who has kept weight off for 2 years

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  • annc3333
    annc3333 Posts: 16 Member
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    I was a lifelong binge eater, weight got up to over 250 pounds and stayed there for almost a decade. Lost 75 pounds, three pounds a month for two years, then maintained that for the past 12 years with one 25 pound gain after ten years of maintenance. I lost that 25 and have kept it off again.

    I'm 57 now and it is harder than it ever used to be to keep the weight from returning, so I struggle some. BUT, I am absolutely sure I will never be morbidly obese again, I start freaking out when my pants get a little tight then I get back to a very structured eating plan.

    Oh, and while I walk regularly I don't do any intense exercising.

    So…even a lifelong very disordered, disturbed eater can manage to make a true change. Its not impossible but it can takes a lot of work or maybe I should say, focus, even to this day.
  • Suleya
    Suleya Posts: 20
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    I must say, the studies with the 95% claim were very badly made and cant be considered reliable. If you actually change your lifestyle, and dont just go on a fad diet, you are very likely to keep the weight off. I have kept mine of for around 5 years now, and I have multiple people in my family that have kept substential amounts off for 10 to 20 years. So yeah, dont lose motivation due to a weak study like that :)
  • simonsayzz
    simonsayzz Posts: 25 Member
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    I've logged in 600 days, not quite 2 years but close! Lost 70 pounds and have kept it off by messing with my daily calories. 1600 one day, 1300 the next...careful to stay at main thence levels or less over he course of the week. Can be done!
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
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    haven't read anything past the first post. i've been maintaining 2 years, loss of 50 lbs took a year. yeah the hormones are there etc, the studies aren't encouraging, but many of those were done when food monitoring happened with pen and paper. it's so easy with mfp & other apps etc. there is better knowledge about how to manage it. don't be discouraged, it's possible to keep it off.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
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    The reason that so many weight loss studies show a high long-term failure rate is because they consist of introducing a calorie deficit somehow for a limited time period followed by allowing participants to go back to their previous routine. Of course short-term changes do not produce long-term results. If participants in those studies continued to follow the study protocol long-term, they would keep the weight off. This is not magic. Hormones like leptin and ghrelin are involved in hunger and satiety, but they do not make long-term weight loss impossible, just more difficult for some people than others.

    One study one time stated that 95% statistic, and the fat acceptance movement has run with that while demonstrating a lack of understanding of basic scientific principles (such as thermodynamics!). They are biased, and they dismiss the mountain of peer-reviewed research that links obesity to numerous health issues by saying thing like "correlation not causation!" or whatever. They are not a good source of scientific information.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    i know nothing..but just want to guess that people who lose weight on a fad diet or quickly are the ones who reagain and pack on ten pounds more.

    Is there anyone here who maintained for two years after losing on a fad diet?
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
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    I lost about 20 lbs. 2 years ago and have kept it off. It was a combination of 5:2 fasting, cleaner eating and a little more exercise. Since it's sustainable (I still do 5:2 but have relaxed a little on the calorie intake), it's still working for me.
  • sillyli234
    sillyli234 Posts: 124 Member
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    I've been around the same weight for 15 months!
  • JJA14
    JJA14 Posts: 82 Member
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    I'm one of those people who had continued to put weight on steadily since dieting!
    I was a healthy 10st10lbs just before getting married, but thought I'd join weightwatchers to get a few pounds off and look better in a swimwear - that was the first time I'd ever dieted - 13 years ago.
    Now I weigh 13st 8lbs and have been on and off WW ever since, so what does that tell you??
    The BBC program you talked about was a catalyst of mine to ditch the diet and start looking at being independent.
    Jo
  • Jsneel
    Jsneel Posts: 24 Member
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    It took me 1 yr and 9 mo to reach my 150 lb goal which made it 80 lbs I lost and I've sat another goal and I've reached it at 140 weighing 137! I've lost 93 lbs and kept it off. I started this journey bk in 2004 by loosing 20 of the 93 lbs however I got much serious the last 3-4 yrs! I do NOT want to gain the weight bk it was unhealthy for me weighing 230 at 5.4" I had high blood pressure now it's 120/69. I'm so thankful for the weight loss. I've learned alot on/in this journey. PATIENCE! I didn't gain all that weight over night so I had to remember that with it comming off. To answer the "Q" I'm keeping the weight OFF! I enjoy being skinny wearing size 8&9 some 10 size and Medium shirts! It feels so good to see small clothes and know there my clothes! I'm so blessed and I enjoy my life so I'm trying to keep as healthy as I can be to live as long as I can!
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
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    What I found upsetting about the Doc. "the men who made us thin" {all 4 parts are uploaded on you tube}
    was when Jacques Peretti did an interview with the Ceo of weight watchers. In the documentary what was presented was 95% of the people eventually failed and regained most of the weight and the best that could be offered is 5-10 pounds off for the few that mainained weight loss according to the doc.

    I did some research on this and five of the big diet companies were called before the FTC and all made settlements.

    http://articles.latimes.com/1997/oct/01/business/fi-37955
    H.J. Heinz Co.'s Weight Watchers International Inc. settled long-standing federal deceptive advertising charges by agreeing to permanently trim the diet company's claims about the success of its programs. The settlement, which requires that certain disclosures accompany weight-loss claims, formalizes a policy that Weight Watchers says it has followed since shortly after the Federal Trade Commission filed suit in 1993

    The settlement marks the culmination of an FTC crackdown on U.S. diet programs. Weight Watchers' biggest rivals--Jenny Craig Inc., Nutri/System Inc., Diet Center Inc. and Physician Weight Loss Centers Inc.--all have settled similar charges.

    Under the settlement, Weight Watchers ads that make claims about long-term weight loss must include disclosures about the actual experience of customers, plus the statement: "For many dieters weight loss is temporary."
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
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    I have, hovered in a 10 pound range for about 2 years now....i like lower point of the range though lol...maintaining is maintenance!!!
  • WinwillLose
    WinwillLose Posts: 101
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    I've roller coastered three times in the past. This time I've been at the weight loss for two years, I'd like to think I have made a life style change. This is the last time I'm loosing the weight, you have got to be committed to a life style not a diet. I've made myself my hobby. I have a support system at work and at home, as well as the local neighborhood gym.

    Still have 12 pounds to go, but I'll get there, and Lord help me I will keep it off.
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
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    100 pounds off for 21 months now.

    I step on the scale nearly every morning. Any upward trends are dealt with before they get out of hand.

    I have been experimenting with loosening up a bit on eating and not tracking, but it does cause a uptrend.
    I'm also finding that perhaps one "diet day" a week helps keep my weight under control. Every Monday I have been eating about 1000 calories below maintenance to make up for weekend indulgences.

    I still trim a few calories where I can, chicken instead of beef most days, no mayo, etc.

    It's working, but I honestly don't want have to worry about it the rest of my life.
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
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    Me!!! I'm a WW lifetime member, lost 40 lbs and this is my 5th year at goal, so...Yes it's possible to lose weight and maintain :)
  • sheetal_2011
    sheetal_2011 Posts: 18
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    I've recently returned to myfitnesspal, after joining in 2011. I managed to have maintained my weight between 49-50kg (sometimes dipping below even) but recently tipped to about 51 and am back on MFP to lose the weight but also get back into that healthier lifestyle and manage stress.
    I don't have any friends on here again, so please add me! :)
  • don_whiting
    don_whiting Posts: 1
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    My start weight was 340, got down to 170, doctor put me on a new diet that bumped me to 180, but it's been pretty steady at 180 for a while now. I've been at my TOPS goal weight for 3 years.

    Maintaining has been VERY, VERY hard.... the body does try to hold onto its fat stores and will do everything it can to sabotage your progress. When we were evolving as cavemen, we NEEDED those fat stores. So it does make the task more difficult. But when I go out to talk to community groups, I tell them.... it's not easy, but damn it, it's worth it.
  • Minnie2361
    Minnie2361 Posts: 281 Member
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    My start weight was 340, got down to 170, doctor put me on a new diet that bumped me to 180, but it's been pretty steady at 180 for a while now. I've been at my TOPS goal weight for 3 years.

    Maintaining has been VERY, VERY hard.... the body does try to hold onto its fat stores and will do everything it can to sabotage your progress. When we were evolving as cavemen, we NEEDED those fat stores. So it does make the task more difficult. But when I go out to talk to community groups, I tell them.... it's not easy, but damn it, it's worth it.

    Yep , our biology was set millions of years ago when it was feast or famine and our ancestors were scavengers, hence the need for variety in our modern day diets. Sugar was available in fruits and our bodies want to store up fat with these cuz those lean mean winters were ahead and food was scarce. Survival of the fittest, the body is engineered to store fat and when it loses that fat it wants it back.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    55-60 Pounds (hovering 5lbs up and down) for the last five years...It's a lifestyle...If you fall back into sitting on your butt all day and eating whatever comes in site, you will gain again....
  • lessofme43
    lessofme43 Posts: 139 Member
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    this is very encouraging :) I am new to the weight-loss arena, and wonder too about keeping it off for the long haul. Nice to see it can be done!

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