why do 95%of people put weight back on, ugh

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Replies

  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
    'cause they don't actually believe eating as much as they did before is what caused them to gain weight in the first place.
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  • 366to266
    366to266 Posts: 473 Member
    They don't successfully work out the reasons as to why they are addicted to food--using it as their drug of choice to temporarily mask the pain.

    ^^ this
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    For me, I gradually drifted back into old habits and turned a blind eye to the obvious.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    They go back to eating exactly how they ate before they started losing weight. That's the kind of eating that made them overweight in the first place.
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
    For some..... it's emotional eating.
    Remember TFAR: Your Thoughts lead to your Feelings which lead to your Actions which lead to your Results. Diets don’t work because they are focused on actions, not the root causes (your thoughts and feelings); in fact they even create new thoughts and feelings that drive more overeating! Where else in your life do you try to fix the outside without addressing the inside first? How is that backfiring?


    Just make it a lifestyle change. Stay aware of your food/diet choices, don't completely let loose when you get to your goal (like eating 6,000 /day )
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I believe that research has shown that once you have been heavy, your body fights to get back to that weight, meaning it is much easier for you to put back on weight than it would for an always skinny person to gain that weight. I believe they have found that your body operates in that mode for a few years. That said, there are people who lose and keep it off, and researchers at the University of Colorado (I think) have studied them and come up with a list of practices that seem to make them successful long-term.
  • themedalist
    themedalist Posts: 3,218 Member
    I can only speak for myself but I've been at maintenance for 7 months now and have found it pretty easy. I agree with many of the comments expressed by other posters. I think a person needs to give as much thought to their maintenance strategy as they do to their weight loss strategy. Then, that maintenance strategy needs to be tested and fine tuned. I have fundamentally changed my eating habits and drastically reduced the amount of junk food I eat, particularly at night. I've very mindful of what I eat, though I don't obsess about calories. I exercise regularly and take several rest days a week. These changes make it hard for the weight to return. But, to make sure that doesn't happen, I weigh myself every day allowing a two pound fluctuation. Anytime my weight exceeds that two pound threshold, I watch my diet and exercise a bit more closely until my weight is back in range.

    This maintenance strategy works very well for me.

    Please don't be deterred by the number of people who put the weight back on. With some planning, that doesn't have to be you.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    I can only speak for myself but I've been at maintenance for 7 months now and have found it pretty easy. I agree with many of the comments expressed by other posters. I think a person needs to give as much thought to their maintenance strategy as they do to their weight loss strategy. Then, that maintenance strategy needs to be tested and fine tuned. I have fundamentally changed my eating habits and drastically reduced the amount of junk food I eat, particularly at night. I've very mindful of what I eat, though I don't obsess about calories. I exercise regularly and take several rest days a week. These changes make it hard for the weight to return. But, to make sure that doesn't happen, I weigh myself every day allowing a two pound fluctuation. Anytime my weight exceeds that two pound threshold, I watch my diet and exercise a bit more closely until my weight is back in range.

    This maintenance strategy works very well for me.

    Please don't be deterred by the number of people who put the weight back on. With some planning, that doesn't have to be you.
    Thanks! Good post! I know it does not have to any of us! Success is never giving up....
  • orangeyellowkayak
    orangeyellowkayak Posts: 97 Member
    Diet is forever, you just alter it based on your goal. If you reach your goal weight, you diet to maintain instead of lose, that's all. People gain it back because they go back to their old habits, which are what got them needing to lose weight in the first place. New habits are needed, and the lifelong diet changes are what you have to do to form those new habits and stick to them.
    She's right. I have been up and down many times. I used to get frustrated listening to people talking about loosing weight a pound or two at a time. I said that i needed to lose it fast or I could not do it. But then I always gained it back. I would say things like "why say life style change?what is the difference between a lifestyle change and a permannent diet? now I know there is no difference, by the time I reach my goal my new eatting ways will be a habit. 58 yrs old and I finally get it. I will find something else to do with my time instead of eat for fun.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    Wouldn't it be a better question to ask those 10% who have kept the weight off....what was crucial to them and how they were able to do it?

    Weight loss is hard.....maintenance is even harder....crazy hard. You gotta keep your head in the game...every single day.
    Love these 2 sentences!!! So so true!!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    reasons people put weight back on -

    1. they follow fad diets
    2. they believed the "cleanse or detox" would actually work and keep it off.
    3. no long term changes were made
    4. no tracking of progress was done, so was unsure if it was actually working
    5. addiction and will power issues.


    Those are the main ones I think...

    Jay

    I would tend to agree with this....

    you have to remember that you are making a lifestyle change and that you are going to do this for life, not just until you lose 20 pounds or hit some goal weight. I think the problem is that people hit a certain weight and say "I did it" and then proceed to go on a blow out of binge eating and no working out and wonder why they are right back where they started...

    I think someone also mentioned about wanting to lose for certain "life events" like I want to fit into my wedding dress, or it is my tenth high school anniversary or whatever...when in reality you should want to make these changes for life so that you look good and feel good ALL the time not just when you reach some random goal...
  • saminmio
    saminmio Posts: 44 Member
    I think most people who lose the weight then put it back on went on a diet that's not livable. Frequently those kinds of eating plans take the weight off pretty fast but really they don't take into consideration the person's eating preferences. That is not livable. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is not a diet it's learning to eat sensibly while still allowing yourself to at least occasionally indulge in certain foods you love. Say you love mashed potatoes. Have them once a week and have 1/2 cup of them eating them slowly so you can savor their richness and flavor. I do it with chocolate. I will not buy it to put it in my house anymore but when I'm out once or twice a week I'll buy a Lindt truffle or an ice cube and eat it in tiny bites to where it's almost like eating a candy bar. Believe it or not it seems to satisfy me and I'm happy. I don't feel deprived. - Now that's what's wrong with diets they make you feel deprived and that's a built in mechanism for failure. Hope this helped you a little.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    There is a group, the National Weight Control Registry, run out of Brown University, in Providence, R.I. They have a list of people who have been successful with weight loss long term, and they have been studying them to learn what has made them successful.
    The website is here: http://www.nwcr.ws/
    There is much helpful information there.
  • I believe that research has shown that once you have been heavy, your body fights to get back to that weight, meaning it is much easier for you to put back on weight than it would for an always skinny person to gain that weight. I believe they have found that your body operates in that mode for a few years. That said, there are people who lose and keep it off, and researchers at the University of Colorado (I think) have studied them and come up with a list of practices that seem to make them successful long-term.

    I'd love to see that list. If I do find it, I'll post it.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    the answer is that they cut calories too fast or expend too much energy at one time and have rapid weight loss which results in SEVERE METABOLIC DAMAGE so when you eat back the normal amount you were eating before you gain fat much quicker...

    this is main reason that there are so many obese people... ofcourse anyone who is fat has dieted in the past but its the fact that they cut cals too quick then go back to their old habits is the reason they can put on extra pounds effortlessly is because of metabolic damage.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    They don't reverse diet.

    ^^TRUTH
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    There is a group, the National Weight Control Registry, run out of Brown University, in Providence, R.I. They have a list of people who have been successful with weight loss long term, and they have been studying them to learn what has made them successful.
    The website is here: http://www.nwcr.ws/
    There is much helpful information there.

    This is some awesome information! Thanks!
  • michaelalouise3915
    michaelalouise3915 Posts: 124 Member
    They don't reverse diet.

    ^^TRUTH
    what is reverse diet :)
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
    For me, it was doing crash diets. Even things like weight watchers and slimming world.... the only thing I actually enjoyed was the weight loss. So once I got to a point where I was happier with my body it was too hard to follow with the plan.

    This time, I am following Dan's road map thing teamed with 5:2 fasting which means that although I restrict calories 2 days a week. to 500cals, the rest of the time I get to eat plenty of my fave things. I don't have to cut out pasta or bread or even ice cream and pizza as I can fit them in to my calories. And I have plenty of energy for exercise. So when people say you need to find something that you can do forever I think this time I can honestly say I can do this forever and be happy. Weight loss is steady, between half and 1.5lbs per week depending how much ice cream and pizza I have lol. But it's still in the right direction.
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    Well this is disheartening and makes me feel wonderful about me keeping my weight off long term. :frown: :sad:
  • LozPenguin
    LozPenguin Posts: 139 Member
    3) Pre-packaged/pre-prepared food does not teach you how to eat healthily - Things like Lite n Easy, Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers frozen meals, etc...anything that delivers the exact quantities they say you need to eat and you don't have to actually choose anything or cook anything...that doesn't teach you how to eat healthily after you stop buying their food because you've never had to choose the size of your bread roll, the amount of pasta, the weight of your protein, the amount of sauce, etc. You've only ever been told "eat this and you will lose weight". You've learned nothing. The exact same thing goes for shake diets or meal replacement diets.

    Thank you!! I've had so many people lately tell me they want to do lite n easy and have prepackaged meals cause its an excellent diet and totally works..blah blah blah. But they're expensive and lazy! How can you possibly maintain that sort of eating plan forever? And who wants to take their prepackaged frozen meal to a restaurant and ask to use their microwave?
    *rant rant.* sorry, I'm just frustrated with these snake oil salesmen shoving a false message of 'easy rewards' at desperate people. The only way to learn to take care of yourself is to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
    I think they eat more than they expend.
  • My problem is sugar I have a sugar tooth that won't go away it is almost like a drug. What can someone do about something like that? I do good for a couple of days and then it just starts nagging at me and then all I want is something sweet.
  • Flossie1981
    Flossie1981 Posts: 160 Member
    I did Lighterlife 5 years ago, lost 7 stone within 6 months and have put it all back on over the last few years. I didn't learn to maintain so went back to my old habbits.
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  • Arkhos
    Arkhos Posts: 290 Member
    Being obese is just as much a psychological issue as a "eating healthy" issue. Not addressing the underlying reasons for why the weight gain started is a big reason they eventually gain that weight back. Depression and the realization that your life doesn't become perfect eventually brings them back to the same old habits of trying to fill the "void" with food, a temporary taste (literally) of happiness.

    My opinion.
  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    Being obese is just as much a psychological issue as a "eating healthy" issue. Not addressing the underlying reasons for why the weight gain started is a big reason they eventually gain that weight back. Depression and the realization that your life doesn't become perfect eventually brings them back to the same old habits of trying to fill the "void" with food, a temporary taste (literally) of happiness.

    My opinion.
    Agreed this is definitely one of the main factors out of many. :ohwell:
  • nsblue
    nsblue Posts: 331 Member
    Having to lose weight has always been a lifetime endeavor for me ever since my early childhood. The numerous diets tried throughout the years varied but they always seemed to do what they were meant to do...lose weight.... but keeping it off was another issue that never seemed to happen. That roller coaster of losses and gains continued ..... only making me feel more of a failure and defeated. The "fat" girl, is what I conceded to be... I was destined to remain big, for it was who I was. I was ready to settle for just that. And still, even having lost nearly 400 pounds.. I still feel fat.

    It's amazing how a child being called that one single 3 letter word "fat", can carry with them so much power over the years. So much power that it molds your maladaptive thinking and behavioral actions during stressful and emotional times. Food became my comfort, my happiness, my escape, my secret, my dependancy, my coping....my life.

    Hating myself so much, I felt no one could ever possibly love me, so with my depleted self esteem, I wore a mask to hide behind. Over the years with my feelings of self loathing, unloveability, unworthiness & failure; it was cemented into my being by many occurances over and over again, making my maladaptive thoughts become my reality; solidifying my neg core beliefs.

    No amount of weight loss can rid you of the mental work one must have to do. I have to laugh when well meaning people say slurs to a obese/morbidly obese person, "well all you have to do is watch what you eat and exercise". This is pure ignorance to the whole situation; for if they understood, they would know that there's alot more than food and no exercise that gets a person to be obese/ morbidly obese...or super morbidly obese as I once was.

    Losing weight is hard work...but even harder is the loss one must work on to remove the years of maladaptive thinking, behaviors and negative core beliefs. We all can lose weight... it's the changing of the mind, thought, behaviors and beliefs that is the hardest. Everything together can make weight loss successful, you cannot succeed without workin on it all.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Having to lose weight has always been a lifetime endeavor for me ever since my early childhood. The numerous diets tried throughout the years varied but they always seemed to do what they were meant to do...lose weight.... but keeping it off was another issue that never seemed to happen. That roller coaster of losses and gains continued ..... only making me feel more of a failure and defeated. The "fat" girl, is what I conceded to be... I was destined to remain big, for it was who I was. I was ready to settle for just that. And still, even having lost nearly 400 pounds.. I still feel fat.

    It's amazing how a child being called that one single 3 letter word "fat", can carry with them so much power over the years. So much power that it molds your maladaptive thinking and behavioral actions during stressful and emotional times. Food became my comfort, my happiness, my escape, my secret, my dependancy, my coping....my life.

    Hating myself so much, I felt no one could ever possibly love me, so with my depleted self esteem, I wore a mask to hide behind. Over the years with my feelings of self loathing, unloveability, unworthiness & failure; it was cemented into my being by many occurances over and over again, making my maladaptive thoughts become my reality; solidifying my neg core beliefs.

    No amount of weight loss can rid you of the mental work one must have to do. I have to laugh when well meaning people say slurs to a obese/morbidly obese person, "well all you have to do is watch what you eat and exercise". This is pure ignorance to the whole situation; for if they understood, they would know that there's alot more than food and no exercise that gets a person to be obese/ morbidly obese...or super morbidly obese as I once was.

    Losing weight is hard work...but even harder is the loss one must work on to remove the years of maladaptive thinking, behaviors and negative core beliefs. We all can lose weight... it's the changing of the mind, thought, behaviors and beliefs that is the hardest. Everything together can make weight loss successful, you cannot succeed without workin on it all.

    If no one reads any other reply on this post...THIS! This is the truth and this is the reason why the recidivism is so high. Bless you and your struggle and winning the battle every day.