Losing weight for nothing!!

I lost weight the first time around via WW, I was often hungry, I never did any exercise and I had an active lifestyle.

Not too long after they changed the plan so it was near impossible to follow for me personally. I went through a lot of stress, my dad passed away, I got divorced and many other things were going on. Working out how to maintain was the last thing on my mind, then I met someone new, was uber happy, my lifestyle changed from an active one to a very inactive one and I had a way larger income too (more meals out, more takeaways, more wine etc).

Then I realised not only had I gained the weight back but extra and I wasn't happy so here I am doing it the RIGHT way for me that will lead me being able to maintain it easily even if life throws cr*p at me again.

Many people will look for quick fixes and "diets" to lose weight then once they have lost it, they think they can go back to how they were and then pile it back on.

I think that the best advise that I can give is that in order to succeed for life, you have to come up with a dietary plan that works for you. People often gain pounds back when they've restricted a portion of their diet, and then once they hit their goal weight, they immediately start eating all of those foods again that made them overweight in the first place.

When people think of the word "diet" they often think that it always means that you're never eating a certain group of foods. However, when it comes to my diet, that pretty much means that I try my best to eat healthy but if I want to eat some candy on a Friday while watching a movie, then I'm gonna ****ing do it. But that's just me. That's how I keep myself in check - I need a balance in my life. I don't enjoy it if I also can't enjoy my food and I won't allow myself to feel guilty just because I went over 1300 calories in one day. That's no fun.

Side note - when I started on MFP I only weighed 127. That was in January and just by watching my portion sizes, I've lost 7-8 pounds in four months. I've eaten whatever I've wanted because I understand that this is how I have to do this. This is what works for me.

i think the best way to keep it off is to always stay at a bit of a deficit but not as high as when you were trying to lose the weight or loseing weight

It depends on the person but I'll tell you what's worked for me this time:

First of all, I'm not on a "diet". I'm not restricting any foods, rather limiting the amount of the foods I eat, finding healthy alternatives and/or indulging less often. For instance, I'll still have pizza but instead of eating half a large loaded, I'll have 3 or 4 slices of a medium with veggies on a thinner crust. And I try to restrict pizza night to once every couple weeks. Handling weight loss this way has made it easier to do long term. Whereas I used to cut out most/all of the foods I liked and then a few months later I'd get sick of all the cravings and quit.

Second, I found exercises that I enjoy so that I'll stick with them. Sort of the same idea as not depriving myself of food because I'm not feeling like I'm forcing myself to do something just to lose weight. There are a million things you read that you "should" do but if you don't enjoy them, at some point you'll stop or at least be less consistent. To me it's better to do something consistently than nothing at all. For instance, I've severely decreased my strength training lately because the weather is perfect for walking/running and I'd rather be outside enjoying the day. I'll get back to weights again when it gets too hot out.

Third, I'm losing for a better reason. In the past, I tried to lose weight to please other people or to get trimmer for a certain event like being in a wedding or going to a reuinion or vacations. This never worked long term because once that event came and went, I just went back to my old bad habits. This time I'm doing it for my health and fitness which is a life long goal.

Good luck!

do it for vanity. once you start liking the mirror you'll never want to go back

I think most people who gain it all back lost weight with a fad diet or a crash diet. I mean, if you only eat 500 calories a day sure you'll lose weight, but that's completely unsustainable. I think the best advice as far as keeping it off is making small changes that you can do for a long time, if that makes sense.

I lost a pretty good chunk of weight on MFP last year around this time (Eating just 1200 per day, not eating back exercise calories, because I didn't visit these forums, so I didn't know any better. Got down to 140 lbs) but gained it all back and then some.

Why? Because I'm an IDIOT.

I got to my goal weight, but never entered these forums even a single time. I didn't know anything about "switching to maintenance calories" so I just started eating whatever I wanted, as much as I wanted. I even continued to lose weight that way for a short time and thought to myself, "wow, I'm still losing, why did I bother dieting". Now, the loss didn't continue forever, and as life got increasingly hectic the big portions continued until I'd arrived right back where I started.

The big problem for me was that I was uninformed, and also I was thinking of MFP as a "diet" which implies limiting yourself and also implies that it ends at some point. That's not how I think of MFP anymore. MFP isn't a diet, it's a lifelong change that will help me to hold onto all the hard won progress I've made. It doesn't end when I reach goal weight, it just changes a little.
I'm never gaining this weight back again!

i think keeping it fresh went a long way for me - when the same old routine got boring, i found something new to engage in: new exercises, new fitness goals, new food adventures (pescatarian, vegetarian, ethnic exploration, etc.). i hit my ideal weight in 2006. even after having a baby, i knew enough about the process and myself to understand how to get rid of the extra weight in a healthy, sustainable way, and go back to where i was.

good luck!