once fat, always fat

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  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    hugheseva wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    @synacious " I'm 30 now and I weigh 118 pounds; my body looks the best it ever has in my life. Do I deprive myself? No. Yesterday I had half of a pumpkin spice donut, half of an apple cinnamon donut, half of a jelly donut, and a hamburger with BBQ sauce and french fries. I enjoyed every bite, but I know I can't eat like that every single day unless I'm willing to get the physical activity it takes to burn that off or maintain my weight. I still ended up losing two pounds this week when my goal is only half a pound per week. I didn't mean to, but I move around so much now that it just happened."

    I weighed 115 until age 38, and then I slowly slowly gained. Up to to that point I ate whatever I wanted and the weight just melted off of me. I was always active too. So "age" is not necessarily starting at 30. Now, I can't even look at those things you mention in your comment. If I overeat one day, or eat something that has a tiny bit of more sodium or sugar, I gain 1-2 lbs that takes me 4-5 days to work off. I lift weights and do cardio 7 days a week. Have to do almost scientific efforts to lose the weight.

    So as a conclusion, if one continues eating the stuff you mentioned, around a certain "age" one will gain back the weight without a doubt.

    That's because you're gaining water weight... donuts or hamburgers won't make you gain weight as long as they fit your calories. Just saying.

    I experienced first hand that the balance also counts. I cannot explain how, but the same caloric intake of "bad" food stays on more. Not to mention the increased cholesterol intake that just shortens one's life.
    My point was really that we'd better watch out how and what we eat because at the end, you'll pay the piper. :)

    Nope. As long as you're in a caloric deficit , weight comes off. No matter what. If you didn't lose weight, you weren't in a deficit. You need to weigh all solid food on a food scale to accurately verify caloric intake. All things in moderation, including cholesterol, and you're fine.
    and as far as the piper goes, no one gets out alive, that's just how it goes. Enjoy the journey.

    I don't intend to hijack this thread, but if you look at my diary, you can see how detailed I am logging everything. I am weighing even the .2 oz garlic I put in food. In spite of this, I lost maybe 1 lb in 2 weeks. So in spite of all the heavy training and proper eating, I have difficulty losing at my age.

    Also, eating 200 calories of carbs is NOT the same as eating 200 calories of fat. Carbs burn up, fat stays. And fat is only burnt after you used up all the carbs in your body. So it does count what type of food you eat within the same caloric intake.

    That is not correct. If you are in a deficit, your body cannot store anything. It must use everything. And also burn extra from stores in the body. That is how the caloric deficit works. There cannot be any storage of fat in a deficit.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I've been fat. I will always want to eat the amount of food I did while maintaining or gaining when I was larger...but I can't. I have to re-learn how to eat for my smaller self. It kind of sucks because I love food so much, but I have the knowledge and power, as well as fitness goals, to maintain my weight. Or so I strongly believe.
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
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    It's so incredibly difficult for people who are obese to maintain at a healthy weight because of how our brains are wired. It's a consistence, conscious effort and fight on a daily basis. It's certainly so much more difficult for someone to maintain who was once obese vs. to maintain for someone who has never been overweight.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    There are so many variables from person to person most any 'absolute' statement about diet/weight loss/gain will not be true from time to time. We are all different.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    @hugheseva, one thing I will say - looking at your diary. You have some entries where you are meausuring things like peanut butter. Can't do that, you have to weigh it. You also eat back most of your exercise calories. You may be overestimating the calories burned. Eat back less of those calories. Those adjustments might help you.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    hugheseva wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    @synacious " I'm 30 now and I weigh 118 pounds; my body looks the best it ever has in my life. Do I deprive myself? No. Yesterday I had half of a pumpkin spice donut, half of an apple cinnamon donut, half of a jelly donut, and a hamburger with BBQ sauce and french fries. I enjoyed every bite, but I know I can't eat like that every single day unless I'm willing to get the physical activity it takes to burn that off or maintain my weight. I still ended up losing two pounds this week when my goal is only half a pound per week. I didn't mean to, but I move around so much now that it just happened."

    I weighed 115 until age 38, and then I slowly slowly gained. Up to to that point I ate whatever I wanted and the weight just melted off of me. I was always active too. So "age" is not necessarily starting at 30. Now, I can't even look at those things you mention in your comment. If I overeat one day, or eat something that has a tiny bit of more sodium or sugar, I gain 1-2 lbs that takes me 4-5 days to work off. I lift weights and do cardio 7 days a week. Have to do almost scientific efforts to lose the weight.

    So as a conclusion, if one continues eating the stuff you mentioned, around a certain "age" one will gain back the weight without a doubt.

    That's because you're gaining water weight... donuts or hamburgers won't make you gain weight as long as they fit your calories. Just saying.

    I experienced first hand that the balance also counts. I cannot explain how, but the same caloric intake of "bad" food stays on more. Not to mention the increased cholesterol intake that just shortens one's life.
    My point was really that we'd better watch out how and what we eat because at the end, you'll pay the piper. :)

    Nope. As long as you're in a caloric deficit , weight comes off. No matter what. If you didn't lose weight, you weren't in a deficit. You need to weigh all solid food on a food scale to accurately verify caloric intake. All things in moderation, including cholesterol, and you're fine.
    and as far as the piper goes, no one gets out alive, that's just how it goes. Enjoy the journey.

    I don't intend to hijack this thread, but if you look at my diary, you can see how detailed I am logging everything. I am weighing even the .2 oz garlic I put in food. In spite of this, I lost maybe 1 lb in 2 weeks. So in spite of all the heavy training and proper eating, I have difficulty losing at my age.

    Also, eating 200 calories of carbs is NOT the same as eating 200 calories of fat. Carbs burn up, fat stays. And fat is only burnt after you used up all the carbs in your body. So it does count what type of food you eat within the same caloric intake.

    This is a good rate of loss, also. Be confident in this and stick with it.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    For me what happened is that I got into a groove. I stayed at 124 without a thought, I even stopped counting for the last two years of maintenance. That's because I learned all there was to know about being that person at that time, in that particular CI/CO balance, with that amount of activity, eating more or less the same 10-20 meals. I didn't weigh food, I used measuring cups, and it was fine, because I could count on my burns. It worked really well for ages.

    When the CO side changed (because of injuries), I kept eating the way I did before. The regain wasn't too bad - I went up to 142ish with no exercise. I've lost some of that (am now at 137, have been hovering between 135 and that for some months) with much less exercise intensity and frequency than before. Now, after even more injuries and with no exercise really at all, I have to learn a new approach, even though I know CICO and I know what I like. Now, I am going to probably have to weigh my food with a scale and maybe make different food choices in order to not feel terrible on a lower intake.

    Because, yes, you have the knowledge (eat less move more), but the experiential knowledge and habits may need to change depending on new constraints.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    hugheseva wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    @synacious " I'm 30 now and I weigh 118 pounds; my body looks the best it ever has in my life. Do I deprive myself? No. Yesterday I had half of a pumpkin spice donut, half of an apple cinnamon donut, half of a jelly donut, and a hamburger with BBQ sauce and french fries. I enjoyed every bite, but I know I can't eat like that every single day unless I'm willing to get the physical activity it takes to burn that off or maintain my weight. I still ended up losing two pounds this week when my goal is only half a pound per week. I didn't mean to, but I move around so much now that it just happened."

    I weighed 115 until age 38, and then I slowly slowly gained. Up to to that point I ate whatever I wanted and the weight just melted off of me. I was always active too. So "age" is not necessarily starting at 30. Now, I can't even look at those things you mention in your comment. If I overeat one day, or eat something that has a tiny bit of more sodium or sugar, I gain 1-2 lbs that takes me 4-5 days to work off. I lift weights and do cardio 7 days a week. Have to do almost scientific efforts to lose the weight.

    So as a conclusion, if one continues eating the stuff you mentioned, around a certain "age" one will gain back the weight without a doubt.

    That's because you're gaining water weight... donuts or hamburgers won't make you gain weight as long as they fit your calories. Just saying.

    I experienced first hand that the balance also counts. I cannot explain how, but the same caloric intake of "bad" food stays on more. Not to mention the increased cholesterol intake that just shortens one's life.
    My point was really that we'd better watch out how and what we eat because at the end, you'll pay the piper. :)

    Ok you really have no idea what you're talking about. I suggest you spend some time reading more about how weight loss works.

    Also dietary cholesterol has typically no impact on blood cholesterol.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    hugheseva wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    hugheseva wrote: »
    @synacious " I'm 30 now and I weigh 118 pounds; my body looks the best it ever has in my life. Do I deprive myself? No. Yesterday I had half of a pumpkin spice donut, half of an apple cinnamon donut, half of a jelly donut, and a hamburger with BBQ sauce and french fries. I enjoyed every bite, but I know I can't eat like that every single day unless I'm willing to get the physical activity it takes to burn that off or maintain my weight. I still ended up losing two pounds this week when my goal is only half a pound per week. I didn't mean to, but I move around so much now that it just happened."

    I weighed 115 until age 38, and then I slowly slowly gained. Up to to that point I ate whatever I wanted and the weight just melted off of me. I was always active too. So "age" is not necessarily starting at 30. Now, I can't even look at those things you mention in your comment. If I overeat one day, or eat something that has a tiny bit of more sodium or sugar, I gain 1-2 lbs that takes me 4-5 days to work off. I lift weights and do cardio 7 days a week. Have to do almost scientific efforts to lose the weight.

    So as a conclusion, if one continues eating the stuff you mentioned, around a certain "age" one will gain back the weight without a doubt.

    That's because you're gaining water weight... donuts or hamburgers won't make you gain weight as long as they fit your calories. Just saying.

    I experienced first hand that the balance also counts. I cannot explain how, but the same caloric intake of "bad" food stays on more. Not to mention the increased cholesterol intake that just shortens one's life.
    My point was really that we'd better watch out how and what we eat because at the end, you'll pay the piper. :)
    No one can. Because it simply doesn't work that way.

  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    I saw a study a few days ago where they showed that the effects of dieting on the various hormones that affect our appetite (leptin, ghrelin, PYY, GLP-1 etc), continued for years after weight loss. Our bodies are begging us to regain the weight. Scary stuff. But for me, not nearly as scary as the habit of relying on food to "get me through". What's going to happen the next time I am met with a challenge that I feel inadequately prepared for? Where am I going to turn for that "added boost" I feel that I need? I haven't completely figured this out yet. It's very tempting to STILL turn to food, but limit it to ONE DAY and one day only. The real willpower would be in not allowing that one day to turn into two months.
  • hamelle2
    hamelle2 Posts: 297 Member
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    I believe the statement " losing fat " can be misleading. We will always have the same number of fat cells in our bodies unless you have them sucked out or frozen. Knowing that I have all these cells just waiting to fill back up makes me much more conscious of how easily it would be to regain.
    This is lifelong for me.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,390 Member
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    There are so many variables from person to person most any 'absolute' statement about diet/weight loss/gain will not be true from time to time. We are all different.

    I can agree with this. People have to find their own groove and go with it. For all we know taking a magic placebo pill would put some people in the mindset that it's going to work, and they would alter their habits because of it. Others find motivations elsewhere. What rule works for one might not for another, and there are very few absolutes.


    Personally I think the thing of people gaining back weight is largely a psychological thing. You don't get overweight without bad habits, and the farther they are planted in your mind as "normal" the more likely you are to return to them. It's easy to change behavior short term, but long term it's much harder.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    *Looks in mirror and looks at her diary*

    Nope, definitely eat and definitely haven't gotten "fat" again after losing 100 lbs 7 years ago.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    Most people will regain because they look at dieting as a temporary change. It's something they do for a while and then they can go back to "normal".

    I will most likely maintain on a similar amount of calories that I was eating in my "before" because I'm **a lot** more active now. I went from couch potato (<2000 steps on a typical day) to active (12000 steps on a normal day). I also didn't eat a ridiculous amount of food every day. I ate a little too much all the time and then would stuff myself silly every once in a while.

    When all the math works out, I'll probably be eating pretty similar day to day calories as I did "before". I've eliminated the binge eating portions (I just feel terrible now when I try so I can't even binge like I used to). But, I say that knowing that I need to stay active and keep on top of my weight. If I don't, I could slide very easily back into old habits and regain.

    I have no desire to become a couch potato again. I like my active lifestyle. But I know that I could be one injury or high risk pregnancy away from having to cut my calories down to maintain*. Maintenance is about vigilance. It's when people get complacent that they regain.

    *I say this as a future state. I'm not currently maintaining, I still have 25 or so pounds to go.
  • hugheseva
    hugheseva Posts: 227 Member
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    @FrancI27

    "Also dietary cholesterol has typically no impact on blood cholesterol"

    Yes, there are new studies that that's the case. Again, back to my own experience. 25 lbs weight, cheese, other dairy products, bread and cold cuts ago, my blood cholesterol was 236. I stopped eating these things. After 5 months, my blood cholesterol was 160. I must be an anomaly.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    No people who were once fat must not always be fat or unhealthy.

    Yes, most who lose weight will regain it.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    So as a conclusion, if one continues eating the stuff you mentioned, around a certain "age" one will gain back the weight without a doubt.

    This is not accurate, unless you eat more calories than you burn.

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    hugheseva wrote: »
    @FrancI27

    "Also dietary cholesterol has typically no impact on blood cholesterol"

    Yes, there are new studies that that's the case. Again, back to my own experience. 25 lbs weight, cheese, other dairy products, bread and cold cuts ago, my blood cholesterol was 236. I stopped eating these things. After 5 months, my blood cholesterol was 160. I must be an anomaly.

    Bread typically wouldn't have any/much cholesterol. But it may have plenty of fast digesting carbohydrates which have been shown to affect blood cholesterol levels.

    But you very well could be an anomaly. While dietary cholesterol typically has little impact on blood cholesterol (saying no impact is not correct), for some people it has a significant impact.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    This is my second serious weight loss go around and this time, I think, is for keeps. I have been maintaining for six months now. My goal was 125 but my body seems to think that 118 is pretty good and I have not really deviated from that in the past 6 months. I weigh each Friday morning at the gym in front of my trainer and anyone else who is around. I think part of my success, besides really enjoying size 4 jeans :), is the fact that I do this in front of everyone. I am being held accountable and am often used as an example by my trainer for others.

    I came into the weight loss game with ulcerative colitis, proctitis and low level inflammation throughout my body as a result of auto-immune issues. Oh, and let's throw perimenopause into the mix too. Also, I broke my left kneecap in several places a few years back so the tendons and muscles are not attached in the normal spot due to the breaks. That means, I cannot do hard impact exercises like jump rope, running and sprints. I have to work around issues. And let's face it, EVERYONE has particular issues that could hold them back. This time around, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

    The biggest lifestyle change was recognizing my weaknesses. I KNOW if I do not log my food and exercise, I will backslide rapidly. I know some people who lie on their own food logs! All that does is undermine yourself. I keep it real, logging even the one crouton I pop in my mouth while making salad. I quit soda AGAIN and this time, it is for good. I research the restaurant I will be eating at with friends or family so I know exactly what to get without any guesswork. I carry my stainless steel thermos everywhere I go so I stay hydrated (a major problem in the past was that I would eat when I was actually just not hydrated enough).

    What's that saying? You're not planning to fail; you are failing to plan. You need to have that game plan for those blips on the radar. If I have ice cream or my favorite bag of chips, I know immediately that the following day, I will be eating more salad, cutting grains and/or adding some extra cardio to my workout to compensate.

    There is NO way that I will be going back to the way I was. I will do whatever I have to do to maintain this new normal that I am enjoying so much.