Anybody LOST a lot of weight then GAINED it all back?

davoiscool

Lost 22kg, gained 11kg back. GOTTA SORT THIS **** OUT MAN!

That said, tearing a ligament in my ankle and going to 0 exercise didn't help, as I used to cycle alot.

smantha32

I'd also be curious as THIS thread progresses how many folks lost via MFP and who lost via another approach.

I lost 50 pounds on weight watchers.. lost motivation and gained 30 back.

joined MFP and lost 20. I still have another 30 to go, but again I'm not motivated. Part of it is the cold weather. I know I'll pick back up once it's warmer. But MFP is helping me maintain through this period so I'm not gaining. woo!

belleflop

Went from 311 to 225 (86lbs lost) in 2007

Went from 285 to 220 (65lbs lost) in 2009

Went from 268 to 219 (49lbs lost) in 2011

Went from 263 to 235 (28lbs lost) in 2013

Current weight 268

Goal weight: 195

I really have to figure out why this pattern keeps repeating. Maybe I need to lose weight in an even year?

The good news is....you started at a lower weight each time . That's a good pattern to have, if you're gonna have a yo-yo pattern at all.

I like the way you put it. I think I just really enjoy losing weight, but never have my sights set on the big picture. When I start to slip I have no internal mechanisms to stop it. I'll even keep weighing myself during the down fall, which most people don't do. I need to find something that once I lose the weight drives me to maintain and drive more each day. Maybe enter some competitions or establish a reward system. Things are in the works each time I fail I learn something. This last go was that low-carbing is great, but unless the whole family gets on board it's doomed to fail (at least for me). I'm just going to eat healthy and keep a positive attitute on what I eat and how much I eat.

Indiri13

I am really good at gaining it back. Here's my history, as short as I can make it:

I was around 145-150 in high school. I rode my bike everywhere and didn't get my license till I was 18, at which point I stopped using my bike and didn't replace that exercise with anything. I moved out and by the end of Freshman year in college I was 185. I found stretch marks on my *kitten* for the very first time and I cried a LOT. I had no idea how to lose weight but my boyfriend helped when I asked him. I started going with him to the gym, I stopped eating "bad" foods and had no idea about counting calories or really how to do it the right way. I got down to 160 but didn't really learn how to eat right.

I got pregnant, gained to 210. I managed to get down to 180. I got pregnant, gained to 215. I got down to 190, had my third child, and was 240. When she was 5 weeks old (2004) I started walking an hour 6 days a week and eating calorie amounts that were WAY too low. I don't call it anorexia because I never had the psychological need to do it, I just saw that those amounts worked, I lost 10 pounds a month, etc. I lost my cycle, my body was very angry, I do not recommend it. I did get down to 160 but I couldn't eat like that forever and AGAIN I had learned nothing about how I should eat.

I managed to keep it down for a while (I was chasing 3 kids in diapers so I ran around a lot) but over the years I gained a little here and there until around Christmas 2011 I stepped on a scale and I was 210 again. I had regained 50 pounds. My motivation found me and I started counting calories, hiking, Zumba, everything. At first I was just doing it on my own, and then in July of 2012 I also started using a calorie counting site (not this one at that time). I hit 155 and a size 6 by late 2012.

In May of 2013 some serious stress hit my life (ugh!) and I couldn't go to Zumba or hike because I barely had time to breathe. I was always busy and tired. I regained 25 of those pounds. But this time I'd had it with losing weight only to end up being bigger than I started. I put a stop to it at the 25 pounds. Just before Thanksgiving, going in to the hardest time of year with holidays and Christmas cookies, I started taking control. I've lost 10 pounds since then and hopefully in another 3-4 months I'll be back to 155. I switched over to using MFP in December because it's more active and I think that helps.

I'm not perfect at this, not by a long stretch, but I'm getting better at it. This time I understand the difference in carbs/fats/proteins, how to balance it, how many calories I need to fuel myself right. I know the difference between being 160 but "skinny fat" and being 160 with a lot of lean muscle (size 10 vs size 6 at the same weight, too). I actually have the knowledge to keep this working. I understand now that new exercise/salt/dehydration can make me gain water weight and just because I gain a pound or 3 doesn't mean I need to restrict calories more. I understand that even though I weigh two pounds more than yesterday I didn't really gain it because I would have had to eat 7,000 calories over my maintenance level to do that and I know I didn't. I know that weighing daily works for me because I understand those things and I'm no longer discouraged by the natural fluctuations.

So, I'm doing it again, losing weight. To me that sucks. But I will succeed this time. I WILL make it to the top of Mt Rose again this year (10,800', first done in 2012), attempt the hard side of Mt Tallac (9,700') this year and hopefully get that 14k summit next year.

Samstan101

I can be added to the list. About 13 years ago I (and my OH) both lost around 85lbs for our wedding using Slimming World. The problem was it was a diet with an end goal. Once we reached the end goal we went back to 'normal' and gained it all back plus probably half as much again. This was in part as Slimming World wasn't sustainable for life for us, in part that we reached our target of looking good on our wedding photos and in part because we love each other whatever size we are. However OH has had some health issues (non weight related but carrying the extra weight isn't helping him) and I was sick of being incredibly unfit. So he started fasting a couple of days a week back in January, it took me until late March to be ready for a lifestyle change including joining a gym (he can't exercise because of serios mobility issues and muscle pain). You can see from my ticker below that I'm doing great and he's lost just over 3st now. This time we both are in this for the long haul. It isn't a diet, this is the way we eat. Fasting works for him, calorie counting works for me. When he's not fasting we eat the same (he just may have more potatoes for example), we have the occasional treat night eg a meal out or a small takeaway and enjoy a drink most weekends so it feels sustainablwe

angulasalajillo

I did a few years ago.

Anyone who says alcoholics are always skinny is a liar!

I put on the 20kg/44lb I'd lost previously when I relapsed.

This time I am losing it for good.

TArnold2012

Bump to read and respond later.

justal313

Got curious by reading about 'success' stories. Are there people who 'lost' 10's, or 100's of pounds then gained a lot of it back or more?

And if so, why?

Is this a pattern?

Ok, when I was 26 years old I weighed 263 pounds. I had to have my gallbladder removed and I started eating vegetarian and getting 10% of my calories or less from fat. I lost 83 pounds. Then I had some fish when I was drinking and decided that fish was OK but hey if I'm eating fish, I can have chicken breast, and hey if I dont eat the skin I can have chicken thighs and legs and lean cuts of pork aren't much different than chicken, and hey the smell of your steak isn't turning my stomach and maybe I'll have a steak as a treat and ON NOM NOM NOM (that all happened in the course of a couple months)

So as soon as I stopped denying myself I didn't know how to eat without eating everything and I put most of the weight back.

At 34 I went on the south beach diet. While I was successful and dropped from 241 to 166 and kept it off for a while, I eventually stopped caring and while there is some good to the plan and it helps me make good decisions even now, I made a LOT of bad decisions and all the weight came back on.

This time I am not denying myself anything except extra helpings. I am mindful of my calories and I'm getting exercise, I love being able to move especially running. There is no trick this time, I've changed who I am and now it's about "I don't" rather than "I can't"

I will be OK for the rest of my life now.

TheWretchedFat

I lost about 25lbs when I was sixteen and managed to eat whatever I wanted WHILE waking 3-4 miles a day (had a pitbull puppy who need loads of exercise). I moved in back in with my grandparents and gained about 10 of it back

wslong62

I lost 25 pounds last year by tracking my food here. I was doing really well. Here I am 6 months later having gained all but 4 pounds back. This is a pattern for me that I cannot seem to break. How do you stay motivated to continue to weigh yourself and track your food for the rest of your life?

tskvaughn

That would be about 85% of all dieters out there who used a "diet program" to do it. They gain back because the program was just that, a program and not a lifestyle that they could live with happily.

Me in a nutshell. Loss 32 lbs in my 20s on WW. Pretty much kept it off (well half of it) for about 5 years. Then gained it back plus some. Lost 45 on Physicians Weight loss in my late 30s. Kept most of it off for a few years, then ruptured a disc in my back. Gained it all back plus a little more. Lost 60#s on NS in 2008. Daughter's melanoma came back and the sicker she got the more I ate. For 2 years after she passed I ate mindlessly for comfort. I woke up toward the end of the year and saw myself going into my 60th year as a fat old lady. I don't want to be a fate old lady.
I believe the programs killed me. I am an emotional eater and the programs were somewhat a crutch. When I went off the programs the weight came back on. Besides, I don't think I could handle one more NS meal. I am cooking my own food and am obsessed with my fitbit. I think this is something that might finally work.

devfam9257

I lost 80 lbs on WW about 7 years ago and have gained it all back and then some...have struggled since..if I'd just stopped and gone back on track at some reasonable weight, I wouldn't be here....problem is, no matter what my weight, if I just eat and don't count (even without gorging myself), I just go up and up and up...there's no place where I can maintain and live like a "real" person! Hate it!!

Synamin

I've lost 50-70 lbs three times and gained it all back three times. I'm working on sustainability this time. I will get it right sooner or later.

shaynepoole

I did it in my 20's and my 30's and now in my 40's -- but this time I did things a lot differently

the first 2 times, I really relied more on exercise than really changing my diet - so when I stopped moving because life happens/work happens, I still had bad eating habits so all in all the weight came back

This time, I totally changed my eating habits so I am a lot more confident that this time it will stick - with less importance on exercise, I try to keep active but my main focus is on what I am eating

helenharris7739

HI just started here to-day and yes I have got down to my goal weight and felt wonderful then I heard some story going round about me and I though well may be their right may be I am to thin and I let people to get in my head and gain it all back again took about 2years and I have been strangling ever sense ,but I will do it again no one will get in my head because this is what I want for myself and not them Helen

Tajil16

I have several times in my life. The reason why is because I get lazy with my exercise and eating. I am kind of a person that needs to have an organised schedule for my exercise and need to be organised with my food also, otherwise I start to gain weight again.

But I have lost nearly 10kg again in the last 2 months and am back on track

Vailara

I'm worried about maintenance and I really need to read all of this thread. Thank you all for posting!

riss526

This might be a little lengthly, but I feel like in forums like this it's nice to be able to share your stories and read others that have gone through similar situations. Feel free to scroll through, I just thought I'd share.

I've been overweight almost my entire life, I think I was normal sized until about the 3rd or 4th grade and that's when I started to notice that I was a little bit bigger than most of other girls in my classes. I was never "huge," just a little chunkier than I would have liked. But when I was in school, we had a PE requirement so I would exercise at least 3 times a week, so that helped me keep the belly at bay, so to speak. When I was 16, I was placed on an anti-anxiety medication that made me feel famished constantly and I began to overeat and before at I knew it, at just 18 years old, I was racking in at 265 pounds. Shortly before my 19th birthday in May of 2009, I asked my doctor to be weaned off of my medication, and without even trying, I lost a little over 20 lbs. My jeans were becoming loose and my shirts were starting to sag off of me, so I thought to myself, if I can lose 20 lbs or so without really trying, what will happen if I actually try?

So I started my own work-out and dieting routine. It started with walking roughly a mile a day and watching what I ate,I still ate relatively unhealthy, but I was eating much less. I started to drop even more weight. I gradually boosted my work-out routine further and further to where I began jogging/running and doing sit ups, push ups, lunges,weight lifting, etc. By the time Thanksgiving of 2009 rolled around, I had gone from a size 20 dress size to a size 16. In the following winter and early spring months I continued to push myself harder and saw more results. I was on a strict 1,500 calorie-a-day diet, and I burned almost 800 calories working out each day. I would run a minimum of 2-3 miles a day, do 100 sit ups, 100 push ups, 100 lunges, etc. By the time summer of 2010 rolled around, I had dropped from 265 pounds to 155 pounds. I was wearing a size 7 dress size, and sized S-M in shirts. I had lost 110 pounds in a year. I didn't starve myself, take any pills, drink any shakes, etc. I just ate right, worked out hard, and stuck with it.

I was able to maintain my weight loss for a little over 2 years, however in May of 2012, I became pregnant with my son. It wasn't until I was about 5-6 months pregnant that the weight really started to pile on. I probably gained about 65-70 pounds throughout my entire pregnancy. I had this dumb mentality that I was going to get fat and gross anyways, so I'm going to eat whatever sounds good, when it sounds good. Obviously that was a terrible choice. I could have maintained the rest of my body other than my growing belly,and I simply just chose not too. I was in a steady relationship, I no longer felt the need to "impress," and I was just over having to watch every single thing I put into my mouth and thinking about how much time I'd be on the treadmill working it off. I was exhausted.

After my son was born in January of 2013, I was up to about 205-210 pounds. But, with all the late nights and early mornings, neither myself or my husband felt like cooking, so we always just "grabbed something," and this unfortunately became a long-term habit, and while my husband has gained 30 or 40 pounds, I was packing them on. It wasn't until I was a bridesmaid in a wedding and saw full-body pictures of myself, now back up to my highest weight around 260-265 lbs that I realize how horribly I had let myself go. All I feel now is raging disappointment and anger at myself. It's the same way I felt when I was in high school and sky-rocketed from roughly 175lbs to nearly 265! The worst part is knowing how incredibly hard it is to drop the weight and all the complete dedication, pain, struggle, and emotional highs and lows I went through when I dropped the weight the first time.

Now that I have a toddler that I can't take my eyes off for even a minute, and a full-time day job, I find my energy level is completely exasperated by 8 o'clock in the evening. The last thing I can even fathom doing is getting work-out clothes on and going for even a walk or doing some jumping jacks. I know it's something that I need to do because my insecurities are an all time high and my self-esteem is at an all time low. I feel miserable on the inside, and I know that how one looks shouldn't be all that matters, but it is something that I struggle with on a daily basis. I know it's difficult for others who have similar situations, or even others who are still trying to get a successful weight loss.. I just need to kick myself in the *kitten* and get going!

pierremignon

Six years ago, I lost 40 lbs in four months as part of a deal with a friend. After winning the bet (of me getting under 180 lbs), I immediately switched back to my old habits, so I gained every single pound out of those 40, and put on another 20 on top of that.

nikkiworld2

I see a common pattern here & it has definitely happened to me. Lost the weight, continued to log my food and exercise for a little bit after reaching my goal, & then stopped it thinking I had it under control & before I knew it, I was out of control & on my way to gaining the weight back. After going through this several times now, I know I can never stop tracking if I want to keep the weight off & maintain.