Almost everyone quits losing weight

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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?
    Why do you think others quit?
    What makes you different?


    I'm not different. I've failed to lose and keep weight off in the past many times. I got frustrated and gave up many times. Am I going to get frustrated and give up again? I don't know.
    I feel like I've learned a lot about what works for me over the years. I've been making really good progress. I feel like it is ridiculously easy this time for some reason. It has never been this easy before. I haven't made drastic diet changes or deprived myself of things I like or started working out for hours a day. I feel really positive and determined.

    I think people often quit or fail because they are trying to do something complicated and hard to maintain long term. They think they need to do some special trick or secret to lose weight. They think they can't eat food they like. They are all about deprivation and cheating. They are trying really, really hard and don't know that it can be simple. They don't see progress or they do great but slip up a few weeks and can't get back to the super restrictive lifestyle. They get frustrated. They beat theselves up. They'll eventually try again.
  • dangie2002
    dangie2002 Posts: 71 Member
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    You are right, in the past, I'd get only so far and quit. I'd get frustrated, tired of depriving myself of what I wanted. What makes it different this time? I've come to realize I'm an emotional eater and binger. I'm learning to love me which means I need to show myself I love myself by making choices that will help me and not hurt me. So far, I'm in uncharted territory, most weight loss ever, longest consistent commitment to exercise ever, learning that all foods are permissible but not necessarily beneficial. If I want chocolate, I have a piece, not the whole bag. Everything in moderation. I've also discovered a joy with exercising, especially weight training. I've come to realize that this is my life, not a temporary fix. If I stop, I will be right back where I was before I started this journey 2 years ago.
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
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    I think I'll stick with it, not out of strength, but out of a different mindset. I look on my broken appetite like my rotten eyesight. I wear glasses for the eyesight, and I'm just going to have to accept that I need to track calories for my weight to do what I want.

    No strength involved, just decision.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
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    Three factors for me:
    1) I have to log my food intake for the rest of my life.
    2) I have to weigh myself at least twice a week, to prevent things getting out hand.
    3) I have redefined what it means to feel "full". Full does NOT mean I'm miserable.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    I like this question. I think I'm going to stick to it this time because I got GOOD AND SCARED, and I finally think I figured out some of the physiological stuff that was getting in my way -that in my case have made the psychological stuff so much more manageable.

    I think people quit because it is hard to stay fully committed to something that can create a sense of separation from others and cultural practices, is hard work and effort, your body resists, especially as time goes on and the other life priorities take over for various reasons and you stop getting the reinforcement of steady declines on the scale.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    NoelFigart1 wrote: »
    I think I'll stick with it, not out of strength, but out of a different mindset. I look on my broken appetite like my rotten eyesight. I wear glasses for the eyesight, and I'm just going to have to accept that I need to track calories for my weight to do what I want.

    No strength involved, just decision.

    I like this a lot
  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    I have stuck with it for my entire life. The difference is that now I know what things do and don't make a difference to my weight.

    Does make a difference for weight loss: track what I eat, track my exercise, set my goal correctly, aim for my net calorie goal every day, start each day fresh.

    Doesn't make a difference for weight loss: "eating clean", lifting weights, exhausting myself with cardio, feeling guilty, feeling deprived, depression, self-hatred, giving up chocolate, giving up meat, giving up any kind of "bad foods", wasting time on activities I hate, drinking gross weight loss shakes, reading/following any kind of diet book that someone makes money from.

    Before I was walking and walking and walking and walking and wondering why I never reached my destination.

    Then I got a map.

    Others quit because they're doing things they can't do their whole life. I like my current diet plan and level of exercise, which I'm hoping is enough to maintain at a weight I'll be happy with.
  • girlonfire2913
    girlonfire2913 Posts: 17
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    in 2014 i lost 50+ lbs after having my baby and this time last year i was full of motivation to get healthy and lose all the access fat i was carrying even before pregnancy. Anyway, once i got back into a normal weight range for myself and it a 2 month plateau and it seemed that no matter what i did i would budge and started maintaining. then another to months went by and i got so discouraged i quit. now i'm into my first week trying to get back into it and i moth i quit for i gained 6 lbs
  • lemonsurprise
    lemonsurprise Posts: 255 Member
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    I just learned what I was doing, not some fad diet that takes masses of self control, money and determination. Just to eat what I want in moderation. Learned about BMR and TDEE and since then it's just been a breeze. I have no thoughts about giving up, and there is now no reason at all that I could go back to eating the sheer amount of calories that I was and ignore the fact I'll get fat again from it! It's just not even possible. A year from now I'll be at my goal, 1 million percent!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    I AM strong.
    Don't care why others quit, its not my business.
    I WILL stick with it, because I kick a**!
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?
    Why do you think others quit?
    What makes you different?

    1. It's not about being strong - it's about focusing on what matters. Took me to age 53 to figure it out. It is all in the daily / hourly minute by minute focusing on my goal of better fitness.
    2. I don't know about others. For me, it was just being in denial.
    3. What made it different for me for the last three years and counting (maintaining a 46 pound weight loss)... is I want to live and feel good about life. And not comparing myself to others, just being me.

  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
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    GuitarJerry wrote: »
    I think most people fail because they rely on motivation. Motivation is fleeing. In the end, those who make it, and keep it off, tend to be people that are disciplined. Discipline and habit tend to last a lifetime. Motivation comes and goes so quickly. No one is motivated to get up everyday at 4am and go to the gym, however, some people are disciplined enough to do it, even when it's the last thing in the world they want to do. It's really more of a habit and complete lifestyle change...and when I say lifestyle change, I mean a real one. Not just a change for a couple weeks. But, where you stick to it, basically, for the rest of your life.

    this x10. do the ish you need to do...no bellyaching - remove the emotion - just get it done.
  • SteveEighty
    SteveEighty Posts: 21 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I AM strong.
    Don't care why others quit, its not my business.
    I WILL stick with it, because I kick a**!

    Yes, that's the spirit! To be strong, resolute, super motivated and focused at all times.

    And to have a firm plan in place for the post weight-loss period, i.e a cast-iron Maintenance Plan. In 2006, I lost 55 lbs but gained the weight back within 18 months because I had no firm MP in place. In the first part of 2014, I lost 80 lbs (from 223 lb down to 143) but have managed to stay at the same weight in the last 6 months thanks to a solid MP.

    I'd also like to stress that a big weight-loss prog, say over 40-50 lbs, should be viewed as a big chance to change your lifestyle for good, especially your eating habits. To be successful (after having been obese/grossly overweight), one should completely rethink their rapport to food (and to health - and, to a lesser degree, to exercise).

  • notsuchaskinnybitch
    notsuchaskinnybitch Posts: 203
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    I'm too addicted to how good exercise feels and how good I feel with a smaller and toned body. Plus seeing people with health problems because of weight/made worse by weight is enough to put me off ever being overweight again!
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?

    Because sticking to it doesn't require me to be strong.
    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think others quit?

    Because they never address their behaviour and habits on a fundamental level
    glickman1 wrote: »
    What makes you different?

    because I have addressed my behaviour and habits on a fundamental level
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited December 2014
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    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?

    I don't feel like I'm strong, I've just learnt a new habit and I'm happy with it so I'll keep doing it.

    I don't focus on losing weight any more as I've got my logging and eating patterns down and I'm on 0.5lbs a week loss now - my goal is currently to master the pull-up, cos I've got push-ups down now and can take my 13 year old on... OK I still lose but he's pre-pubescent and pushing zero body-weight (maybe a minor goal is to beat him).. I still rock it.
    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think others quit?

    Don't know, I assume because they get tied up in the minutae, with gimmicks and fads and exclusions and it becomes a great effort of willpower rather than a 'this is just me'
    glickman1 wrote: »
    What makes you different?

    I'm a special snowflake :grinning: always have been, always will be
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
    edited December 2014
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    quit because of lack of knowledge or the fact that iam just really not ready ,but now i have the knowledge and i am fully ready so the pounds are just poppin off losing between 5-8 lbs per month
  • runnerchick69
    runnerchick69 Posts: 317 Member
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    glickman1 wrote: »
    Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?
    Why do you think others quit?
    What makes you different?

    I was pretty sure I'd fail but that was 10 years ago. Over two or so years I lost 100 pounds and 8 years later I have kept it off. I think most people quit because they aren't really ready, I know I quit more than a few times. I have the right mindset and determination to stay healthy and happy. Maybe what makes me different is I never looked at this as a diet, I knew it was a life change I was making. People have often said well now that you're done but the fact is I'll never be done. After getting to my goal I simply transitioned into maintenance which is a whole new journey. I think maintenance is where it gets truly hard and a lot of people simply aren't prepared to tow the line.

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