Repeat offenders

SJVZEE

Let me start of by saying 'offenders' isn't quite what I meant.

My question is how many of us have started out fine then quit or lost all of the weight then put it back on? What goes wrong? How many people on MFP are first timers as opposed to repeat customers?
Just wondering,,,

First timer and now in maintenance. I did not do MFP for weight loss, but alternate day intermittent fasting One of the biggest pluses of this plan is that it taught me to have a healthy relationship with food and I now have the tools I need to maintain successfully.

vet272

Let me start of by saying 'offenders' isn't quite what I meant.

My question is how many of us have started out fine then quit or lost all of the weight then put it back on? What goes wrong? How many people on MFP are first timers as opposed to repeat customers?
Just wondering,,,

First timer and now in maintenance. I did not do MFP for weight loss, but alternate day intermittent fasting One of the biggest pluses of this plan is that it taught me to have a healthy relationship with food and I now have the tools I need to maintain successfully.

I'm currently doing 5 2 for health reasons. Reassuring to hear you're in maintenance

ezconklin

I lost 44 pounds several years ago, since two pregnancies I have been a repeat starter so many times I cannot count. We I lost that weight years ago I had also been a serial starter. I dunno - something just clicked and I kept going. I feel that now too.

liv4him2

Read several of your posts and love them Your pic isn't half bad either

amehrkens

Repeat offender here....I lost 135lbs and gained about 70 of it back. I lost the weight over 4 years by eating less and moving more. I thought for sure I was good as gold since I did it at a slow and steady pace.....and then life got crazy.... I am working on it again and this will be the LAST time I do this! I have been slowly working at it all summer and I have managed to lose about 15lbs, I went on vacation to Mexico last week and I decided today was the day I get serious about it! So back to MFP and back to the gym!

rowanwood

Before MFP, I've been on the 'weight loss by accident' diet only. Life changed and I'd lose and then gain and repeat. So I guess that's repeat offending of a type...but I never lost weight by controlling my diet, just by letting life control me. And smoking. Not really a great plan.

BlueBombers

This is my first time here on MFP.

I didn't quit trying to lose weight, I got pregnant again and gained it all back

CreepingBriar

This is my first time on MFP, but 4-5 years ago I lost a lot of weight when I became a vegan. I quit that lifestyle because it caused a lot of friction with my mother, and as my health deteriorated I was spending my whole paycheck on doctors and pills, with little left over for food. Then I was fired, which left me with even less money for food.Hamburger-less Helper became a staple of my diet. Now I am on disability, which means I have a little money, and medicare, which means my whole paycheck isn't going to doctors. As my mental health improves, I am trying to improve my physical health with it so hopefully I will not be a repeat offender, but someone who checks in every day as par for the course in my new healthy lifestyle.

bcattoes

I haven't left MFP, but over my lifetime I have been a repeat offender (lost, regained, lost again, regained, repeat). It's always because I stop exercising regularly. Always.

bcattoes

Spent more time exercising than actually trying to reduce intake

Yep, this is me.

One who is truly motivated won't let any obstacles stop them from achieving the goal they are wanting. Just need to pull one's pants up and get it done.

This is me too. The problem always comes about 1-2 years after meeting the goal.

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....