Five Year Success Stories?

systemlayers

In light of the recent new study that 95% of people who lose weight gain it back within 5-10 years are there any MFP members here who have kept their weight off for 5+ years? 2 summers ago I lost all my weight (from 260 to 180) but gained it back because of our depressing horrible winters I'm just looking for some success stories and what members around here have done for motivation/diet to have truly long term success.

candistyx

Can some people please answer this and give us some hope!

keeponkickin

Well, I'm pushing close to the range. I'm closing in on 4 years. Lost 110 pounds in exactly one year. All naturally, no surgery, just calories in vs. calories out, healthy eating and exercise. I've successfully maintained that loss.

TommyJensen1987

That is not a new story, it is an old study based on a few individuals in the 1950ies.

If you want to know how to keep it of, the national weight control registry can help you (here are their findings: http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm).

Key takeaway - you will regain the weight if you eat the way you did before - this really shouldn't be surprising, since the way you lose the weight is to eat _less_ than you need to maintain.

keeponkickin

That is not a new story, it is an old study based on a few individuals in the 1950ies.

If you want to know how to keep it of, the national weight control registry can help you (here are their findings: http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm).

Key takeaway - you will regain the weight if you eat the way you did before - this really shouldn't be surprising, since the way you lose the weight is to eat _less_ than you need to maintain.

Exactly. This is how I KNOW I will never gain the weight back and never be the person I was before. Many people think of maintenance as the promised land, freedom to eat like they once did. Maintenance isn't much different than what you had to do to lose weight. My mindset changed and therefore so did my body.

thepetiterunner

I started my journey about 4 years ago, though I found MFP a little after that, and have not gained more than 3-5 lbs, which I'm pretty sure was just my weight stabilizing after the initial loss. I've continued to be an active runner and weight lifter/strength trainer and I'm super happy. It really is a lifestyle change and finding things you can actually commit to for life is the key. I didn't do any real crazy changes where I stopped eating carbs for a few months then went back to them. I made choices I could sustain and though my diet does look different now than it did three or four years ago, they are changes I can maintain. Life is good.

goldthistime

That is not a new story, it is an old study based on a few individuals in the 1950ies.

If you want to know how to keep it of, the national weight control registry can help you (here are their findings: http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm).

Key takeaway - you will regain the weight if you eat the way you did before - this really shouldn't be surprising, since the way you lose the weight is to eat _less_ than you need to maintain.

Thanks for the link. Below is an excerpt.

"There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity.


78% eat breakfast every day.
75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day."

I have to say that I am not certain that correlation equals causation for some of these points.

I have known a couple of people that kept the weight off for many years. The secret to their success, in my opinion, was that they got jobs in "the industry" (Weight Watchers leader, personal trainer etc).

defauIt

There are a few people, but they're rare. It's a lifelong struggle to keep weight off.

That is not a new story, it is an old study based on a few individuals in the 1950ies.

No clue where you think you got this information from, but the recent studies have been extremely comprehensive and used all available data.

Here's a link to one such study - http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/74/5/579.full

The mean weight loss after 5 years on VLCDs was about 6.6% of your body weight. This means if you weighed 300 lbs before the weight loss, you'd weigh 280 after. Wooo, who's up for a thong contest?! (And "normal" diets only maintained 2.1% weight loss, which would drop you from 300 to 294)

Here's another study - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1580453

"In controlled settings, participants who remain in weight loss programs usually lose approximately 10% of their weight. However, one third to two thirds of the weight is regained within 1 year, and almost all is regained within 5 years."

If you want to know how to keep it of, the national weight control registry can help you (here are their findings: http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm).

Right. The NWCR is a great group of people who have accomplished some very difficult things. But it's tracking about 10,000 people. In a country where about 100,000,000 are obese. If losing weight and keeping it off was easy, there would be millions in that NWCR, not tens of thousands.

LumberJacck

Just ask in the goal: maintaining weight forum and they'll answer your question!

sunfastrose

I've maintained a 50 pound loss for over 10 years. I started at 172, went down to a low of 111, am currently at 127, and see my ultimate dream weight as 120.

elsinora

9 years now. Lost around 130lbs. Fluctuated one or two stone here and there because of sports stuff but always maximum a size 12 (UK)

Added edit:

Secret to my 'success' ... which isn't always easy ... is that it all comes down to:

1. Calories in VS calories out - don't cut corners. Be aware.
2. Don't "cut out" anything or follow BS gimmicks
3. Always exercise. Even if it's just walking more, b more active. Find a sport you love
4. Realise it's not the end of the world if you have a day of decadence
5. Realise it's for life, not some faddy quick fix
6. Above all, be honest with yourself