Repeat offenders

jsandie76

I am a repeat offender. After my second pregnancy, I had gained 90 pounds. I managed to lose 60 of that, but regained that plus some when I had two more children and being put on bed rest. After that, raising 4 young children (mostly on my own) there was never the time to focus on me. Every so often I would TRY to lose weight, and would cut my calories down to 1200/day that most "diets" suggest, by cutting out EVERYTHING that wasn't chicken, turkey, or vegetables, but as you can imagine that was completely UNSUSTANABLE for a self confessed chocoholic like myself.

This time when I came to MFP at 265 pounds in tears, I was floored by their 1800 calories a day plan they had me on TO LOSE WEIGHT!!! The change has been gradual, and is something I can sustain. There is nothing I don't allow myself to have if it fits within my calorie limits, but more and more I am finding that the stuff I used to enjoy is so sweet that I can't stomach it anymore. I find myself some days just NOT being able to eat enough calories to hit that goal! A month and a half in and I am sticking to it, losing weight and feeling good. I was working out regularly, but recently have stumbled but it is nice to know that even without the exercise I am still losing the weight!!! This time I can do this... and since there is nothing on my "You can't have this" list, I believe I can keep going with it.

elisa123gal

I am a repeat offender as well. Almost two years ago i lost 30 pounds. I gained it all back plus 10. What is amazing to me.. is I knew what I was doing. I also didn't weigh myself on a regular bases.

I truly feel this is the last time I'll be losing the weight. It is so hard and I don't think I have the will power to do it ever again. Therefore.. I'm very motivated to find a successful strategy. For me, I've been counting calories and set my daily calories high so i can eat as much as possible and lose. I'm losing slow..but I'm in it for the end game..where I can eat a good amount mixed with exercise to look how I desire.

I can't imagine a life of eating 1200 to 1400 calories a day and working out like mad to look decent. depressing.

katrinadulce

Been there, done that, many times. This is the first time I have lost so much weight (112 pounds) and kept most of it off for over a year. I still struggle with re-gaining and losing the last 15-20 pounds and I have a feeling I always will, but I am not going back to where I was before.

There was an interesting article in the New England Journal of medicine:
Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816

They called it "obesity relapse after diet-induced weight loss"

One of the interesting things about this article is that they found that people who have lost weight have changes in hormones that act influence hunger signals and metabolism. They found that people who have lost weight require tighter calorie restrictions just to maintain their weight alongside people who are in the same weight category without dieting.
For example: There are two, 200 pound men. One of the men used to weigh 230 pounds, while the other was always 200 pounds in his adult life. The man who lost the weight has to consume fewer calories just to MAINTAIN his weight alongside the man who was never heavier than he is right now. They also found that this increased difficulty is persistent.

Two of the hormones assessed were leptin (which suppresses appetite and helps to regulate metabolism) and ghrelin (which stimulates hunger). The weight loss actually triggered a decrease in leptin, which translated to a slower metabolism and a decreased ability to regulate food intake (or even to be aware that one is full). At the same time, participants saw an increase in ghrelin.

So as they were reducing calories (or more specifically, BECAUSE they were reducing calories), hormones were stimulating hunger signals, slowing their metabolism, and giving them weak or inappropriate "stop signals" even after they had eaten. Two of the things that the study found was that 1) The decrease in leptin was disproportionate to weight loss. A 10% loss in body weight resulted in a more than 60% decrease in leptin, and 2) the changed hormone levels were still present even a year after the initial weight loss. This may help to explain why most of the subjects in the study gained about half their weight back.

glin23

First timer at MFP and weight loss.

cwood2002

Been there, done that, many times. This is the first time I have lost so much weight (112 pounds) and kept most of it off for over a year. I still struggle with re-gaining and losing the last 15-20 pounds and I have a feeling I always will, but I am not going back to where I was before.

There was an interesting article in the New England Journal of medicine:
Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816

They called it "obesity relapse after diet-induced weight loss"

One of the interesting things about this article is that they found that people who have lost weight have changes in hormones that act influence hunger signals and metabolism. They found that people who have lost weight require tighter calorie restrictions just to maintain their weight alongside people who are in the same weight category without dieting.
For example: There are two, 200 pound men. One of the men used to weigh 230 pounds, while the other was always 200 pounds in his adult life. The man who lost the weight has to consume fewer calories just to MAINTAIN his weight alongside the man who was never heavier than he is right now. They also found that this increased difficulty is persistent.

Two of the hormones assessed were leptin (which suppresses appetite and helps to regulate metabolism) and ghrelin (which stimulates hunger). The weight loss actually triggered a decrease in leptin, which translated to a slower metabolism and a decreased ability to regulate food intake (or even to be aware that one is full). At the same time, participants saw an increase in ghrelin.

So as they were reducing calories (or more specifically, BECAUSE they were reducing calories), hormones were stimulating hunger signals, slowing their metabolism, and giving them weak or inappropriate "stop signals" even after they had eaten. Two of:sad: the things that the study found was that 1) The decrease in leptin was disproportionate to weight loss. A 10% loss in body weight resulted in a more than 60% decrease in leptin, and 2) the changed hormone levels were still present even a year after the initial weight loss. This may help to explain why most of the subjects in the study gained about half their weight back.

Wow....... This is very discouraging.

vet272

Been there, done that, many times. This is the first time I have lost so much weight (112 pounds) and kept most of it off for over a year. I still struggle with re-gaining and losing the last 15-20 pounds and I have a feeling I always will, but I am not going back to where I was before.

There was an interesting article in the New England Journal of medicine:
Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816

They called it "obesity relapse after diet-induced weight loss"

One of the interesting things about this article is that they found that people who have lost weight have changes in hormones that act influence hunger signals and metabolism. They found that people who have lost weight require tighter calorie restrictions just to maintain their weight alongside people who are in the same weight category without dieting.
For example: There are two, 200 pound men. One of the men used to weigh 230 pounds, while the other was always 200 pounds in his adult life. The man who lost the weight has to consume fewer calories just to MAINTAIN his weight alongside the man who was never heavier than he is right now. They also found that this increased difficulty is persistent.

Two of the hormones assessed were leptin (which suppresses appetite and helps to regulate metabolism) and ghrelin (which stimulates hunger). The weight loss actually triggered a decrease in leptin, which translated to a slower metabolism and a decreased ability to regulate food intake (or even to be aware that one is full). At the same time, participants saw an increase in ghrelin.

So as they were reducing calories (or more specifically, BECAUSE they were reducing calories), hormones were stimulating hunger signals, slowing their metabolism, and giving them weak or inappropriate "stop signals" even after they had eaten. Two of:sad: the things that the study found was that 1) The decrease in leptin was disproportionate to weight loss. A 10% loss in body weight resulted in a more than 60% decrease in leptin, and 2) the changed hormone levels were still present even a year after the initial weight loss. This may help to explain why most of the subjects in the study gained about half their weight back.

Wow....... This is very discouraging.

I wonder are the hormonal effects permanent....