I Have Noticed Many People Returning, Having Regained Their Weight ...

Mellykay88

ladyhusker39 wrote: »

Thanks for this post.

I'm curious what the thought is among addiction treatment professionals about foods/eating/sugar, etc as an addiction. Can you speak to this at all? I'd even be interested in your personal opinion/experience of this very heated issue on this site.

It’s still pretty heavily debated, as you mentioned. Still no official diagnosis, but I think a lot of addiction specialists agree that there are some similarities. It’s actually pretty similar to sex addiction, in that, it’s a compulsive behavior, but it generally linked to some other mental health issue (i.e. Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, etc.) At the same time, eating does activate the brain’s reward centers, at much lower levels than drugs, but it is rewarding nonetheless.

What is not usually debated is the fact that people do use drugs, sex, and food to cope with emotional problems. This is often learned through their environment, so children with overweight parents are more likely to be overweight.

This is an interesting article published by NIH that explains this more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711027/

emalethmoon

I lost 90lbs and then stopped using the site...and gained 40lbs back. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to leave again!

Aydens1nana

I lost and gained 100 pounds three times with different diets. Two years ago I tried MFP and logged everything for about six months. Lost 70 pounds doing that. But I found MFP was consuming me since I have and addictive personality. I got a ton of "friends" and was checking all their food logs, their comments, everything. I finally decided that I needed a life so I deleted all my friends and walked away. Slowly the 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes turned into 2/3 cup, then 3/4 cup, then 1 cup. In a little over a year I gained 50 of the 70 back. I decided to try MFP again but won;t accept any friend requests. It is bothersome to log everything but I'm determined to lose 100 pounds again.

MissyCHF

I agree, I do not accept any friends because I don't want to be lumbered with anyone else and I'm sure any friends I had would realise in time that they didn't want to be lumbered with me.

jlynn1991

I’ve trained myself on what I should eat. And still have days I eat “junk”. Usually what I plan to eat falls right in my calories and macros because I have become so attuned to what I should be eating. I know I’ll work out 3 days a week. Instead of 5 in maintaince. And probably keep mfp for the added help when needed.

I think people fail when they loose weight to loose weight and aren’t focused on the idea of a long-term/lifetime change in eating habits.

dsboohead

docc30 wrote: »

I was doing great, losing weight, working with a trainer, and definitely getting in better shape. Then, my daughter had medical issues that put her in the hospital for a week. I was still okay, but slowed down a little. Two months later, my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Then, my son-in-law was killed in a car crash. Lastly, my other daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. During it all, I gained all the weight back. I've been back at it for 40 days. I'll get there again.

Lord.....how could lightning strike so many times!?
I am hoping you some semblance of normalcy and peace.

MHarper522

I lost about 75 pounds about 8 years ago...and then my life flipped completely. Moved to another country, couldn't work for a couple years waiting for all the immigration stuff. Was at home all the time, living with someone addicted to sweets. Got married, I'm very happy, and he doesn't care about my weight gain, which makes it easier to overlook. Had a baby...

Gained it back and then some, but ready to be healthier for my little boy, my husband and myself.

DohnutHead

This is a good point. However, aren't people more likely to post here if they gained the weight back.

I'm fact, I would expect less posts by those who have managed to lose and maintain.

HDBKLM

bump

jennifer_417

I think that I didn't really make any mental changes. Losing weight was kind of a game for, watching the numbers drop gave me a thrill. So, when life got hard, I just didn't care enough to keep going.

LivingtheLeanDream

For everyone who posts in the success section about losing weight/maintaining there is probably twice as many more 'I'm back because I've gained' posts.

I reckon if people stopped walking away from MFP when they hit their goal weight then maybe there wouldn't be so many posts about having to start over again and again...

WolfDenOne

MFP was great for me. I reached my goals with the help of a group of people I connected with, one who had become a friend... and one to whom I'm engaged. We both stopped MFP and going to the gym... and both regained the weight. We're back with a vengeance!

rainbow198

This is a great thread. I lost 80 pounds on my own 5 years ago and have maintained since then so I didn't experience yo-yoing with my weight.

I've noticed a few posts from people that said after they've lost the weight they get bored. A couple things that helps me in maintenance is that I make new fitness goals. Once the excitement of losing a pound here or an inch there goes away it can be easy to get complacent. Fitness goals helps me to focus on something not related to weight loss.

Secondly, I still live life the way I did while I was dropping those 80 pounds. I plan my meals, exercise daily, I'm always reading and researching things concerning health/fitness nutrition, I try new recipes, and I'm always searching for new workouts and buy new toys for my home gym.

Now that I've lost the weight and have maintained it, now I eat more calories, stay humble, I don't get comfortable and tell myself that I've made it or "done". I work at it everyday it to keep the weight off.

I've made this a way of life and I enjoy it, I'm going to have to think about food and fitness for the rest of my life. I will do whatever it takes to maintain a healthy weight and stay in shape.

Good luck to you all!

GottaBurnEmAll

rainbow198 wrote: »

This is a great thread. I lost 80 pounds on my own 5 years ago and have maintained since then so I didn't experience yo-yoing with my weight.

I've noticed a few posts from people that said after they've lost the weight they get bored. A couple things that helps me in maintenance is that I make new fitness goals. Once the excitement of losing a pound here or an inch there goes away it can be easy to get complacent. Fitness goals helps me to focus on something not related to weight loss.

Secondly, I still live life the way I did while I was dropping those 80 pounds. I plan my meals, exercise daily, I'm always reading and researching things concerning health/fitness nutrition, I try new recipes, and I'm always searching for new workouts and buy new toys for my home gym.

Now that I've lost the weight and have maintained it, now I eat more calories, stay humble, I don't get comfortable and tell myself that I've made it or "done". I work at it everyday it to keep the weight off.

I've made this a way of life and I enjoy it, I'm going to have to think about food and fitness for the rest of my life. I will do whatever it takes to maintain a healthy weight and stay in shape.

Good luck to you all!

I do all of this too, but I have put on a few pounds (7) that I'm in the process of losing.

I tend to have issues with binge restrict cycles that cropped up in my second year of dieting. I'm trying different approaches to dealing with them. Slowly, they are working because over time, my binges are getting smaller and smaller.

That seven pounds was ten and it has yo-yo'ed. The main player in the deal was a medical crisis last spring that led to the biggest chunk of the weight, but I've weathered another diagnosis since then without batting an eyelash, so I think I learned something about being resilient.

eigna9187

I didn't gain all of it back just about 15 pounds. Holidays, and extremely bad health issues for my family has come into effect. I am basicxally a caretaker for my dad until he can get surgery as he cant really walk or eat by himself so I have been constantly tired and having a hard time with anxiety and leaving him alone by himself long enough to gym/work out. Plus trying to eat healthy on less time has caused me to fall into bad habits. Slowly starting over. Again

KBurkhardt08

I lost 45 pounds, got a new job, gained a little back but nothing crazy. Then my uncle who was the closest thing I had to a dad died suddenly and I gained it all back. I went through a lot of phases. First I didn't care about weight loss or anything really. Then I decided I didn't want losing weight to take over my life so I was just going to be happy. Now that the majority of my grief has subsided I've decided to get back on the weight loss thing but I'm still more interested in happiness then weight loss so it hasn't taken over my life like it did the first time. I count calories and I exercise a lot. Exercise makes me happy but on weekends I don't count calories and if I have something fun planned I don't worry about food because weight loss isn't everything. Its important to enjoy our lives.

aeloine

bump

Diatonic12

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/25384.php

Behavioral change trumps dieting hands down.

Rethink fasting and IF for the permanent win. Brand new research:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321864.php


"New research suggests that intermittent fasting may raise insulin levels, damage pancreatic cells, and increase the amount of abdominal fat.

Intermittent fasting may be a popular diet, but it may also harm our metabolic health, suggests a new study.
The so-called intermittent fasting diet has been gaining more and more traction among people who want to lose weight quickly.

This popular diet consists of "fast" days, where one drastically restricts their calorie intake — to a quarter of the daily dose or less, for instance — and "feast" days, where the person dieting can eat whatever they please.

Sometimes referred to as a dieting "fad," intermittent fasting has become popular in recent years, due to its suggested benefits of increasing lifespan and staving off cancer.

Indeed, some animal studies have indicated that intermittent fasting may lower the risk of cancer, while observational studies have shown that people whose religion has them fasting regularly live longer than seniors who do not fast.

But could there also be downsides to intermittent fasting. Research presented at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting — which took place in Barcelona, Spain — suggests that the dieting practice may have serious consequences for a person's metabolism.

Specifically, the new study — led by Ana Cláudia Munhoz Bonassa, a researcher at the University of São Paulo in Brazil — suggests that intermittent fasting may impair the normal activity of the pancreas and the production of insulin, which may, in turn, raise the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Intermittent fasting may lead to diabetes

The researchers were prompted in their endeavor by older studies suggesting that fasting for a short period of time increases oxidative stress and the production of free radicals.

Oxidative stress and excessive levels of free radicals have been suggested to speed up the aging process and to damage our DNA, raising the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration."

kimber0607

Graelwyn75 wrote: »

So, I want to hear your personal stories as to why you regained the weight, and what you would do differently with hindsight.

Would you have stayed on mfp longer, tracking, until you had been in maintenance for a year?
Would you have lost weight less aggressively so that it was easier to adjust to maintenance?
Was your entire focus on the weight loss rather than on changing your entire lifestyle?
Did something health related come up that caused you to 'fall off the proverbial wagon' ?

I, personally, made the mistake of leaving both mfp and the gym and of training at an intensity that was not sustainable in the long term. Leaving this site and that lifestyle lost me a large amount of the fitness and self esteem I had worked so hard to obtain. I was not overweight, but was using mfp to refocus an unhealthy obsession with weight and convert it into a goal of being as fit, lean and strong as I could. So, tell me your stories ...

Im back after gaining some of the weight back
I think I became too relaxed..stopped paying attention to calories/skipped weigh-ins
One day of bad eating turned into 2,3, 4, etc
It really did feel like in the blink of an eye I gained 20 pounds than I was so angry/upset w myself
but hopefully now im back on track

Diatonic12

"5 percent of the population can keep their weight off after losing it
"95 percent of the population thinks they are in this 5 percent"


Within 5 years only 5% of people on non-surgical diet programs can keep the weight off. It is 7% for WLS patients - that includes all surgeries.