Those who gained back...

Falling back into old habits, and not changing my mindset when I was losing. I saw the losing phase as a "diet" that had an end date, when I could get back to "normal". "Normal" was how I got fat in the first place.

Learning to maintain begins the day you decide to start losing. It's a challenge in and of itself.

Falling back into old habits, and not changing my mindset when I was losing. I saw the losing phase as a "diet" that had an end date, when I could get back to "normal". "Normal" was how I got fat in the first place.

Learning to maintain begins the day you decide to start losing. It's a challenge in and of itself.

This.

It's a lifestyle change. That's why stupid diets that completely ban certain types of foods NEVER work. It is unsustainable in the long term.

Weight started coming of slowly and I lost motivation to continue.

Deluding myself that diet alone or exercise alone would suffice. Not for me, it doesn't. The apathy and depression are close to the surface--a couple disciplined, kickass days will go a long way for me.........

I gained back nearly 20 pounds in about six to eight months from rebounding off a 10-day juice only fast. So stupid, SMH.

Even two pregnancies didn't set me back like that stupid juicing.

I gained 40 pounds back for several excuses. I moved, missed my family (especially my mom) and my home state. I hated my job, and my next one, and the one after that. I had too many changes. I got lazy with portions and didn't care about counting calories anymore. I hit my goal of 150-155 but was still very unhappy with how I looked and when I tried to lose more weight and lowering my calories to around 1250 a day I got frustrated and just quit caring. These were just excuses.

I made my mom proud like I had never seen her before when I reached my goal. She thought I was so beautiful but I couldn't see it. She's my best friend and I felt like I let her down. I let myself down.

Now a year and a half later I am here to lose what I gained back but this time with exercising a hell of a lot more and lifting weights. I didn't like the way I looked at my old goal weight because I wasn't toned like I could and should have been.

Yeah, hard/bad things happen in life. Basically you get over it and fight for what you want. That is why I gained my weight back and that is why I will never do it again and I WILL reach my goal. 135-140 at 5'3 toned. I will enjoy what I eat because I love food and what I do because I will not do exercise that isn't fun for me.

I am a fighter. We all are.

The wrong mindset.

I exercised solely to burn calories, not to become fit/healthy, not for fun, just to drop pounds. Once I was satisfied with the weight loss, I stopped all exercise and returned to being a couch potato. Over the years the weight slowly came back.

This time though, I know that when I get to my goal, it's the real deal. I've changed. I don't exercise to drop pounds. I exercise because I've discovered a love for it, and because I want to be fit/healthy. The fact that poundage comes off too just sweetens the deal. I know I'll keep exercising forever, because it's become a part of who I am now.

Thank you to everyone who replied for your candor.

Faulty thinking. When you hit your goal weight, you're not "done." It's just a point in the process. You need to maintain the behaviors that you develop while you are losing in order to maintain.

If you log and work out while losing, you will have to log and work out while maintaining.

If you eat no carbs while you are losing, it's likely you will regain your weight if you suddenly start eating all the carbs you want when you reach goal.

Whatever you decide to do to lose your weight, make sure you can continue it forever.

Well then we have a problem because I have no intention of logging my food for the rest of my life. Hoping that portion control can be exercised without. I am approaching logging as a learning tool for that. The risks are evident, but I'm just gonna have to try and see what happens.

I've been through two rounds of logging my food religiously. While logging my food, I lost 20 lb the first time and 10 lb the second. I could stand to lose another 15 to 30 lb, but I'm ok if I stay where I'm at.

In between the first two rounds I simply maintained; no weight lost or gained. After the last round over the past month I gained 5 pounds back of the 30 I had lost. So here I am again recording my food. The funny thing is that I don't think I eat any differently when I record my food vs. when I don't, but the scale says otherwise.

I've lost and gained since puberty. Every time I gained it back, it was because I stopped being so active. Then, when I was at my fattest, I had a baby. Which pushed my "fattest ever" weight up another 50 pounds.

I fell in love and moved in with a man, doomed

My thyroid sucks..

I quit smoking and didn't care if I gained weight at the time.

Now to get back to my goal and stay there!

I am an addict and when I gave up the real bad stuff I took up food....it became my friend...I used Smarties to quit cigarettes (almost 8 years ago) and then just kind of adopted food as the comfort, the fix, the new addiction. A "justifiable" fix! So 120 lbs. later I went on here over a year ago and lost 35 pounds! Then we had 2 losses in the family, and I needed the "drug" again. Well, 40 pounds came back, so here we are again. At least I know it works, tried and true. The key is the mindset and recognizing that eating the food is the symptom, not the problem. As any addiction. I need to dig down deep and address the issues that lead me to need a "vice". But now high blood pressure and health concerns come into play, so its time....it's a choice and only I can make it for me. I want to be able to tie my shoes again.....Good Luck and God Bless....

My busy season with work is around the holidays, which means more time at my desk, less time for workouts, being lazy about tracking and eating way too much junk. I've only gained a few pounds back and as much as it sucks, at least I recognize what I need to change before it goes much further and I'm getting back on track.

In my teens I lost 70lbs in a little over a year by joining weight watchers. It was great, I was eating healthily and exercising. Then my dad got sick and I helped looked after him. I gained it all back and then some through binging.

In my twenties I lost 70lbs again in a little over a year through seeing a nutritionist. It was great, I ate lots of food, exercised and felt much better about myself. I could see my collar bones for the first time in my life, I did a mini marathon and lots of travelling. I dropped lots of dress sizes. Then I got depressed and gained back all the weight in six months through binging. I've been depressed over five years now, and I've gained an average of 28lbs every year.

I've been thinking about it a lot recently, While I understand now that I have an unhealthy relationship with food and using it to manage my emotions, I can't lay all the blame on that for why I gained back the weight. I think I also got tired. Both times I'd worked really hard and even though I'd lost lots of weight, I still looked fat. I still wasn't pretty or happy with other areas of my life. Weight loss hadn't been the answer to all my problems, so I gave up the fight.

Now I'm trying MFP. I'm hopeful that with this new insight I will be successful this time. I'm taking it one day at a time and doing it for what it is - weight loss. I want to be able to move around easier, take care of my invalid mum better and have more fun with my dog. I'm going to be really careful when I get to about 15 months in and eat at maintenance for a while if I have to - anything to beat the pattern. I know I'll have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life. As someone who has been obese her whole life, I know the odds are against me, but if I can get to goal and keep there, I'm very happy to log everything I eat for the rest of my life.

Good luck losing weight and keeping it off!