Has anyone lost weight and then put it back on?

qstneverything
qstneverything Posts: 125 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So, the title says it all.

Has anyone ever managed to lose a lot of weight in the past, but was unsuccessful in maintaining the weight and has ended up here?

I lost 20 kilograms in the past when I was sixteen quite easily just getting a bit of moderate exercise and eating very clean. Unfortunately as I was quite young and when I got a bit older and was forced to 'grow up' (a few factors happened, the parent I lived with died, REALLY bad relationships, even the small fact I now need to buy and cook for myself, bad jobs that left me physically and emotionally drained etc) I have put it all back on, and a little bit more.

Now I'm twenty-one and I'm now in a better place. Better friends, and the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. All I have left to do is attend the gym and eat a bit cleaner and I KNOW I can do it again! I'm already seeing results.

Who's with me?
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Replies

  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
    Several years ago I lost around 70 lbs and kept it off for about a year but then I went on some anti-depressants and started getting really hungry all the time. Even after I went off the pills the constant hunger didn't go away so I kept eating. It didn't help that at the same time my dad entered the last stages of his cancer and I moved back in with him and my mom to help take care of him. I fell back into bad eating habits I had learned from my mom and started eating dinner when I came home and then again a couple hours later when they ate. Plus I lost my main source of exercise because it wasn't easy getting to walk on the country roads.

    Finally this year after trying to get my doctor's help (and her not seeming to care even though I had gained 100 lbs in a year) I just decided to reduce my calories since I was hungry either way.
  • AnchoredinHimfitness
    AnchoredinHimfitness Posts: 144
    Yes! Here's my story...to much to retype

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1120211-passed-my-original-goal-of-145-from-181lbs-to-140lbs
  • fishnbrah
    fishnbrah Posts: 550
    i lost 25lbs last year, gained it all back plus some
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    All the time. I loose a few, and gain a few every week. I yo-yo like crazy. I have learned to ignore it, and have made friends with the tape measure instead. Together we will succeed.
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
    Multiple times. Usually on each occasion I've lost 20-25kgs.

    I maintained the weight loss for about 2.5yrs - got a bit content in my relationship, went to a Monday - Friday 9-5 job, started gaining. Then had a life changing thing happen - stacked it on. Got pregnant..........Gained it all back & probably some more.

    2nd time I lost the weight, kept it off until I got pregnant again.....Back here again............I still got a way to go. I will do it & so will you! :smile:
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
    I went from 240 lbs to 130 lbs back up to 185 lbs. I was able to maintain my weight for about 2 years then it started to creep up as I was not as diligent. The year my husband deployed I really packed on the pounds. I gained about 40 in one year. Once I lose it this time I will never let that happen again. It feels way harder the second time around.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    No.

    I am not letting anything stop me from keeping the weight off.
  • Gatominx
    Gatominx Posts: 61 Member
    I lose 15, gain 15, lose15, gain 15. You get the picture. This happens to coincide when I get in shape to go on holidays :)
  • michael1976_ca
    michael1976_ca Posts: 3,488 Member
    3 years ago i lose 57 pound from jan to sep. then i just stopped careing i put on 37 pounds. it harder to get this time but a little easyier now i have my emotions in check
  • 12333beth
    12333beth Posts: 31
    i developed a disorder, didnt eat much for a year, started eating a little more and now im getting fatter and sad again, its a vicious circle really
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
    Probably almost every single person on this sure has gained and lost over and over again. The key for many is not only losing the weight, but learning how to keep it off.
  • anaconda469
    anaconda469 Posts: 3,477 Member
    I had lost 65 lbs and put 18 of it back on. I joined MFP and started tracking the crap I was eating. I am now only 4lbs from getting back to my original 65 lb weight lose. Learned how to control my eating, started to ride my bike, which sat for a year and am now 4 lbs away. It has been harder this time around. Has taken me a very long time to get all this fat I gained off.
  • Ejourneys
    Ejourneys Posts: 1,603 Member
    I'm a lifelong yo-yo. Sustainability is my mantra this time around.
    Was chubby from the get-go. Dropped a bunch of weight during an adolescent spurt, which dropped me to 113 around sixth grade. Fallout from my mother's major heart attack sent me up to 180.
    Became anorexic at age 15 and dropped down to 125 in 5 months (stopped menstruating for four of those).
    Entered college at 16 and shot back up to 180 within the year.
    Got married right out of college and dropped to 150 for the wedding. Bad marriage sent me back up to 180.
    By the time I left the marriage I had dropped down to around 160. The next few years I yo-yoed roughly between 150 and 180.
    I had climbed into the 190s in the early 1990s. My MD threatened to discontinue the hormone medication that was allowing me to function through severe dysmenorrhea if I didn't lose 20 lbs in a year.
    I then trained for and did the first Boston-NY AIDS Ride, bicycling 261 miles in 3 days. I weighed 155 when I began the ride and 150 when I finished.
    Then Life happened (again). By 2001 I weighed 204.
    I turned to the Carb Addict's Diet and dropped 60 pounds with the help of running, which resulted in my avatar photo.
    Life continued and I shot up to 201 by 2009. Over the course of a year I dropped down to 175.
    Life took another turn and I shot back up to 201 by 2012. At this point I joined MFP, and have lost 48 pounds as of this writing.

    This time around, I am working much more diligently on my stress responses in general, plus this is the first time I have turned away significantly from processed foods. My exercise is moderate, rather than highly-focused training for events. In addition to sustainability, I am much more focused on balancing everything in my life, especially now that I've been a caregiver for over a decade.
  • JilloftheDead
    JilloftheDead Posts: 296 Member
    I lost 75 lbs including my highest pregnancy weight or 55 lbs after the birth of my first son.. then I became pregnant with my second :laugh: I gained 30 lbs while pregnant, lost 15 lbs after giving birth, gained back 13 lbs in 20 months and starting the beginning of this month I started getting serious again. No more excuses!
  • MizSookeh
    MizSookeh Posts: 106 Member
    I lost just over 20kgs doing to SureSlim diet 4-5 years ago.... if you don't know it, it's the one you pay way too much money for, they do blood tests, and give you a 'customised' diet plan.

    3 meals a day, 5 hours apart, no snacking, super low carb, no mixing proteins in meals, taking a bite of protein to start each meal, spoonfuls of seeds and oil daily, weekly check-ins at their office.

    Obviously it worked to some extent, but there was no way it was ever going to be suitable for long term. They did have a 'maintenance plan' they shared with you once you hit your goals, but never got there.

    So along came birthdays, holidays, work events, every excuse under the sun, and I went back the next year..... and here's an embarrassing story for you... I'd put on so much weight that they had to double check I was the same person and they were looking at the right file. :embarassed:

    That's the biggest success I've had. I've been on MFP for the last month or so, starting 15kgs higher than I did back then. I haven't had the huge drops like I did in the first weeks of that plan, but I'm eating REAL FOOD and still being able to fit fun meals into my day, and budget my calories for drinks on the weekend.
  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
    2010 170
    2011 115
    2013 156
    Now 139
    Trying to stay active now, that was my downfall, no activity before.
  • melissarina
    melissarina Posts: 113 Member
    When I was 25, I lost 20 kgs or so without focusing on it - I was walking to and from work, walking to the supermarket, walking when I met up with friends. I pretty much gave up driving for 3 months after a car accident that I was a passenger in.
    Then, I started living with my now-husband, and stacked all the weight back on over the course of 3 years, and now I'm trying to drop it again, and keep it off for good.
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
    Ugh, yes. I lost 50 of the 70 I wanted. And then health issues required me to go on birth control, which turned into a carousel of trying different birth control pills (4 varieties in three months), and a couple of them turned me into an eating machine. My hormones were out of control and my cravings for all things junky was just out of this world. I gained back 20 pounds in three months. Crazy.

    On a bc that agrees with me now. I've lost five pounds in two weeks. Back on the right track!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    I have lost this weight and gained it back with a little extra 3x now. But this WILL be the last time. Because I've made it a lifestyle change, not a diet. I've changed everything in my life, and I'm not just looking at a "I'll eat like this until I weigh this amount"...I know that's where I've failed in the past...I watch what I eat until I reach my goal and then I don't have a plan...Not gonna happen this time. I've changed everything and love all the changes.
  • NGFive
    NGFive Posts: 125 Member
    nah.
  • ames105
    ames105 Posts: 288 Member
    I think anyone who has struggled with their weight has experienced the ups and downs of losing weight and gaining it back. I seem to drop 10, gain 20 over and over again until I was over 300lbs. The biggest drop was 53.5lbs. I ended up gaining 40 of it back. It was like something clicked in my head and I didn't care any more, I remember thinking I'll just let myself gain 10lbs and then I'll stop it. I didn't stop and it took me years to get myself back under control.

    So, now I'm down another 63lbs. It took a lot of work, some health issues and about a year to get myself to this point. I still have another 50 to go. I am determined to never put it back on again. I know that this is going to be a lifetime struggle and I plan on winning the war.
  • courtneywiens
    courtneywiens Posts: 148 Member
    I lost 90 from my heaviest and gained back about 25 of it because I hurt my knee and stopped working out as much, also started eating less healthy and drinking more occasionally.. Working very hard to lose it again. I am still down about 70 but it is a struggle each and every day. Makes me stronger though! For sure!! You can lose it again, and learn not to repeat the same mistakes. You can do it! :)
  • candacet36
    candacet36 Posts: 353 Member
    Did you want to know how many times this has happened to me?

    Serioulsy I have had 4 kids and it is always a struggle. This is a life style for me not a diet I am currently trying to maintain and I honestly think that is harder than losing!
  • DesDawn24
    DesDawn24 Posts: 147 Member
    Yep, definitely did that. When I was in university, over 3 years I lost about 110 pounds. When I graduated, I moved to another city and started living with my then boyfriend. I had a desk job, and just lost all motivation. What took me three years to lose only took me about a year and a half to gain back, and then another 6 months after that I gained about another 20. I was kind of in denial about it all, I never saw the weight when I looked in the mirror... until suddenly my clothes didn't fit quite right anymore. Now I'm back on the fitness/healthy eating wagon and on my way to that happy, healthy person that I was when I graduated!
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
    I lost about 30 lbs and gained about 10 lbs back. Nipped it in the bud before it got out of hand.

    Short of logging every day for the rest of my life I foresee keeping an eye on my weight and when it goes too close to my upper limit, I'll pay closer attention.
  • tristaj90
    tristaj90 Posts: 330 Member
    I lost 100 pounds in a year and 2 months (was down 100 pounds in May of this year after being 234 in March of 2012) and since then I've bounced 10 or so pounds back.. I've been struggling with that 10 pounds for the last 5 months...
  • KarenLue
    KarenLue Posts: 94 Member
    GOOD LORD YES! As they say......''.weight loss is a journey. Not a destination' Or maybe it's fitness. But you catch my drift. Being mindful of your weight and fitness is a constant through life. You never get to a goal and then you can quit.
    I lost 56 lbs when I was 24. Kept it all of till in my late thirties. then gained 25. Lost 25. Gained 20, lost 20. My Dad died I gained 25. I just lost 23. But I ALWAYS strive to figure out where im going wrong and how I can get back on track. If I don't I will eventually wind up 60lbs over weight laying on the couch miserable. It's worth the extra effort to not let that happen! You are fine! Just keep trying!
  • caramel1920
    caramel1920 Posts: 271
    Yes, in 2004 I lost 85lbs. I managed to maintain for a couple of years, but then I started grad school and over the course of the next 3 years gained all of the weight and then some! This second time around is way more difficult, but I am getting in the best shape of my life, I think before I just lost weight by cutting back and not focusing too much on the exercise, this time I love getting my burn on, I just really need to make better choices all around! Good luck and blessings to us all!!!! We got this!:bigsmile:
  • LavenderBouquet
    LavenderBouquet Posts: 736 Member
    I had lost around 20lbs earlier this year, and gained more than half of that back since then. Such a bummer, but I am definitely with you in getting back on track and getting it done!
  • jeffd247
    jeffd247 Posts: 319 Member
    I've gained and lost so much weight is sickening. 5-6 years ago we did a "Biggest Loser" competition at work and the company that I worked for put up $1000 to the winner.

    I lost nearly 50lbs in a couple of months without any exercise by just starving myself. I came in 2nd place and rewarded myself with a couple of donuts and a coffee. I gained all of that weight back plus an additional 20-30 pounds on top of it by just being lazy and gluttonous.

    So stupid... and not the first time.


    Now I'm losing weight slowly (about 1.5lbs per week), but I'm focusing more on my health than I am my weight. I bought a tape measure though I still obsess over the scale. I'm training for a 5k and don't plan to stop there. My long term goal is a half-marathon(s). Now when I start feeling some success I reward myself with new clothes or a new fitness gadget rather than food.

    On top of those things, I am constantly thinking about how to live my life once I get to 'maintenance mode'. In reality I don't ever intend to get there. I just want to change how I do things so that "normal life" means not packing on the pounds.

    Everything in my life is getting better. I'm nicer to be around, more motivated around the house and with my family and more interested in maintaining relationships with friends since I am no longer feeling so embarrassed with how I look.

    I still have a lot of bad habits to break, but I am getting there. This is going to take a while and I know every 10lbs its going to get harder. I've never had this perspective about my health before and I just never realized how destructive and self compounding the problem of obesity is.

    Inertia really hits hard.

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