Anyone gain back the weight you lost?!?

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I was able to reach my goal weight of 140 lbs. sometime in April (I'm 5'7). Then somehow I forgot about healthy food choices, let my hair down, and allowed myself to splurge. Six months later I'm 151 lbs! Every time I step on the scale, I'm reminded of how much I suck. Instead of this being the motivation I need to lose the weight again, I just feel so depressed and it makes me want to eat more ("who care's...you're a fatty now" attitude). Has this happened to anyone before? How do you snap out of it and get back on track to lose the weight and keep it off?

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  • donthesitate
    donthesitate Posts: 255 Member
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    I just remind myself that tomorrows another day, a fresh start and I can either embrace it or continue to feel bad about myself. YOU have to want it though, dont do it for anyone but yourself.
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    Haha yes, multiple times. Basically each time we had a baby I gained weight with my wife and then some. I guess the stress got to me and I turned to eating.

    So you gained the weight back, big deal, you can lose it again. You probably already know how to lose the weight since you lost it before. Use whatever method worked for you and then switch things up when it comes time to maintain.

    I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer "splurge" or "slack off" and get away with it. I used to be able to in my 20's, not in my 30's with a desk job though. So I've decided to just make exercise and eating healthy my way of life and still allow myself to eat some fun foods now and then as well (i.e. cake, cookies, crackers, fast food, etc) as long as I don't go off binging.

    Don't let the stupid scale rule your life. Stay off it for a few weeks, start making some healthier choices, do some exercise when you can, and weigh yourself later. Once you get some momentum it'll be easy to continue and then make sure you stick with a healthier lifestyle going forward to keep the weight off for good.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,926 Member
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    Yep. I was down to 143 last August and this June I weighed in at a doctor's appointment at 160. I really never thought I'd see that number again. Granted, my highest was north of 190, but I decided 160 would be my "oh crap" weight. Now I'm down to 150, with a weigh in Friday. I'll be happy to get to 147 and maintain.

    Sometimes you just have to get your head in the game again. When you lose a large amount of weight (for me it was 45 pounds) sometimes you just get cocky and think your are invicible. You aren't. It will come back if you don't watch...
  • Rosieannaxo
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    This has happened to me few times. Usually an event such as a death or tragedy would make me give up my healthy eating choices and gorge on the comfort of my favorite foods. It would mend my pain and also fill me up because I just felt completely empty. Other times, it was because I was so TIRED of counting calories, logging my food, and being in constant hunger.

    The only way I would snap out of this was just by acknowledging what was standing in front of me when I looked in the mirror. It was evident that I was gaining a helllllllllllllllllllll of a lot of weight. (I went from a slim 140 to 198...big weight gain there.) So the only option was to stop punishing my body and hating it and start loving it with nutritious food. No one was going to do it for me. I had to do it for myself. I was sick of the cycle of gaining and loosing the same pounds over and over. Now whenever incidents or laziness kicks in, I give myself just one cheat meal a week. And the rest, I find alternatives to fill me up. Eating low cal can be very fun when experimenting (cauliflower pizza! yummm) and these alternatives help me stray from going back to weight gain. This is just my experience and my point of view, I hope it helps!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I was able to reach my goal weight of 140 lbs. sometime in April (I'm 5'7). Then somehow I forgot about healthy food choices, let my hair down, and allowed myself to splurge. Six months later I'm 151 lbs! Every time I step on the scale, I'm reminded of how much I suck. Instead of this being the motivation I need to lose the weight again, I just feel so depressed and it makes me want to eat more ("who care's...you're a fatty now" attitude). Has this happened to anyone before? How do you snap out of it and get back on track to lose the weight and keep it off?

    I had lost around 60-70 pounds ten years ago, then about 30 crept back on over a five year period. Like you, I forgot what I had learned about logging and portion control. However, I never forgot about exercise, thus I did not gain all my weight back.

    I came here, that's what I did. I've lost 23 pounds and have 10 more to go. Just set up your profile here in MFP and get to work! You CAN do it! :smile: :bigsmile:
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,266 Member
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    well at least you got back on the scale and on here after gaining only eleven lbs. I have been down this weight loss road three times before, got down to goal then just did the same as you: got comfortable and stopped paying attention or even weighing myself. Eventually I ended up gaining it all back. I lost 80 the first time, 48, then 56 last time.. this is it for me: its really and truly my lifestyle change now. You are doing good.. you faced the music now its start over time. Take it one day at a time, watch what you eat, exercise ... you know the speil. Good luck honey and don't be so down on yourself, pat yourself on the back for not waiting too long. it will come off again. then when it does you can chalk this up to a learning experience of why you want to eat right and be your goal weight. I almost forgot to add how I and why I snapped back into reality and got back to it: it was looking at a picture of myself thinking "that just cant be right" and the fact that almost none of my clothes were fitting me. Yep that was it.
  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
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    Yes i was here back in 2010/2011. It took me until this june to realize i was not in the 115-120 range that i so hard fought for everyday! I was now a out of shape 156 pounder! (5'4)

    I guess coming back here and finding awesome pals that really motivate you and connect with you helps alot! Im looking back at pictures of when i was at my current weight and i gotta tell ya I look better now, my goal weight is not 115 anymore im happy now as long as i keep up the fitness! So maybe it was meant to be! Mistakes make you grow into a better person. :-)
  • ShaoTrommashere
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    Yes! I'm doing that right now. I went from 220 to 170 almost effortlessly. I lost the last two pounds to drop me to 168 by pushing hard and severely limiting my caloric intake (500 calories a day sucked!) I even managed to lose another three pounds while on vacation! Then I got sick with a nasty upper respiratory infection, the weather turned cold and disgusting keeping me from doing my favorite exorcise that didn't feel like a workout, and my work schedule had me in at 2:30 pm and out no earlier than 10 or 11 pm at night. My nightly living room Zumba sessions gave way to an extra hour of sleep so that I could get up early enough to do my daily activites before work.

    I'm slowly creeping back up and I'm well north of 170.

    I agree with everyone that every day is a new day. I'm here to have people that can inspire me to do that extra 15 minutes even though I'm going to be exhausted the next morning. I'm trying to get back on the right track and I know you can as well. You can do it!!!
  • ChelseaAClanton89
    ChelseaAClanton89 Posts: 72 Member
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    Thanks so much everyone! I'll definitely try focusing on tightening up my diet and weighing myself less to start. I feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only one who's been down this road and that it's possible to get off of it :)
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    Read this - awareness of the trap will help you...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap
  • unFATuated
    unFATuated Posts: 204 Member
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    YES! Last year I lost about 8kg (I was nowhere near my goal, but that's as far as I got before falling off the wagon). I maintained for a little while and then it slowly but surely CREPT. BACK. ON. For a while I was just 'well, I've failed now, what's the point' but then I got my mojo back, signed onto a program written by a women I'd been following on FB for a while - she'd lost close to 30kg (with PCOS) and become a figure competitor and looked amazing with a super positive attitude. With her teaching me how to eat properly and sustainably, and my will to not let this beat me, I've now lost nearly 16kg and still going!

    You can do this. Challenge those negative thoughts. Just take it one meal and one workout at a time. You don't have to be perfect all the time, but you can be better.
  • lindsayvernon
    lindsayvernon Posts: 56 Member
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    Sure have. I lost 20lbs a few year ago, and it took me ages to do that but I was so happy when I got that far. I was able to maintain that loss for a little over a year, but then I moved to a new country and started a new life with my husband. I got lazy and really depressed because I was so far away from home. I've been a member of MFP since I moved here but really never used it to the full potential. I stepped on the scale a few weeks ago and knew it wouldn't be good and was faced with the fact that the hard work I had put in was all gone. I'm still struggling getting going because I'm a slow loser and have been discouraged with no weight loss. Things have to change now for me, I need to take control and just like you starting this thread I feel like I'm taking another step to being accountable to what I've done.
  • AMA983
    AMA983 Posts: 28 Member
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    Yes. In 2011 I lost 20 lbs, using MFP, tracking cals and exercising. I got down to my goal weight and maintained it for only a few months. I slowly put back on 5 lbs, then 10 lbs...and now (2 years later) I am right back where I started. Very frustrating and I think I also had that "I'm invincible" attitude. I know this is my own doing, so I am trying, once again, to lose the weight in a healthy way and not try any "diets" because I know they don't work. But I definitely feel your pain. This is my first real day back on MFP after not logging for awhile and I am going to aim for a good day.

    Edited for typos.
  • mfoulkebrown
    mfoulkebrown Posts: 94 Member
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    OMG Yes!

    I lost about 25 pounds, then lost my job. I started eating what I wanted, but guess what, I only gained a few pounds back.

    Flash forward 6 months and I get a new job. Eating the same as I was when out of work, I gained about 5 pounds in about 6 weeks!

    It turns out that all the cooking, cleaning, and errands I was doing when out of work were burning many more calories than I realized. I've been back on the healthy train for almost two weeks and I'm already feeling better.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    It happened to me 13 years ago but the diet I had used to lose weight wasn't as easy as counting calories, so I had no idea how to get back in the saddle, so I didn't until last January. I gained the 30 lbs I had lost back in like 6 months at the time.
  • Kiwigirlkim
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    Yes, through a pill I got introduced too!