for those of you one a second time around...

ratkaj

I have been worried since I lost my weight that I will gain it back and go back to old habits. I have a question for those of you that are back for a second or third time around, what happened. Do you have a defining moment that caused you to relapse? I'm not judging at all!! I just feel I can learn from others experiences and hopefully keep myself on "the straight and narrow". Thank you so much for any insight you might be able to provide.

NaomiLyn15

I am here for the second time, but not because I gained back, but because I want to lose more. I only gained back 5 lbs in a year off the site. I just came back because I decided that I could take my weight loss farther. After being on here for so long I learned how to eat properly. I have no problem keeping my calorie intake low enough. Once I stopped using the site last year, I didn't do the typical exercise at the gym that I had been doing. I started to do more outdoor things, and more "fun" things to keep the weight off. So, as long as you always keep portion size and the types of food you are eating in the back of your mind, you will be fine.

vettle

No defining moment. but was working two jobs with no days off, which didn't allow me proper meal times so I would eat junk during and then pick up fast food on the way home for dinner.

Totally my fault, but that's what did it. The last 15 pounds were the newlywed 15!

Qarol

I think my past failures can be pinned to one thing...I stopped weighing myself. I had slacked off on discipline and was concerned with other things. I knew I had put on a few pounds, and I just didn't want to see the higher number. So I put off weighing myself. Until those "few pounds" turned into quite a bit more, but I deluded myself into thinking it was still just a few pounds. I have accepted that from now on, I must weigh quite regularly, almost daily, whether I think the number will be higher or not. When I'm weighing regularly, the weight stays under control b/c it's my reminder to keep up the discipline.

pepperdine

I lost about 90 pounds 8 years ago and gained it all back (and then some). I think the majority of my issue was that I viewed my weight loss as "being on a diet" and not as a lifestyle change.

Once I got to my goal weight, I just stopped doing everything I had been doing. Factor in the various curveballs that life likes to throw at you and I just started packing it on. Just a little at a time and first, but then it snowballed.

This time I will know that maintenance will be even harder than the weight loss phase and that I need to be extra careful then!