How do people who lose a ton of weight put it all back on?
MisterZ33
Posts: 567 Member
i used to work with a person who over some time lost 100 lbs. i ran into her today and i was floored that she gained it all back - and then some!
i didnt know how to react...i was stunned when i saw her. i tried not to make a big deal but my expression was like "wtf did you do???"
it got me thinking about how hard she was dieting and little she was eating. but she was exercising and all that. i remember that she had kept the weight off for like 6 months at least because that is when i left that firm.
how can you work so hard to lose so much weight and then just lose control of yourself again?
im not judging...im in disbelief
i didnt know how to react...i was stunned when i saw her. i tried not to make a big deal but my expression was like "wtf did you do???"
it got me thinking about how hard she was dieting and little she was eating. but she was exercising and all that. i remember that she had kept the weight off for like 6 months at least because that is when i left that firm.
how can you work so hard to lose so much weight and then just lose control of yourself again?
im not judging...im in disbelief
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my neighbors were the same way. they were a heavy couple (him moreso than she was) and they together lost ALOT of weight. I think he lost over 100 lbs. they were healthy and in-shape, exercising and eating right. she left him, and the pounds packed back on him. she ended up moving back home, and I couldn't believe it when I saw her...she had gained all her weight back, too. I don't know if it was the stress from their marriage or what. it's sad and hard to understand. i'm like you, not judging (because I know I need to lose, too!) just curious, too.0
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In 2012 I dropped forty pounds. By 2014 I had gained 30ish of that back. Because I stopped logging and stopped caring and refused to step on a scale or be accountable and it just kept creeping back up.0
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1. Losing it in an unhealthy way.
2. Not learning the right habits.
3. Becoming sedentary.
4. Getting too comfortable.
5. Life events that happen to people that causes them to abandon their better habits.
Any or all of these. I know it's shocking, people work SO hard to lose the weight most times. But it's life, and it happens, and can happen to anyone. Best to not worry about it and just wish them well. If they did it once, they can do it again
You never really know what people are going through that causes them to gain it back. They're probably in bigger disbelief than you are. 0 -
What did she do to lose the weight in the first place?
My guess is that she followed a super extreme diet or even did the 500 calorie HCG thing, lost a lot of weight, but then went right back to her previous eating habits.
Not going to lie, I was dumb enough to try something like this 4 years ago and I lost 30 lbs doing it, I then gained it all back in 2 months like it was nothing. I'm lucky I walked away without hurting myself and without losing too much of my muscle mass.0 -
I would assume they were doing something unsustainable and when they went back to their norm they packed it back on.
I have seen several people who get on the Plexus Slim fix and then when they stop they just gain it all back and sometimes more. Its very sad to see them, because that crap is soo expensive, so not only are they back to where they started, but it cost them so much money.0 -
Unfortunately, it's very common.
My sister has lost close to a hundred lbs, several times. I think she might have given up after her 3rd and 4th failed attempt.0 -
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In my own personal experience, it's exactly what's been given for reasons so far...
Following a strict, deprivation based diet (low carb or little fat and/or too low calories) which doesn't actually teach you anything except how to follow someone else's rules. Then when you either get to goal or hit a wall (in my case, go on vacation), it's very difficult to get back on track.
Same with execise - going so hard that you wear yourself out and can't even fathom stepping foot in the gym.
A lot of people see weight loss in extremes and think they starve themselves and/or workout 3 hours a day or it won't work. Truth is, a slow steady approach with a healthier attitude towards food (there is no good/bad foods, portion control is key) and exercise is the better way to go.
And unfortunately we're bombarded constantly with ads for weight loss products, exercise programs, pills, shakes, etc. Not to mention the reality shows which make it look so easy to lose 100 pounds in six months. These sort of unrealistic expectations set a lot of people up for failure, myself included.
Which is why, this time, I am trying to take a more healthy approach. I've been at this for over four years now and still have trouble. I'm on week two of getting back on track because I backslid big time for the last three months and ended up gaining back 10 pounds. It's a long process to truly kill these lifelong bad habits we all have (emotional eating, etc).
While I can't imagine letting myself ever get back to where I was, I can see how it could be easy for some people, especially if they don't have a good support system in their lives.0 -
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Unfortunately, it's very common.
My sister has lost close to a hundred lbs, several times. I think she might have given up after her 3rd and 4th failed attempt.
That's terrible
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The same way she gained it originally, by overeating.
The statistics are overwhelmingly against people keeping it off.
We all think, hope, and are determined, that it won't happen to us, but the statistics say otherwise.
If it were easy, no one would be overweight.0 -
1. Losing it in an unhealthy way.
2. Not learning the right habits.
3. Becoming sedentary.
4. Getting too comfortable.
5. Life events that happen to people that causes them to abandon their better habits.
Any or all of these. I know it's shocking, people work SO hard to lose the weight most times. But it's life, and it happens, and can happen to anyone. Best to not worry about it and just wish them well. If they did it once, they can do it again You never really know what people are going through that causes them to gain it back. They're probably in bigger disbelief than you are.
#5 for me. I used to work 8 miles from home and my kids were not nearly as active then as they are now. I had to switch jobs, and I went from riding a bike to work to having to commute almost 3 hours a day. My kids starting joining activities and clubs at school, and I just got too busy. I currently work two jobs, one full time an hour away from home, and one that I work anywhere from 10 to 30 hours a week from home, and my kids are in multiple sports/activities. I have little to no time to myself, my husband took over most of the shopping and cooking and he hasn't a clue how to cook healthy.
Prior to these life changes, I was biking hundreds of miles each month and running 3-4 miles 4-5 days a week. Now I'm lucky if I can manage to fit in a 20 minute walk.
I originally lost around 45 lbs. I have gained around 70 at this point. I'm trying to get back to it, but it's super hard. I can't manage to fit in exercise, so I'm starting with diet only. So far I have lost 7 lbs. WooHoo... 70 lbs. seems so ridiculous to me. 0 -
i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?
it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.
the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.
i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.0 -
Eating more calories than they burn over a sustained period of time.0
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My sister has lost and gained over 100 lbs several times over the last 10 years. Alcohol has a lot of calories and her weight loss methods are typically always the newest fad. B vitamin shots and only get to eat protein and stuff like that. Never once has she actually tried to make a permanent lifestyle change.0
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i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?
it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.
the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.
i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.
I think that just answered your question. She probably didn't know how to practice moderation and started binging on the foods she cut out that she was so judgmental about.
As for the rest of it...people want quick fixes. There is always going to be someone out there naive enough to fall for it. That's why the scam companies are still in the business.0 -
1. Losing it in an unhealthy way.
2. Not learning the right habits.
3. Becoming sedentary.
4. Getting too comfortable.
5. Life events that happen to people that causes them to abandon their better habits.
Great list! Those 5 reasons are ALL why the one other time in my life that I lost a lot of weight, I gained it all back within about 2 years.
I lost 72 lb back in 2001.
I didn't eat enough calories at all. Typical day was 2 scrambled eggs with mushrooms and a bit of cheddar, a small bowl of steamed rice, and 4-5 bottles of diet cola. I didn't learn a single thing about calories, nutrition, etc. Once or twice a week I'd eat a king size Reeses cup so I thought I had somehow magically had a metabolism change (LMAO) when I didn't gain weight back after that. Also, I looked kind of like crap due to this even though that was my lowest adult weight at the time. When I met my now ex-husband who was also obese and loved to eat and cook, I just ate whatever he ate...smaller portions...but still WAY more food than I needed, and our marriage was comfortable but almost totally devoid of romance or activity. Basically we exercised never, and just lounged around after work watching BBC America. Takeout, dinners out, and baked goods were staples of our diet rather than treats.
It's easy to gain back when you don't really learn how it all works and you don't care enough about keeping yourself healthier and lighter. This time I've learned a ton, I've gotten serious, and I have developed new habits. I am down 134 lb from my heaviest. I made a deal with myself that I will NEVER be back over 180 lb as long as I am alive.0 -
In 2005 I lost 65 lbs in 13 months by eating little to nothing 5 days a week and exercising twice a day. I got burned out from exercising and quit, didn't learn good habits and gained all 65 back plus 50 more. I got depressed. As the pounds piled on, I turned to food for comfort when I should have gotten off the couch and done something about it.
I started again in Aug of 2012. I'm now down 75 of those and have learned to try a new exercise when I get bored, and am still working on the healthy eating habits. That will always be a struggle for me because I am an emotional eater.
You get lazy, you don't care, you don't even have a clue that you are eating as many calories as you are until you start logging it. I had no idea how easy it was to rack up 3000 calories in a day on junk. It happens.0 -
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In a nut shell...many people talk a good talk about "lifestyle change" but generally fail to even conceptualize what that actually means, let alone follow through with such a change.
People have this notion that eating healthfully and exercising regularly is for weight loss...in reality, it's all far more important to maintaining a healthy weight. Regular exercise and general activity as well as a healthful diet have to become the new normal...and that is a rarity considering only about 5% of people who make efforts to lose weight actually maintain that for more than a brief period.0 -
I agree with the above. I lost 30 pounds a couple of years ago on Ideal Protein. I looked great, but as soon as I started eating real foods again, I gained it all back. Now it is going much slower, but I am eating healthy rather than dieting. Staying on MFP and logging what I eat and being accountable has helped me more than anything. I think we get comfortable when we lose the weight and start eating a little more, drinking a little more, exercising less, and slowly get off of MFP. Then we are shocked when we see a photo and say, what happened? This time I'm making some lifestyle changes such as cutting out artificial sweeteners, diet drinks, and alcohol only on the weekends, watching my carbs and sweets, and walking every day. We can do it!0
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Because it's really hard to lose and maintain and way easier to gain.
I lost 50+ pounds on here a couple years ago. I have gained it all back and then some. Even after I swore I never would.
Then again I was eating 1000 calories a day when I lost the original 50 so quickly.. Living proof that just because you are losing, doesn't mean you are doing it the right way.0 -
I'm 35. When I first lost weight, it was back when I was 19. I was previously overweight up until that point from childhood, and when I did lose weight, it was in the worst possible way, as I literally starved myself. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but it was a pure feat of willpower, as my only strategy was to eat as little as I could get away with every day. None the less, I lost somewhere in the region of 40+ lbs, and moreso, kept it off until I was about 26.
Between 26 and 31, I regained everything I had lost, and then some, adding on an additional 30 lbs or so on top of the weight I regained. Basically I fell into a very indulgent lifestyle, and over a period of years the weight just went up and up. I knew it was going up, but was enjoying life, despite becoming more and more unhealthy. Indulgent lifestyle covers a lot, but if I broke it down, I would say the main culprits were too much eating out, too much alcohol, too many delivery meals, and too little exercise. The delivery meals I can attribute using food as a device to de-stress after work, and although I would never blame the rest on anyone else but me, it certainly didn't help having a partner who was doing exactly the same with me, both of us probably enabling each other.
In any case, that 70 lbs or so, I managed to lose when I was 32, and made a concerted effort to lose weight and get fit and healthy. I got into great habits, and the weight just came off, and stayed off. Or at least stayed off until I had a medical issue (non-weight related) I needed to be attended to. Between protracted tests, diagnosis, waiting between appointments, eventual major surgery, and subsequent recovery, my good habits went all over the place, and any sort of consistency was hard to maintain. Mainly due to general and persistent malaise, and the difficulty in maintaining any sort of good habits with all the upheaval in my life, the weight crept back on, pound by pound, although between then and now, it was very much a yo-yo pattern, with gradual weight creep followed by partial trimming, before the pattern of gain repeated itself.
Anyway, long story short, 2/ 3 months ago I decided to do something serious finally about my weight again, and although not quite with 70lbs to lose as I had previously, I did have about 38lbs to shed if I were to reach my optimal weight. Well, that was 3 months ago, and of that 38lbs, 16lbs remain to be lost, and I fully intend to not only lose it, but see just how far I can go in pursuit of my optimal weight and figure
So, to answer your question how do people lose a lot of weight and regain it, in my case it was an overly indulgent lifestyle, and general malaise and upheaval from a serious medical issue, although I can see many, many reasons how people would gain such weight back. Food like anything, can be a way to cope also, and although I didn't mention how I put on my childhood weight in the first place, it would be primarily down to food binging as a way of coping with childhood issues.0 -
It's easy to do when you haven't deal with why you were overweight/obese in the first place.
Food can be an addiction for some. Some people need to get to the bottom of WHY they were overeating. Are they stuffing down emotions? Are they comforting themselves? what from? There are always underlying issues that need to be dealt with because when those trigger and you HAVEN'T dealt with it, you'll go right back to the coping mechanism you always had (eating) and gain it all back.
It needs to be an inner transformation as well as outer.0 -
i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?
it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.
the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.
i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.
Purely my opinion here... 1) they don't realize they are eating in an unhealthy manner; 2) they criticize everyone else's meals because they perceive what they are doing is superior; 3) what they were doing to lose weight isn't sustainable; and 4) PURELY my unscientific opinion--once you gain extra fat cells it's really hard to permanently shrink them, thus you have to work really hard to maintain.
Yes, very sad indeed.0 -
i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?
it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.
the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.
i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.
Why are you 50lbs overweight? Shouldn't you know better? Shouldn't you have done something before it got to this point?
How about you worry less about the woman in the lunchroom and more about yourself. She probably put on weight for the same reasons you did, I did, and everyone else did. Food good, exercise bad.
seems like you are having difficulty understanding the crux of my post.
this isnt about how does one become overweight. it is about how an overweight person loses a ton of weight only to put it all back on. i would assume that person, going through all the pain and suffering once would be enough of a lasting memory not to get to that point again.0 -
they eat a lot.0
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If this happens to me, it'll be because of my sense of taste.
I'm not hungry while eating my mild deficit. But food... I love it. How it tastes, smells, feels... all of that. Meanwhile the thought of tracking food for the REST of my life is sickening, even though I've done it for 10 months now. One is happier than the other, clearly.
But at least I know what my weakness will be. So I know what I have to do to not let it happen.0 -
1. Losing it in an unhealthy way.
2. Not learning the right habits.
3. Becoming sedentary.
4. Getting too comfortable.
5. Life events that happen to people that causes them to abandon their better habits.
For me it was number 5. I went from 252 to 180 (lost 72 pounds) to 239 (gained 59 pounds) to 226.5 (lost 12.5 again). The 59 gained was when we had 3 kids in 5 years. I went from working out frequently, including training for a half-ironman with my wife, to not working out very much at all. I am also a tired eater. When I am tired, I eat. I am sure anyone would agree with me that having 3 kids at 5 or younger makes you tired. You can see where that got me.
As I saw the scale creep ever closer to 252 again, I finally said ENOUGH. I refused to let it get to 240, and I started getting after my workouts and watching my intake again.
That is my experience.0 -
i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?
it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.
the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.
i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.
Why are you 50lbs overweight? Shouldn't you know better? Shouldn't you have done something before it got to this point?
How about you worry less about the woman in the lunchroom and more about yourself. She probably put on weight for the same reasons you did, I did, and everyone else did. Food good, exercise bad.
seems like you are having difficulty understanding the crux of my post.
this isnt about how does one become overweight. it is about how an overweight person loses a ton of weight only to put it all back on. i would assume that person, going through all the pain and suffering once would be enough of a lasting memory not to get to that point again.
do you think she deliberately chose to put the weight back on? :huh:
things happen. the path from point A to point B is not always a straight one. which part of this are you not understanding?
ETA: also, starving oneself to lose weight probably correlates better than any other variable to whether or not somebody will eventually regain back all of the weight. it's not rocket surgery to figure out that she got to her goal weight without changing her habits and perhaps started cheating/binging, which likely led to self-loathing and then more cheating/binging.0
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