Weight relapse (gained 20+ pounds)

I was on a consistent healthy diet and exercised 4 days a week and lost 18 pounds in 6 months, but then earlier this year I had enormous stresses in my life which cause me to stress-eat and gain everything back and more. Felt like giving up, but downloaded MFP to try and restart my weight loss journey. Any tips on how I can stop losing hope and lose these pounds instead? It feels so much harder to do than before, I'm losing way lesser pounds per 2 weeks than I did before and I don't know why, I'm doing what I did earlier, which was cutting out junk food (I did have some cheat days though) and walking. But I switched walking with biking now. Is that slowing me down somehow?

edit: I used to walk 30 minutes earlier in a day, now switched to 20 minutes of MTB biking.

Replies

cmriverside

It's not the biking.

Stay the course.

Part of the issue could be physical/biological if you've been under a lot of stress. Stress raises cortisol which causes (increases) inflammation/water retention. Have you seen a doctor lately?

Other than that I'd say just be as consistent as you can, try to get enough sleep, log food.

sijomial

"But I switched walking with biking now. Is that slowing me down somehow?"
Highly unlikely but both activities have a huge range of duration and therefore calorie burns.
Without detail nobody can do anything but guess, your diaries are private so there's no clues.

Question for you....
Which is more important for your weight loss - direction or speed?

And a follow up would be which is more stressful - fast weight loss or steady weight loss?

Aliaatreides04

sijomal, thank you for your reply! I would say direction. I'm not interested in fast weight loss, I'm interested in a sustainable gradual weight loss.

sijomial

"edit: I used to walk 30 minutes earlier in a day, now switched to 20 minutes of MTB biking."

That's not going to have any significant impact on your weight loss but if a novel exercise causes soreness/inflammation you might have a short term temporary water weight spike.

If you think of weight loss as a game of thousands of calories (3,500cals per pound of fat) short duration exercise really has very little bearing on things.
Which is fine as exercise is really for health/fitness/enjoyment.

If you are prone to stress eating then minimising stress makes sense, if that means losing slowly that really is OK. Look a few years into the future and the speed of loss won't matter - getting to goal and staying there will though. Be kind to yourself. :flowerforyou:

_Hannahlouise_

Hey as others have said I doubt the switch from walking to biking has impacted. It can feel more difficult the second time around or so our head tells us. Stress can impact on weight loss take it easy and a day at a time

taisaac

I am re-starting my weight loss journey since receiving a pre-diabetic diagnosis. I gained about 20 pounds in 2020. My Mom passed and so much was going on with the pandemic. I was eating and not exercising. I had a lot of stress in my life. Thankfully, I am beyond those days.

I am working on sticking to the calorie burn and calorie allowance from MFP. I am logging exercise and food again. I think this will be key for me. I know I need to work on my sleep.

I would recommend some deep breath meditation each day, even if it's only one minute. You can build on it and work up to longer periods of time. I find that I am a lot more relaxed after I complete my meditation time.

I pray much success for you moving forward. I know how hard it is.

starryeyedsnoozer

Me too. I gained over 2 stone during the pandemic and had a lot of stress and turned to food. Starting again this last week but I’m so upset with myself for losing my way.

BarbMessimer

Why not try just eating 2 wholesome meals a day and no snacking. It will give your body a chance to digest your food better and detoxify. I've lost 42 pounds in the past year that way and am keeping them off. Feel really good too... lots of energy.

pridesabtch

starryeyedsnoozer wrote: »

Me too. I gained over 2 stone during the pandemic and had a lot of stress and turned to food. Starting again this last week but I’m so upset with myself for losing my way.

No need to beat yourself up. The past is gone. You, like me have started over. Have you done well today? Great job! Make it a habit. If you have an off day, don't let it turn into multiple days, and you'll be fine. Cut yourself some slack. That was a hard lesson for me...