Odds of Regaining Weight

SkinnyMsFitness
SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Everyone!!

So even though we can and are dropping weight, it's said that our bodies keep those excess fat cells, they just shrink; whereas people that were never overweight have waaaay less fat cells. Is it easier to regain weight if you were overweight before vs. never overweight?

What do you think?

Thanks!!

Replies

  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
    Don't know about the fat cell thing, but I do know there's a 95% failure rate with long term weight loss success (keeping off the weight you lost for more than 5 years). Very grim number!
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Don't know about the fat cell thing, but I do know there's a 95% failure rate with long term weight loss success (keeping off the weight you lost for more than 5 years). Very grim number!

    Hey!! Yeah, I've seen MANY people yoyo diet...but that's the PROBLEM; they're DIETING!!! I am not dieting. I've never been successful dieting. It is my hope that I will continue my new lifestyle to maintain once I'm at goal weight.

    Thanks for your insight! =)
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
    Don't know about the fat cell thing, but I do know there's a 95% failure rate with long term weight loss success (keeping off the weight you lost for more than 5 years). Very grim number!

    Hey!! Yeah, I've seen MANY people yoyo diet...but that's the PROBLEM; they're DIETING!!! I am not dieting. I've never been successful dieting. It is my hope that I will continue my new lifestyle to maintain once I'm at goal weight.

    Thanks for your insight! =)

    A great book to read is Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata. She looks into the history of the dieting industry, as well as many studies that have been done/are ongoing about obesity, dieting, weight loss, and long term success. Very eye opening, and a bit depressing lol. It's not a dieting book and she doesn't push a way of eating-just lots of great info on diets, weight loss, and the reality of maintenance.
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Thank you! I'll hafta check it out!
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    Maybe I'm too optimistic but part of this is learning who you are and what works for you as well. I would hope that this part of the journey will make maintenance a little easier once you get there. You said you're not dieting, I believe there is a psychological mindset that "dieting" causes which in the end sets people up to subconsciously tell themselves they are going to fail.

    I have to constantly remind my mom that I am not dieting, I am simply changing the way I look at food and I am taking control of food rather than letting it control me. For example, my mom will always ask me what I am 'allowed' to eat - the dieting mindset. I will tell her anything I want and I just want healthy foods like fruits and vegetables now instead of cookies and processed foods. My mom has never succeeded in losing weight and certainly not for lack of trying but I think because deep down she's always been telling herself she is going to fail and she ends up failing.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,659 Member
    Hey Everyone!!

    So even though we can and are dropping weight, it's said that our bodies keep those excess fat cells, they just shrink; whereas people that were never overweight have waaaay less fat cells. Is it easier to regain weight if you were overweight before vs. never overweight?

    What do you think?

    Thanks!!

    As a person becomes overweight, their fat cells multiply, this is why it can be much harder for an obese person to lose weight.

    I am wondering, if the more a person loses weight and then puts weight back on, then loses it again and then puts it back on, why it gets harder and harder each time to lose the excess - unlike the very first weightloss where the weight really can fall right off - because each time, they have more fat cells (due to the multiplication) than they did the time they were losing weight before.

    Interesting subject!
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Maybe I'm too optimistic but part of this is learning who you are and what works for you as well. I would hope that this part of the journey will make maintenance a little easier once you get there. You said you're not dieting, I believe there is a psychological mindset that "dieting" causes which in the end sets people up to subconsciously tell themselves they are going to fail.

    I have to constantly remind my mom that I am not dieting, I am simply changing the way I look at food and I am taking control of food rather than letting it control me. For example, my mom will always ask me what I am 'allowed' to eat - the dieting mindset. I will tell her anything I want and I just want healthy foods like fruits and vegetables now instead of cookies and processed foods. My mom has never succeeded in losing weight and certainly not for lack of trying but I think because deep down she's always been telling herself she is going to fail and she ends up failing.

    Thank you!! You've touched down on some great points! I think dieting entails there's an end. But what's going to happen when you start living your old lifestyle when your diet's completed?? You're going to look/feel like you used to! I'm kind of a beginner and haven't been clean eating, but learning to eat in moderation. Baby steps. lol

    And I think with dieting, people focus on the end result, which can seem VERY overwhelming. For me - I want to lose 97 lbs. If I focus on that number, what's the odds I'm going to see any success? Today, I focus on 20 lbs...my short-term goals. I have 5 to meet my long-term. So I'm feeling accomplished with every 20 I lose! =))
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Hey Everyone!!

    So even though we can and are dropping weight, it's said that our bodies keep those excess fat cells, they just shrink; whereas people that were never overweight have waaaay less fat cells. Is it easier to regain weight if you were overweight before vs. never overweight?

    What do you think?

    Thanks!!

    As a person becomes overweight, their fat cells multiply, this is why it can be much harder for an obese person to lose weight.

    I am wondering, if the more a person loses weight and then puts weight back on, then loses it again and then puts it back on, why it gets harder and harder each time to lose the excess - unlike the very first weightloss where the weight really can fall right off - because each time, they have more fat cells (due to the multiplication) than they did the time they were losing weight before.

    Interesting subject!

    Some good questions!! I don't think it's harder to lose weight each time, if done multiple times, due to that fact. However, it may seem more difficult b/c maybe your willpower declined (since you've been down this road b/4), or maybe b/c a person's metabolism is slowing. The older we get - the slower they become.

    I don't think we gain more fat cells just from gaining then losing, then regaining. As example: I was 97 lbs overweight. I want to weigh 130. I hit my goal and (let's hope this is NOT going to happen) I gain all 97 back. I don't see that I'd gain more fat cells, they'd merely expand again. Now if I'd gain 150 lbs...I'd be accumulating more cells. Does that make sense?

    I'm not an expert, but this seems logical to me...but who knows what I'm talking about! lol

    Thoughts?
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    I thought the object of this exercise is to change our relationship with food and being comfortable in our skins. To eat what we need and not what we think we want.. Many of us with 100 or more lbs to loose will know ourselves better and should have learned to ways to stop being at the wrong end of any temporary tempting fancy. I am looking at a very long stretch may be Easter 2014 or beyond.

    I will probably fluctuate but go back to the lifestyle I had. No chance.

    all the best everyone
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Don't get stuck on "clean" eating, limiting foods, etc. If you want this to be a lifetime change then you can't restrict everything you ever loved and eating clean doesn't guarantee weight loss. Eating too much makes you fat. You can eat too many Big Macs or you can eat too much "clean" food. I've never given up any food I want to eat. I just eat within budget and use portion control.
  • MrsDanner78
    MrsDanner78 Posts: 107
    Maybe I'm too optimistic but part of this is learning who you are and what works for you as well. I would hope that this part of the journey will make maintenance a little easier once you get there. You said you're not dieting, I believe there is a psychological mindset that "dieting" causes which in the end sets people up to subconsciously tell themselves they are going to fail.

    I have to constantly remind my mom that I am not dieting, I am simply changing the way I look at food and I am taking control of food rather than letting it control me. For example, my mom will always ask me what I am 'allowed' to eat - the dieting mindset. I will tell her anything I want and I just want healthy foods like fruits and vegetables now instead of cookies and processed foods. My mom has never succeeded in losing weight and certainly not for lack of trying but I think because deep down she's always been telling herself she is going to fail and she ends up failing.

    OMG, my mother keeps asking me the same thing! "What can you eat?" "What are you allowed to eat?" My answer every single time has been "anything I want!" I'm just learning the eat smaller portions and after eating better for a while, I've gotten to the point where I don't crave sweets or fatty foods much anymore! If I do, I go ahead and eat them - but I usually only need a couple of bites before I'm over it and I don't usually finish those foods.

    I agree that changing your relationship with food AND with yourself is imperative for long-term weight loss. It ISN'T a diet I'm on - I'm not doing any of those fad diets, not taking any pills, no special supplements, I'm not counting points. I AM currently logging every single bite I eat, but I consider it a way of teaching myself about nutrition and serving sizes, and it keeps me accountable. When I do go over my goal calories, I don't stress about it - I just try to make sure I don't do it every day. What I am eating, and the way I am going about it is something that I fully expect to be able to keep up for the rest of my life, especially because in addition to eating differently I've also gotten active and work out in some way almost every day. It's become a habit - a GOOD one - that I look forward to each day!

    Anyway, I HAVE lost weight before, and I put it all back on very easily. But that was years ago, and I'm doing it in a much more natural fashion this time. So I am VERY confident in my ability to keep it off!
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Don't get stuck on "clean" eating, limiting foods, etc. If you want this to be a lifetime change then you can't restrict everything you ever loved and eating clean doesn't guarantee weight loss. Eating too much makes you fat. You can eat too many Big Macs or you can eat too much "clean" food. I've never given up any food I want to eat. I just eat within budget and use portion control.

    Great words and this is what I live by! I love the good (ah, I mean the bad) food too much to give it up completely. I do try to stay mindful with what I'm consuming and try to eat in moderation, but am not clean eating by any means. Sorry to say, I think this 'clean eating' thing is another fad...just like any other diet that's "proven to work."

    There's been studies to prove it's not necessarily what you consume, but the quantity. A doctor lost 25 lbs in a month by eating nothing but junk food (i.e. chips, candy bars, etc), but he watched his total intake.

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