Why do people gain all their weight back so often?

Speaking for myself, the skinnier I am, the hungrier I am. I can trace it back to at least my first ill-conceived spree of teenage yo-yo dieting.

Article about a study on the issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

"A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state. Their still-plump bodies were acting as if they were starving and were working overtime to regain the pounds they lost. For instance, a gastric hormone called ghrelin, often dubbed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. Another hormone associated with suppressing hunger, peptide YY, was also abnormally low. Levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism, also remained lower than expected. A cocktail of other hormones associated with hunger and metabolism all remained significantly changed compared to pre-dieting levels. It was almost as if weight loss had put their bodies into a unique metabolic state, a sort of post-dieting syndrome that set them apart from people who hadn’t tried to lose weight in the first place."


I'm resigned to fighting excess hunger one way or the other for the rest of my life, but I'm determined not to give in to it again.

i think the number one reason i gained weight after losing is because i stopped paying attention to the scale, my portions, my food choices and my daily activity. Its a lifetime thing but most treat it as temporary.

My advice would be never stop exercising. Hit my goal weight six weeks ago. Eating what I want but in moderation and actually lost a few more pounds.

Congrats!

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!

Agree...I've lost 100 pounds in 9 months, took 6 months to gain that all back, lost 70 pounds in a year, took about 4 months to gain that all back, lost 50 pounds in a year, took a few months to gain that back, now I've lost nearly 80. I understand the whole idea behind weight loss now and that it's a life long change, not a quick fix. Before I didn't understand that once I got thinner that I couldn't eat anything I wanted (like all my friends could). It's a shame I went up and down the scale that many times as I know it took a toll on my body. I didn't want to put in the constant work. It was my own fault. Now I know this is for life and I"m ok with that. If it was easy, everyone would have a perfect body.

In my case it wasn't so much of going back to my old habits. I started a new job, a desk job that is. I didn't have as much time to work out and stay as active as I used to be. What took me 1 year to get off in a slow but steady weight loss took me 3 months to gain back. Sometimes its as simple as becoming more busy and not being able to maintain the diet and exercise program.

My attitude is this is my life style change to eat healthier and maintain exercise.

Any change in diet or exercise habits is a change in lifestyle. But, whether you call it a lifestyle change or a diet, it can still change again. It's rare for anyone not to have several lifestyle changes over the course of their life.

In fact, changes in lifestyle are often what cause people to gain weight. They get married, they have children, they get a sedentary job, they lose a job, they get an injury, etc.

those sound like excuses to me :-)

Excuses are reasons.

no - getting married, having kids - those are EXCUSES

an injury is a REASON

don't confuse the two

Being pregnant,giving birth are huge events in the body that do a lot of damage that takes time to heal as well as hormonal changes that affect you. So....

Actually, they are all excuses. Since the calorie deficit is what is required for weight loss, any excuse to not eat at a deficit is just that, an excuse. Not being able to exercise doesn't mean you have to gain weight, it just means you can't increase your calorie deficit and/or work on fitness. There is a difference between fitness and weight loss.

In my case it wasn't so much of going back to my old habits. I started a new job, a desk job that is. I didn't have as much time to work out and stay as active as I used to be. What took me 1 year to get off in a slow but steady weight loss took me 3 months to gain back. Sometimes its as simple as becoming more busy and not being able to maintain the diet and exercise program.

Why does being busy mean you can't maintain the eating program? I can understand the exercise but not the eating. It's still about choices.

My attitude is this is my life style change to eat healthier and maintain exercise.

Any change in diet or exercise habits is a change in lifestyle. But, whether you call it a lifestyle change or a diet, it can still change again. It's rare for anyone not to have several lifestyle changes over the course of their life.

In fact, changes in lifestyle are often what cause people to gain weight. They get married, they have children, they get a sedentary job, they lose a job, they get an injury, etc.

those sound like excuses to me :-)

Excuses are reasons.

no - getting married, having kids - those are EXCUSES

an injury is a REASON

don't confuse the two

Being pregnant,giving birth are huge events in the body that do a lot of damage that takes time to heal as well as hormonal changes that affect you. So....

Actually, they are all excuses. Since the calorie deficit is what is required for weight loss, any excuse to not eat at a deficit is just that, an excuse. Not being able to exercise doesn't mean you have to gain weight, it just means you can't increase your calorie deficit and/or work on fitness. There is a difference between fitness and weight loss.

What is the difference between an excuse not to control weight and a reason not to control weight?

An excuse makes it ok for a person to look down on you without feeling like they're a bad person. Basically.

What is the difference between an excuse not to control weight and a reason not to control weight?

An excuse makes it ok for a person to look down on you without feeling like they're a bad person. Basically.

That does seem to be true. Neither implies lack of personal responsibility.

The reason I gained weight this time was marriage. I chose to spend my free time hanging out with my husband eating and drinking too much instead of exercising or eating less because it made me happy. It's not an excuse, because I don't need to be excused or forgiven, and it doesn't mean I didn't make a choice. But, this wonderful change in my lifestyle was the reason for my choice and consequently the reason I gained weight.

Because life is not static.

I am very aware that getting to my goal is half the battle. Maybe I will be able to maintain with ease for the first year afterwards. But what happens once other life events happen, will I be able to maintain when I have kids? What about after a death? Illness?

I don't think it is either easy, and somehow working towards something is easier than working to maintain something.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that the possibility of gaining weight back in the future does not make this weight gain now less worth it. I was gaining weight before I changed my habits. We only have one day, and that is today. So what we do today is what counts.

I loved this post.

I hope I don't gain anything back, but life will happen, and I'll do the best I can.

The thing about losing or watching our weight is that we are living in the moment and making the best of it. I feel so amazing right now, and I wouldn't feel that way if I hadn't worked for it.

For me it was that another lifestyle change overrode the initial lifestyle change...

A lot of people on this thread have said "lifestyle change" is the answer but since there are many stories of people who change their lifestyle and subsequently change back, this indicates a lifestyle change isn't a complete answer. I think the comments quoted above come closest to the truth. Humans are very skilled at adapting, and one of the ways we adapt to changing circumstances is by gaining and losing weight. Combine this with the unchangeable fact that life is varied and unpredictable (that is, we are unable to learn ahead of time how to cope with every situation life is going to throw at us)...it doesn't bode well. And obviously this is reflected in the statistics that 95% of people will regain all weight lost (often more) within five years of the initial loss. I assume this percentage gets closer to 100% the longer you are monitoring people for.

Which also brings me to my main question which is how do you measure successful maintenance? Does keeping weight off for ten years count? How about twenty? Can you only know if you are "successful" once you die? The outcome will also depend on initial circumstances as well. I dunno...I don't even think there is an answer to this question other than to say we are all human and therefore in a constant state of flux. Nothing is stable and that includes weight, so I guess the best we can hope for it to be moderately healthy to the best of our abilities for as long as we can. And I guess the infinite number of variables involved in that means success is so subjective anyway....

This was a good post. I work in the obesity research field. To be honest with you, there are a lot of theories out there about why this regain happens but no concrete answer, if we knew it wouldn't be such a problem. Truth be told, obesity is far more complicated than most make it out to be. It does not boil down to "eat less move more" our society is not suffering from a catastrophic lack of will power. This is an issue that has many different causes, many different influences and individualized outcomes. For one, if calories are the currency of weight, we need to keep in mind that every person has a different exchange rate. it is not one size fits all.

We also need to understand that human bodies have evolved into spectacular energy storage machines. Food wasn't always so plentiful and nutrient dense, we are very efficient at storing energy as a means to survive. Add that to the fact that in general we live in obesinogenic societies. Everything around us from the food available, to the neighborhoods we live in and the jobs we do push us towards obesity.

This is one of those questions that right now has no answer, I simply wish people would stop spouting anecdotal evidence and misinformed opinions about how all people who gain back are lazy and simply not strong enough to follow through. This attitude only serves to perpetuate weight bias, which in turn adds to the cycle.

Just acknowledge that weight loss and regain is very complicated, everyone will have their own outcome, we all face an uphill battle. Support each other and do your best to beat the odds.

I couldn't agree more tennisdude...separating the emotional connection is the toughest part for me. I lost 50 and have put 30 back on over three years. I stopped paying attention to portion sizes and tend to stress eat. I am back on track before I gained all back, but I had kept it off for 3 years before packing it back on. Very tough indeed, if it were not we wouldn't need this website or each others support.

My attitude is this is my life style change to eat healthier and maintain exercise.

Any change in diet or exercise habits is a change in lifestyle. But, whether you call it a lifestyle change or a diet, it can still change again. It's rare for anyone not to have several lifestyle changes over the course of their life.

In fact, changes in lifestyle are often what cause people to gain weight. They get married, they have children, they get a sedentary job, they lose a job, they get an injury, etc.

those sound like excuses to me :-)

Excuses are reasons.

no - getting married, having kids - those are EXCUSES

an injury is a REASON

don't confuse the two

Being pregnant,giving birth are huge events in the body that do a lot of damage that takes time to heal as well as hormonal changes that affect you. So....

Actually, they are all excuses. Since the calorie deficit is what is required for weight loss, any excuse to not eat at a deficit is just that, an excuse. Not being able to exercise doesn't mean you have to gain weight, it just means you can't increase your calorie deficit and/or work on fitness. There is a difference between fitness and weight loss.

What is the difference between an excuse not to control weight and a reason not to control weight?

A reason is something out of your control that prevents you from the correct behavior (as in, the reason I don't work out is because I have a broken leg). An excuse is something that is within your control that you use to rationalize your decision not to do it (I'm not working out today because I'm tired).

Choosing to eat too much and blaming it on other things as if those things distract you from eating less is using them as excuses. They aren't valid reasons.

The broken leg would not prevent you from eating less and controling your weight anymore than a distraction.

Given your description the only reason to gain weight would be forced feeding. But it seems more opinion than actual defintion of the word 'reason'. You see a reason as invalid so you call it an excuse. But that's not what those words mean.

My attitude is this is my life style change to eat healthier and maintain exercise.

Any change in diet or exercise habits is a change in lifestyle. But, whether you call it a lifestyle change or a diet, it can still change again. It's rare for anyone not to have several lifestyle changes over the course of their life.

In fact, changes in lifestyle are often what cause people to gain weight. They get married, they have children, they get a sedentary job, they lose a job, they get an injury, etc.

those sound like excuses to me :-)

Excuses are reasons.

no - getting married, having kids - those are EXCUSES

an injury is a REASON

don't confuse the two

Being pregnant,giving birth are huge events in the body that do a lot of damage that takes time to heal as well as hormonal changes that affect you. So....

Actually, they are all excuses. Since the calorie deficit is what is required for weight loss, any excuse to not eat at a deficit is just that, an excuse. Not being able to exercise doesn't mean you have to gain weight, it just means you can't increase your calorie deficit and/or work on fitness. There is a difference between fitness and weight loss.

What is the difference between an excuse not to control weight and a reason not to control weight?

A reason is something out of your control that prevents you from the correct behavior (as in, the reason I don't work out is because I have a broken leg). An excuse is something that is within your control that you use to rationalize your decision not to do it (I'm not working out today because I'm tired).

Choosing to eat too much and blaming it on other things as if those things distract you from eating less is using them as excuses. They aren't valid reasons.

The broken leg would not prevent you from eating less and controling your weight anymore than a distraction.

Given your description the only reason to gain weight would be forced feeding. But it seems more opinion than actual defintion of the word 'reason'. You see a reason as invalid so you call it an excuse. But that's not what those words mean.

You need to work on reading things in context. I used both the broken leg and the tiredness as a person's reason or excuse to not exercise.
Given any description, the only reason anyone gains weight is overeating. Eating at a calorie surplus. that's physics. You can rationalize it however you want, but you said yourself your marriage distracted you from your goals and you overate.

My attitude is this is my life style change to eat healthier and maintain exercise.

Any change in diet or exercise habits is a change in lifestyle. But, whether you call it a lifestyle change or a diet, it can still change again. It's rare for anyone not to have several lifestyle changes over the course of their life.

In fact, changes in lifestyle are often what cause people to gain weight. They get married, they have children, they get a sedentary job, they lose a job, they get an injury, etc.

those sound like excuses to me :-)

Excuses are reasons.

no - getting married, having kids - those are EXCUSES

an injury is a REASON

don't confuse the two

Being pregnant,giving birth are huge events in the body that do a lot of damage that takes time to heal as well as hormonal changes that affect you. So....

Actually, they are all excuses. Since the calorie deficit is what is required for weight loss, any excuse to not eat at a deficit is just that, an excuse. Not being able to exercise doesn't mean you have to gain weight, it just means you can't increase your calorie deficit and/or work on fitness. There is a difference between fitness and weight loss.

What is the difference between an excuse not to control weight and a reason not to control weight?

A reason is something out of your control that prevents you from the correct behavior (as in, the reason I don't work out is because I have a broken leg). An excuse is something that is within your control that you use to rationalize your decision not to do it (I'm not working out today because I'm tired).

Choosing to eat too much and blaming it on other things as if those things distract you from eating less is using them as excuses. They aren't valid reasons.

The broken leg would not prevent you from eating less and controling your weight anymore than a distraction.

Given your description the only reason to gain weight would be forced feeding. But it seems more opinion than actual defintion of the word 'reason'. You see a reason as invalid so you call it an excuse. But that's not what those words mean.

You need to work on reading things in context. I used both the broken leg and the tiredness as a person's reason or excuse to not exercise.
Given any description, the only reason anyone gains weight is overeating. Eating at a calorie surplus. that's physics. You can rationalize it however you want, but you said yourself your marriage distracted you from your goals and you overate.

Reason for gaining weight, I chose to eat calorie surplus, agreed. Reason for the choice was marriage. It's not a choice I regret so I have no need for excuses.

I think we all wish we were that trim person that doesn't have to worry about what they eat or weighing themselves, and when we get to our goal weight we pretend to be that person for a while, or maybe think that we became that person by losing the weight.

The reality is, we had to work really hard to get there, and still need to put in the effort to maintain it. I just don't have the metabolism to go around eating whatever I want... I wish I did, but I don't! And I don't think I realized that until I gained back half of the weight I'd lost (around the time that I signed up for MFP again this time last year lol)