LEWISTON – He tried being rational, convincing his wife that, on 480 calories a day, her weight-loss standstill was temporary.

Tracie Dubois had lost 37 pounds in her first month after gastric bypass surgery, better than a pound a day. Then for three days, nothing.

“It set a horrible trend,” said husband Travis. “She was starting to have a mini-meltdown.”

On all her other diets, Tracie gave up at the first sign of a plateau. This time, after such radical surgery, there’s really no going back.

Travis hid the scale. That helped.

They checked out the Web site obesityhelp.com and found a slang term for her new obsession: scale whore.

Ten weeks after surgery, Tracie’s lost 61 pounds. She still weighs herself every day – “It’s too exciting not to,” she says – and they laugh about her early panic.

She’s eating normal food, in small amounts, and avoiding sweets. There’s been one side effect: an ulcer at the meeting of her new stomach and her intestine. Sometimes it hurts and makes it hard to eat. She’s taking medication for it.

Dr. Gregory D’Augustine had warned about a 2 percent chance of ulcers or gastritis.

Travis has heard the warnings over and over. He says he’s putting his faith in the doctor. He’s scheduled for the same surgery Dec. 7.

He totes a cell phone when he plays golf because he worries about having a heart attack on the course. For him, there’s risk in having the procedure, and in not.

“Something could happen out there. I think the future is brighter having this surgery than continuing the path I’m on,” he said.

In the meantime, he’s strategizing. In the Maineiacs’ two years of play, Travis has yet to miss a regular, preseason or training home hockey game. He hates the idea of breaking the streak, and there’s a game scheduled three days after his surgery.

Tracie stayed in the hospital four nights; he’d love to scoot out in three and catch the game. It’ll depend on how he’s feeling.

Travis is on a pre-surgery diet and the house has been cleared of junk food. Tracie is convinced he’ll soon be losing more than her, quicker.

She’s dug clothes out of her closet already that she hasn’t worn in years. It’s easier to walk, she doesn’t run out of breath tackling stairs. Tracie said she noticed something for the first time when she made brownies for her son’s birthday a few weeks ago: how much she licked her fingers and the spoons when she baked.

She caught herself doing it, went to the sink and washed her tongue off.

Halloween passed without too much food fuss, and they’ve got a plan for Thanksgiving: turkey breasts, fixings, lots of vegetables and one pie for seven people.

“I told everybody, nothing stays, not turkey, not pie,” Tracie said.