who has kept weight off for 2 years

Minnie2361
Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
The reason I am asking is the BBC program "The men who made us thin" brought up the fact the majority of people will regain their weight after two years.

Research that supports this has been described here

http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/why-do-dieters-regain-weight/


An Australian research team studied people who had lost weight in an effort to understand some of these changes. A year after their initial weight loss:
•A hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism – Leptin – was still lower than normal
•Ghrelin, nicknamed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher
•Peptide YY, a hormone associated with hunger suppression was abnormally low
•Participants reported being much more hungry and preoccupied with food then they had prior to losing weight

A year after losing weight these people’s bodies were still biologically different than they had been prior to the weight loss attempt, desperately working to regain the weight – and participants had already regained about 30% of the weight they had lost. One of the study’s authors characterized it as “A coordinated defense mechanism with multiple components all directed toward making us put on weight.”

The evidence that exists shows that almost everyone fails at long term weight loss (yes Virginia, even the National Weight Control Registry. In fact, especially the NWCR!) I will never cease to be amazed at people who insist that it’s just that almost everyone does it wrong. That’s like saying that, since some people survive jumping out of planes when their parachutes don’t open, almost everyone who dies in such a circumstance is just falling wrong.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the truth is the almost everyone can lose weight short term on almost any program, and almost everyone gains their weight back long-term even if they are able to maintain their diet behaviors, with many people gaining back more than they lost. What WW and other diet companies have managed to do is take credit for the first half of a natural biological response (the weight loss), and convince their clients to blame themselves for the second half of that response (the rebound weight gain.) Sure it’s disingenuous, but at least it’s highly profitable! They’ve also managed to spread this myth far and wide, successfully making people into PR machines. They’ve done such a great job of turning people into myth-spreading marketing machines, that diet companies don’t even have to speak up in their defense because other people will be so very happy to do their dirty work for them.

I have also come across information that high sugar consumption affects the liver and reduces the amount of leptin produced.
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Replies

  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Yup!! I've seen that 95% ppl put the weight back on...+ some!!!
    I haven't met the quota you're asking, but I did lose 20 a year ago and kept that off while I unintentionally maintained for 10 months! lol Now I'm back at it and I WILL keep it off!! =))
  • atb0821
    atb0821 Posts: 458 Member
    Me! I lost all mine in 2010, still going well.
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    Lost over 65 lbs in 2009. Been at 118 lbs ever since :smile:
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Closing in on a year at maintenance and I'll be damned if I ever go back to that guy I was in 2009...... Lets just say this is one statistic I will not be a part of...... :drinker:
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
    for those who are keeping the weight off share with us the strategies you are using.
  • NikkiSixGuns
    NikkiSixGuns Posts: 630 Member
    Absolutely. I gained a few pounds (thanks, weight lifting!!) but have kept off the majority of 35 lbs since December 2010. And despite the extra pounds, I'm the same size. Well, my arms and legs are bigger, but that was intentional!

    ETA: Managed to maintain by using the same principals I used to lose it. In my experience this is where a lot of people go wrong - they abandon all the tools they used to lose the weight learned as soon as they get to where they want to be.

    I lost weight by knowing how many calories I should be eating, weighing and logging everything like a severely OCD person, treating my calorie budget like an financial budget, and fitting in some form of exercise most days of the week. I did pretty moderate stuff - mostly cardio. I still do the same things, with the exception of exercise. These days I lift weights 3 times a week, and that's pretty much it (other than walking for about 20 minutes a day on my 30-min lunch break).

    I WISH I'd understood the value of weight training back when I first started. Didn't start lifting weights until almost 2 years after I lost the weight.
  • Widadita
    Widadita Posts: 176 Member
    I've kept off weight for nearly five years and a half. It's true that I'm gaining back and forth those two or three pounds, sometimes I just don't feel like dieting. and after just a few weeks I get back on track and I lose them. but I never gained the 46 pounds I lost in 2008.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
    me.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Me. Been 11 or 12 years now. Sometime not long after Y2K lol.

    Long before "if it fits your macros" and "net calories" and iphone apps for that matter.

    It can be done.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    for those who are keeping the weight off share with us the strategies you are using.

    Mine would not be popular here among many. :smile:
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Closing in on a year at maintenance and I'll be damned if I ever go back to that guy I was in 2009...... Lets just say this is one statistic I will not be a part of...... :drinker:
    HEAR HEAR!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    My weight is up about 6 pounds since I hit my goal in June 2011, but I'm in the same size clothes.

    To lose, I eat between 1800-2000 calories a day, lift heavy weights and run. I maintain on about 2300 a day and the same exercise. I'm currently nursing a minor injury and not exercising as much, so I'm eating around 2000 a day.
  • ctalimenti
    ctalimenti Posts: 865 Member
    I think in order to keep the weight off, permanent changes need to take place. The unhealthy old way of life needs to be replaced which many of the above posters are doing.
  • kregerems
    kregerems Posts: 100 Member
    I've kept my weight off for 2 years approx. now, however I've kept exercising and counting my calories to keep it off.
  • verymissk
    verymissk Posts: 262 Member
    I have kept off 25-ish pounds over the last 18 months. I still have about 60 to go, but I'm taking it slow and steady. I'm taking time to make actual changes to the way I live and the way I treat food so that I am doubly sure I never gain the weight back. I follow "everything in moderation", IIFYM, and "If it's a celebration, eat some cake" about 85% of the time.
  • Mlkmaid
    Mlkmaid Posts: 356 Member
    Lost over 65 lbs in 2009. Been at 118 lbs ever since :smile:

    You're my hero!
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    2 years for me. I had my weight go up and down because I intentional bulked or a 5 pounds gain because of enjoying summer. Normal fluctuations.
  • runzalot81
    runzalot81 Posts: 782 Member
    Going on 11 years. Fitness and health is just part of my daily routine, like hygiene. The only time I was ever sidelined was when I was pregnant.
  • steffiejoe
    steffiejoe Posts: 313 Member
    I have kept my weight off 19 months and 2 days today, maintained 135.

    The only other time I have dieted I went from 173 to 145. I kept it off for over 8 years.
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    Hit the two year mark fairly recently and doing fine. I did take it easy over the summer, but was able to maintain. It's ongoing and a lifestyle.
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    To all those who have kept the weight off, congratulations for your determination and hard work. Well done.
  • bdur76
    bdur76 Posts: 155 Member
    This dude!!
  • LT12344
    LT12344 Posts: 14
    hi, ive gone from 11 and a half stone to 10 stone in around 2 months but im finding it really difficult to shift the last couple of pounds till i reach my goal weight can anybody give advice?
  • Bermudabarbie
    Bermudabarbie Posts: 568 Member
    I went from over 210 (stopped weighing myself at that point. Too embarrassed to admit to my true weight -- to 133 pounds.)

    Went from a size 18-20W to my present size of 6-8.

    I did it the same way everyone is saying. More exercise and less binging and overeating. I still log into MFP daily and track my foods and what I drink. I cut out or way back on a lot of things: liquor, sweets, candy, desserts, second and third helpings of my favorite foods, overindulgence in anything that I used to really "pig out" on.

    Right now I am trying to regain about 3 to 5 pounds. Not easy -- once you change your eating habits. I still eat many of my favorite foods that some consider "off limits." These include breads, bagels, ice cream, chocolate, cakes and pies,fast food, pizza, red wine, and pastas. Lots more. However, I guess I have learned to eat like a "naturally thin" person. I just have one helping of the so called "fattening" foods and I am OK. I still go out for dinner on a regular basis but fore-go the appetizers and enjoy the full meal, bread and butter and sometimes even a dessert. However, the next day, I cut way back so I don't start to spiral in the other direction.

    Unless your have money to burn, once you start investing in smaller size clothing, you have an additional incentive to keep your weight off.

    It is a permanent, life-style change. Two years, three years... just keep going. Stay focused on your goals. You can do it too!
  • LT12344
    LT12344 Posts: 14
    ive just found it really hard to count my calories and having to remind myself on portion sizes, im also finding it difficult to stop hunger pangs , and losing the last of the weight is terrible and have found it more difficult in the last week, well done though getting down to the size you are now though!!:)
  • LT12344
    LT12344 Posts: 14
    i its difficult to find light meals and snacks that will fill me up,i also find it had to restict my meals and stop myself going for that sugary snack, its so difficult but i really jusy want to shift my last bit of weight
  • LT12344
    LT12344 Posts: 14
    how did you lose it?
  • Apicius
    Apicius Posts: 61 Member
    I think you just have a total mindset change and you never go back to it. Eat healthy, smaller portions, exercise more, and move more. After a while your tastes change and you don't miss the foods or if you do have something it is not the treat it used to be. Don't think of it as a diet and stop, it is for life.

    I lost 20kg then maintained for a year, and now losing the last 13kg. Heading for target within the three year mark. I did a year of meal replacements, low carb, counting calories, and now on 5:2 fasting. All the time I increased exercise.

    I think logging is important, but also knowing how many calories in things- a lolly or something seems way less attractive when you know how long it takes to burn it off. Mindful eating, eating when hungry is also key.
  • clepant
    clepant Posts: 3,524 Member
    Lost most of mine the last quarter of 2010 into 2011. Have continued to lose weight. Not in the same amounts but it has been in slow amounts. Last summer about 11 pounds, this summer another 7 pounds. I have been maintaining or losing since then. In the past, I lost weight and gained back more. The difference this time is that it is not a diet. It has been a lifestyle change with food and exercise. It is also for the sake of my own health even though I was not suffering from any ailments such as diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

    I have also passed the two year mark. I think another reason why some people gain the weight back is because they lost it quickly. I have observed this to be true among people that I know that have had success with their weight loss. The people I know that have lost weight and kept it off are people who lost their weight as one or two pounds a week over a longer period of time rather then trying to reduce the weight as quickly as possible. Just look at some of the people from the biggest loser. Many have gained back their weight. Taking the time to loss the weight also allows a person to establish new habits that become cemented into your lifestyle.

    I would love to hear about the people that lost weight and kept it off. What was the reason for their success.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    I have kept mine off almost exactly two years, and am at the low end of my BMI at 18.5.

    I know our experiences differ vastly, but if I were to base it solely upon my own, I would say this article is utter horse sh**.

    The reason I was overweight was because my diet was terrible. I cleaned it up, reduced my portion sizes, increased my fruit and veggie intake, and guess what! This is freaking easy to maintain.

    The only purpose articles like this serve is to be an excuse or a crutch for someone who doesn't want to put in the work.

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