Maintenance Failure - Gained all the weight back (w/pics)
mom23mangos
Posts: 3,069 Member
I gradually regained all the weight I lost almost 3yrs ago.
Moral of the story - don’t let the scale be your only measurement of success or maintenance.
Moral of the story - don’t let the scale be your only measurement of success or maintenance.
97
Replies
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That is an unbelievable transformation. Truly inspiring - well done!!3
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You got mangos!!!!
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Did you bulk up from your lower weight or did you recomp at 109? Or did you go through bulk/cut cycles?
Your results seem like a lot of work, well done!7 -
Gosh, I'm so sorry you've regained the weight. Maybe try tightening up your logging and going for a few short walks to help burn some calories.
Heehee, nice work @mom23mangos
(((
))), h. 23 -
Woohoo! You look absolutely fantastic! Congratulations
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You go girl
You look fab 3 -
wow, nice.1
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Amazing
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middlehaitch wrote: »Gosh, I'm so sorry you've regained the weight. Maybe try tightening up your logging and going for a few short walks to help burn some calories.
Heehee, nice work @mom23mangos
((())), h.
LOL
@middlehaitchDid you bulk up from your lower weight or did you recomp at 109? Or did you go through bulk/cut cycles?
Your results seem like a lot of work, well done!
I truly was a maintenance failure. I call it a recompbulk. It wasn't intentional. I dropped down to 97lbs and then after a few months of maintenance stopped logging my food. So evidently I've been taking in more than I need since I've slowly gained weight. But I just didn't have it in me to really care enough to start logging again and I've been very consistent with hitting the weights hard 3-4x/week with other exercise thrown in around that. About once a year or so I've done I guess what you would call a mini-cut where I started feeling a little too fluffy and would log for a few weeks and drop about 3lbs. Then it would steadily climb again. Progress photos have been key for me to not flip out about what the scale says on the rare occasions I weigh myself.17 -
Wow absolutely fantastic wish I had that will power and commitment what's advice would you give thanks4
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If I looked like your before picture, I'd consider my loss a great success!
You look absolutely fantastic, and should be thrilled with all of your hard work!6 -
Yeah, girl!!! Killing it!2
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you look good in both photos..but I get your point. .glad you don't have to count calories and the workouts work for you!!! 2
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mom23mangos wrote: »middlehaitch wrote: »Gosh, I'm so sorry you've regained the weight. Maybe try tightening up your logging and going for a few short walks to help burn some calories.
Heehee, nice work @mom23mangos
((())), h.
LOL@middlehaitchDid you bulk up from your lower weight or did you recomp at 109? Or did you go through bulk/cut cycles?
Your results seem like a lot of work, well done!
I truly was a maintenance failure. I call it a recompbulk. It wasn't intentional. I dropped down to 97lbs and then after a few months of maintenance stopped logging my food. So evidently I've been taking in more than I need since I've slowly gained weight. But I just didn't have it in me to really care enough to start logging again and I've been very consistent with hitting the weights hard 3-4x/week with other exercise thrown in around that. About once a year or so I've done I guess what you would call a mini-cut where I started feeling a little too fluffy and would log for a few weeks and drop about 3lbs. Then it would steadily climb again. Progress photos have been key for me to not flip out about what the scale says on the rare occasions I weigh myself.
Well done!
Love the recompbulk! Whenever I reach maintenance, this is what my goal is going to be vs running strict bulk/cut cycles.... gain a bit (no more than 8-10lbs over the year)... then cut if I get too high in weight or when I want to lean down. I feel like I will still be making progress, but not letting my bodyfat get too out of hand.
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jennifer_417 wrote: »If I looked like your before picture, I'd consider my loss a great success!
You look absolutely fantastic, and should be thrilled with all of your hard work!
Thanks. I started at a normal BMI, so it was truly vanity weight. I had stopped aerial classes and Krav Maga due to financial constraints, both of which acted as resistance training and was solely cycling for exercise. Add in being totally clueless about calorie counts in what I considered "healthy snacks" (cheese, nuts, fruit) and a desk job and I became what some call "skinny fat".George8383 wrote: »Wow absolutely fantastic wish I had that will power and commitment what's advice would you give thanks
It's hard to give advice because everyone has to find what works for them and what worked well for me may not work well for others. Not logging helped me keep a healthy relationship with food. Other people don't have that issue. Not weighing myself and going by progress photos helped me gain muscle because if I had stuck to a 5lb maintenance range, either my physique wouldn't have changed as much or I would have gotten too underfat to be healthy. However, doing true bulk/cut cycles probably would have allowed me to put on even more muscle.
But the point of the post is that even if you have a maintenance window, don't assume if you reach the top of it that it means you need to tighten up and lose weight. If you are using other methods of measurement, you may realize that you just need to slide your window up. Scale weight IMO is the least of measurements you should be using to make decisions about your progress. Pictures, tape measure, body fat analysis...those are all much more meaningful. Because while it's important for many here to lose weight for health reasons, most just really want to make body composition changes. And the scale won't help you there.
Biggest advice I can give is consistency. It's not about willpower, but you are right it is about commitment. Willpower and motivation only get you so far. You have to have the discipline and commitment to do it even when you don't feel like it. Do things like meal planning and exercising at a certain time until it becomes a habit. When you have a day or week that you miss working out because of life or you eat all the cake, don't let it get to you and just go back to the habits you've made. Consistency over the long term will get results.14 -
I still love your recombulk maintenance failure! It's just awesome!3
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Looks like you've added lean muscle.
Good job.1 -
mom23mangos wrote: »jennifer_417 wrote: »If I looked like your before picture, I'd consider my loss a great success!
You look absolutely fantastic, and should be thrilled with all of your hard work!
Thanks. I started at a normal BMI, so it was truly vanity weight. I had stopped aerial classes and Krav Maga due to financial constraints, both of which acted as resistance training and was solely cycling for exercise. Add in being totally clueless about calorie counts in what I considered "healthy snacks" (cheese, nuts, fruit) and a desk job and I became what some call "skinny fat".George8383 wrote: »Wow absolutely fantastic wish I had that will power and commitment what's advice would you give thanks
It's hard to give advice because everyone has to find what works for them and what worked well for me may not work well for others. Not logging helped me keep a healthy relationship with food. Other people don't have that issue. Not weighing myself and going by progress photos helped me gain muscle because if I had stuck to a 5lb maintenance range, either my physique wouldn't have changed as much or I would have gotten too underfat to be healthy. However, doing true bulk/cut cycles probably would have allowed me to put on even more muscle.
But the point of the post is that even if you have a maintenance window, don't assume if you reach the top of it that it means you need to tighten up and lose weight. If you are using other methods of measurement, you may realize that you just need to slide your window up. Scale weight IMO is the least of measurements you should be using to make decisions about your progress.Pictures, tape measure, body fat analysis...those are all much more meaningful. Because while it's important for many here to lose weight for health reasons, most just really want to make body composition changes. And the scale won't help you there.
Biggest advice I can give is consistency. It's not about willpower, but you are right it is about commitment. Willpower and motivation only get you so far. You have to have the discipline and commitment to do it even when you don't feel like it. Do things like meal planning and exercising at a certain time until it becomes a habit. When you have a day or week that you miss working out because of life or you eat all the cake, don't let it get to you and just go back to the habits you've made. Consistency over the long term will get results.
Awesome results!1 -
Just what I needed to see! Staying off the scale and continuing to trust the process. Thank you1
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Bravo Zulu!0
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Fantastic job! Your hard work is very obvious, you look great!2
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Well done. Your point about discipline is spot-on.
Motivation will not get the results most people hope for.
Discipline means choosing between what you want most and what you want now.4 -
Wow!! You look fantastic! 3
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Oh wow! Point well taken. You look fantastic!1
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You look awesome!1
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Wow! What a result! Well done you! 1
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@mom23mangos
That looks like a total maintenance failure. Your "recompbulk" made your abs all lumpy and stuff. I'm sure most of us would enjoy such "failures".9 -
Wow! Great job! That's an incredible change that absolutely took a LOT of hard work and dedication. Awesome!
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@mom23mangos Looking super strong and lean, it’s really impressive to see the side-by-side at the same weight & a good reminder to quit freaking out at the scale if we’re building muscle too. Your whole approach is inspiring!4
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