For those who gained it back
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I starved myself to lose 97 lbs and within 2 years it was back, plus a bonus 10. As soon as I allowed myself "normal" foods, my body DEMANDED I make up for the year of deprivation and I literally couldn't stop eating.
I am now simply exercising and counting calories, no other "rules" and I am down 22 lbs in 7 weeks. I also feel amazing, not like I'm going to pass out all the time.4 -
Stupid question here: I maintain my weight at 155 lbs and stop gaining eating whatever I want. Why when I lose weight and get to 140 lbs, I can't just stabilize there eating whatever I want? Does that make sense? Does it take a different amount of calories to MAINTAIN 155 lbs than maintaining 140 lbs? Sorry if it sounds dumb!0
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I lost just about 70 pounds. I then read too much into 'eat more to weigh less' .. I was eating more but not moving more. Then I gave up - stress, injury, who-gives-a-f*** attitude... Gained 40lbs back
I know how to lose it. Just needed my head back into the game. I'm recommitted, MFP makes it easier.2 -
I lost weight a couple years ago (30 ish pounds) by going very low carb. The weight came off pretty easily, but a few months into it my hair started falling out. This scared me, and I tried to eat "a more balanced diet"-- problem was that as I added carbs back I still ate higher fat so needless to say it all came back in short order.
This time I really thought about it and remembered many years ago I lost weight by counting calories. Eating my normal foods, but less. I started counting again July 1. After nosing around online, I found MFP and joined up here after losing the first 12 pounds or so. I found I was close on calories to what MFP tells me.
This is so much easier for me, no foods are off limits which I guess is what I need for the long term.3 -
My highest weight before was 255. I decided that was enough. I started going to the gym all the time. The gym is 100% what made me lose the weight. I know a lot of people say you can't outrun a bad diet, but I would literally go to the gym and then go eat at a pizza buffet after. I got down to 217 by doing that.
I got with my boyfriend and instead of slaving away in the gym like I should have done, I started to spend all my free time with him. His family also went out to eat a lot. Like, every night. I would get invited and I would go.
So, today, here I am. 4 years later and 278 pounds. I gained it all back and then some. For me, it is 100% because I am not eating as well and not working out.1 -
denisekotz wrote: »Stupid question here: I maintain my weight at 155 lbs and stop gaining eating whatever I want. Why when I lose weight and get to 140 lbs, I can't just stabilize there eating whatever I want? Does that make sense? Does it take a different amount of calories to MAINTAIN 155 lbs than maintaining 140 lbs? Sorry if it sounds dumb!
It's not dumb. And, yes, it requires fewer calories to maintain 140 than it does to maintain 155. I'd estimate it's in the ballpark of 100 calories/day fewer. So, if you eat "maintain 155" calories when you weigh 140, you'll gain about 1 pound/month. The gain will slow down as you approach 155 until you stop there again.
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denisekotz wrote: »Stupid question here: I maintain my weight at 155 lbs and stop gaining eating whatever I want. Why when I lose weight and get to 140 lbs, I can't just stabilize there eating whatever I want? Does that make sense? Does it take a different amount of calories to MAINTAIN 155 lbs than maintaining 140 lbs? Sorry if it sounds dumb!
I got down to my goal weight of 143lbs last year, and staying there required constant vigilance, hard work and perfect calorie counting.. it was just hard!
Right now i'm between 148-150lbs and staying here is easy, and doesn't require much effort at all. It's hard to believe a few less lbs make such a big difference, but in my experience, they do.4 -
Christine_72 wrote: »denisekotz wrote: »Stupid question here: I maintain my weight at 155 lbs and stop gaining eating whatever I want. Why when I lose weight and get to 140 lbs, I can't just stabilize there eating whatever I want? Does that make sense? Does it take a different amount of calories to MAINTAIN 155 lbs than maintaining 140 lbs? Sorry if it sounds dumb!
I got down to my goal weight of 143lbs last year, and staying there required constant vigilance, hard work and perfect calorie counting.. it was just hard!
Right now i'm between 148-150lbs and staying here is easy, and doesn't require much effort at all. It's hard to believe a few less lbs make such a big difference, but in my experience, they do.
Perfect calorie counting ugggg. So far I haven't really measured anything except cheese for a week to get a good feel for 1oz. I generally overestimate so I'm probably cheating myself out of calories, but I really really want to get to a point where I don't have to count, reality may be that never happens but I want to try!
Thanks everyone for sharing!2 -
In 2014 I lost 50lbs using MFP and CICO. I have a very unhealthy relationship with food, so when I'm not in the "dieting" or "calorie counting" mindset, I revert to poor habits and quickly gain weight back. I've learned that losing the weight I wish to lose is going to take a significant amount of time, and once I reach my goals, I'm still going to have to count calories if I want to keep from going through all of this again. I am hoping over time that my relationship with food will improve and I will view it more as fuel than as a consolation prize, a celebratory indulgence, a comfort in times of stress, etc.2
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juliebowman4 wrote: »Truly, because I viewed the entire kit'n'kaboodle as a sprint rather than a cross country run.
I didn't address underlying unhealthy attitudes towards food.
Quite simply, I hit my goal, put my food scale away, signed out of MFP and didn't sign in again
Until the weight came back.
This is what I have done and many others as well. I've won this race a few times only to find myself at the starting line again.2 -
Hey ladies,
My starting weight is now 275 goal weight 130 and to gain back 40 pounds in mussle so 170. I recently gained 55 pounds in the last six months. Between love and birth control and poor eating habits I'm feeling extremely discouraged. Any advice out there?!?!?0 -
40 pounds of muscle sounds like a lot. I'd focus on losing fat while preserving muscle rather than trying to lose a pile of weight *then* start worrying about muscle.
To preserve muscle, lift heavy. Eat enough protein. Have a calorie deficit (for the fat loss part).2 -
Is adding 40lbs of muscle even possible?0
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For me, it's giving myself a solid but sensible goal. I want people to be surprised when they see me at Christmas. So, I want to lose 14lb by Christmas. I have to keep that in my mind at all times, because my proper goal weight seems so far away these days.2
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SusanMFindlay wrote: »40 pounds of muscle sounds like a lot. I'd focus on losing fat while preserving muscle rather than trying to lose a pile of weight *then* start worrying about muscle.
To preserve muscle, lift heavy. Eat enough protein. Have a calorie deficit (for the fat loss part).
@shirleycalderon5 This is good advice. I would add a recommendation to not focus on your "BIG GOAL". Standing at 275 and staring at 130 can be overwhelming and discouraging. Instead, take it one day at a time. Each morning, wake up and review your goal: "Today, I will weigh, measure, and log my food and I will engage in movement." Sometimes, today can even be too much, so then focus on the moment: "Right now, I will get up and go for a walk" and "I will log this bite of food."
Slowly, but surely, it will get easier and you will get to your goal. Good luck!6 -
LeslieB042812 wrote: »SusanMFindlay wrote: »40 pounds of muscle sounds like a lot. I'd focus on losing fat while preserving muscle rather than trying to lose a pile of weight *then* start worrying about muscle.
To preserve muscle, lift heavy. Eat enough protein. Have a calorie deficit (for the fat loss part).
@shirleycalderon5 This is good advice. I would add a recommendation to not focus on your "BIG GOAL". Standing at 275 and staring at 130 can be overwhelming and discouraging. Instead, take it one day at a time. Each morning, wake up and review your goal: "Today, I will weigh, measure, and log my food and I will engage in movement." Sometimes, today can even be too much, so then focus on the moment: "Right now, I will get up and go for a walk" and "I will log this bite of food."
Slowly, but surely, it will get easier and you will get to your goal. Good luck!
This!!! Reachable goals are a must for me, or discouragement sets in. Even though I have an overall goal it's so far away (6-8 months) that I need smaller goals and not all weight related.0 -
Six years ago I lost 35 pounds by quitting drinking, moderate exercise, and sticking to a very strict calorie intake through Weight Watchers. It took me about 6 months to lose it. I kept it off for about a year, but as I started to drink wine again and quit Weight Watchers, the pounds starting coming back on. They came slowly, but I have gained back all of the weight I lost. It was very difficult to stick to such a low calorie intake (about 1300 per day max) and no alcohol. I need to now find a middle ground to get it off and keep it off. Oh, and btw, menopause doesn't help!1
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Old threads with good responses stick in my head. 'For those who gained it all back'.
I joined MFP when this thread was active. In 2014, I adhered to a strict food protocol that wasn't useful for the short term and was completely useless for the long term. I ate it all back. Rebound weight gain with friends.
It's taken me 6 years to dig my way out of that much deeper hole with food. You can have the answers to everything and still not be able to do anything.
Telling on yourself from your soul can heal you again. Our bodies and minds were made to heal.
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@PAV8888
'Try for small changes over time.
People make big changes: gym exercise lose weight now. I ate at a party, I am doomed, I might as well binge.
I am trying the: yes this is forever approach. Yes I will have to pay attention to my food intake and expenditure forever so I might as well seek to make things as enjoyable and normal as possible within those parameters. I won't lose the weight in a day or two and I won't gain it in a day. If I gain a bit it is not the end of the world and I don't have to spend a month getting ready for the big diet... just reduce by 250 or less and wait for a month or two for things to come back to an even keel.
I.e. small changes. There is no: "I'm off the diet party and no special preparation to "start watching things tomorrow"
Anyway... that's my approach. Whether it works long term or not... I'll let you know someday''
After all of these years, I have a burning question for you. Do you take advice from those who can't follow their own advice.
A decade ago, I went to a medical professional and dietitian about Maintenance. Neither one were taking their own advice and I found someone different that I could relate to. I am a Show Me Your Results and Don't Tell Me About Your Efforts person.
Don't tell me your evaluation during the process but give me the facts after you've been able to do it.
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It really seems like no matter what you do, there needs to be an exit strategy at maintenance AND be prepared to implement before maintenance.
Every method of weight loss is "unsustainable" in my opinion, because no one loses weight forever. Even if you are eating at a tiny deficit and only losing 0.25 lbs a week, eventually, you will hit your goal and have to figure out the new normal.
I lost 50lbs a few years ago, gained back 30, then lost it again and gained back 30. Each time doing "sustainable" things--or at least believing whole heartily that I could do xy thing forever. I think that because I never hit my weight goal, I never tried to figure out what to do just to maintain at a level that wasn't my goal.
So rather than just taking a little break to maintain, I kept trying to lose having an all or nothing mentality, keeping a deficit for some days and then going off the rails on others. I think that next time I am feeling burnt out, I might up my calories to maintenance for a couple weeks.
TL;DR I think that often I don't "arrive" in maintenance and therefore aren't ready practice maintaining before I've reached my goal weight.4 -
I counted calories about 9 or 10 years ago and lost 70 lbs. I have slowly gained it back over the years (more so in the past year or two due to added stress and, well, laziness...) I know the counting calories works. It's MATH. there are other factors of course but its MATH. I am back trying to do what I know works...5
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I lost about 15kg about five years ago, kept them off for a while, then was put on a medication that changed my metabolism, and gained several kgs, had a year with a lot of conferences (hotel breakfasts, lunches and dinners are so hard to keep track off, I find) and then hit menopause. Then came lockdown and Easter chocolate.... I ended up weighing more than I did when I started last time. It's coming off with careful watching of my diet (thanks to mfp) and exercise. I will then need to work out what my post-menopause maintenance levels are.1
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Diatonic12 wrote: »@PAV8888
'Try for small changes over time.
People make big changes: gym exercise lose weight now. I ate at a party, I am doomed, I might as well binge.
I am trying the: yes this is forever approach. Yes I will have to pay attention to my food intake and expenditure forever so I might as well seek to make things as enjoyable and normal as possible within those parameters. I won't lose the weight in a day or two and I won't gain it in a day. If I gain a bit it is not the end of the world and I don't have to spend a month getting ready for the big diet... just reduce by 250 or less and wait for a month or two for things to come back to an even keel.
I.e. small changes. There is no: "I'm off the diet party and no special preparation to "start watching things tomorrow"
Anyway... that's my approach. Whether it works long term or not... I'll let you know someday''
After all of these years, I have a burning question for you. Do you take advice from those who can't follow their own advice.
A decade ago, I went to a medical professional and dietitian about Maintenance. Neither one were taking their own advice and I found someone different that I could relate to. I am a Show Me Your Results and Don't Tell Me About Your Efforts person.
Don't tell me your evaluation during the process but give me the facts after you've been able to do it.
I THOUGHT what you were saying sounded familiar!
While indirectly related to the main theme of the thread, that was my answer to someone who asked about maintenance up-thread! Almost 4 years later there's both too much and almost nothing to add to that answer. A lot of simple concepts are easy to understand; but, not easy to implement!
While details and implementation matter, as a general statement, for myself, managing to "make things as enjoyable and normal as possible within those parameters" means that I've remained willing to engage and adjust during the past four years.
I don't agree with you that there is no wisdom to be found from people who don't walk the talk. People can be knowledgeable; yet either unable, or unwilling, to apply their knowledge to themselves. Conversely, people may appear to be successful without actually walking the talk in a healthy manner. Consider the amount of drug use among bodybuilders, models, and athletes!
The good news is that committing to small course corrections doesn't require drugs!
I know @Diatonic12 that you like pictures. Maybe even a little bit too much judging by some of your past posts!
Top graph starts Sep 2016 and ends June 20, 2020. It covers FOUR YEARS and less than EIGHT LBS. Some of the jaggies are caused by the use of two different scales in two different towns and my lack of weight ins when I hit the coffee pot before the scale! Still, the sharpest drop like ~2.2lbs in one month.
Post March 2020, I took advantage of fewer restaurant meals to move my maintenance range midpoint from 154lbs to 152lbs. I dropped ~4lbs over 90 days at ~167 Cal a day
At the bottom you see the blue section that corresponds to the top graph, while to the left of it you can spot my pre September 2016 weight trajectory.
So far... this bunny is still going!1 -
breefoshee wrote: »So rather than just taking a little break to maintain, I kept trying to lose having an all or nothing mentality, keeping a deficit for some days and then going off the rails on others. I think that next time I am feeling burnt out, I might up my calories to maintenance for a couple weeks.
TL;DR I think that often I don't "arrive" in maintenance and therefore aren't ready practice maintaining before I've reached my goal weight.
Just like you I focused on only making sustainable choices during weight loss. Some have proven to be so; others have changed over time.
But I also spent almost 2 years practicing maintenance as part of my ongoing commitment weight management.
The first year was slowly losing towards maintenance (-11.2lbs), while the second year, for the first time within normal BMI, was my "maintain with a preference to lose" (-2.7lbs) year.
And, as I often suggest to others, I once again took the "easy" path! Would I like to show abs? Sure. But not enough to jeopardize a 125+lbs loss by pushing to the wall to achieve an extra 10lb loss.3 -
@PAV8888 Much thanks for the graph. Photos and me. The half has not been told.
I like your viewpoints, they're understood and appreciated. See you back out there on the trail.
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Personally I had lost 100lbs, I would go up a few and down a few less for about a year, then I needed knee reconstruction and that really made me lose motivation and ability to work out. Just as I was getting close to my low weight I broke my foot and was NWB for 3 months which really made my weight jump up.. no exercise and bored/stress eating 😫 Then shortly after I was able to return to work and getting back into healthy living I injured my thumb resulting in another surgery and being home all day due to covid I have been struggling again. I have a hard time finding ways to exercise with a sore knee, foot and limitations on ability to use one hand..but no more excuses for me!1
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I lost a bunch of weight calorie counting (over 60lbs - I never weighted at my highest started weighing a couple of months in). I maintained for a couple of years. Then I became pregnant and stopped weighing and (loosely) calorie counting. I never got as high as my heaviest but still put about 40lbs on. My weight stayed on post baby and I put on a bit more because breastfeeding made me ravenous. Took too long for me to get back into keeping an eye on things and just being accountable again.2
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