Are you in the 97%?

I am definitely in the 97 percent. I think the secret for me is going to be going back to the gym and coupling that with changing my eating habits. The last time I lost a lot of weight, I did it just by eating right. I lost a lot, but gained it back easily because I spent no time in the gym. I have to make the gym a part of my life again, when I am doing both it all comes together much easier and actually feels like a lifestyle change.

sadly yes, I originally was down 145lbs and then I got lazy and stopped logging and I've put back on 40lbs of that. I know I can lose it again though, if I focus and get back to it...

As far as I am concerned, studies show diddly squat.

I am in control of my own life and my own decisions and once this weight is off it is up to me to keep it off.

Period.

Did the study suggest someone else would be in control?

This is why I'm not going to start weightlifting or running...I hate both and cannot imagine doing it for life. I want to be strong-functionally.
I hope to become a 3% statistic. I already know that taking 9 months off MFP contributed to the 9 lbs. I gained in that time. I wasn't being accountable to myself or anybody else about those little extra treats. For the foreseeable future, I see myself logging and checking in to keep myself accountable.
I'm getting sick of the friends I've added who have posted asking for somebody to keep them accountable. They are on for a week, come back one day the next, and don't respond to messages I send, trying to do exactly what they asked for. Nobody can lose the weight for you. You have to want it bad enough to work at it every day.

What are you doing to be strong functionally? I would agree that you don't have to lift weights...but you do have to functionally train to be functionally strong...you have to perform some form of resistance work to be functionally strong.

For the last 3 months, I have been working on planks, pushups, situps, crunches along with some cardio (Wii fit, bicycling, walking). This past month, I have been doing 30 Day Shred (with 3 lb. weights) in addition to walking (my bike has had some maintenance issues that are now fixed!).

"Normal" jobs that I do that require strength: push mowing our bank (150ft x 10ft); hefting the 30 lb. propane tanks when I have to get them filled for my hubby (the big ones....30 lbs empty); lifting our garage door about once a day (the springs are shot, but can't replace them until we've saved up a little for them), playing with my 5 kids, whether it be wrestling with a 5 year old, throwing the football with my 13 year old, or something between.

I hope to always be able to walk. I hope to always be able to do some pushups. In 30 years, I don't think I'll be doing 30 Day shred, but right now it's something to help boost my metabolism.

I'm a 3%'r. No way in hell I'm ever going back. I was a fat kid from age 10 until age 23 when I finally started to try to lose weight. No way in hell I'll ever go back to feeling that way. NO WAY. I will starve myself before that happens.

For me, it is because I want to be in shape, not for any other person or any other thing. That is what drives me, and certainly the fear of going back to that old person, going back to being lazy. No thanks.

I believe I am in the 3%. I actually wasn't obese, but was definitely overweight when I discovered MFP. It took mea year to lose 25 pounds, but it didn't matter, because I knew that I would not be doing this again. The year before I started to return to a normal weight, for my age and height, my mom broke her hip, didn't really heal, decended into dementia and finallly died unhappily at 93, her brother (my uncle) died at 88, my psychiatrist committed suicide and I broke up with a guy I'd been in a long term lousy relationship with. It was time for a change of lifestyle.

I had yo-yo'd every five or so years, never going above about 20 pounds or so. A councelor at Jenny Craig, told me I had a fear of being fat and that's why I kept dieting instead of just letting myself go.

Since my mom died, I have changed the entire way I look at the world and one of the strongest motivations for maintaining my wieght loss as well as a committed exercise routine is that I finally listened to what my therapist had been tellimg me for about 20 years. She kept saying that I was a pretty, intelligent, accomplished woman who didn't have my mom's problems. (too long a story to go into).

So, I know that staying slim is a matter of changing my lifestyle. I don't want to become disabled by broken bones, so I work on my bones, muscles, aerobic capacity, and most recently, my balance (not falling that is).

I got certified as a Zumba instructor at age 67 and am studying for my certification in group fitness instruction. My plan is to teach Zumba Gold to seniors (not just healthy ones) to help others be as healthy as they can be.

Recently, I decided to lose another five pounds to get my body fat level into the athletic range instead of staying at average. I also added yoga lessons to work on my balance. I am fortunate enough to have good physical genes. My family was not overweight. I am working with a Zumba instructor who is 77l

I think the bottom line is to be in the 3% is to be the best person you can be and be grateful for every healthy day you have. And don't sabatage yourself!.

...of people who lose weight..only to gain it back again. Over and over. Yoyo up and down..often with an overall net gain over the years. Studies have shown that only 3% of people who lose weight can maintain it for more than 5 years. I have my own ideas about why this is. Also, people who grew up normal sized, got fat in adulthood, then lost weight are more likely to be in the 3% than those who were fat as children. Grim stats...but I think if we can gain an understanding of what the 3% are doing differently...that would be a good start.

From what I can tell, 3% ers don't see weight loss as a goal with an end date. They know they will probably always have to be diligent, and they accept that is the case. They don't lose the weight, celebrate with a pizza, and think it's going to just magically stay off. They accept that their habits have to completely change for life, not just for the "loss" part of the journey. Also, 3% ers don't see healthy lifestyle as "punishment". They see health, energy, fitness and nutritious food as positive and a welcome change..not a chore.

I'm curious to hear from 3% ers, and others on how they feel they are distinguished from the 97% that fails at long term health goals.

Wow... I'm glad to hear this! In the past I was all about reaching some number on the scale. Always ended up in the 97% group.

This time there is no number goal. I plan to work to improve my body & health forever. My goal is to be the best I can be inside & out. I don't believe in maintenance. I love my healthy lifestyle! Eating very healthy, exercising regularly (weight training & cardio), and walking - including power walking - every day. The more I do, the better I feel and the more I want to do. I have no plans to ever stop and go back to the old ways. That would be a horrible punishment. I felt awful.

I am still losing so I may not quite qualify for the 3% yet. But it's going on two years (two this fall) of healthy eating & working out & loving it. I've lost well over 100 lbs. I'm planning to switch to building muscle eventually.

I am a 3%-er. Fat kid grew into fat adult; focused for 9 months when I was 26 and went from 172 to a low of 111 using Weight Watchers Online. I am now 40 and maintain between 123-126 (original goal was 120). I can't imagine ever going back to the way I was.

Yes but I gained in pregnancy now im done having babies im more determined than ever to keep it off

I am in the 3 percent I guess - maybe if you count being slim but not dieting?? I never dieted, have slways just eaten what I wanted abd stayed the same for twenty years (I am 43). My sisters are all slim - my mother is also the same weight snd height as me in her 70s - we can all fit into each others clothes etc...

To be in the 3% you have to be overweight then lose weight and keep it off for at least 5 years. It's not about people who have always been slim.

I have been in both the 97% and 3%. I've lost weight and kept it off for 5 years, but I've also lost weight and gained back, sometimes after 5 years, sometimes less.

I eat pretty much the same all the time, but every time I get lazy and quit exercising regularly, I gain weight. This usually happens whenever there is some major change in my lifestyle. I don't adapt to change very well, I guess. :ohwell:

For most of my adult like I put on what I like to call "insulation" in the winter - I'd gain 10 lbs come fall, then lose it again in the summer. The last year or so I've been holding steady within a 5 lb range - so no drastic yoyoing, but I'm definitely more consistent about eating and working out ALL year now, and not just in summer. (helps that I've started lifting which I can do year round. Used to only walk/run outside then sit on my butt all winter).

definitely. I have managed to lose 10 lbs and now I am back to my start weight after 3 years of trying to lose more...:brokenheart:

I'm part of the 97% sadly.

I lose about 80 lbs in a bit over a year. I maintained for about another year. But I moved across country to be close to family and the new social activities, lack of exercise, and basic bad habits caused me to gain 30 over the course of a year. Nothing like yoyo dieting here. Just bad habits.

And I know I could have maintained even eating as I was if I had just kept with my exercise regimen. But we sold our treadmill before the move (didn't want to transport), and I hate gyms so ... yea I stopped, bad me.

I don't know if I could ever be part of the 3%. Maintaining a goal weight for previously-obese is hard. It requires constant diligence and a commitment that really is more than I might want to handle later on down the line. There's plenty of research out there to show that once-obese people have a lower metabolism than the never-obese at the same weight -- so yes it makes it just that much harder for us to maintain weight than people who have never had weight troubles. Even maintaining that one year I did (wasn't even at goal) still felt like I was "dieting" -- I was still counting calories, exercising daily, etc. It was still a LOT of work just to stay at a weight I wasn't even happy with.

I hope I can lose and maintain it for a while. But then I plan to have kids... so I'm just going to assume that might put a wrench in the works =P

Even maintaining that one year I did (wasn't even at goal) still felt like I was "dieting" -- I was still counting calories, exercising daily, etc. It was still a LOT of work just to stay at a weight I wasn't even happy with.

When you get to goal, the work doesn't end. Anyone who wants to be fit for life has to watch what they eat and exercise regularly.

What helps is establishing easy to follow habits and finding workouts that you enjoy. Also solving daily challenges like schedule issues or knowing when you're most hungry during the day and giving more calories to that part of day.

I hope you make it. You just have to find what tactics are the easiest for you to sustain.