Why do you think people give up after first success?

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  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    I do realise that questions of the "why do people do the things they do" ilk are a bit like the chicken or egg dilemma. I suppose overall people do things just because that's what they do - there is no one reason that can be applied.

    But I'd be interested in hearing your opinions on why people give up just as they start seeing weightloss results. I personally know quite a few people who have joined MFP and achieved that first milestone of 5 to 10lbs loss... then went right back to their old ways, eating the way they used to, snacking all day long, not logging and of course reversing all the good work they had done thus far.

    I find this baffling because for me, when I lost my first 5lbs, I found it to be a fantastic motivator to lose more, because it was working for me. Two plateaus have been hard, I'm still on my second one and I can't seem to get below 60kg, but I know it can be done and I'm not going to give up!

    Why do you think people stop when they've had their first success?

    They don't view it as a permanent change
    They get discouraged after a few weeks when it slows down
    self sabotage "Oh I'm doing really well. I can have this cheat meal"
    loss of motivation because you have to keep working on it hard for a long time..
    they quit because they aren't getting approval from others.


    there are probably a lot more.
  • Losingthedamnweight
    Losingthedamnweight Posts: 535 Member
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    Wow. Other people do this too? I first started fitness pal in march and lost like 8 lbs in two weeks. I was on fire! Then for whatever reason I had this epiphany. "This stuff really works. No more starvation diet. No more crash diets. I can eat whatever I want and just count calories. How easy is that? I can lose weight whenever I want to!" So...I started slacking...knowing that I can just go back to calorie counting and lose weight whenever I want. Here I am in September 10lbs heavier having lost the same few lbs over and over again for months.

    I got fat in the first place because i was an excuse maker. So it's not very surprising this stupid situation came up to hold me back. I'm just now starting to take it seriously again but man. I can't be the only one out there that does this. This is pathetic. It's always something. It could be this. Or those people that diet to lose weight and then when the weight is gone, they go back to eating whatever they want and boom. Get fat again. I predict that will be me. I will get skinny eventually and then eat crappy food again and probably gain some weight back before I have a life long wake up call
  • DCruz83
    DCruz83 Posts: 99
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    I got to the exact point where I am like 6-7 years ago and yes, I think it was one of those "this is temporary" mindsets and then I got happy with my weight and slowly went back to my previous eating habits but also I picked up soda again, something I found extremely easy to give up (again). I think it's just "normal" for me to eat all the time, it's what I've always done and what I'll probably always do, I just need to stick it in my mind that I need to snack on healthy things and not go for cookies or chips or worse, pastries and donuts. The second part of my problem is that I thought weight loss would make me attractive, that ladies would hit on me and that it'd be easier to get in a relationship... let's just say that never ever happened so I also gave up because I thought the effort wasn't worth it for the lack of results. I guess you could say I had lost weight for the wrong reasons, as in, not for myself.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    I don't know anyone who gave up.
  • Annie83uk
    Annie83uk Posts: 128
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    i get a couple of people who say to me to stop losing weight and part of me thinks should i stop, are they right? but then i kick myself up the butt and look at what my healthy weight should be and realise they don't know what they are talking about. i do think comments like that can make people go back to their own ways, also people say to me "are you on a diet"? i say NOT a diet it's a healthier lifestyle, i think the word "DIET" is evil, people think diet means stop eating any sugar or carbs and alot of people think they can't eat meat or cheese, i think that can cause people to give up because they are always hungry and as soon as they eat something "naughty" they fall of the wagon and indulge. i think fear of commitment and failure are alot of reasons to. But i think that most of them haven't found mfp and had great friends helping them through their journey, it is a long one and everyone needs motivation every now and then :bigsmile:
  • ladybuggprincess99
    ladybuggprincess99 Posts: 142 Member
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    After losing 60lbs initially, I gained 24 back. Lots of factors went into that. One was I convinced myself that my metabolism was faster. Another was that my gym blew up (literally. I was working in the 911 dispatch center when it happened. We were over a mile away and our building shook like a truck hit it.) Instead of looking for a new gym at first, I called it a "break" and then didn't see the inside of a gym for about a year. My final reason was that I met this GREAT guy! We only ever wanted to be together, and he's not huge on working out, but he sure loves dining out! Now that we're married, though, I need to get my butt in gear! He's very supportive of my health-quest; he just doesn't like the gym.

    So, I realize it isn't funny at all, but I might have nervously laughed about your gym blowing up. I hope no one was in there! My fiancé is a LEO and he tells me stories about the different and interesting cases he learns about that happen throughout our state. My LEO also doesn't like the gym... but loovvveeeesss his food. AND weighs less. He's a butt. :)

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