Anybody LOST a lot of weight then GAINED it all back?

edwardkim85
edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Got curious by reading about 'success' stories. Are there people who 'lost' 10's, or 100's of pounds then gained a lot of it back or more?

And if so, why?

Is this a pattern?
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Replies

  • BryanK1977
    BryanK1977 Posts: 16 Member
    I lost 130 lbs 4 and a half years ago and I gained all but 25 lbs of it back. I simply started easing back in to my old eating habits and not controlling my cravings. It makes me angry, sad and ashamed but I know I'm gonna lose it all again. I'm tried several times in the past couple of years to eat properly again and lose weight but I keep losing my will power. Not going to happen any more, though. I'd rather not have to wear fat kid clothes.

    http://caloriecount.about.com/profile/bryank1977
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Got curious by reading about 'success' stories. Are there people who 'lost' 10's, or 100's of pounds then gained a lot of it back or more?

    And if so, why?

    Is this a pattern?

    I've yo-yo dieted since I was 13 yrs old and am now 47 because I didn't realise 1200 calories or less..often a lot less was a really bad idea. I ended up with what I'd class as mild bullimia from the low cal diets as a teenager. I couldn't sustain it for a very long time ( a year or so was probably the longest) but not forever. I mainly did Weight Watchers or counted calories by pen and paper back then lol. I'd hate to think of how much I've lost and gained over the years. I haven't lost everything I want to but I have very little to go and am lacking enthusiam a bit since I'm at a normal BMI. At least I've gained hardly anything back though even with Christmas and all my holidays.
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
    So it looks like the hardest part was when you reached your goal weight, you became relaxed and thus, slowly started returning to your old eating habits/life style?(month after month, slowly).

    I guess we all can't take our final 'weight loss' goal as a big hurray but as a stepping stone to eating healthy and staying healthy for the rest of our lives.

    I wonder what % of people that lost more than 100 lbs ends up gaining back the weight at least once... Are there stats like this out there?
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    About 3 years ago I lost 35 pounds and was down to 170. I stopped tracking my food completely and didn't work out, and gained it all back +5 additional pounds over the course of a year and a half. Now I'm halfway back down to 170 and I plan on staying there permanently. Never gonna stop tracking food again, it's just not an option for me.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    dude-what?:sad:
  • Skarlet13
    Skarlet13 Posts: 146 Member
    I lost 40lbs about 4 years ago and gained it all back. I went on a crazy diet. Ate very little and dropped 15 lbs the first month. I was also exercising 2.5 hours per day. It simply wasn't sustainable. I'm learning good habits this time around and hope to keep it off permanently this time.
  • edwardkim85
    edwardkim85 Posts: 438 Member
    dude-what?:sad:

    I want to see what mistakes people make so that others(including myself) can read it and not make it again.


    We rarely talk about weight that people gained back on MFP(only success stories etc).

    I think it's important to note that so far, most failures happened through crash diets(unsustainable), returning to old habits, and stopping to keep track of calories.
  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
    I lost about 39lbs tracking my food here in 2011. I moved to Montana for a summer job. Then I stopped counting calories, weight stayed about the same. Then I stopped working out, weight slowly started to creep up. Then I got a desk job. Gained everything back except for 3lbs.
  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
    I also stopped weighing myself. Bad idea, even if you are not trying to lose weight you should weigh yourself once a month.
  • LovingLifeInCalifornia
    LovingLifeInCalifornia Posts: 9,362 Member
    After logging daily for over an entire year, I lost 35+ lbs and was pretty much at what I think my ideal weight is.

    The doc gave me a clean bill of health and said, "you don't need to do all that work and track calories. Just eat well and exercise like you were."

    So, I stopped logging, thinking, "Hmm...maybe he is right. I shouldn't be so obsessive about this logging thing. Do I want to do this forever? Part of me did...but part of me thought I was insane...." So, I gave it up because....I was doing well keeping the weight off and staying fit.

    BUT....

    A few months into the non-logging, I pseudo exercised and still ate well. Pounds stayed off.

    Then the exercise stopped because work got busy...and no one was tracking it/me.

    Then the holidays came and I caved on the clean eating.

    Now, I've gained back over 10 lbs of the weight I lost. Might not be a lot to some, but it's a lot to me. My pants don't fit. I don't feel as great.

    Bad.

    So, what I've learned. Just like exercising and healthy eating is a lifestyle change (not a diet), so is logging - at least for me.

    Good days, bad days....I logged it all. I may mess up on vacation or a birthday party, but it was logged. It makes me accountable for the oops and get back on track the next day.

    I'm just not responsible enough to "be honest" if I'm not logging it. HAHA.
  • rvmemaw
    rvmemaw Posts: 4 Member
    That's exactly what happened to me.... Lost 35, stopped tracking and just eased back into my old habits. Not this time. Going to stay a tracker :o)
  • JaniePapageorgio
    JaniePapageorgio Posts: 142 Member
    Why does work have to ruin things? I also lost and regained about 40+ lbs because I was working full time and going to school full time.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    I've lost 50+ pounds 6 or 8 times. Basically I restrict too hard and eat at a deficit and then I would get into a binge pattern. I was bulimic but I quit purging but never overcame the binge part for 30 years until this year. Most recently, instead of dieting at all I basically decided I was just going to start acting and eating like the healthy end result I would want to be and I would morph into that. And I have been, very slowly. It has taken me 2 years to lose what I used to lose in 5 months and I am very happy about that. I don't feel restricted and I don't need to binge because I am not in a stressful place in life. My problem was not failing to track; it was tracking too much and stressing out about it.

    During this period, I have taken a break from any reduction and have maintained for 8 months with no tracking but just making healthier food choices, eating when I'm hungry, and watching my portions.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    Okay I'll be honest. On some level I gained the weight on purpose. I am a bartender and I don't like all the sexual comments. I hide behind fat. Then I get sad about fat and I want to be cute and healthy so I lose weight for attention. It's kind of a sick hobby for me that I am trying to get over.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,021 Member
    That would be about 85% of all dieters out there who used a "diet program" to do it. They gain back because the program was just that, a program and not a lifestyle that they could live with happily.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
    Okay I'll be honest. On some level I gained the weight on purpose. I am a bartender and I don't like all the sexual comments. I hide behind fat. Then I get sad about fat and I want to be cute and healthy so I lose weight for attention. It's kind of a sick hobby for me that I am trying to get over.

    I'm sorry to hear that. People don't realize the damage caused with rude or sexist or unsolicited comments.
  • fattymcrunnerpants
    fattymcrunnerpants Posts: 311 Member
    I lost 80lbs about 5 years ago. I kept most of it off until last year. I've gained it all back this past year... and then some... because I stopped exercising and watching what I ate. I got really depressed and dealing with some health issues including horrible pain in my stomach due to scar tissue from surgery. I finally have all that under control so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get it off and keep it off this time.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Okay I'll be honest. On some level I gained the weight on purpose. I am a bartender and I don't like all the sexual comments. I hide behind fat. Then I get sad about fat and I want to be cute and healthy so I lose weight for attention. It's kind of a sick hobby for me that I am trying to get over.

    I'm sorry to hear that. People don't realize the damage caused with rude or sexist or unsolicited comments.
    :cry: :flowerforyou:
  • singingsteph1972
    singingsteph1972 Posts: 8
    My problem always seems to come down to shame. I stop writing down food because it's too much food. I stop going to the gym because I feel bad about eating too much food and I don't want to tell my trainer. I feel uncomfortable in my clothes so I don't go out as much because then people will know I've been bad. It seems all very immature but it really is what I have felt before. It isn't valid but it's real.

    I HAVE TO track what I eat or I WILL slip up. Rarely is it what I eat, but how much of it I eat. I love to workout so I go, even when I'm uncomfortable. And I tell my trainer everything now, where I might not have before. And I start over, A LOT! The most common problem I have is when I start living my diet and exercise program as just a diet and a program. I have to wrap my mind around the changes I am making becoming FOREVER lifestyle changes instead of a temporary means to a goal. I hate even HAVING a goal weight because I feel like I'm setting myself up for failure.

    That's me, my story!
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    Thank you for your kind words. Fat can be a good veil when you just want to be evaluated for your personality and your mind. But if you've been both fat and not fat a lot, you realize how differently people treat you based on your size. I've had people say things like "You're cutting me off? Did you eat everything in this bar, you fat pig?" or "I'm just about drunk enough to sleep with you" when you serve someone a beer when you're fat but mostly you hear nothing.You're just invisible and that can be comforting, too. When you're smaller, you hear everything, all the time, like you are naked.
  • fiercekindness
    fiercekindness Posts: 31 Member
    I lost about 200 pounds and I maintained it for about 4 months. And them some relationship problems really caught me off guard. And then I started binging uncontrollably to deal with all the emotional pain. It was seriously out of control. I was hospitalized for a month for it. It didn't deal with my particular disorder. Although it temporarily stopped the binging. But it resumed within an hour of being home. I gained 65 pounds within a 4 1/2 month time frame. I felt an immense amount of shame about it. I felt like a failure because I regained weight, and it happened so quickly. But thankfully I had some friends who would remind me, that regaining isn't the end. And that I am still lovable and gained SOME weight, and not all of it back. It happens, and I am DEFINITELY learning about myself from it. The main thing it has taught me so far is to be gentle with myself. And in the midst of the chaos love myself enough, to not neglect my body. I also learned that just because my life feel out of control, that doesn't mean I have to abuse myself unconsciously with unnecessary foods, it's just waste. And I am not waste. I am worth. And so are all of you. Hang in there. Best of luck
  • jigsaw_me
    jigsaw_me Posts: 616 Member
    I lost around 90 lbs between Feb 2007 and Jun 2008. It was a LOT of work to lose that weight (screwed up metabolism) - was working with a Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist to get there.

    However, it was too much work to keep up ... and I just got to the point where I couldn't be bothered any more.

    This time I'm trying to keep what I need to do to lose weight manageable (good news is now my metabolism isn't quite as screwed) so that it's more of a lifestyle that I can maintain rather than a daily struggle.
  • ProudMotherof4ProudWife2007
    ProudMotherof4ProudWife2007 Posts: 307 Member
    I lost 65 lbs and was back in a7/8 which i havent been in , in 10 yrs and i slowly started going back to my old ways
  • wozkaa
    wozkaa Posts: 224 Member
    I lost about 30kg a few years ago, over about a 2 year period.
    The crusher for me was returning to full time work with a 2 1/2 hr daily commute. I put on about 10kg, then fell pregnant with twins.

    The babies turned 1 last month, and I am now as heavy as I was before I started losing weight the first time.

    Time management is my biggest problem, with my days only being sort-of predictable. I am focusing on my diet again, as exercise is not always an option.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    Asolutely. It's not because I became lax about dieting at all. It's because I have really strong self destructive tendencies that I haven't learned how to fix yet. I do it on purpose to make myself feel better, but then the opposite happens. Someday I'll get a handle on it. Till then, I'll do the best I can.
  • Vex3521
    Vex3521 Posts: 385 Member
    I did... Lost about 60 lbs and then had that plus another 15.5 lbs pile on. How?

    Blew out a knee at 120 lbs and fit in 2007. Started to gain a little going from Very Active (running 20-30 miles a week) to "in a leg brace with a knee the size of a watermelon" and following surgery and a MRSA infection (hello steroids) the weight just slammed on me. I remember being thankful that I was NOT 200 lbs, although the scale did hit 199.

    Recovery for me was really hard. It took about a year before I was walking without an aid since they had to transition from Zero weight bearing on crutches, to partial (very limited walking with crutches), to more weight bearing, then to 1 crutch and then to a cane. So I didn't lose a lot of the weight for a while. It maintained in the 190s.

    Fast forward to Summer 2010... I've been running again (with Dr approval) and just did my 1st 5k back since my injury. Felt great, was 140lbs and hitting that "last 10 lbs" plateau... and then I got a pulmonary embolism in the end of July. Following that came panic attacks and I ended up agoraphobic and on anti-depressants by Jan 2011. I regained and did some yo-yo weight cycles. I was off all meds and even with trying to lose weight I wasn't. My Dr said sometimes it can take 6+ months of no meds before you start seeing a difference so I just let it go.

    Oct 30,2013 was my "that's it" moment. I knew I was up in weight. Hadn't put batteries in my scale purposely. And something possessed me while dropping off stuff and watering plants for my aunt to weigh in. 209.5 hit me in the face. Decided I wasn't going to keep living like that and started tracking calories and getting things back under control. I'd never been overweight until injuries set in so I'm really not willing to settle for being the person I am now when I Know who I really am inside. So that's my story.

    Biggest thing in this is I can forgive myself for the regain and know that a good bit of my problem was outside my control. I stress eat, always have, but I used to have the activity level to combat the extra calories. I had a "on the go" on your feet job.... then started a desk one. That changes a lot. It happens little by little so making those little changes is how I'm going to get my life back.
  • Billie09
    Billie09 Posts: 62 Member
    I think gaining weight and hanging onto it because I wanted to avoid male attention was/is the issue I have. It's a really long story but nasty things happened to me when I was younger. I found being 'bigger' stopped men wanting to come near me. I have spent the last two years gaining tonnes of confidence and now I am ready to shed the weight for a final time. I worked out last night I need to lose 50lb to get to my goal. I'm really excited that I can achieve this in 2014. I've given myself till the summer. I guess the real reason some of us have trouble with maintaining a healthy weight is a little deeper.
  • Dawn4511
    Dawn4511 Posts: 22 Member
    I lost 120pds and gained it all back with a miscarriage and then a pregnancy I was afraid to move with. I started eating too many carbs and not exercising. I find it harder this time because I know how easy it came back.
  • mlogantra76
    mlogantra76 Posts: 334 Member
    I lost 120 lbs over ten years ago on WW and with a lot of exercise. I maintained this for 8-9 years but did so by restricting myself. I ate enough calories but was so strict I wouldn't allow myself to eat my own birthday cake or have a meal out occasionally. Finally, I got tired of that and started "loosening the reigns" so to speak. This also coincided with me having to ease up on running due to knee issues(probably due to overuse with not enough rest or cross training).

    I regained an estimated 30 lbs so not as bad as it could have been. I still kept up with a lot of healthy habits I had learned. I found mfp on January 2nd, 2013 and started relosing. I also started running again this past June. Right now, I have about 5lbs of "fluff" from the holidays to relose and I also plan on going a little lower than I have been maintaining at.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    Four years ago, give or take, I weighed 157. Six months ago I weighed 197. And that was just the last time I lost and gained. I've been doing it since I was in my teens. Today I weighed 157 and am going on to my goal weight of 150 and won't be putting it back on. I can't afford bilateral knee replacements and I don't want to have to afford them. I truly believe that by using MFP and changing my lifestyle, not just going on a diet until the weight is gone, I've found the key to keeping it off. :drinker:

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