Anybody who has lost weight and gained it back?

theblondetrick

I have already been through all of this,lost 10 kg and gained it all back and put on some more.Now I'm trying to lose weight again,but it's so much harder than the last time.I don't see a big progress,like I did before. My mom just asked me if I'm still trying to lose weight,because she couldn't see any progress at all.That makes my want to cry.I'm depressed and discouraged.I'm sick of everything.

Is there anybody who has been in the same situation?
Can you give me any advice?
Is it common that you lose weight more slowly after losing weight and than gaining it back?

lissavlog

oh yes. i've been there BIG time. i lost 105# and after a few years put on 144#!!! i wasted my time & effort and i've been working hard to lose that weight again. i've lost 115# in the last two years. i've got about 34# to get back to my lowest weight. it has taken me longer, but i feel like i'm doing it in a way that's going to make the weight loss stick. before i dropped the weight in like 9 months, and obviously i didn't keep up with that lifestyle. just keep working hard and you'll get the results that you're looking for!

EricCowperthwaite

Is there anybody who has been in the same situation?

Between 2010 and now I've done it twice. This time around the weight loss seems permanent, unlike the last two times. In 2010 I used Weight Watchers and running and lost about 10 lbs. Fell off the wagon due to ridiculous food cravings and hunger. Gained it all back, plus an extra 10 lbs. Tried again in 2011, again knocked off 10 lbs, fell off the wagon and then gained back the 10 and another 10. Ugh.

Can you give me any advice?

When I decided to try once again, I did a ton of research about how metabolism, nutrition, dieting, exercise work. I spent time talking to people who were successful and finding out what made a difference for them. I came up with a sound plan for myself. That included not just how many calories I should eat, but also, based on how my body works (and everyone's body is different), a plan for the types of foods, macronutrients (i.e. fat, protein, carbs) I should be consuming, water, exercise. Everything. I also committed to it as a lifestyle, not a diet.

I think this is most important. I'm not on a diet until I lose the weight. I have changed how I eat, what I eat and my sleep and exercise patterns. I intend this to be permanent, not a temporary way to fix my weight and then go back to the bad, old lifestyle. My most critical advice is that you have to find a way to change your lifestyle on a permanent basis.

Is it common that you lose weight more slowly after losing weight and than gaining it back?

It can be, for some people. Again, every person's body is different. What works for me may not work for you. The key is to understand nutrition beyond a simplistic calories in/out model and to figure out what your body needs.

dangerousdumpling

I lost 40lbs/18kg about three years ago. Fortunately, I didn't gain ALL of it back, but I did gain about half of it back. Sad after all that work. I've only been trying to lose weight again for about two weeks and two of those days were quite bad so I know I have to be consistent before I can see what results I will get. Before I ate 1200 calories a day with one cheat meal per week and worked out for about an hour four days a week. This time I will be eating more and exercising less since I am recovering from surgery and am not in great shape. I have a recurring muscle strain so I have to ease into exercise. But I will say that I didn't lose weight in this second week. I guess I just have to tell myself that even if the results are slower, I am still working towards the goal.

KenosFeoh

Yes but not as much as this time. In the past, my OMG! moment was always when the scales hit 160.
This time I hit the high of 207 on 1/1/2009. I've been trying to bring my weight down ever since (21 pounds in 4 years). Sigh ......
I don't know why it's so hard this time around.

CloneSN

I've had a back and forth thing of losing, gaining more than before, losing, gaining, then losing again. Now i'm going with small goals, hitting those goals, and step on the to the next one. Good luck to all of us! :glasses:

purpleipod

I lost 56 pounds about 3 years ago then gained back 70. It feels awful, but I'm trying not to think about it that way or it just depresses me.

grimendale

I was lsot 50 lbs a couple years ago, then turned around and gained 100 lbs. In the last year, I have lost 90 lbs (that last 10 lbs is eluding me but I am slowly chipping away at it). The weight loss was much slower this time around because I did through healthy eating rather than through a crash diet. If you can stay in control of what you eat, the weight will eventually come off.

VitaBailey

Yeah, it's happened to me. I gained some back 25 lbs of a 75 lb loss. It was a bad feeling but eventually I got back on the horse and lost those 25 again again .... which is a hell of a lot better than gaining it back and keeping it on.

freckledrats

I've been back and forth over the years. My highest weight was in 2006 at 170 pounds. I'm 4'11" for reference. After a year, I was down to 140, then slowly got down to 127, then down quickly to 110 lbs. That was my low weight, and I'd like to get back to there. I went up again VERY slowly to 139, got busy again. I was 139 when I started on this site.

The trick is just to not let go when you get to your goal weight. That is definitely my problem. You shouldn't be on a temporary diet if you have weight problems. Instead, you should have a diet plan for yourself when you want to lose weight, then a diet plan for yourself once you want to maintain again. Hoping I can learn this habit for myself

StephCoff1969

Yes I have been there... A few years ago I went from 179 to 140, then I gained it all back with interest... At my highest weight I was at 220... Yikes... I had to slow myself down, work through why I was eating or not eating on occasion... For me it brought demons out that I had thought I had dealt with, obviously not... I started working on those "demons" and started logging here at MFP... I realize that this time will be different for two reasons... One... I am doing it the right way for once, and am learning how to eat for a healthy lifestyle... Two, my demons no longer hold me down... When something pops out of the woodworks I write it down and work through my feelings.. It isn't easy, but it is worth it...

Good luck to you and to your future success.... remember this.... Baby steps to Victory...

Fr3shStrt

Yep.

First, don't listen to negative people in your life. Lasting weight loss will take time and it will take a while for people in your life to even notice. Don't worry about them, worry about yourself.

It may be slower going, I don't know for sure, but from everything I've been reading and a vlog I recently watched, it seems as though eating too little slows down the metabolism which will in turn make weight loss really hard. Then when you stall you can't go any lower you're kind of stuck, so it is best to lose weight (1# week) by eating as much as you can while still losing - that keeps your metabolism going.

ash8184

Yes! This is very common.

View it as a long-term success. Plan for a year, 5 years, 10 years out, not weeks or months and you'll get there. Slow & steady wins the race. At my highest, I weighed 383 and am now at 163, so trust me when I say I've yo-yoed my entire life (but this is the least I've weighed probably since elementary school).

fbmandy55

I started on here about 3 years ago and lost 50lbs pretty rapidly on MFP's 1200 recommendation. About 8-9 months in, I started to plateau, and slowing gaining back. After a year of gaining back about 25lbs, I had to start over using the TDEE/BMR calorie goal. I now eat about 2000 calories a day and FAT is coming off now, I am no longer eating like a bird and walking myself to skinny fat land!

Astacia74

Yep - I lost 30# in 2008 and kept it off for almost 2 years then, gained back 40#. I blame part of the re-gain on discovering beer :drinker: and part of it on my just getting to comfortable and eating like I was a teenager again.

I am now down to my last 5# to lose and, yest, it took me A LOT longer but I think it has to do with a few things like age, lifestyle and the fact that I am doing it smarter.

It's easy to lose weight when you deprive yourself (like on most diets), MFP helps you do it by changing your habits and becoming healthier not just thinner. Hang in there and don't let anyone discourage you and you will succeed :flowerforyou:

hallybell

I lost 35 lbs total last year, I let 15ish creep back on. Luckily I didn't gain it all back, but I was starting to get tight pants and miserable headaches. Now I've realized I'll never be one of those girls who can't eat right and doesn't exercise. Oh well, hard work, bring it on.

mapnerd2005

I lost 52kg in 2010 and was 15 from my initial goal, got off track, and gained 18kg back. I'm back now and have reset my ticker to my current "starting point" to my FINAL goal.

rmkeech1

I lost about 70 pounds between 2009 and 2010 and then fell off the wagon and put back a little over 30 by the beginning of 2012. Started up again at the end of May 2012 and have lost 18 so far. The first time I lost the weight it was almost exclusively by doing cardio and watching calories. This time around I've added in a fairly robust strength training program along with the cardio and tracking food. It's taking longer to lose the weight this time but honestly I feel better and my waist, neck, etc., have gotten smaller. For some reason this feels more permanent. I've also got a better support structure this time around. My partner has always been very supportive but a few friends are also using MFP with me and that's really helping. It also doesn't hurt that one of my good friends who is using MFP too is a personal trainer so I get free input and advice.

jenns1964

Oh yeah! In the past 10 years I've lost the same 50 lbs 3 times and gained it back....ugh! I'm working really hard to make this time permanent..

LindseyAlyssa

I had lost 16lbs and it only took basically one stressful month to reverse it all. But I've lost it again, and you can too! Don't go for speed loss, go for longevity. I changed my diet into something healthier (for me) and did that for several months, 4 to be exact, and lost 11 lbs. I've continued to improve upon that and have now added in around 30 mins or more of exercise every other day and am back to the weight I was at before I re-gained, but with even better measurements. You just need patience, determination, and you need to believe in yourself!

My advice?
Take it slow. Focus on measurements rather than weight. Create non-weight based goals to work towards (like 20 pushups, 100 squats, etc.). And really work at changing your diet into a healthy one, even if you just take baby steps. Anything is better than nothing.

Good luck!

Misseena

I was about 200lbs when I started college, and I managed to lose about 50lbs when I was in my second year I felt great, and I managed to keep the weight off for about 4 years without any trouble. Then, I started my last-year of law school, followed immediately by the bar exam and a stressful 70+ hour a week job, and, due to the stress, time, and social components, I gained it all back (plus an extra 15-20lbs or so for good measure)!

The best advice that I can give is to NEVER STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF! I knew I was gaining weight, and it made me terrified to step on the scale. Honestly, when I finally did step on the scale and saw that the number had gone up so high, I thought it was a joke. I assumed I'd gained--AT THE VERY MOST--about 20lbs. I'd actually gained about 65+! I was in complete denial!

Hindsight is 20/20, but I feel like I could have had better control if I'd forced myself to face the truth as I was gaining. I will always be vigilant now and never let it sneak up on me again! I'm lost about 40lbs now, but I find that it is definitely slower the second time around! I wish you all the best on your journey!

juliemouse83

Watching my scale has been like watching a ping-pong match. Got down to roughly 15 pounds away from my ideal goal, then had family drama and fell off the wagon. Got back on. Dropped some more weight. Stopped tracking. Assumed I'd gained a few pounds. Gained, like, 20. *sigh*

Like one of the other posters, I am paying very careful attention to calories eaten, calories burned, not trying to do this at 1200+exercise, committing to actually reach the goal I set of doing a 5K mud race in April (which I canNOT get out of), so that keeps me on track as far as working out.

This time I am NOT setting unrealistic expectations for myself, i.e. I MUST be at the gym at 5:00 a.m. every single morning before work, because I know, that as a night owl, this is not happening. I KNOW that I work out better in the late afternoon/early evening, and I know that I don't like the gym setting, and do so much better when left to my own devices.

I also found workouts that aren't super simple right out of the gate...I like to make things progressively challenging.

Realizing that what works for a lot of people doesn't work for me really has helped this time around, as well.

paxbfl

I've been there too. I lost 30 pounds, gained it back plus 10, and have just now lost it all again - FOR THE LAST TIME!

Two key lessons:

1. Do a nutrition and fitness plan you can do forever. The last time I did an extreme program, and by the time I reached my goal I was so exhausted and fed up that I just went completely off the wagon. The program I'm doing now has me working out 6 days a week and doing MFP 6 days a week with a very reasonable goal (was 1 lb weight-loss a week, is now 1/2 pound for maintenance) followed by a "free day" where I rest and eat whatever I feel like eating. That helps because I don't feel deprived - I can eat anything, I just have to wait until my free day to have it. During the week, I eat "mini meals" throughout the day which helps keep my blood sugar and metabolism stable so I'm not hungry and have good energy all day long.

2. Understand the math. Know your BMR and your TDEE and what these numbers mean. This time around, I did that... and counted up all the calories I was eating in a typical day. That number was at least 600 calories OVER my TDEE, even with exercise. I used to complain that I was cursed with bad genetics or a slow metabolism or a bad thyroid or whatever. The truth is, I was just eating too damn much! It's simple math once you know the numbers.

So now I fundamentally understand that I can't eat that much without becoming very overweight. So I'm never going to eat like that again.

The nice thing I'm discovering is that when you go into maintenance mode, you actually have to eat a LOT in order to fuel your muscles. It's not like a "free day" gluttony but I'm definitely never hungry. If I'm hungry, I'm doing something wrong!

Richie2shoes

In 2007/2008, I dropped 85 pounds and then gained it all back by 2009 I tried again in 2010 to lose it and it seemed that the weight just didn't want to come off and I got frustrated and quit. When I started again this month, it seemed to be the same thing and then I started reviewing my old blog and realized 2 things.

First, it took me almost a month the first time to start seeing regular weight loss. I was remembering my success and not the struggle.

Second, I was working a lot harder at it in 2007 than I did in 2010.

I pulled out my old exercise routines and reviewed my old diet journals and after a couple weeks started to see the losses like I remembered.

JulieBGoood

I lost 60 lbs in the past & gained about 25 back

PennStateChick

I lost 67 pounds in 2009ish on Weight Watchers. I gained about 50-55 of that back before I caught myself. Now, this time around I've lost almost 20. It does seem A LOT harder this time. Successes don't feel as frequent. And it doesn't seem to be happening as quickly. But i'm sticking to it and hoping to lost about 40 more before going to the beach in July.

brewedtea

I lost 70lbs, and have gained 30 of it back, and I was definitely on track to steadily gain it all back until I got myself back in check, which was only 2 weeks ago. Yes, it definitely FEELS harder to lose it again. I don't know if it's just because I'm so angry with myself for gaining it back so I'm more critical of myself or I'm just tired from the back and forth struggle, but I do know how you feel. I'm just going to keep at it and stay motivated regardless of how slow the loss is, if I did it once I can do it again and so can you!

imtrinat

I'm such a yo-yoer. I've gained and lost the same 25 lbs 3 times in the past 10 years. The last time, I hit my lowest ever adult weight and immediately packed on 15 lbs. That was my breaking point. I've taught myself how to eat since then and I've been working out fairly consistently for the past year. Most importantly, I finally learned that there really is no such thing as a "diet". I had to make small changes over a long period of time that I can live with forever. I've been stuck at my weight for the past year, but at least I'm seeing some changes in my body composition. It gets harder every time to keep the weight off.

Pet03

I lost about 25 pounds in high school which was back in the late 80's. Then gained alot of weight after I got out of the Marine Corps and had two children. I started trying to lose weight last year lost 22 pounds then my mother died and gained back 10 pounds back and now I am trying to get back into the swing of things to lose it al. I ultimately want to lose about 70 pounds so it is going to be a long journey. The only thing you can really do is set your mind to loosing the weight and proceed. You will have good and bad days but take them in stride and tell yourself it is not the end of the world and keep going. It is going to be difficult but you can and will do it.

JamieM8168

I went from 250 to 169 then up to 195. Now I'm at 180 hoping to lose another 20 lbs

jzebracki

This is my third go-around with weight loss! I am determined that this will be the LAST TIME because I am making it a life-style change and NOT a diet. My first big weight loss was in my early 30's. Then I did it again in my mid 40's. Now I am almost 52 and doing it again. This last time was the most I ever weighed. I was 257 when I started on May 7, 2012. I have lost 47 pounds so far, and I have 40 more to go. With each decade of time, it has gotten incredibly harder, and with each time it has been slower to come off. BUT - YOU Can do it! Do it the right way this time and change your life rather than thinking this is a temporary thing! Good luck to you!