The danger of MFP working.

kevinindelaware

I wonder how many people are back for a second or third try at this. In 2013 I was way to successful at this. I lost about 65 lbs in 3 months. Then I decided I could slowly go back to my normal ways of eating, drinking, lack of exercising, and most importantly I stopped logging. Within a year I gained it all back. 2015 was a second turning point. Acid reflux was back, no energy, couldn't get enough sleep. I came back. Fast forward 250+ days I've managed to lose 54lbs. It has been a lot harder this time. I realize that this time I have to continuing logging when I get to my goal. I feel great, my clothes no longer fit, and I'm ready for the beach. Hopefully first time users can see this thread and realize that fast weight loss is great, but the long term commitment is where it's at. Good luck everyone.

flowerhouse

Hi similar story to mine - I lost 40lb in 2014 over 5months - loved it, felt great and swore blind I wouldn't be overweight again - I put 22lb on over the next year. I am now back and it's way harder but I think I just need to stick to it and learn how to maintain it

Mersie1

Yup! My new strategy is I picked a weight I think I'm comfortable at- don't want to get too hung up on numbers- and set calories to maintenance. That way I will learn how to eat:nourish/enjoy life and when I'm where that weight is, I won't have to change anything

BobbieLee1959

I lost 60+, gained back all but 27...yep on this journey again and wondering why i ever quit logging...it makes all the difference in the world to know what you are consuming and walking off....gotta stay here...that is the bottom line...

nowine4me

Lost 75 in 2011 -- project complete. Stopped tracking, went back to poor eating habits and quick walking. Gained it all back in 2 years and am back at it now. I'm not finding it harder, but I'm certainly annoyed that I'm putting myself through this again, when it would have been so much easier to maintain.

littlewomensmom

This is my first time around and I am amazed at this tool! I had all but given up and now have lost almost 20 lbs in 50 days. Thank you so much for reminding me to never take this for granted...and don't stop logging! I can almost believe I could actually reach goal!

rileysowner

Mersie1 wrote: »

Yup! My new strategy is I picked a weight I think I'm comfortable at- don't want to get too hung up on numbers- and set calories to maintenance. That way I will learn how to eat:nourish/enjoy life and when I'm where that weight is, I won't have to change anything

I have experienced the same thing, although while I had put most of the weight I lost back on, I am still more active than before and other health markers were better as well. The weight, however, is causing issues.

If I understand you correctly, you are doing what I am doing. I figured out maintenance for my goal weight, I eat that every day. It will take much longer to lose the weight than it did the first time, not that I intentionally rushed things, but I did eat at a much larger deficit than I should have. The advantage of this in my mind is eating at my goal calories means every day I am learning how to eat the proper number of calories. When I get to my goal, or at least close to it, I will not have to change anything, just keep eating the way I have been all along. Right now my trend tracking app saying my goal weight will be reached sometime in the middle of 2017. That is fine with me. At the moment my big focus is getting my cycling endurance up so I can get in a 100K bike ride on my 50th birthday.

Mersie1

Yes! That's exactly what I'm doing. Minus the biking. I'm getting back to running after a fractured hip. Just turned 45- not expecting to do that w a walker/crutches! Add me if you like- we can high five each other while we work on our brilliant strategy!

BigGail

I'm on my 3rd round. I'd like to lose 3 stones (42lbs) but am concentrating more on my fitness than the numbers. I have a painful hip condition called bursitis and I'm having physiotherapy to help. I am a gym member and a lapsed Slimming World member (which is fab and does work, by the way). I'm taking back control. I will go back to Slimming World for the group support and get back on track, but for these next 2 weeks before pay day, I am eating clean and just focusing on becoming more mobile. Good luck everyone.

snowflake930

This is not unusual. Over 80% of the people who lose weight, gain it back (some gain even more) within 5 years. I am 27 months into maintenance and my long term goal is to keep the weight off. So, I will continue monitoring and logging as long as I am able to . It will be a lifetime commitment for me. Just the way it has to be. Some can do this without monitoring, I, unfortunately, can not.

Cave_Goose

I join MFP back in 2014 to get into shape to climb Mt. Rainier. Finished that goal last September, and then ran a marathon in October 2015. In the process, I lost 46lbs. Within 2 months of my marathon, I had gained 12lbs back. So now I'm on this trip for good. I have 2 choices: stay with it or get fat again.

benjaminD02

I am in the same boat too. 2014 I was 220 and then went down to 194. Was very happy with my weight / health / body and now I am at 219. I need to get back into the mindset but that is hard at the moment. Eughhh

punkrockgoth

Yup! Lost 50 lbs using MFP. Gained 80. Lost 20. Gained 15. Now I'm back again and it's a lot harder to take it off this time around. So I've been going slower, focusing more on fitness and building strategies for when things start to go by the wayside. Learning how to handle being away from the gym, budget/time constraints, illness, vacation, etc. I read the stories in the forums and on my newsfeed to see where and why people are failing, regaining, giving up and learning from that. Also a lot of trying to make peace with feeling like a failure for gaining back so much weight. I'm 6 lbs away from where I was when this all started. I can feel it coming!

Mersie1

You can do it! Fall down 10 times get up 11. Believe that this is the last time and you will be done bouncing. Add me if you like. I'm climbing my way out of the darkness for the last time too!

Heirgreat

I'm right there with everybody else! Lost 30 pounds in 2014 to 2015 came back 15 pounds now I'm down another 20. So it feels good to be on the losing side of things but it's much much slower. I'm focusing now on strength and I'm eating at my calorie level I should be eating at my goal weight. I'm training for a marathon in July kind of scary-but It's something I've always wanted to do. This is definitely a lifelong thing

kevinindelaware

Glad to see I'm not the only one that screwed up and got a little too cocky with it. I can appreciate the loss much more this time since I've had to work harder for it. I hope people starting out see this and some can avoid the same pitfalls we fell into. Good Luck everyone!

woznube7

Right there with you! I hope this time, I won't have to come back... i'll keep walking forward!

HannahInHawaii

Same. Lost 30+ and gained back 20 of it. Now starting again.

sarahanncarson

This time I truly vowed to stop the yo-yo weight issues by not just being here and logging, but seeking help from my doctor. I was at 218 lbs at my heaviest. From there I went to 144 lbs. But I didn't do it the right way so I had no problem going right back up to 185 lbs. Once again I got down to 142 lbs, but once again, I hadn't done it the right way. This time I made a commitment to myself. I got back up to 165 lbs and went straight to my doctor. I was honest about the things that I had been doing to lose weight in the past and told her I didn't want to do that anymore. I want to be healthy. I want to run a half marathon. I want to enjoy food and life, and I don't want to worry. Being on MFP is a part of my program and it may always be, I don't know yet. I do know that it will be for the foreseeable future. Good luck everyone! Feel free to add me as a friend.

debsdoingthis

Mersie1 wrote: »

Yup! My new strategy is I picked a weight I think I'm comfortable at- don't want to get too hung up on numbers- and set calories to maintenance. That way I will learn how to eat:nourish/enjoy life and when I'm where that weight is, I won't have to change anything

Where is the "high 5" button?
I have adopted the same strategy as opposed to every other lose weight quickly and gain back just as fast strategy I used in the past.

AddieOverhaul

Yup, in 2013 I was down 44 pounds and only 6 pounds from my goal weight. Then I hurt my back and had to stop running. That drastically affected my motivation and a slacked on the food side of things and gained back 24 pounds.

GaleHawkins

Folks there is nothing wrong with MFP but there is with some info that gets posted I found out at a personal level.

I did this for 40 years and wrecked my health so please find a way to stop the yo-yo because it is a killer I can tell you at age 65. Finally more by accident I found a macro that has been working for the past 18 months. I dropped from a July 2015 starting weight of 250 down to 200 for the first time in 22 years where I have maintained without painful effort or cravings for the past 12 months.

The MD below sums up why I yo yo'ed for 40 years and wrecked my help. If it can help two of you it will be worth watching and seeing the science behind long term non yo yo'ing weight.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ETkwZIi3R7w

Keep in mind we are all different but I expect there is a macro that will enable natural weight loss and maintain it for each of it. Best of success in finding it. Of we go through life being concerned about regaining lost weight it makes the odds very high that we will regain the lost weight based on my experience those of others.

Francl27

This has nothing to do with MFP. It's the same as every diet... if you don't stick to it and reverse to your old habits, you will gain the weight back.

GaleHawkins

sarahanncarson wrote: »

This time I truly vowed to stop the yo-yo weight issues by not just being here and logging, but seeking help from my doctor. I was at 218 lbs at my heaviest. From there I went to 144 lbs. But I didn't do it the right way so I had no problem going right back up to 185 lbs. Once again I got down to 142 lbs, but once again, I hadn't done it the right way. This time I made a commitment to myself. I got back up to 165 lbs and went straight to my doctor. I was honest about the things that I had been doing to lose weight in the past and told her I didn't want to do that anymore. I want to be healthy. I want to run a half marathon. I want to enjoy food and life, and I don't want to worry. Being on MFP is a part of my program and it may always be, I don't know yet. I do know that it will be for the foreseeable future. Good luck everyone! Feel free to add me as a friend.

Very encouraging for all to read that you are going with a doctor this time. Thanks for sharing @sarahanncarson

mjhellmers

rileysowner wrote: »

Mersie1 wrote: »

Yup! My new strategy is I picked a weight I think I'm comfortable at- don't want to get too hung up on numbers- and set calories to maintenance. That way I will learn how to eat:nourish/enjoy life and when I'm where that weight is, I won't have to change anything

I have experienced the same thing, although while I had put most of the weight I lost back on, I am still more active than before and other health markers were better as well. The weight, however, is causing issues.

If I understand you correctly, you are doing what I am doing. I figured out maintenance for my goal weight, I eat that every day. It will take much longer to lose the weight than it did the first time, not that I intentionally rushed things, but I did eat at a much larger deficit than I should have. The advantage of this in my mind is eating at my goal calories means every day I am learning how to eat the proper number of calories. When I get to my goal, or at least close to it, I will not have to change anything, just keep eating the way I have been all along. Right now my trend tracking app saying my goal weight will be reached sometime in the middle of 2017. That is fine with me. At the moment my big focus is getting my cycling endurance up so I can get in a 100K bike ride on my 50th birthday.

I started 1/4/15 and lost 75 lbs by 10/24/15 with some ups and downs. Sometime in August or September, I started C25K and made it to Week 5. I was set to 2 lbs loss per week, which helped me shed the weight even quicker...but I think it was too much, too fast. Then the holidays hit and I went back to all the old bad habits. I'm still down 33 lbs. from last year's starting weight...but that means I am up 42 from my lowest. It's amazing how quickly it comes back.

I have been thinking about setting my calories to the maintain level of my end goal for several weeks and finally decided to start that today. Best of luck to y'all.

GaleHawkins

Francl27 wrote: »

This has nothing to do with MFP. It's the same as every diet... if you don't stick to it and reverse to your old habits, you will gain the weight back.

Very true and that is why i stopped dieting in 2014 and started eating for health so there is no reason to ever eat more calories or different foods ever but that is covered in video above your post. Being able to lose weight yet not cut net weekly calories I think is the key for weight management for life. Science trumps myths for me.

GStone49

Down 45, up 25 in a year. The weight seems to creep back when you stop paying attention, right? Never made it to my original goal, but this time it will be different.

NattySchmatty

Your story is very similar to mine. I have realized that I am going to probably have to log calories on a somewhat regular basis for the rest of my life. I was maintaining very well for a while when I logged accurately at least 5 days a week. Once I quit logging, I gained back all the weight. I need to see those numbers in front of me. I need to be mindful, and this time around, I am "ok" with that. This is not just losing some vanity weight. I am determined to change my lifestyle.

Afura

I know why I regained a lot of my weight after I had used MFP before. I stopped caring about what I ate and yeah went right back into horrible eating process of consuming too many calories. MFP is a tool, but it's still the choices I make every day. Just like getting up and going to work instead of calling out sick. Make dat money, lose dat weight, every day.

rmtdoug

Last year, I went from 212 to 182 lbs, on my way to 170. Last week I discovered that I gained 2 lbs since last October....Oops! (I only weigh myself when I see my doctor). I did recalculate my calories and learned that at 184 lbs I was eating about 150 calories a day more than I should, so hopefully I'm back on track for my last 14 lbs.

Even before I saw this thread, I had already decided that logging is the most important factor in weight control. I know exactly why I gained those 2 pounds and I am now making the necessary adjustments.

Until now, I hadn't really thought of what do I do when I reach goal. This thread has been so helpful to know that we are all in danger of gaining it back and it seems the key is to continue logging.