95% of people who lose weight put it back on. Why?

weird_me2

People handle life in different ways. To just write off everyone who fails at something as being lazy is just wrong, IMO.

You're right, it's unfair to categorize everyone that fails as lazy (I didn't say that). For the record, I didn't say lazy you did.

Yes, a certain percentage of the population deals with heavy emotional problems that get in the way of self improvement. I'm well familiar with the emotional impact of losing a loved one. Severe depression aside, I still think it's accurate to say that a large percentage of people are unwilling to put in the effort. As a society we've become comfortable with being comfortable. Most people are too complacent for real change.

We're talking about weight loss and fitness here, but you can substitute education or business and see the dividends of hard work.

"She's the valedictorian of her class because she put in the extra hours on her study time."
"He is a successful business man because he's never satisfied, always striving to do better".

These people are successful because they are willing to put forth the effort.

I think there are probably two main reasons why 95% of dieters fail:

1) They went for a quick fix and were unaware of what was required for maintenance (I feel this is probably true for most with small amounts to lose). In this case, yes, it probably does come down to being willing to put in the effort, whether it means continued logging or maintaining good eating and exercise habits.

2) Some aspect of emotional eating (I feel this is probably true for most people who are obese and have been that way for a while). Emotional eating can cover any range of emotions and often is done to avoid feelings. People can eat to "cure" sadness, anxiety, depression, boredom, happiness, excitement, etc...If you can feel it, there is probably someone out there who eats for that emotion. Overcoming a long term habit of eating for emotional reasons, especially the negative ones, takes a heck of a lot of work. Even those who are willing to put forth the efffort have a tough road ahead of them and it's hard to find what tools will work for each individual person.

I think many seriously overweight/obese people don't realize that motivation and will power will only take you so far and that if you haven't worked on the underlying reasons for why you eat, then you will probably fail in your attempts to lose weight, no matter how much physical effort you are willing to put forth. Yeah, some people get to be obese simply by making poor food choices, but I think that they probably in the minority.

For my personal history, I graduated Saludatorian (2nd) of a large class, I am successful and determined in everything I do, I have always been the top of my classes and have won many awards at work for my performance. I have always put forth my best effort in everything I do, including weight loss. I've probably lost about 500 lbs over the last 10 years, but I've always gained it back because I didn't realize how truly important it was to deal with my underlying reasons for being overweight. I know about proper nutrition and I was committed to maintaining my habits for life, but in the end, it doesn't matter. Not many diet or "lifestyle change" books or plans help you figure out the emotional aspect, either. Just 6 years ago I lost 89 lbs over the course of about 14 months and then gained it all back plus some when I hit a difficult emotional time and didn't have the tools I needed to deal with it. I wasn't super strict with my eating, I ate what I wanted in moderation, I exercised in moderation and enjoyed my fitness, but I still failed because I didn't have the tools to help me succeed when willpower wasn't enough. I've finally found tools that are helping me to find other ways to cope with my emotions, but it's been a long, hard road filled with many failures before I finally found this success.