Congratulations! All your hard work has finally paid off and you have reached your goal weight. Now what?
After bariatric surgery, there is a lot of work that goes into reaching one’s goal weight. There are diet guidelines that need to be met and strictly followed for a lifetime in order to achieve and maintain long-term success.
Reaching your goal is a great accomplishment, but that doesn’t mean the work stops there. This is your defining moment. You must remain humble, diligent, and be mindful of your strengths and weaknesses.
Healthy habits must be continued for the rest of your life in order to maintain your weight. Now is not the time to give up or give in to bad habits from the past.
Am I Losing Too Much Weight?
It is very uncommon for patients to lose too much weight after surgery to the point of being underweight. However, it is possible!
The good news is, it is always possible (even after gastric surgery) to stop weight loss from continuing at any point.
You have been losing weight all along because of a lower amount of calories, either due to restriction from procedures like gastric sleeve surgery or because of both restriction and malabsorption like gastric bypass surgery.
In the end, it all comes down to calories.
I Reached My Goal Weight. Now What?
When you reach your goal weight, in order to maintain that weight you need to slowly increase the calories you are consuming to a maintenance level. This is not always easy for gastric surgery patients because the volume of food consumption is limited to the smaller stomach size.
It’s not as simple as just eating more food. Calorie dense items need to be included in increments. It may be beneficial to get a few pounds under your goal weight so you have a little wiggle room for this process.
How to Maintain Your Goal Weight
Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, unclothed and before consuming any food or drink.
For the first week after reaching the goal, add 200 calories to your typical daily diet. These calories should come from healthy, nutrient dense items. We recommend choosing from these options:
- 2 TB all-natural nut butter (peanut, almond, etc)
- 1 medium avocado
- 30 almonds (snack on throughout the day)
- Low sugar natural based meal replacement shake or bar
Weigh yourself after one week. Your body may take some time to adjust to the increase in calories. Do not weigh yourself daily at this time, it will lead to apprehension and/or anxiety about increasing calories.
Wait it out for the week and weigh yourself at the same time of the same day you started, again unclothed and before any food or beverage.
If you maintained your goal weight or even gained a little (don’t worry) do the same thing for another week.
If you lost weight, add another 100 calories each day for the following week. Continue adding 100 calorie increments each week and weighing yourself consistently each week until you no longer lose weight.
Example Weight Maintenance/Balance Plan
- Week 1: Hit goal consuming 1200 calories
- Week 2: 1400 calories
- Week 3: 1500 calories
- Week 4: 1600 calories
100 Calorie Foods Options (give or take)
- 1-ounce cheese
- A glass of Fairlife milk
- 6 oz container low sugar greek yogurt
- 5” sweet potato
- 1 TB olive oil, coconut oil, butter or peanut butter
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ½ cup beans
- 20 medium olives
- 1 cup fruit
Once your weight has stayed consistent for two consecutive weeks you have found your maintenance calories! Stick with this calorie level and continue weighing yourself weekly. Adjust when necessary.
Resources
