How many cals, at 7 yrs out, to lose?

Around 800 calories a day for me at 5'5 and 145lbs to lose weight at 7 yrs post op.  We have one day off a week, where you can eat more. 

Ugggg....I thought I was the unlucky one because I can't eat over 1400 calories without gain. 800 would be the pits, but I very much admire your conviction!

Without the protein bars and the simple carbs its really not that hard.  I had a day off today and for a treat wanted a s'mores, I made two on half of a graham cracker.  Two hours later I crashed and had to eat.  I really can't even have any simple carbs at all, my boyfriend and I both agreed that even our cheat day had to be healthy food, he ate some pizza and is dying from the fat.  It really does feel good to eat healthy and putting on capri's that I just pulled out of the hot dryer and slipping them on without tugging was a nice reward.

I agree that eating clean really makes a big difference when it comes to cravings. It's so much easier to stay in control when you don't eat simple carbs because, as you mentioned, you don't get that hunger that hits a few hours after eating a bad food choice.

I'm at a point where getting another ten (well, 14, because I'm up a few pounds right now) would make a difference between looking and feeling "good" to looking and feeling "great". I'm just NOT in the mood to tackle it right now, though. Wish I was.

I'm hoping that my June 7th tummy tuck will motivate me to get up and exercise. If I would move around more, I could be much more lax with my eating. I'm distal, and I need extra fat in my diet to lose well.

As most of us post-ops and come to realize, this "ain't nothin' but a DIET" once we get beyond the initial few months post surgery. However, it's great that we can lose so quickly with the aid of the surgery (even many years post-op) by just cleaning up the diet and moving around a little more. It really does not take all that much effort, and that, I'm VERY thankful for! 

Yeap! 800 cals! When I tell this to my doctors and dieticians they always say that I can't live on only 800 and that I need to be eating 1000-1200 at least a day. I tell them I will then gain. Either they don't believe me or else they are covering there own rumps by not wanting to tell someone that they can only eat that few cals a day to live on....malpractice? i'm not sure! But this surgery is a God send for initially losing weight but to keep it off or lose again is extremely difficult the further I get out.
Thanks for sharing!

I'm about 3.75 years out from my RNY. To maintain I eat around 2000 calories a day. To lose, I cut back to 1500.

 Gary Taubes wrote a book, Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It.  He talks about how the whole calorie thing came into being and how doctors use that to convince us that there is a certain magic number of calories that will keep us from getting fat.  The book is one of the most helpful I have ever read.