Quick to gain, slow to lose - anyone else like this?

I'm exactly the same and i have no idea why this is the case, I just put it down to a sluggish metabolism too or maybe a sedentary lifestyle (which I used to have)

I'm 30 and my weight gain is super fast, but slow to lose. I gain 10 pounds in a little over a month (when I let myself go) and to get it off it will take me at least 2-3 months. I think age COULD be a factor, but not on the whole.

I feel the same way. I only have to look at junk food and put on weight it seems. Yet trying to lose is a slow process.

Just stay consistant and it will happen.

Being quick to gain and slow to lose is just math.

For example:

If you cut 500 calories a day from your diet, you will have a deficit of 1500 calories or projected weight loss of just shy of half a pound in three days.

If you (roughly) jog 3 miles 5 days a week, you will have a deficit of 1500 calories that week through exercise. That's perhaps 30 minutes, five times or 2.5 hours of work to create that 1500 calorie deficit.

Both of those paths to the calorie deficit require discipline, mindfulness, and time.

Cave in and eat 5 slices of pizza (probably after losing some self control after a couple beers) and that's 1500 calories consumed in an hour or less. I know there are people like me who could eat a medium pizza on a binge. 5 slices - that's nothing. Those 1500 calories could also be created more innocently throughout a day - the extra dollop of half and half, bread at the restaurant, chips with your sandwich, mindless snacking. It is very easy to almost instantly create a caloric surplus. It feels as easy as inhaling. There is no equivalent efficient way to create a calorie deficit. Even if I fasted all day, creating a rather large calorie deficit (1800 for me) I could easily eat it back the next day in one indulgent meal (and likely would, after starving myself the day before!). It sucks but it's a fact, even for young people with normal metabolism.

**Destruction is generally faster than creation. You can slash the canvas of a masterpiece painting or bomb a beautiful building in five seconds. That ca be a helpful metaphor for me. You're creating something - a body you are happy with - not destroying your fat with a blubber-blasting laser gun straight out of a science fiction movie (wouldn't that be awesome). Creating something, sculpting it, is a long and meticulous process.

I have learned to plan for certain things, so for instance last weekend I knew I was going to an all you can Indian buffet, then Saturday out to London to a restaurant for a 3 course lunch, then on to a comedy club with food for the night. I knew I would gain, so mentally prepared myself for it.

Secondly, my new favourite word.. MODERATION. I will have whatever I want to eat, in moderation. I don't binge, if someone has a pizza I will "treat" myself to a slice, but will still have a salad with it, I won't eat 3-4 slices and regret it later... To me eating one slice and enjoying is more satisfying then binging and regretting it.

As a woman, it is harder to lose weight once you hit middle age than it is if you try to lose weight when younger and it's all about the changing hormone levels:

"Scientists at Pennington found women had lower metabolism after menopause than before.

The postmenopausal women in one study burned an average of 100 to 150 fewer calories a day just resting and doing their everyday activities, and they were less physically active for a total drop of about 200 calories a day after menopause, says lead researcher Jennifer Lovejoy, who now works for a health coaching company, Free & Clear in Seattle.

The lower metabolism appears to have to do with changing levels of estrogen and not changes in muscle mass, she says. And there is evidence that a lack of estrogen increases appetite and can cause specific cravings for certain foods, especially carbohydrates and fats. That means women need to be careful about consuming too many cookies, cakes, candy bars and chips, she says.

Lovejoy recommends that women in their early to mid-40s begin gradually increasing their physical activity and watching their dietary habits to help offset metabolic changes that can lead to weight gain with menopause."

You can have 1 or 2 days off, but you still have to be aware of what you are eating. Are you eating over by 5000 cals each day or 500 cals each day. It might be water retention from eating salty fried foods. It's probably not 5 lbs of fat. Don't weigh yourself after these high eating days. Wait at least a week with being in your correct eating pattern and see what he scale says. You probably won't lose that week, but that's because you didn't want to.

I noticed when I go on vacation and eat bad for a week. I gain, but as soon as I get back into the swing of things, it comes off pretty quick.

I was away last weekend, Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening. I definitely watched what I ate and drank, but I definitely had more than if I was home - but I logged it all. 3 1/2 pounds up. Yep. It has taken me a week to take 2 of those pounds off. For Super Bowl weekend I was away for four days and I gained four pounds, but by the end of day 5 I had lost all four pounds.

We also fluctuate with our weight. I know by next Friday when I weigh in again I will have lost that other 1 1/2 pounds (I deducted the weight from my total weight loss because I'm being honest with myself) but I'm not sure that I will have lost any more than that. I know for sure I didn't eat or drink enough to have that be real weight gain.

The point is, when we have a bad night or a bad few days, we need to get right back on track. The scale will go up, but we can't get discouraged. I am a fast gainer and a slow loser, but the weight does come off.

Stop weighing and measure.

I've lost roughly 0.5lb for every 1" I have lost. I've gained 3lb since December yet still lost 1.5" and am down 18.5" in total compared to about 10lb.

So, going by that, I could lose another 3lb and 6" which would make me 141lb (10st 1lb) and have a 27.5" waist and 19" thighs.

A good tip though, instead of doing moderate exercise every day, do high intensity interval training and weights a couple of times a week I bet you'd see a massive change to your body.