Are you in the 97%?
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I wanted to add...these numbers are from "dieters", people who use "diets' to lose weight instead of eating all food with portion control and calorie counting.
Diets don't work...you lose the weight, don't learn anything because you ate what you were told to, then go back to "normal" and gain it back.
This is true for many, but not all. I lost 54 pounds by eating all foods in moderation, and logging consistently. I exercised, and ate back the calories. I lost most of the weight eating 1600 to 1800 calories a day. I did not overly restrict, and I did not diet. But I am back up 25 pounds now because I got to maintenance and failed. Despite all I had learned.
Your story is very common. All the evidence we have suggests that most people regain their weight, regardless of the original method of loss or rate of loss.
The assumptions made in the post you quoted are exactly the reason I made a thread asking for evidence regarding this recently. None was provided.0 -
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right" - Henry Ford0
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To me: counting/weighing/ logging is as much dieting as "eat less than X grams of whatever, or "aim for whole grains and lean proteins" or "eat mostly plants" or whatever. And what is "sustainable" depends on the individual.
I think everyone except MFPers would consider "portion control with calorie counting" to be dieting. A lot of diets besides calorie counting don't involve 'eating what you're told to', also.
i think she means they are that high because of dieters
I'd bet those statistics are from all groups.I wanted to add...these numbers are from "dieters", people who use "diets' to lose weight instead of eating all food with portion control and calorie counting.
Diets don't work...you lose the weight, don't learn anything because you ate what you were told to, then go back to "normal" and gain it back.0 -
Hey look I finally made it.. I guess I can take a few days off and it shouldnt hurt.......0
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Who knows? Hopefully. All we can do is try. I've never regained weight that I've lost but that could change at any time.0
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"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right" - Henry Ford
↑↑↑↑↑ THIS ↑↑↑↑↑0 -
I wanted to add...these numbers are from "dieters", people who use "diets' to lose weight instead of eating all food with portion control and calorie counting.
Diets don't work...you lose the weight, don't learn anything because you ate what you were told to, then go back to "normal" and gain it back.
This is true for many, but not all. I lost 54 pounds by eating all foods in moderation, and logging consistently. I exercised, and ate back the calories. I lost most of the weight eating 1600 to 1800 calories a day. I did not overly restrict, and I did not diet. But I am back up 25 pounds now because I got to maintenance and failed. Despite all I had learned.
Your story is very common. All the evidence we have suggests that most people regain their weight, regardless of the original method of loss or rate of loss.
The assumptions made in the post you quoted are exactly the reason I made a thread asking for evidence regarding this recently. None was provided.
Maintenance is actually more difficult than people think. You may or may not be successful without continuing to calorie count. When I lost my initial weight, it taught me about calories. In the back of my mind, throughout the years, I have kept vigilant and kept count even if I was not officially logging. That is what is known as learning moderation.0 -
Been in the 97% and the 3%.
I'm now part of the minority who has lost a 100lbs or more.
Since I've lost weight before, thought it was absurd that I would ever regain, and then did so after maintaining the majority of my weight loss for about 5 years, DOUBLING in gain what I originally lost, I've accepted that even the "success" stories you see sometimes end up as failures.
I'm in a totally different place now than I was back then, with myself and food. I feel ready to be a part of the small minority that keeps the weight off for good. But I've been humbled and I refuse to get all haughty again. I'll have to keep diligent for all my life. I hope that I do. There are no guarantees that I will.0 -
Hey look I finally made it.. I guess I can take a few days off and it shouldnt hurt.......
Haha. I know how that goes. A few days becomes weeks becomes months becomes oh nooooooooo!
But that really should only happen the first time someone loses weight and reaches their goal. After that, we all know better. But it happens to many of us again anyway. More is going on here.0 -
I wanted to add...these numbers are from "dieters", people who use "diets' to lose weight instead of eating all food with portion control and calorie counting.
Diets don't work...you lose the weight, don't learn anything because you ate what you were told to, then go back to "normal" and gain it back.
This is true for many, but not all. I lost 54 pounds by eating all foods in moderation, and logging consistently. I exercised, and ate back the calories. I lost most of the weight eating 1600 to 1800 calories a day. I did not overly restrict, and I did not diet. But I am back up 25 pounds now because I got to maintenance and failed. Despite all I had learned.
Your story is very common. All the evidence we have suggests that most people regain their weight, regardless of the original method of loss or rate of loss.
The assumptions made in the post you quoted are exactly the reason I made a thread asking for evidence regarding this recently. None was provided.
Maintenance is actually more difficult than people think. You may or may not be successful without continuing to calorie count. When I lost my initial weight, it taught me about calories. In the back of my mind, throughout the years, I have kept vigilant and kept count even if I was not officially logging. That is what is known as learning moderation.
I agree with you! Maintenance is difficult to me - I had never been able to do it before. After the last time I lost weight, I held onto that loss for over a year and a half. I learned that I still need to watch what I eat, how much I eat, and continue exercising at the level I was. You "know" that this must be a lifestyle change, but maintenance is where you really learn the meaning of that phrase. If it wasn't for my thyroid going wonky, I'd still be maintaining because I've learned my lesson and worked to change my behaviors and attitude towards food. Finally.0 -
Since I've lost weight before, thought it was absurd that I would ever regain, and then did so after maintaining the majority of my weight loss for about 5 years, DOUBLING in gain what I originally lost, I've accepted that even the "success" stories you see sometimes end up as failures.
I'm in a totally different place now than I was back then, with myself and food. I feel ready to be a part of the small minority that keeps the weight off for good. But I've been humbled and I refuse to get all haughty again. I'll have to keep diligent for all my life. I hope that I do. There are no guarantees that I will.
This. Not quite a doubling for me, just somewhat more than 150%, but pretty much the same thing. I thought back then that I'd changed my lifestyle for life too. Hoping that humility and the added caution that comes from having what you thought you had all figured out come back and bite you helps.
For me it's not a matter of it all being worth while or not, failure rate or no. Whether or not I maintain my current loss plus the additional loss needed to get to goal for life or for another 5 years, the fact is that I feel much better and enjoy my lifestyle more when I'm doing this. I have some ideas why I didn't keep it up, that I hope won't be applicable this time, but it wasn't because the way I ate or exercised or general lifestyle was unpleasant or unsustainable, so I don't see myself as giving anything up by doing it again. If anything, the fact I did it before makes it easier this time (even though I'm older), because I didn't have the initial belief that it wouldn't work.0 -
Since I've lost weight before, thought it was absurd that I would ever regain, and then did so after maintaining the majority of my weight loss for about 5 years, DOUBLING in gain what I originally lost, I've accepted that even the "success" stories you see sometimes end up as failures.
I'm in a totally different place now than I was back then, with myself and food. I feel ready to be a part of the small minority that keeps the weight off for good. But I've been humbled and I refuse to get all haughty again. I'll have to keep diligent for all my life. I hope that I do. There are no guarantees that I will.
This. Not quite a doubling for me, just somewhat more than 150%, but pretty much the same thing. I thought back then that I'd changed my lifestyle for life too. Hoping that humility and the added caution that comes from having what you thought you had all figured out come back and bite you helps.
This is why I cringe a little everytime I see someone on this board declaring that they'll NEVER regain the weight who hasn't even reached maintenance, or have but have only been doing it a couple months. Hell if you've maintained for a year or two and start getting cocky, I can't help but think you need to sit down and check yourself.
The overwhelming majority of people I see on MFP swearing that they've made a "lifestyle change" and will never go back aren't even qualified to begin to make that kind of declaration. As a long time maintainer who did regain, I'm not sure any of us who had past major problems with overweightness can afford to be so cocky.0 -
The key is pretty simple: make *permanent* changes to your diet and don't go back to your old ways.
This is exactly why I refuse to do anything to lose weight that I am not willing and able to do for the next 30+ years. Cut out carbs, sugar (yes, I know sugar is a carb), dairy, etc for 3 months to drop some weight is pointless if I'm not going to do that long, long term.0 -
I sure hope to be one of the 3-5%ers...I don't declare that I will never gain a Lb ever again, but I do feel like I have this pretty under control at the moment.
I personally never struggled with my weight until I was about 30 and graduated college and took a desk job. I had always been pretty active before and taking a desk job really slowed me down but I continued to eat the same...over the course of about 8 years I put on about 40 - 50 Lbs.
Having grown up playing all manner of sports and just being very active in general, it was pretty easy for me to get back into fitness. I didn't have to reinvent myself or anything. In fact, from the moment I started back in I was like, "damn...I really missed this." I have a passion for fitness, I just had to re-discover it.
In regards to my nutrition, I've never been a big junk food guy or anything like that. As I mentioned, I've been involved in sports and athletics for most of my life and I've always known to eat for performance. To boot, I'm pretty much a foodie and I enjoy quality food that is largely prepared from scratch ingredients to include a whole lot of nutrient dense foods...I've never really had a problem with nutrition or eating nutritiously. My biggest pitfall when I gained weight was the volume of food I was eating relative to my activity...and I didn't really fully understand that relationship until I found MFP.
It's only been a year in maintenance, but I have pretty high hopes for myself. Fitness is a part of my life and so is proper nutrition...these things aren't burdens...I joyously wake up in the morning to walk my dog 3 miles and feverishly look forward to my 15 mile lunch rides on my bike...without them I think I'd go insane. Tuesdays and Thursdays nights are wonderful because that's when I hit my little community gym and go rock some resistance training...Saturday mornings too. To me, this is all pretty fun...I have found joy in re-gaining my fitness...I love being fit and strong and healthy.
As I age, I'm sure I'll slow down somewhat...and I now know that I'll have to adjust my diet to compensate for that...but that's the big thing...I know it and I understand it. Knowledge is power.0 -
In that study, do they count how many of those individuals were thin their whole lives, and gained weight because of an isolated event and then went on to lose it (carrying on their previous healthy habits before the event) and how many of these individuals grew up most of their lives with unhealthy habits and have always been 'overweight' ??
I'd guess that weight loss is a lot more nuanced than just saying "Only 3% of people who try to lose weight keep it off" ...maybe it's more accurate to say: 3% of people learn and implement healthy eating and living habits, and 97% are unable to do so.0 -
I've been obese since I was a teenager. I lost 135 lbs, and ever since then, have been fluctuating within a ~15 lb or so range. That's been for about 2 years now. As far as I'm concerned, that's successful maintenance. So no, I'm not within that 97%.0
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I grew up thin with good eating habits. I lost all my weight after both pregnancies (more even, because of long breastfeeding). I hit the top end of a healthy BMI when I hit 40 and stayed there until menopause (52). Then I shot up 18 pounds and stay there two years.
Started MFP and easily dropped it back to where I was when I was 22 by just changing two or three minor things and watching portion size. I've maintained for more than a year and am now in the National Weight Loss Registry (filled out my yearly survey yesterday). I hope to join that 3%.
I wish I had done this when I was 40. I feel like I lost of decade of not looking or feeling as good as I could have.
And yes, I'll probably keep logging forever.0 -
I am one year short of being the 3% but since in fact my 50 pounds weight loss has been over the last 12 years, it all has been very gradual. I setteled for 140 pounds for many years than lost another 15 pounds with MFP in about 3 months. In those last years where I was prettu much maintaining.....I still lost a few pounds from year to year.0
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As far as I am concerned, studies show diddly squat.
I am in control of my own life and my own decisions and once this weight is off it is up to me to keep it off.
Period.0 -
The key is pretty simple: make *permanent* changes to your diet and don't go back to your old ways.
This is exactly why I refuse to do anything to lose weight that I am not willing and able to do for the next 30+ years. Cut out carbs, sugar (yes, I know sugar is a carb), dairy, etc for 3 months to drop some weight is pointless if I'm not going to do that long, long term.
This is why I'm not going to start weightlifting or running...I hate both and cannot imagine doing it for life. I want to be strong-functionally.
I hope to become a 3% statistic. I already know that taking 9 months off MFP contributed to the 9 lbs. I gained in that time. I wasn't being accountable to myself or anybody else about those little extra treats. For the foreseeable future, I see myself logging and checking in to keep myself accountable.
I'm getting sick of the friends I've added who have posted asking for somebody to keep them accountable. They are on for a week, come back one day the next, and don't respond to messages I send, trying to do exactly what they asked for. Nobody can lose the weight for you. You have to want it bad enough to work at it every day.0 -
Just as a point of fact:
Plus or minus 5 pounds counts as 'stable/no loss or gain' in that study.
Go to the maintenance forums. It is hard to keep weight off. But lots of people do it. And I truly believe that every time you lose, you haven't gained. So you lost 20 pounds and gained it back? You didn't gain 5 pounds during that time instead.0 -
I guess I'm in the 97% -
I was a pretty normal kid - hit puberty and got a few extra pounds (jr. year I weighed about 140) then lost it (Sr. year weighed about 119).
Got married - stayed around that 120 mark - had kids - bounced up and down due to pregnancy - then got back around 125 and stayed there - got divorced - got preganant and remarried - had another kid - went up and down during those times and then was doing pretty good - around that 125 mark again - and got lazy. Got a desk job and didn't exercise and crept back up to 153 - slowly losing again.......and now back to about 133-135 - trying to get back around 125, but we will see.
Seems most of my Yo-Yo was after kids - but some otherwise......0 -
The key is pretty simple: make *permanent* changes to your diet and don't go back to your old ways.
This is exactly why I refuse to do anything to lose weight that I am not willing and able to do for the next 30+ years. Cut out carbs, sugar (yes, I know sugar is a carb), dairy, etc for 3 months to drop some weight is pointless if I'm not going to do that long, long term.
This is why I'm not going to start weightlifting or running...I hate both and cannot imagine doing it for life. I want to be strong-functionally.
I hope to become a 3% statistic. I already know that taking 9 months off MFP contributed to the 9 lbs. I gained in that time. I wasn't being accountable to myself or anybody else about those little extra treats. For the foreseeable future, I see myself logging and checking in to keep myself accountable.
I'm getting sick of the friends I've added who have posted asking for somebody to keep them accountable. They are on for a week, come back one day the next, and don't respond to messages I send, trying to do exactly what they asked for. Nobody can lose the weight for you. You have to want it bad enough to work at it every day.
What are you doing to be strong functionally? I would agree that you don't have to lift weights...but you do have to functionally train to be functionally strong...you have to perform some form of resistance work to be functionally strong.0 -
This is an interesting thread.
For me, I was never overweight as a child. But I was an active kid. Only after finishing college and working at a desk all day did my weight go up...a little in my 30's and a lot more in my 40s putting me about 50-60lbs over. And, the pressures of work and raising kids cut out a lot of physical activities. So maybe there is some hope of a permanent change that will keep me more-or-less on track; and a re-commitment to proper eating and fun physical activities no matter how much work wants to interfere.
I am not yet at my goal here, but when I get there, I mean to stay around there. I expect maintaining to be a lot harder than the actual weight loss. Especially since I should hit my goal weight before winter. Since I hate indoor exercise, this will be a challenge to start maintenance then.
Still, if one were to regularly gain 10lbs or so over each winter, and take that off every spring and summer as that person ramps up the activity level, I don't think that is unhealthy at all. Our ancestors probably had gain-loss-gain-loss cycles just like that. It is what the body is designed to do. Store extra fat when it can in preparation for lean or more active times.0 -
I soo want to maintain my lost this time. I want to get to 140lbs and never go over that. At 5'6 small framed, I should weight around 120-133lbs. I know I will probably gain weight again, but I hope to keep it at a small amount and never be over 140lbs again. I have no clue what the future holds, so I want to learn now how to control my eating habits no matter what happens. I know I am fighting a never ending battle, but I will win this battle and keep moving forward. I had too much of a woo is me attitude instead of a fighter. I am learning to be a fighter. Fitness is my goal after getting to 140lbs (Plus more weight lost). I refuse to see myself at 240 + pounds again.
Growing up, well in my teen years I was 160-170lbs, and later on around 200lbs. Rough family life and never took care of me, again woo is me outlook. I lost some weight around 21 and got as low as 165, but got pregnant and gained. I lost a bit after baby one and than never tired or cared again, until Dec 2012. I have been on myself about getting better since than. I had a horrible summer last year and put on 10lbs, honestly, I should have been learning how to deal with the stress and moved forward. I want to make me a priority no matter what. I never want to be complacence with myself. I want to push forward and do more with my life. Eh, I see no problem in believing in myself to not regain the weight I have lost.0 -
3%. Since I was first here and went from obese to healthy about 4 years ago, I managed to stay within 5 or so lbs of 125. This year I decided to bump that down to 120 (noticing a trend to be in the higher range more often than not, hehe).
I like to be conscious of the times that I tend to gain weight: major eating festival months whether it be a string of birthday weekends or holidays. I try to offset those with weekend hikes, camping trips, and even taking my boys to the park more often (it's an uphill hike to walk there).
I just had one of those plus-eating months, a couple of birthdays, a graduation, and a few unexpected funerals. This post made me realize that I managed to maintain my current loss goals in the midst of all that. So thank you OP, been feeling kind of down this week and this gave me a little boost for the morning. :flowerforyou:0 -
I love reading these posts! I've maintained a 45 pound weight loss for 9 years (but admittedly would love to lose 5-10 vanity pounds). My motto has been exercise the best I can 5-6 days a week and eat the best I can 5 out of 7 days a week (using weight watchers points for a long time and now MFP). For me, exercise and water are key. When I'm exercising and drinking enough water, my eating is good 80% of the time. If I quit exercising or drinking enough water, my eating suffers too.0
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I'm curious to hear from 3% ers, and others on how they feel they are distinguished from the 97% that fails at long term health goals.
How long do you have to keep it off to make it into the 3%?0 -
nope, and without a doubt i never will be. made the decision to count calories for life not long after i first heard that statistic
at least until im an old man (>60), then anything goes
Ha! - I have 7 years to go before I am >60 and guess what? I bet you reevaluate what you call old when you get closer to my age:devil:
Over the years I have tried strict reduction dieting, calorie counting, Low Glycemic and Hi Carb, low fat. I've come to realize that the only thing that works is watching what you put in your mouth. Highest I ever was was 210 - 185 right now.
Funny thing - I find this much easier from January to July - Sept to Dec I just seem to want to pack on weight. Let's see what happens this time.0
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