Living the Lifestyle (LTL) - Wednesday, 3/15/17

minimyzeme

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- 88olds (George)
Tuesday -- spospo1 (Steve)
Wednesday -- minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday -- imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday --Jim376 (Jim)

Today’s Topic: Your experience with BIG 'slides' and eventually getting back on your plan.

I'm asking this more out of curiosity than anything else. I am especially respectful of folks that have gone off-plan, gained significant weight back and then had the tenacity and gumption to lose that weight again.

Have you had that experience? If so, please share the circumstances for each of the phases (initial weight loss, what prompted you to 'de-prioritize' your weight loss plan, gaining weight back and then getting back on a plan). Please discuss any challenges and/or lessons learned besides the obvious.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience on this thread.

88olds

i lost on my own, 285 to about 220. I had a number of stressors and i guess one at work kinda put me over the edge. I quit sleeping. I was obsessing about nonsense. I was sleeping about 2 hrs per night. Went to the Dr and he suggested I take Zoloft and plan to stay on it for a year.

I found Zoloft to be awful stuff but I guess it did the job. At least I was sleeping. But my joints started hurting. My exercise program went in the tank. Then I quit giving a crap completely. But I trusted my Dr. I stuck with Zoloft for about 11 months. I couldn't stand it anymore. I weighed almost 140. That's a 20 lb gain in a little less than a year.

Right or wrong, in my mind, I made the gain 100% about the medication. Without the meds I was going back to caring about what I ate and going back to the gym. I managed to compartmentalize my weight gains. The only real downer of getting back was seeing the declines at the gym. But I will give myself credit for sticking with it.

I got back into pretty good shape and got as low as 212lbs. When I found that unsustainable and started moving back up, i finally, well, threw in the towel on losing weight at the gym and joined WW.

I think I've learned this- regret will eat your will. Wherever we are in the process is our starting point for what we do next. Weight loss is about problem solving. It's a skill set. But failure to close the WL deal once we have started down that road will undermine our confidence in other areas. It's a negative loop.

Don't kick yourself if you struggle. No human undertaking tracks on a straight line. Seems like we've come to the GOAD conclusion that motivation is overrated, that what's needed is determination. Determination closes the deal.

Rachel0778

Right after grad school I dropped to 130lbs. I was feeling completely out of control with my life (no job, no career ideas, having to live with parent again) that weight was the one area of my life I felt I could control. I was getting between 20000-35000 steps a day and exercising every day. I was also massively under-eating (1400 calories for my activity level is not sustainable). I stopped going out to eat with friends for fear of overeating. I started binge eating (at least once a week if not more).

Once I got a job I started to realize how unhealthy I had become. I stopped tracking and got my butt to a counselor to work stuff out. During that time I gained 30+ pounds as I worked to heal my relationship with food and activity.

I wasn't happy with my body at 160+ pounds so I started tracking my food. I now eat around 2000 calories a day and move my body in fun ways and not as punishment for overeating. If I go over calories or have to skip a workout it's not a big deal. I'm back into a healthy weight range and while sometimes I miss being as thin as I used to be, the body I have is sustainable and healthy and that's the more important part.

Jimb376mfp

My life of Slides and WW recoveries.
1966 Senior in HS 185#
1970s in my twenties from 250 to 210
1980s from 280 to 202 in 1987 (lowest)
1990s Got up to 280 and diagnosed as T2Diabetic
1999 Hit 300#
Did WW but not for long.
2000 Atkins diet got down to 240
2005 Quit drinking but NOT eating.
2001-2012 Went off diets ended up 376!

I tried different fad diets, did WW for short intense periods but always went back to old bad eating and drinking habits. I lifetime of ups and downs.

2013-Present 376 to 217

Most periods of gains were because I didn't care about my health I just wanted to eat, drink and make merry. I was a party guy that did not believe in moderation in food or drink (beer).

At age 69 I will never go back to old ways. Took me a lifetime to lear it's a LIFESTYLE not a diet!

I have adapted a new Lifestyle and will always be happy with the changes I have made.

lilybbbbb

Well, well, well.

Looks like I picked a good day to make an appearance!

I don't know who's still around, but most regulars know most of my story.
Was always normal weight until my mid-late 20s, when I put on about 30-40 pounds over several years. First joined WW around then. Lost weight, and maintained a healthy weight and became very active as an endurance runner and triathlete 2004-2007.
In 2008, I lost my job, and suffering from adrenal burnout from Ironman, etc., quit exercising, kept eating, increased drinking, and put on about 70 pounds.

Since then, I'd had a few ups and downs, but mostly downs. Rejoined WW, found GOAD, reignited my active lifestyle with a healthy dose of mountain biking, among other activities I love--yoga, casual cycling, hiking, some light running, a little hula hooping...

From summer 2015-spring 2016, I faced a couple of personal situations that exacerbated some latent anxiety/depression. I was barely maintaining my weight, but I felt like I really needed to focus the little energy I had on my job, which was demanding more of my time. I finally just kind of let everything go. I went on Zoloft, which was helping with some issues, but seemed to make others worse. I've just been incredibly depressed and fatigued and lethargic and felt like I was in a terrible downward spiral. I put on 50 pounds in a year.

This winter, I took control and made a whole bunch of doctor's appointments. In February, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I started CPAP a few weeks ago, and although I started sleeping better, I was still feeling tired. About the same time, I had gotten a full panel of blood work done, and this was the first time I'd ever had my thyroid checked. Over the past couple of weeks, I got a hypothyroid diagnosis confirmed, and I just started taking meds a week ago.

I already feel so much more energized! I'm sure some of it is a placebo effect, as I'm so relieved to have a diagnosis and a solution. I've been experiencing basically every single one of the many symptoms, but was chalking them all up to aging or depression or the cycle of weight gain/decreasing exercise... and I was also constantly beating myself up for the way that I was feeling and feeling a generalized sense of guilt over not being healthy.

I'm back up by my highest weight ever (in the 220s) but I can't even describe how positive I feel after two years of tears and sluggishness.

Jerdtrmndone

I have completely been struggling with losing but did more gaining but never giving up per say. I decided to pull a book I had bought when I was doing the Winning Pts. program and made GOAL. It brought back memories of what I did and should be doing today. I need to fix my mind set fast before I gain anymore and blow it all. Things with DW have not been good for her so this has set me into a fearful and major stress mode not knowing what comes next for her. She is ok but not good. I have made my mind up to reboot myself and start to do the winning outcome incorporated with my plan. I try do most things right except at night when I start to think about the situation and start to binge. I vow to take control of life again and at least start to be smart in my decisions. This is my 3rd go around and it gets tougher as we age but never to late to revise.

gadgetgirlIL

Age 16 - lost 40 pounds and got to a healthy weight, ~165. Didn't change my eating habits as I thought I was cured (I had been overweight since age 7 or 8). I might have stayed stable for a couple of months and then the weight creep began. By the time I was 27, I weighed 279 pounds.

Age 28 - lost 110 pounds and was down to ~170. Thought I was cured this time around since I had gotten much more active and was biking, running, and swimming. Regained 10 pounds the first fall/winter. Was around 185 when I met my husband. Hovered between 175-195 for a couple of years until work stress with very long hours caused me to not exercise and to eat from the vending machines for dinner. There certainly were long periods of depression and the feeling that I was doomed to follow in my mother's footsteps. She died when I was 33 (she was 75) from heart complications most likely caused by morbid obesity. By the time I was 40, I had hit my highest ever weight of 304 pounds.

Age 40-41 - lost 130 pounds after I was able to start regularly exercising and watching what I ate after I got my father settled into an assisted living facility. Hovered around 172 for about a year. Then my father's health got worse, his dementia got worse, and since I was the only child, he blamed me for all that was wrong in his little world. It was a very horrible time in my life. I regained about 10-15 pounds by the time he died in 2005 (I was 44 when he died). I had also just started in my master's program so there was just a lot of stress with school as well as some very turbulent times with work. My default behavior when faced with stress is to eat. At least I still kept up daily exercise even though the intensity and duration dropped down from earlier levels. By the time I was turning 50, I was back up to 213 and into the obese BMI for my height.

Age 50 - lost 50 pounds and got down to ~163-165 pounds. Made lifetime on 3/17/12. WW goal weight is 170 where I'm hovering now. I want to get back to 163-165 but have been struggling again with stress at work (see a pattern here?).

*hitting post now as I keep getting interrupted*

podkey

We missed ya a lot. No question for me that depression is like the gift of a pregnant cat (you know the gift that keeps on giving. Depression begats depression.
So sorry you have hypothyroidism and really hoping you are getting on the right track.

I suspect I have lost over 300Lb here and there over my lifetime but don't track it that way.
I know I lost weight a number of times on different plans from my own to whatever.
I feel fortunate that I have stumbled onto a path that so far I can live with . I have no clue "why".

lilybbbbb

Podkey, so much truth! I'm just so happy to have a treatable diagnosis. Feel like a huge weight has been lifted.

I've still been managing to get out on the bike some--I'll have to find time for a PeDaLinG GoaDieS post! Getting involved with more cycling-as-transportation initiatives and getting beginning riders out (including Mom & Dad!)

minimyzeme

Wow, I appreciate everyone's time and honesty in sharing your experiences. And it's great to have you back, @lilybbbbb ! Glad to hear you've got some answers and spring in your step despite the setbacks.

I was all set to say this phenomena hasn't happened for me but I now realize that's not true. For *kitten* sake, I did gain and lose 80 pounds between 2003 and 2015. Thinking about the dynamics that contributed to the situation, eating and drinking were my crutch for many stressors and emotional challenges (and of course, fair game for all kinds of celebrations). For ~20 years I had been far away from my family of origin. While there are some gems among them, there were more of them that were really stressful for me, including my Mom. Part of the reason I returned was to help with her care so she was an especially tough person in my world in the time I gained weight. But, let's be real. For another seven years after she died, I continued to use lean on food and drink in an unhealthy way.

So, with a change in attitude and behavior, I've lost the 80 pounds. I attribute much of what I learned to GOAD. When I was closing in on my goal weight, got some great advice from some wise GOADies: keep doing to maintain what I'd done to lose, with a skosh more wiggle room. So far so good. However, I read so often about people who lost gobs of weight, then gained most or more of it back so this thread was really about understanding how those links in the chain have worked for others.

Your answers have been insightful to me and I'm grateful to you for being as forthright as you were. It's good to share this journey with you all...

imastar2

Great testimonies one and all. It's quite apparent that this group has been around the block with weight loss and gain. I will join in also with my own ups and downs since an early age. Pretty much since around freshman in high school where at 150 lbs the coach told me I was too small to play football and so I went back Sophomore year at 275. Stayed at that weight through high school and couple of years in college. I went on to get to right at 300 and lost back to 200 then back up to 300 then back to 200. By the time I was 50 I had lost 100 lbs 4 different times. Primarily on what is know as Atkins but Atkins wasn't around in the 60's least ways I don't remember it.

I did loose on it though two more times. Till around age 55 then it's like I hit a brick wall. Anyway got on WW in 2010 lost 88 lbs then went back to 400.8. At that time I had to do something and as most of you know my OSA was the culprit. Anyway got off another 100 lbs but have stalled out for the last 3.5 years. I'm currently working on a new plan and will get around to getting it out for discussion at some point.

MurpleCat

I was always a fat kid -- came from an abusive home and overeating was my coping mechanism. This continued into adulthood, through many cycles of WW. I could lose weight when times were good, but when I hit a bump in the road, the only way I knew how to deal with stress or unhappiness was to eat. Typically the cycle was: lose weight, start dating, get exclusive with a guy, relationship starts to sour: start eating, break up: continue eating. Gain until I can't stand it any more, lose weight, start dating... etc.

In each of those cases, I deprioritized my physical health in favor of my emotional/psychological health. I've learned some better coping mechanisms now (thanks, therapy!) but I don't get down on myself for the past because I was doing the best I could at the time. When I was a kid, I just didn't have the power to change the situation, the only thing I could control was what I ate. I could just as easily have become anorexic, I think, as it has the same roots in control.

As I got older and learned how to navigate romantic relationships more maturely, that certainly helped as well, and I dated even when I was morbidly obese. When my dad died at age 60 from obesity-related disease, I realized I really needed to stop the yo-yo and get serious. I had never gotten to goal on WW, but I lost 100# in the 2 years after Dad died. My life changed so dramatically -- not just romantically but everything -- EVERYTHING -- that I needed some time off to adjust mentally to the new me and how the world was suddenly interacting with me, where I had been fairly invisible before.

I kept about 75# of it off for 10 years, but some health issues in the last year have forced weight management into the forefront again. I'm now down 150# from my highest, and hovering at the door of merely overweight for the first time since high school.

Murple