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Anyone Lost Over 30 and kept it off for more than 5 years, who doesn't work in the fitness industry

Letsdothis749

Is there anyone here who has lost over 30 pounds and kept it off for more than 5 years, who doesn't work in the fitness industry, or a heavily appearance-biased field?

It seems like most of the people who keep it off work in fitness. I hope I'm wrong.

Other people can reply too, I'm just particularly interested in that group.

[Updated by Staff, April 2026 - Updated formatting]

Replies

arrghmatey1

Start Date: 12/24/2016 Start Weight: 318.6 lbs.
Restart Date Weight: 05/1/2023 Start Weight: 280.2 lbs.
Current Weight 6/16/2023 270.6
I will not blame covid as I was an essential employee.
Failure to restrict the piehole and resumption of bad eating habits would be the culprit.
I am now retired and have very high hopes of once again getting below 250 lbs.
I am 63 and 5'10" male.
My advice is that you have to find a reasonable food intake level with an eye to good nutrition.
Friendly carbs and so forth.
I hate exercise especially mindless exercise.
Instead of a treadmill I bought an electric push with a bag and rotate through our half acre with it.
I live in the south, so this actually gives me about 9 months of an exercise window.
I will just have to find something else to be productive during the winter.

ThisMagicMoment

I was down a little over 40 pounds by the end of the first year after my husband died. I didn't really TRY to do this. I just had very little appetite for several months, and kept overly busy doing physical work in the yard, etc. to distract myself from grief.

I've kept most of this off for seven years now, but do always go up a few pounds during hot summer weather, and during the winter when snow and ice put an end to the puttering around in the yard that I like to do.

I'm in my mid-60s, and definitely not in the fitness industry.

NoelDosser

When I started my program in June 2015 I was 375 pounds and over 50% body fat. My lowest has been 172. That was 2017. I maintained until 2022. I've been bad and struggling with my sugar addiction and am back up 210. I know what's wrong. It's just getting back on the program

runlikeananna

Me for ten years.

pepperbandit

I lost 50 pounds right before Covid hit and have kept it off since. So not 5 years but a little over 3 years and going strong. I am a regular person who works from home, work out 5 days a week at Orangetheory and follow the Whole30 way of eating(no sugar, alcohol, grains or dairy). I am 5'3" and 125 pounds currently.

DiscusTank5

mollydespondent wrote: »

Lost 90lbs cycling. Have kept it off 3 years. Cycling.

I keep thinking about how you lost NINETY pounds whenever I jump on my bike and start to think, "Oh, it doesn't burn that many calories." It really can, truth be told.

DussyHoppers

I failed

I lost over 40lbs about 10yrs ago. I got down to 9 stone from 12. Despite being active, it slowly crept back up to 10 stone and stabilised at around 10.5. But then I had surgery and it went back up to 12 again in the last 2 yrs.
So started again back in April and am now 11 stone.

Jarol777

I'm Jarol777
I started in 1998 at 245.5 lbs - YoYo for 21 years - maintained constantly for last 4 years, July 2019 until today.
Today I'm 148 lbs
Primary System: CICO - for accountability, I report my weight annually to National Weight Control Registry. I don't count on vacations or when I'm a guest in someone's home but get right back on my CICO the next morning.
I would be dead without measuring my food and journaling. I'm not successful with estimating portions.
I do better with total abstinence than with moderation.
I'm not big on regular exercise but I have recently re-introduced it to my regimen. Mostly I compete with table tennis.

Ruffian1000

IAmTheGlue wrote: »

I’m back to add a comment .. because I’m sick in bed and just thinking.

I think this may the the root of your question… how is it some people keep it off and some don’t?
...
Well, one day, you will get sick of your own bull… ish and that will be the attempt that takes. One day you will get fed up with your own nonsense. One day you will say “enough is enough “ and do exactly what it takes to lose weight and … keep it off. It’s an actual brain change. Weight loss is a mental process.
... You can do it. I believe in you. With all loving kindness… you *can* be a success story. Just keep going.

I love this. It's a brain change indeed. And I haven't felt ready to fully commit before. I've drifted through life grasping at pleasures (food, clothes, whatever) and not "planned" my life. Now I'm in my 60s and I'm fat without a lot of money in the bank. So I'm buckling down on both counts. I believe it's not too late. I am rethinking my priorities and planning. I'm saving now every month, paying off remaining debts, and even saving for a big vacation. The food has been the hardest because I usually go on autopilot when eating. Can't do that anymore. I have to really think with each meal, "can I afford this today"? Today, I can end the day with something i enjoy because I counted my calories and walked a lot. Tomorrow, maybe not! Each day is a challenge, but I love the person who said it takes as long as it takes. Just no going up or going back. That sounds like a good plan. And honestly, having a big trip is motivating - I want to be
able to walk all day and explore new places, and I don't want to be carrying all this extra weight around.

I've been working on simple meditation and being more grateful and more mindful. Now I have to be more mindful of what I eat and spend - not just my mindful of my thoughts. But I can see that it all works together.

Thanks for this thread. I lost 90 pounds at one point but gained it all back plus 30 more in the ten years that followed. I want to go back to that weight. I felt so great. I loved how my body looked. I'll never be young again, but I can be a lot healthier, and that will save me money and pain in the long run!

chris_in_cal

This is the best thread on MFP.

Keiyane

Hi,
I lost 30 Kg (~60 pounds if I'm correct) a while ago and kept it for like 5 years.
Due to a brain tumor and losing sight of the track, I've gained that way back. But I'm here to do it all over again ♥

waxingturtle

This is a really good question and I enjoyed the comments because I had the same wondering too

mkallie

I lost about 30 and kept it off for a long time until pregnancy. I think it's doable if it's a lifestyle change. I don't know what happened with me recently but something clicked and I felt like I sprang back into those habits this year and since then the weight has just fallen off.

judefit1

I lost 45 lbs in 2008, from 165 to 120 (5' 2") I've never gained it all back. I stayed between 120-130 for many years, but during the pandemic gained 15 lbs to bring me back here at 142. This has been a lifelong pattern and I need to address two things. I binge eat at night in front of the TV, and I avoid getting on the scale/logging when I know I've junk binged. I hope to break that pattern this time, lose sensibly and maintain good health.

PAnn1

I lost 82# back in 2008 and kept it off until my mom passed in 2014 then my eldest brother 3 months later. So, 7 years. I went up and down these past years. Now I'm back on track and have taken off 35 of what I had gained back, back then. My goal now is just another 5#.

bethanylynne22

I gained, and then lost about 45lbs while working in the restaurant industry (as a multi-unit leader, with high stress, long hours, food everywhere). I've kept off the weight since 2019 and am currently in the best shape of my life at 46.
I attribute my success to spending the time to research, plan and follow through with routines that helped me stick to the food plan. Also to plain old discipline. Motivation never got me as far as just doing the thing I said I would do. Doesn't matter what industry you work in, if you just don't allow yourself to cave into the excuses.

simon_sheila2

I started in 2017 at 22st 5lbs. Managed to lose 66lbs and it is a constant struggle to keep it off. Would like to lose another stone but I'm an office jockey and 57. Plus like a drink at the weekend. I managed mainly through cal counting and walking. Love and hugs to everyone on the journey :-)

awnurmarc

As you will see from my profile, I have been a member here since December 2013. So that's the starting point for my weight graph:

So I did get back up to 230 briefly a couple of years after my stoke. On the other hand, my starting weight of 243 was lower than my highest weight, I am pretty sure. But since then I have lost and maintained at under 175. (The hilltops you see recently are bulking cutting cycles where I gain and lose about 10 percent).
I go to the gym 3 times a week, count my steps, and work in a warehouse/factory producing aluminum (sometimes copper) gutters, downspouts, and elbows.

themommie

I started my weight loss journey 12 yrs ago, I lost 135 lbs,but it took me almost 3 yrs. I used MFP, walking,going to the gym and exercise videos. I have kept it off within 5 lbs until the last yr gaining 12 lbs and going up and down. My husband had 2 brain surgeries last yr for Parkinson’s and is currently doing radiation and chemo for tonsil cancer that has gone into his lymph nodes. So for me it’s been stress eating, and not exercising as regularly due to being at medical appts. But I am getting back on track before it gets any more out of control. I find it really is a mindset thing. I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired and was more consistent than I had ever been. Before I tried everything to lose weight but I would view it as a diet meaning I did it for awhile , then would slowly go back to my old habits. never really changing . This time it was a lifestyle change

Shaggy_Dominic

I am another one. No other way to be now :-)
We all can do it.

sharon81

First comment for me ever on MFP and I've been on and off since 2009. I am typically in the "I gained it all back plus" group.
This time feels different. I have been losing for just over a year now and am down 40lbs. I have gained 3-5 lbs back but then lost it immediately again. I find that the hardest part for me is getting enough movement in my day. I have a sedentary job (office) where I force myself to get up and walk about but that burns very few celeries intermittently. I HATE exercise and find myself doing great for about 3 days and then not going back to it, so my plateaus are longer than I'd like them to be. My longest just passed, it was 3 months long, same weight every day!!!
So, to answer your question, not longer than 5 years and not even 5 years as I am still losing. But I've lost 40 and counting in 1 year and I feel confident this time.
My secret?
Keep starting over. EVERY day. So, you ate 500 celeries over yesterday, Today is a new day! Don't give up, if you have a bad week or bad weekend or month. Just keep starting over,. Keep logging what you eat even if you stumble....
That's my two cents worth !

waxingturtle

@sharon81 that's good advice and I'm doing just that. Logging it all and knowing I will have to log everyday as a routine for the rest of my life bc I NEED to do that. Thanks fur sharing.

@Shaggy_Dominic thank you. I'm hopeful by hearing others have done it!

@themommie thank you for commenting. It's reasonable to gain some when your life is in turmoil. That's why we have this app, right? I'm glad you're getting a handle on it again. Best wishes for good health to your husband!

AshinAms

I lost 40kg (88 pounds) back in 2010 on MFP and have kept it off for the last 13 years (with a 10kg (20 lb) fluctuation up and down due to life stresses). I don't work in the fitness industry although when I was losing the 88 lb I did do a lot of sports.

I think that it would be a bad idea to base losing weight on having a guaranteed active lifestyle as a lot of those 10 kilo fluctuations since 2010 with me have been due to not being able to exercise over the years because of serious injuries (car accident, back injury). What goes in your mouth is definitely the most important factor - I gain weight whenever I stop tracking calories but now I have the tools to come back to MFP and start tracking again and knowing I will need to do that for the rest of my life due to a disordered attitude toward food. Here to lose the last few kilos now to get down to a truly healthy BMI.

springlering62

Oooh oooh oooh 👋🏻

I will hit keeping my first thirty lost off for five years next week, so now I officially qualify.

Not a trainer, not in the fitness industry, but have taken liberal advantage of both.

I’ve had an in-person dietician and a phone dietician, and two superior trainers (plus another two that absolutely sucked and one who was good but insisted on treating me like a grey/headed possum and ignored me when I said “challenge me and make me whine”.)

It all came down to weighing food, habitual logging, learning to love new foods (we walked past church’s Chicken with the dog a little while ago and I nearly urped from the grease odor. Win!!!!!) and learning to love exercise plus be willing to try new things.

The board community here was also instrumental.

I went on to lose 97, then made the difficult decision to add some back because I was so thin I looked like I’d snap. 142 is my current ideal weight (I think) am hovering at 146 because of a minor foot injury. Ya injure one darn thing and everything else starts hurting. Yay, age. Not! I figure a good bit of it is extra water weight for the soreness all over. Five years of meticulous logging and weighing has learned me that that’s really a thing so I’m not panicked.

dgper

I lost 35 lbs. and have kept it off for 5 years. It "helps" that I have some pretty severe digestive disorders that sometimes make it hard for me to eat, but for the most part it's been a matter of giving myself a 3-5 lb. limit on how much I can gain before taking real action (calorie reduction, intermittent fasting, going off starches). I weigh myself every day. That was the one hard and fast rule.

gunnmike

60 pounds off for about the last decade or so. Not in the fitness or "appearance " industry.

Lucy7903

IAmTheGlue wrote: »

I’m back to add a comment .. because I’m sick in bed and just thinking.

I think this may the the root of your question… how is it some people keep it off and some don’t?

All of this is my own personal opinion. Just some rando on the internet… so grain of salt and all that..

Well, one day, you will get sick of your own bull… ish and that will be the attempt that takes. One day you will get fed up with your own nonsense. One day you will say “enough is enough “ and do exactly what it takes to lose weight and … keep it off. It’s an actual brain change. Weight loss is a mental process.

Until that day, I think a lot of people are just floundering… buying shake weights and ab rollers and eating cabbage soup… (not that I don’t love cabbage soup), trying to find a magical combination of foods that melts away fat. Looking for a magic pill. There must be some secret that some people know and others don’t .

I just wanted to address all the “hoping for a miracle, hoping one day it will stay off “… the actual difference is not magic. It’s stick- to- it- iveness.

It’s getting up every day and making choices that bring you closer to your ideal life, your ideal weight, your ideal fitness.

I’m just some rando, but CICO works. It can and will work for you if you are just honest with yourself and log accurately.

There is a phrase about learning a new skill (and managing your weight is a skill) and that phrase is “embrace the suck”. There is a period of time when learning any new skill that you suck at it. Keep going. Learn from your mistakes, but just keep going.

You can do it. I believe in you. With all loving kindness… you *can* be a success story. Just keep going.

I have to agree with everything said above. I am a returning user to this app after a five year absence. The app itself was always one of my favorites and the tools provided are progressive and more supportive than other programs I have tried. My family as a whole is "obese" I watched my Mom "yo-yo" diet my whole life so at an early age I chose to make fitness a lifestyle. I educated myself. I made healthy choices about what I put in my body. I am a firm believer in garbage in, garbage out. I started working out but not at athlete status. I began hiking and then, later, strength training and cycling. I had three children and never gained over the recommended 30 lbs. At 34-39 years of age, I was in the best physical and emotional shape of my life. I truly believe that was because of years of training and consistently working at a healthy lifestyle. It didn't happen overnight or in six months. Four years ago ( during the pandemic) I stopped going to the gym. I started eating processed fast food with my children. I didn't eat as many greens as I had my entire life and I probably tripled my carb intake! And I don't eat bad or sugary carbs. I gained 40lbs in a matter of about 3-5 months. And 40lbs on a curvaceous 5'5 can look like 100lbs. I went from a size 6 to a size 12-14. So this week, a month before my 50 th birthday...I said I don't want to look this way anymore. I want to like the way my clothes fit. I want to not be ashamed of the pics that are taken with my children and share them with others. I want to have more energy. I want to be able to do my own toes and not be uncomfortable iny own skin. I have been making excuses, Covid changed my life drastically, my age, my hormones ( I actually had my labs ran hoping there was something medical that caused the weight gain that I needed to address. You know what my doctor said? She had never in her life seen such perfect numbers for cholesterol, and everything else was in range not to mention my blood pressure has always been and was about 115/80.) These lab results were because of me making fitness a lifestyle. Everyone in my family has health issues. My siblings are younger than me and take medication for various conditions. I blamed depression, the loss of my father, pretty much everything but the truth is ITS MY HABITS. I know if I change those things, the weight will come off. Set realistic goals and forgive yourself when you fall short. It truly is a journey and not a race to a destination. Before entering my information into my profile...my mindset was I want to take this weight off immediately. The app said even aggressively that the soonest it will be is the end of January. Okay, shrug, I can live with that. Because I know the end result is that I will feel better but in January, the work isn't finished. I have to continue making the healthy decisions every day to keep it off. Wishing all of you the best. P.S. I smoked cigarettes for fifteen years. Gave the habit up 10 years ago and I am still successful at not smoking. Hardest habit I ever kicked. Just in case, anyone is struggling. It was a process as well.

ewtfyoga

I imagine that it may help if you are in an industry that is centered on looks but I think that something else is important to look at - NEAT (non-exercise activity time) It may be easy enough to put your best foot forward when you have a "goal" in front of you but how active are you the rest of the day? When I taught, it was easier to maintain my weight just because I was on my feet for my work day. Of course snacking also plays a part but similarly, I could easily eat a whole meal while doing a desk job but would not dare eat during a lesson as that would show no respect for my students and their time.
My mother stayed within 10 pounds of 115 her whole life, because she only sat when she was eating or watching tv and she didn't do either more than 3 times a day. I, however, will happily sit for hours unless paid or externally motivated not to

ewtfyoga

Sorry it was not my intention for this to be posted twice and I am unable to simply delete it.

gretchen_sf

On March 15, 2017 weighed 230# - BMI of 30 (60 yo - 6 ft tall) - got "married to my FitBit" - recording every thing that I've ate on each and every day since... plus regular exercise... indoor rowing & treadmill for the most part
December 22, 2019 - 199# - during the pandemic walked 3 miles 5-6 days each week.
June 24, 2021 - 179# - low weight - have bounced around but never higher than 187# - generally higher during ski season/winter - yes, I am now 68 years old and got back on the slopes at 65yo. Ski 12 - 20 days a season.
Currently 181# - hoping to increase muscle and fitness for 24/25 ski season -
I eat beef very rarely, mostly chicken, salmon, sometimes pork, most of what I consume is organic - it tastes better! - generally 5 servings of fruits/vegetables each day - keep my macros at less than 50/30/20 - try for 100g of protein each day. Enjoy a glass of wine almost every day at dinner.
I'm NOT a fitness professional, I'm an office worker who may someday retire... best to all on their journeys - I believe in persistence!