Why do people gain all their weight back so often?
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I became depressed, stopped caring about everything, especially myself and gained all the weight back.0
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So, the general consensus seems to be that whether or not you gain weight back comes down to nothing but semantics??
Oh, if only it were that easy.0 -
Because I think that some (not all, don't slate/hate me!) people go on a "diet", which ends once their weight is down. To keep the weight off people need to make permanent lifestyle changes - if it's having fruit instead of cookies, or walking up the stairs instead of taking the lift, etc etc.0
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Probably because at some point they stop counting calories.
No probably about it. Or at least in my case, twice - but hopefully no more!0 -
Most likely because we go back to overeating and quit monitoring.
Keeping track of my weight and food intake has to be my new way of life, if I don't want to go back to the way I was0 -
There is some fairly strong science to back up the theory that every body becomes tuned to what the weight has been for a stretch of time and sees this as the "correct weight" or equilibrium, even if this weight is too heavy or too thin. If you are trying to lose weight after being heavy your body will go into a panic mode and become more efficient. Slow and low is the way to go. There is a similar phenomenon with anorexia, the patient needs to eat immense calories in order to put on minuscule amounts of weight.
Basically the human body and metabolism is a very difficult ship to turn around, talking in terms of months for sure, possibly years. Our bodies are creatures of habit and want to go back to the most recent known point. So the best method is to lose weight without calorie deprivation (just clean and mindful eating), shooting for only a pound or two a month of loss to prevent the body from compensating by becoming more calorie efficient. This method takes longer and doesn't make for good sound bites or TV, but has better long term success.0 -
There is some fairly strong science to back up the theory that every body becomes tuned to what the weight has been for a stretch of time and sees this as the "correct weight" or equilibrium, even if this weight is too heavy or too thin. If you are trying to lose weight after being heavy your body will go into a panic mode and become more efficient. Slow and low is the way to go. There is a similar phenomenon with anorexia, the patient needs to eat immense calories in order to put on minuscule amounts of weight.
Basically the human body and metabolism is a very difficult ship to turn around, talking in terms of months for sure, possibly years. Our bodies are creatures of habit and want to go back to the most recent known point. So the best method is to lose weight without calorie deprivation (just clean and mindful eating), shooting for only a pound or two a month of loss to prevent the body from compensating by becoming more calorie efficient. This method takes longer and doesn't make for good sound bites or TV, but has better long term success.
I'm (anecdotal) proof that the ship can be turned... It's just a long process.
In my mid 20's, I was supposedly "set" at 260-270lb (globs of those impossibly persistent fat cells and all). Then got a little stuck at 180-190 lbs for most of my 30s. Now I'm working on programming my body to be happy at 150-160 lbs. I'm having reasonably good success with this. It just requires time.0 -
I yo-yo. It had nothing to do with health issues, or babies, or not understanding the difference between "diet" and "lifestyle change". I've maintained at a healthy weight for 2, 4, 8 years at a time before gaining again.
Why do I regain? Because Every. Single. Goddamn. Day. is a struggle. Every day, I want homemade buttermilk waffles with fresh butter and syrup. Every day, I want a cheeseburger, 2 beers, and some cookies. Every single day, every single workout, I would rather be sitting on the couch watching a movie. It just gets exhausting after a while, driving home from work, thinking about the sad little healthy meal I have prepared. No matter how tasty it is, it is NOT fried chicken and cornbread. It is NOT a Peanut Buster Parfait(TM). Every meal, every snack is a battle I have with myself. Every visit to the gym happens because I've spent 15 minutes arguing with myself about why I should go instead of hanging out with my husband and pets, or instead of going out with friends, or instead of practicing guitar or playing games or any one of the zillion things I'd rather do than go get sweaty.
I often debate - is being unhappy because I'm overweight better or worse than being unhappy because I'm not really enjoying food and alcohol except for once a week? (If I didn't have a weekly cheat meal, I'd lose my mind).
It's completely exhausting. I've been in maintenance for 8 months this time through. How long will I make it before I just say, "$%^# it, this sucks", and start enjoying the rest of my life again? Time will tell.
Your post terrifies me the most because I've been wondering if that's the way I'll feel when I hit maintenance. As you said - only time will tell.0 -
Apparently there's no way to delete a post?0
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You have to be aware of your limitations and be realistic, there are a very few people who can count calories and eat well for the rest of their lives, to the majority this isn't possible and quite frankly pointless, being happy is the best we can hope for and feeling like you are missing out is a pretty scary thought
The worst thing you can do though is lose weight and gradually revert to type, what works for me is to get your your ideal weight for me it was 170 lbs, now i enjoy myself with food at weekends but am good during the week, i weigh myself once a week and if i ever hit 175 i take measures to get back down
my range is 165 - 175 and plan to stay within this
this way i eat healthy most of the time but also treat myself, variety is king, eating healthy all the time is a pain, eating rubbish all the time becomes the norm so you get less enjoyment from it0 -
Its cause people normally go on drastic diets that longterm arent healthy and they cant keep it up, they eat normally again hence they gain the weight back again0
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I know I'm not. Worked to damn hard and feel the best ever.0
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I yo-yo. It had nothing to do with health issues, or babies, or not understanding the difference between "diet" and "lifestyle change". I've maintained at a healthy weight for 2, 4, 8 years at a time before gaining again.
Why do I regain? Because Every. Single. Goddamn. Day. is a struggle. Every day, I want homemade buttermilk waffles with fresh butter and syrup. Every day, I want a cheeseburger, 2 beers, and some cookies. Every single day, every single workout, I would rather be sitting on the couch watching a movie. It just gets exhausting after a while, driving home from work, thinking about the sad little healthy meal I have prepared. No matter how tasty it is, it is NOT fried chicken and cornbread. It is NOT a Peanut Buster Parfait(TM). Every meal, every snack is a battle I have with myself. Every visit to the gym happens because I've spent 15 minutes arguing with myself about why I should go instead of hanging out with my husband and pets, or instead of going out with friends, or instead of practicing guitar or playing games or any one of the zillion things I'd rather do than go get sweaty.
I often debate - is being unhappy because I'm overweight better or worse than being unhappy because I'm not really enjoying food and alcohol except for once a week? (If I didn't have a weekly cheat meal, I'd lose my mind).
It's completely exhausting. I've been in maintenance for 8 months this time through. How long will I make it before I just say, "$%^# it, this sucks", and start enjoying the rest of my life again? Time will tell.
Preach, girl! I couldn't have said it any better myself. This is why I regained after 20 years of maintaining, and this is why I haven't lost much over the past year. I'm not an emotional eater, I don't have hormone problems, or babies, or a spouse that buys junk food, or really any excuse at all. The bottom line is that eating big food and sitting on my butt is pleasant and easy, and losing weight (and maintaining) is hard and sucks. And then when you find out that being slim is not the be-all, end-all answer to happiness in life...it's very tempting to ask "Why am I doing this, again?".0 -
I lost weight and then gained it back again. I didn't gain it back until several years later, but I gained it back. It's exactly because I fell back into my old habits and eating junk food and all that.0
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I think it has to be a permanent lifestyle change, behavior modification, education, and the ability to keep a close eye on yourself and keep from slacking off. At least that's what I'm hoping for myself.
For example, up until about six years ago I rarely cooked. My refrigerator would be empty except for some yogurt and maybe grapes, and I had frozen meals in the freezer, or else I ate out. When I moved out of my apartment, I didn't really even need to clean the stove or oven because I never used them. Then I started becoming interested in nutrition, and decided to try cooking more meals from scratch. Now, six years later, I don't have any frozen or canned foods in my house. I make almost everything from scratch and I'm not even tempted by the convenience of frozen meals any more because I don't like the laundry list of questionable ingredients in a lot of them.
So now I'm working on eating less of my homecooked food, allowing myself Starbucks once a week instead of four times a week, etc. I'm hoping that as I slowly get used to these new habits they will become more second nature and it won't always be such a struggle.
Over the past few years I've watched several of my co-workers go through the lose/gain cycle. (Weight Watchers, Xyngular, Nutri-system, Medifast, etc) Lose 20 lbs, gain back 25. Lose 25, gain 30 etc. They keep trying different diets, and then just go back to their regular eating habits. They never take the time to educate themselves on nutrition or try to come up with a sustainable eating plan that they can live with.0 -
Someone already said this: "because they diet." I agree 100%.0
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I did that. I lost 125 pounds very long ago. I kept it off for 10 years which I have heard is pretty unusual. I gained back only a third of the weight. Now I understand that for me I needed a change of the basic way I thought about keeping it off.
It involves a permanent change in the way I felt about food. This new way of eating has to be Your New Way Forever! Not just until you reach a goal and then it's ANYTHING GOES.
I let my self control just crumble and with each added pound my new self faded back into history!!!
I won't let that happen again. I'm going to make permanent changes and keep them for life.0 -
I lost weight and then gained it back again. I didn't gain it back until several years later, but I gained it back. It's exactly because I fell back into my old habits and eating junk food and all that.
RIGHT! That is exactly what I did.0 -
bumping to read later0
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I lost 48 pounds on a low carb diet in 4 months. After a couple years I gained it all back because there was no way I could continue to eat that way the rest of my life. What I learned is you can't maintain weight loss when you're not eating a normal diet. You can eat a healthy diet that includes all food groups including indulgences once in a while as long as you don't eat above your calories. I'm doing it differently now and I'm enjoying it. It's not complicated.0
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1. when people diet they lose the weight but gain it back because they think they way they have been eating can be maintained for long term but it can't.
2. people think that once they leave here they can do it on there own. If we couldn't lose the weight without the help of this site why would we think we can maintain without it.
When I get to my goal weight I will just do the same as I am now. Log my food and exercise the only thing that would change is my calories. I will be able to eat a little more but that's it.
I know if I don't log I will put the weight back on and that's the last think I want.0 -
I often have wondered why I have done this so many times to myself.
I put the two by four down that I would beat myself with, and I came to a few of conclusions.
First... I forgot what an incredible machine our bodies are, mine included. I had made the mistake of making it about reaching a certain size or number and then simply, sadly, whatever, just stopped pushing to see how strong I could get. I forgot about crossfit hero's and that I could be my own hero too! My arrival should have been my new starting point.
Secondly, I had to admit that I had dropped the ball, for another ball. I got distracted. Stopped food journaling. My priorities changed, and I failed to recognise without my health I was really becoming a sitting duck. Fat people get diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and they die younger. I simply stopped playing with the idea that I could be more than I ever had considered. I will not do that again... I said again.
Third, I am always going to have to concentrate... on moving my body. I am naturally lazy to be honest. I love my couch, but it does not love me back. I am convinced my treadmill loves me, I get off that thing knowing I just did my best, and that it is helping me. I love that it allows me to have some self respect! I forgot.
I have just got back into this again... my scale is moving and I feel good. I am a miracle! Is that what I lost sight of when I gained it back? Likely.
So here's the thing... clearly I am not the only one that has done this. I am not alone in the epic fail.... however I have settled into the idea that I am going to have certain people that can call me onto the carpet and hit the BS button whenever they see what I won't see. I am not sure how we become apathetic to our health and wellness, I only know that I have that disturbing ability. Our minds have to stay in the game... gotta keep your eye on the ball. SO much of this is about our minds and our thinking!
Our minds are very powerful and will always slip back to what is familiar. If we don't stay aware and in control it will take over.0 -
I don't know all the reasons why people gain their weight back. I've done it several times and the reason is not wanting to worry about what I eat anymore.
The dirty little secret about losing weight, however, is that the majority of people gain their weight back and often more.
That is a statistic though it may not be as bad on this website since everybody is more conscious than most about not gaining the weight back.0 -
I regained mine because I quit. I gave up working out and logging food. Simply laziness. Don't quit
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I think we tend to get complacent when we get to goal, maybe less focused. Though I have not met goal yet, I find that when I do well for a while, I tend to slough off, maybe even a little lazy with logging and portion control. I know that is what happens to me sometimes. I am better about getting back on track and trying to be more diligent. I am about 23 lbs from goal, and it is getting harder to lose, so I have to be more aware if I am going to get there.0
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I agree with this. I lost weight and then something happened in my life that made me give up on getting healthy. So when the weight came back gradually it made me have less energy and therefore less motivation. So I am trying to get my motivation back through this website.0
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It has nothing to do with "restrictions" in my opinion and rather has to do with a lack of focus on the long-term. People hit their goal and then rest on their laurels. They stop doing what they did to lose weight and instead fall back into their old habits. If you previously gained weight with those old habits, odds are you will gain weight again when you revert to your old ways. It's really as simple as that. It doesn't matter whether you ate pop tarts while losing weight or whether you ate whole foods while losing weight; it comes down to what you do at maintenance.
i totally agree with this! i think a lot of people view weight loss as a temporary diet instead of a lifestyle change. i'm guilty of it myself! i lost a good deal of weight a few years back, was super happy with myself, and then just went back to my old habits. for me, i think maintenance will be harder than the weight loss!
I am guilty of this too. I am good at losing weight the healthy way. I get to my goal then let life get in the way and eat like its a party everyday then all of a sudden oops I gained it all back plus some. I am not getting any younger. Its the maintenance part that I have never got right but its my ultimate goal this time to do just that. It really does have to be a lifestyle change that you can sustain for the rest of your life0 -
From what I've been able to see, there are a few different reasons that people gain the weight back fairly quickly. The biggest reason that comes to mind and the one I've seen a lot of, is that the person was following a restrictive diet without paying much attention to calories or macronutrients, they essentially ended up starving themselves until they lost the weight they wanted, then didn't have a clue as to how to proceed after that. Since they didn't learn much about portion sizes, eating certain foods in moderation, etc. on a self-imposed, heavily-restricted diet, they soon return to their old eating habits, which led to them needing to lose weight in the first place. Rinse and repeat, some people go through that cycle for years and years without getting anywhere.
^ yes...This is/was me. I got on a very restriced diet, lost a bunch of weight to the point I was too little and caused some medical problems...got caught up in cheat nights when my husband came home from military training, and I have gained 12 lbs in 3 months already because I started to binge...lose weight slow, take your time and find a common median, don't over do it!0 -
Whoops, no delete button!0
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I swore I would never gain my weight back, but I have gained half of it back.
For me, it was hectic hard times that caused me to let my guard down.
I moved 2000 miles from home
I got married
I added 2 step children to my family
My father got sick and was in the hospital for a long time before he died and I lived at his bedside.
I have done a lot of traveling and it is hardest for me to control myself when eating on the go.
My new family does not eat vegetables.
My daughter is going through a hard time and I am an emotional eater.
Those are not excuses for my mistakes but…I feel like I am starting over.0
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