Musings on regaining after some success

LeiLaura

Just a bit of thinking aloud on how and why I regained after making so much headway last year, in case it helps anyone / stops it happening to me again! Obviously, lockdown didn't help, but the seeds of this "failure" were sown before that, in December, so I don't think I really have that to blame, though it certainly didn't help. When the aid of MFP, I had lost 2.5 stones over 5 months in the second half of 2019. By July this year, I had gained 1.5 stones of it back. I've been back on track for the last three weeks (5 pounds down so far), and mulling over what went wrong the first time around. I genuinely had thought I'd got this weight loss thing nailed, and regaining was something that happened to other people. Humble pie is in order, I think, even if my favourite pie is now off the menu.

So, how did I "fail"? A few ways, I think.

* I stopped weighing and logging food (and myself) "for a few days" (which became 8 months).

* I caused the need to stop by reaching diet burnout. Not so much from the diet itself, but because I was so tired of weighing and logging food. In hindsight, my phone at the time was glitchy, and it would crash every time I opened the MFP app. It was driving me mad. We don't need to make this time harder than it is, and that one tech problem caused me to spiral. I also got so tired of planning ahead for cooking, and found eating out at a friend's house (when I couldn't accurately gauge the calories) immensely frustrating, almost considering it a "binge" because I couldn't definitively say it was within my calorie goal.

* I think I also got lazy with weighing food accurately myself, and the weight loss slowed to an absolute crawl, slowing my enthusiasm with it. I was down to my last stone, I knew it would get slower, but not having that weekly boost of at least a pound dropped was hard. I wasn't as mentally set up for maintenance as I thought I was. Instead of sugar rushes, I had become addicted to the drama of weight loss. With little new to learn (I thought), and no big drops in weight, I got bored.

*I gradually let the sugar and carbs back in, until I was craving them constantly. They were still (mostly) within my caloric budget, but they woke up that voice in my head that is never satisfied. What had been a relatively easy weight loss journey up to that point became a constant battle, which definitely fueled the burnout feeling.

*I went away for a few days, which broke my exercise routine. Of course, I never picked it back up again, and then the gyms and pools closed.

So, nothing much, really, just a lot of little things that added up. I think I forgot to make it all easy, and my black and white mentality couldn't cope with my change in routine. This time round, I really need to think of it as less of a diet and more of a lifestyle change. Any normal lifestyle needs to allow for changes in routine and the occasional guestimate in calculations. Above all, I need to hold myself accountable to myself, and weigh in every single day. Even if I throw in the towel again, I mustn't do it with my head buried in the sand and my fingers stuck in my ears, pretending it's not happening this time. I wonder if I should have tried a more formal diet break (eating at maintenance) before tackling the last stone, or whether my best bet even now is to "reverse diet", eating at maintenance calories for my goal weight so that I am consciously acknowledging it will be a slow, undramatic journey. Maybe I will, when I've lost a few more pounds. Maybe I'll make the same mistakes all over again. As a teacher, I'm always taking the kids that mistakes are how we learn. Perhaps it wasn't a mistake after all, just part of the learning curve. I'd love to hear stories from anyone else who has got a similar wall, and what you did to prevent it happening again?

Thank you for reading!

sijomial

Nice analysis and realism.

I'm very much a guideline not a rules person but as regards weight control I have two linked hard rules:

• I will weigh myself daily to keep an eye on my weight trend.
• If my weight trend breaches my "red line" upper limit I will take action to stop a drift turning into a slide.

All the rest is helpful but optional, flexible and manageable (eating patterns, food choices, exercise, activity level, using MFP to keep my head in the game etc. etc.....)

But it is important to know yourself and personalise your plan, I thrive on variety and flexibility, others thrive on routine and restrictions. I'm motivated by a challenge, bored by routine, irritated by restrictions. The way I lost my weight and maintained my weight at goal probably wouldn't suit many but played to my strengths and mitigated my weaknesses.

Part of that knowing yourself is definitely learning from mistakes and failures. I think you will nail it this time.

eapar507

Thank you for sharing your insights. I think it is helpful and encouraging to know that others are going through similar situations.

I lost about 85 pounds from May 2017-May2018. I maintained the loss for about 8 months and then slowly regained about 40 pounds. For me it started with a knee injury that prevented me from running my usual4-5 days per week. I basically stopped exercising and I had already been slacking on logging my food because I was getting too confident. I haven’t always been obese. I spent most of my life as the tall skinny girl and had only been heavy for about 8 years before I finally lost the weight. I was too confident and thought once the weight was off it would stay off. I have learned that for me at this point 52 years old, thyroid issues, and type 2 diabetic, I need to exercise. I know calories in calories out but for me if I don’t exercise I will end up eating over my calorie goals. I need to step on the scale daily or at least weekly and I need to move my body. I feel so much better now that I have got a routine going again. So I am working on staying accountable and focusing on healthy habits that will last a lifetime. I am eating healthy foods that I love and logging everything. I don’t think I will stop logging this time. I need it to always be aware.

spiriteagle99

My history of yoyo dieting was very similar to yours. All my life I've gone up and down 20-50 lbs. Not weighing myself because I didn't want to know was a big part of it. It's easy to tell yourself that you haven't gained that much weight, until you look at a photo and realize that you've been lying to yourself. The slippery slope though was 'treats': I have a sweet tooth. I love pie and ice cream and cookies. Instead of being a treat, something special that I ate occasionally, I began eating them every day, or even a few times a day. When I am not terribly active, that causes the weight to go up, a lot. Combine that with not wanting to weigh myself, and it was easy to gain back as much as I lost.

The past few years I have been able to maintain a 55 lb. weight loss. The difference is that I haven't stopped logging my food (although I haven't needed to weigh it) or weighing myself. I don't guess how much I can eat every day, I know the numbers. I still eat sweets, but I make sure they fit in my calorie budget. I have also made sure to stay active. That's easier now that I'm retired, but it is still a very conscious effort. CICO works, but only if I stay aware of both sides of the equation.

jessieann1982

The same thing happened to me along with personalproblems I have been dealing with i also get in the mindset where I felt I look nice i can start eating what I want again, and I can't! It's a horrible trap! You just have to stick to tracking everything every day! Good luck!