strictly follow that.  Back then the poster was either a 5 or 7 year successful WLS patient who had maintained her weight to within a couple pounds.  She had a copule WLS friends who had gained all their weight back.

I currently  track my food on myfitnesspal.com.  When I was losing, I did not.  I was eating so little it was easy to mentally count calorie. etc.  Now I track.  I also count carbs.  I only occasionally eat bread and rarely eat rice, potatoes or pasta.  Sugar is still my big, big issue, and I eat way too much of that.

I also walk as often as possible.  I try to walk 3 to 4  miles several times per week.  Some weeks I walk every single day, and then there are weeks I may not walk at all; however all in all  I average a few times weekly.

On days I find my more hungry, which almost always follows days when I ate too many carbs, I do eat allow myself to eat more, but I watch what I eat.  I may eat 1 or 2 extra Fage yogurts, I'm addicted to them, as snacks.  I may increase or add a snack to my day, but I "try" to make it healthy.

I'm inconsistent in the number of meals and snacks I eat on a daily basis.  What I try to do is limit my calories to 1200 per day (I go over) but eat extra snacks if I'm hungry.  I don't want to go through the day grinding my teeth thinking about food.

I hope this helps.  Also, I will be 3 years post op on Nov 9, and it has taken me all this time to finally reach my goal and live there.  I may bounce up, but I'm able to get right back down, as long as I live by the "do not let 5 become 50 rule."

Maintenance is the same as losing just a few calorie tweaks.

Exercise for me is nonnegotiable - water and protein and tracking on MFP. It's very easy to regain if u lose focus - I actually just lost some regain of ten pounds. It was hard at first but I feel good physically and emotionally.