Your weight at the time of your first diet vs your highest weight after

Russellb97
Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My first real diet was a no-carb plan at 19 years-old and I weighed 235lbs.
I lost 30lbs in 3 months but within a year I was around 245lbs.

8 years later and after another 7-14 times of dieting I weighed 330lbs

Anyone else have a similar experience?




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Replies

  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    Buddy I'd give anything to look like I did the first time I thought I was fat and needed to lose weight.

    I'm sorry man. From what others have told me I believe this is going to be true with many others.
  • charlenekapf
    charlenekapf Posts: 309 Member
    yes. well headed that direction at least. 8 years ago size 16 (women's XL) --->3 years ago size 0. Was tired of having *kitten* sleep from years of dieting, intermittent fasting. Binging started and my low weight was impossible (for me) to maintain. Extreme exercise and intense focus on calories started the binge/restrict cycle. It started with a few a week of a few hundred calories over....quickly became a daily struggle to ever eat at maintenance or under. Low carb diets help keep calories low but energy is awful, mood is awful. Now am a size 8/10. Work out hard daily and skip breakfast to help offset the calories but I always end up slightly over which has made me gain slower (outside bouts of going over by 1-2k calories on bad days). I sleep so much better when I eat over maintenance which sucks because for every other reason of health, I suffer. Terrified of becoming morbidly obese but kind of unsure what to do at this point. I exercise like crazy and have better days when I fast and eat paleo style but ultimately feel like *kitten* if I stay in a deficit of even a few hundred for more than a few days at a time. it's awful. hormones also out of whack so that may play a role.

    TL;DR A lot of people struggle with keeping the weight off. Have talked to a lot of former fitness competitors too who get burned out on the constant dieting, struggle to maintain a certain physique. I'm sure many do just fine after weight loss but for a lot of us, it's really really hard to keep off forever.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    My first diet was when I was 14 and I weighed 135. I did Atkins and worked out obsessively and got down to 115.

    When I was 18, I weighed 160. I got down to 145 and stayed there until I was 20. Then I got up to 208 over the course of two years. Got down to 150. Stayed there for a year and I've been yo yo ing between 190 and 225 for the past 5 years.

    Now I'm just trying to make sensible choices instead of "dieting."
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    My first diet was sometime in my mid 20s and I did South Beach...I wasn't overweight, but I had lost my six pack that I had always had...have no idea what weight I was. My highest weight 4 years ago was 220Lbs...I'm more or less back to my "wish I had a six pack" body that I had in my mid 20s...but I'm ok not having a six pack now.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,259 Member
    edited September 2016
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    Short answer, yes, there are several theories that point out to that being a possibility. You may lose more lean mass that you should during dieting. You may adapt to having muscles that can handle the exercise you do more efficiently. You may experience adaptive thermogenesis that may or may not resolve without a period of sustained weight regain, or ever, or not exist at all :smile:

    Regardless, if you are overweight there exists no magical way to lose weight other than by creating a deficit. About the best thing you can do, this time around, is create your deficit smartly and in a way that will minimise the possibility of hitting all these snags, or making them worse than they currently are.

    So: choose a reasonable deficit (probably 20% of TDEE or less for people who are overweight or normal weight; maybe up to 25% for people who are obese). This usually translates to no more than a 500 Cal a day of deficit for the vast majority of people as opposed to the 1000 Cal a day deficit most people choose to try for.

    Eat more protein to preserve lean mass when eating at a deficit. Approximately 1g per lb of lean mass is not a bad first value. Sometimes simplified as 0.8g per lb of body-weight.

    Engage in strength training (yes, it will slow down your apparent weight loss. So what? It will make you feel better and you will be stronger).

    These would be good starting points anyways :smile:
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,259 Member
    edited September 2016
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    Well, now that I've checked your profile... what does the co-author of The Spike Diet think causes obesity? And why doesn't he just use the existing term, "adaptive thermogenesis", to describe it?
  • hereforthelolz
    hereforthelolz Posts: 51 Member
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    There is a lot of research to back this theory up. You're not wrong.

    I was 12 years old and 110lbs when I went on my first diet. Ten years later I weighed almost 100 lbs more.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    I think there is some evidence to back that up. But it's not the whole picture. I think it comes from the mindset of dieting. That there is an end game. So when you reach your goal, you're done. And you go back to eating how you ate before.

    That and potential lost LBM lowering your TDEE and yes, I think in a roundabout way, crash dieting can cause obesity.

  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    I was 11 with my first diet and maybe 155-160 at 5'11". Lost about 15lbs. In 2014 I was 170 and this last round I was 160 again. Highest weight was 173.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    Well, now that I've checked your profile... what does the co-author of The Spike Diet think causes obesity? And why doesn't he just use the existing term, "adaptive thermogenesis", to describe it?

    I definitely believe that is part of it of course but I'm also blaming the emotional and mental impact of dieting.

    We begin a bit overweight but want to be thinner. So we diet and lose weight, then we stop and we regain weight, plus maybe some more. So we blame ourselves for the failure and start another diet hoping it "works" again. Then we just repeat the same cycle again and again and again. Pretty soon we are no longer overweight but obese.

  • juliebowman4
    juliebowman4 Posts: 784 Member
    bethannien wrote: »
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    I think there is some evidence to back that up. But it's not the whole picture. I think it comes from the mindset of dieting. That there is an end game. So when you reach your goal, you're done. And you go back to eating how you ate before.



    ^this

    Plus it's rare to hear about people tackling the emotional component to overeating/unhealthy eating.

    I'm a decade alcohol and drug free.....successfully quitting had WAY more to do with simply stopping what wasn't good for me.
    I'm almost 3yrs cigarette/nicotine free. Once again (through previous failed attempts) I learned that just not buying cigarettes wasn't the entire answer.

    And now....with food....a bit tricky because I can't abstain, but I'm learning that I have to tackle the emotional components.

  • hereforthelolz
    hereforthelolz Posts: 51 Member
    edited September 2016
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Anyone think that dieting is one of the factors that can lead to obesity?

    Well, now that I've checked your profile... what does the co-author of The Spike Diet think causes obesity? And why doesn't he just use the existing term, "adaptive thermogenesis", to describe it?

    I definitely believe that is part of it of course but I'm also blaming the emotional and mental impact of dieting.

    We begin a bit overweight but want to be thinner. So we diet and lose weight, then we stop and we regain weight, plus maybe some more. So we blame ourselves for the failure and start another diet hoping it "works" again. Then we just repeat the same cycle again and again and again. Pretty soon we are no longer overweight but obese.

    Except with women we are mostly in a healthy weight range at the time of our first diet. If I could go back I never would have started.

    It's not just "going back to your old habits" either. Dieting changes your chemistry. It changes you on a metabolic level, and the changes persist long past the point where you've regained the weight.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Highest weight was 200. Dieted down to 154 pounds then didn't do a good job at maintenance and was back to 180 after 2 years. Now I'm starting again, back down to 172 after 2 months.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    Buddy I'd give anything to look like I did the first time I thought I was fat and needed to lose weight.

    c955ab42032ee1e62e3a7f7a5ecf6a88.jpg

    Only in my case it was the USAF saying I needed to lose 10 pounds...and within a few years they had raised it back up 10 pounds.
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    Also I want to say that I'm asking this question because I feel like the mainstream has created a crap storm for obesity with the pressure to be thin and to not be satisfied with the way we look and then offering "quick and easy" diet plans to lose weight fast! And then when it fails, we've been brainwashed to blame ourselves for not being good enough.
    It breaks my heart knowing how desperate one can be to lose weight and how impossible it can feel when you're busting your butt daily and eating little and not losing weight. I felt I was the failure each time.

    Experts blame; carbs, dietary fats, laziness, genetics, processed food etc. but i think dieting itself could be the true criminal.

    We could all agree we need lifestyle changes but diets are exciting and promise amazing fast results so we fall for them before reasoning can take over.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Also I want to say that I'm asking this question because I feel like the mainstream has created a crap storm for obesity with the pressure to be thin and to not be satisfied with the way we look and then offering "quick and easy" diet plans to lose weight fast! And then when it fails, we've been brainwashed to blame ourselves for not being good enough.
    It breaks my heart knowing how desperate one can be to lose weight and how impossible it can feel when you're busting your butt daily and eating little and not losing weight. I felt I was the failure each time.

    Experts blame; carbs, dietary fats, laziness, genetics, processed food etc. but i think dieting itself could be the true criminal.

    We could all agree we need lifestyle changes but diets are exciting and promise amazing fast results so we fall for them before reasoning can take over.

    Yup, my recruiter handed me printouts of the Banana Diet and the cabbage Soup Diet. Jeez Louise.
  • louann_jude
    louann_jude Posts: 307 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Russellb97 wrote: »
    Also I want to say that I'm asking this question because I feel like the mainstream has created a crap storm for obesity with the pressure to be thin and to not be satisfied with the way we look and then offering "quick and easy" diet plans to lose weight fast! And then when it fails, we've been brainwashed to blame ourselves for not being good enough.
    It breaks my heart knowing how desperate one can be to lose weight and how impossible it can feel when you're busting your butt daily and eating little and not losing weight. I felt I was the failure each time.

    Experts blame; carbs, dietary fats, laziness, genetics, processed food etc. but i think dieting itself could be the true criminal.

    We could all agree we need lifestyle changes but diets are exciting and promise amazing fast results so we fall for them before reasoning can take over.

    Yup, my recruiter handed me printouts of the Banana Diet and the cabbage Soup Diet. Jeez Louise.

    I really think it was the recruiter that got me started on my obsession to reach a magic number. 148 I believe. But the military is so focused on the weight charts they don't take in consideration of bone structure or muscle mass.
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    When I was 18 I thought I needed to lose weight being 140lbs (5'9"), made a really half-assed effort at calorie counting and then met my husband/got busy actually getting fat lol. My highest weight ever was post baby #2 when I got into the 250's. I am thankfully now 127lbs after getting my *kitten* together
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 669 Member
    JessicaMcB wrote: »
    When I was 18 I thought I needed to lose weight being 140lbs (5'9"), made a really half-assed effort at calorie counting and then met my husband/got busy actually getting fat lol. My highest weight ever was post baby #2 when I got into the 250's. I am thankfully now 127lbs after getting my *kitten* together

    You look incredible. What is your workout routine?

  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    frankiesgirlie wrote: »
    JessicaMcB wrote: »
    When I was 18 I thought I needed to lose weight being 140lbs (5'9"), made a really half-assed effort at calorie counting and then met my husband/got busy actually getting fat lol. My highest weight ever was post baby #2 when I got into the 250's. I am thankfully now 127lbs after getting my *kitten* together

    You look incredible. What is your workout routine?

    Thank you :) . I run 60+km a week on average
  • dr_soda
    dr_soda Posts: 57 Member
    edited September 2016
    hereforthelolz wrote: »

    Except with women we are mostly in a healthy weight range at the time of our first diet.

    *Citation needed
    It's not just "going back to your old habits" either. Dieting changes your chemistry. It changes you on a metabolic level, and the changes persist long past the point where you've regained the weight.

    *Citation needed

    Those are both some very bold claims that I cannot say I've seen good evidence for.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    It was maybe 150-165 lbs in my mid to late 20's while my highest was 180 lbs in my late 30's.
    My first use of a formal diet plan was probably 2003- 2004 with the South Beach Diet.
    I was definitely overweight at the time I first tried to lose weight. I really didn't care to do anything until then even though I had weighed more than my ideal weight for a few years.
  • hereforthelolz
    hereforthelolz Posts: 51 Member
    dr_soda wrote: »
    hereforthelolz wrote: »

    Except with women we are mostly in a healthy weight range at the time of our first diet.

    *Citation needed
    It's not just "going back to your old habits" either. Dieting changes your chemistry. It changes you on a metabolic level, and the changes persist long past the point where you've regained the weight.

    *Citation needed

    Those are both some very bold claims that I cannot say I've seen good evidence for.

    Read "Rethinking Thin" by Gina Kolata. There is far more research out there than I can condense into a message board post. "Why Diets Make Us Fat" is another good one written by a neuroscientist.
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    I was 251 lbs when I started losing weight about 6 years ago. When I started back in a year ago, I was 263 lbs.

    However, some pretty strong caveats: 1) there were 2 pregnancies in between; 2) the first pregnancy gave me an underactive thyroid (which went undiagnosed for over a year).

    I only gained 30 lbs with the 2nd pregnancy but I did balloon up afterwards due to the extremely deprived/boring diet I was on once diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Had to make up for lost time and missed doughnuts. I'm on a restrictive meal plan now (low carb) but not really craving stuff like that. Maybe because this time it is my choice?
  • CrazyMermaid1
    CrazyMermaid1 Posts: 356 Member
    I was in 2nd grade. My mom put me on a diet. Looking at pictures I wasn't fat. She was obsessed with losing weight so she transferred her obsession to me.

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