For those who lost weight and gained it back

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Chibukalu908
Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
What made you gain it back? lack of exercise? For myself ,everytime I stop working out,i start gaining wight. It seems like I could eat whatever I want and maintain as long as I keep with exercise. At least that's how it was for me before not sure about now.
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  • Cinnamonhuskies
    Cinnamonhuskies Posts: 78 Member
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    recession came, lost job, had to quit gym, then my dog died and I hated walking alone.......so the lack of constant exercise made the weight creep up. I had kept off a 42lb weight loss for 2 yrs prior. Gained almost 50 lbs over the last 4 yrs. now I'm back at the gym, walking/running 4 miles daily...starting to melt off again.
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    recession came, lost job, had to quit gym, then my dog died and I hated walking alone.......so the lack of constant exercise made the weight creep up. I had kept off a 42lb weight loss for 2 yrs prior. Gained almost 50 lbs over the last 4 yrs. now I'm back at the gym, walking/running 4 miles daily...starting to melt off again.
    I see. Good for you for taking charge again .Did you also counted calories in maintenance ?
  • Red_Nationhtx
    Red_Nationhtx Posts: 13 Member
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    I lost about 70lbs between sept. of 2012 and aug. of 2013

    I cut out red meat and fast food and ate LOTS of whole wheat.
    .
    with no exercise I didn't start doing cardio til may 2013 it helped a little

    I got back into a comfort zone and started getting all my OLD HABITS BACK.

    as we speak im trying to incorporate it all back into my diet but its hard cause im starting back at square 1.
  • docc30
    docc30 Posts: 33 Member
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    I lost 92 lbs in 2008 through diet alone. I was definitely skinny-fat. My biggest regret is not lifting back then.

    Here's all my BS excuses for gaining it back:

    -I was diagnosed hypothyroid
    -I decided to go back to school
    -The economy crashed and my work laid off a lot of people. I was working extra hours because of the extra workload on those left.
    I stopped tracking calories. Some people can maintain without tracking. I'll have to track calories for the rest of my life. I did no real exercise, and I stopped weighing myself daily. All of this was my fault. Although I didn't gain all of the weight back, I gained enough of it. But that's all the past and I'm moving forward now.
  • TheWorstHorse
    TheWorstHorse Posts: 185
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    What made you gain it back? lack of exercise? For myself ,everytime I stop working out,i start gaining wight. It seems like I could eat whatever I want and maintain as long as I keep with exercise. At least that's how it was for me before not sure about now.

    i've lost and gained back weight a couple of times, and i see the reasons why as falling into two categories. first category: weight lost through some version of a severely restricted calorie diet. gained all the weight back within six months each time. i did this three times in ten years. i am apparently a slow learner. reason: lose-quick diets are impossible to maintain long term; one returns to eating normally and the weight rebounds.

    second category: not paying attention. i lost fifty-five or so pounds in my early twenties. i kept it off for fifteen years by paying attention to what i was eating and exercising regularly. i wasn't insane about it, it was just how i lived. at some point, i stopped paying attention to what i was eating, stopped exercising, got older, got busier, and didn't adjust my eating patterns to match. i put weight on a little at a time; it was hardly noticeable. over the course of ten years, i gained back about forty pounds.

    my bad. i don't plan on being a slow learner this time around.

    bottom line: to keep lost weight lost avoid lose-weight-quick-quackery and be everyday-diligent about how and what you are eating.
  • CanToGirl
    CanToGirl Posts: 474 Member
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    I can't tell you how many times I have gained and lost over and over again. And the only way I can describe it it's like a light switch went off and I wanted nothing to do with getting healthy. So I went back to my old habits. Then for some unknown reason the light switch came back on and started over again. So I need to find a way to keep that switch on for good. I'm sick of losing this same weight over and over again.
  • sportychic87
    sportychic87 Posts: 214 Member
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    I lost ~25 pounds and gained it all back. I think it was due to: Graduating college (stressful and lot's of eating out to celebrate), new relationship (more eating out), the lack of jobs (hey, what better reason to watch Grey's Anatomy reruns and eat popcorn than being a grad in a jobless town?!!!), and just being busy. Lol. But I'm determined this time to keep it off. :-)
  • Louttie
    Louttie Posts: 139 Member
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    Went backpacking in Australia and lived on pasta and beans. Not good!!!

    I have recently just moved into an apartment out here and purchased some trainers! Now i have no excuse not to cook some healthy grub in my new kitchen. And well i live next to the beach so an evening run along the front can't hurt too much either.

    Good luck everyone on your success!
  • Momjogger
    Momjogger Posts: 750 Member
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    I had a tough time at work this winter and the winter was so horrible here. It was definitely my eating. Plus my cousin and then my aunt got their kidneys (which is what I was losing for in the first place) so I took a break. Whoops. I have never lost weight from exercise alone and I cannot eat whatever I want and just exercise. I am jealous! I gained one third of my weight back. 15 more pounds to go to get back to my lowest from last summer and since I LOVED the way i looked last summer, I am on my way back there with purpose - doing it for me this time.
  • OhCora
    OhCora Posts: 72 Member
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    I lost 86 pounds in 8 months. Maintained for 3 months, decided I needed to gain 10 and strength train. held steady there for 6 months. Then My father became ill, and we lost him at the end of August last year, age 65. Due to hard times, had to sell our home before we lost it entirely, got a new job and relocated far from home. The stress of these things, and the guilt of uprooting our kids caused a lot of compensating, treats all the time, and not working out. Gained another 20 pounds, and now I am only down 50.

    I had been quite heavy for my entire adult life. I certainly didn't like it. But the thing is, at that time, I had no idea what being fit and trim felt like. When I lost all the weight, I got a taste of it. and because of that, I honestly think that sometimes I hate myself more for giving it up without a fight. If I had never lost it, I would not be very healthy, but I think my self esteem is suffering more now, than when I weighed 250 pounds. makes me feel like a failure. BUT I just have to start again. and again and again. until I get there.
  • brennenjones
    brennenjones Posts: 16 Member
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    Three years ago, I lost 25 pounds after having a health scare and then committing myself to eating better working out. Soon enough, my old habits came back and I gained 20 of those pounds back. I rededicated myself again, lose weight, and then go back to my old habits and gain weight back again. This cycle went on for at least 4-6 times over a 2 and a half year period.

    Each time I gained weight, I could attribute it to one thing: EATING! And not obviously watching what I eat or counting calories. I stopped using MFP completely. I would slip back and go from not drinking soda and eating fast food to binge on it in weekly spurts.

    I weighed 261 at my peak 3 years ago and back then I had always wanted to get down to 205, which at the time seemed like a long ways to go.

    This past year, I've been more on point after leaning through trial and error from my experiences. I learned a system that best suited my lifestyle and is working to drop the pounds. I am now less than 5 pounds away from my initial goal 205. And when I get there, I'm planning on hiring a trainer to help me further reshape my body.

    I would like to stay in the 200-205 pound range but develop more muscle tone. So I may try to go down to 190 if possible and build myself back up to 205 if things go well and according to plan.

    These last few pounds have been the hardest for sure. And I can't wait til I get to the point where instead of losing weight, I'm trying to maintain to see how well I can do that since all I've ever known was to try and lose weight.

    I've heard that maintaining weight could be harder than losing it.
  • giggles7706
    giggles7706 Posts: 1,491 Member
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    Lost approximately 70 pounds in a year. Changed jobs, stress and life. Went back to old habits as a comfort measure and couldn't get back out of it. Gained all that back in the following year after changing jobs. Now I'm trying to get back into the ways things were three years ago.
  • nikkohli
    nikkohli Posts: 311 Member
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    I lost 25lbs and gained 10 back in as many months. Mainly it was because I quit tracking. I still exercised (though more like 1-2X/week rather than 3 or 4) but it was really because I got comfortable and started overeating.
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    I lost ~25 pounds and gained it all back. I think it was due to: Graduating college (stressful and lot's of eating out to celebrate), new relationship (more eating out), the lack of jobs (hey, what better reason to watch Grey's Anatomy reruns and eat popcorn than being a grad in a jobless town?!!!), and just being busy. Lol. But I'm determined this time to keep it off. :-)

    LOL same here.i don't want to go back to that road again
  • Timorous_Beastie
    Timorous_Beastie Posts: 595 Member
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    For me, I stopped caring about maintaining. I was burned out on everything. My brother had just died. My husband was out of work. Money was tight. Then when I had the opportunity to make some extra money, I spent every spare minute working. I had a minor injury that made exercise uncomfortable. I prefer exercising outside, and with the Winter from Hell, I had no desire to bundle up to go out in single digit temps. And chocolate makes everything better.


    It's really not so bad, though. I didn't gain much back, and most of my clothes fit. I'm healthy and fit and a lot of people still call me skinny. I still wonder if being 15-20 pounds lighter is worth the effort it would take to get there.
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    I lost 86 pounds in 8 months. Maintained for 3 months, decided I needed to gain 10 and strength train. held steady there for 6 months. Then My father became ill, and we lost him at the end of August last year, age 65. Due to hard times, had to sell our home before we lost it entirely, got a new job and relocated far from home. The stress of these things, and the guilt of uprooting our kids caused a lot of compensating, treats all the time, and not working out. Gained another 20 pounds, and now I am only down 50.

    I had been quite heavy for my entire adult life. I certainly didn't like it. But the thing is, at that time, I had no idea what being fit and trim felt like. When I lost all the weight, I got a taste of it. and because of that, I honestly think that sometimes I hate myself more for giving it up without a fight. If I had never lost it, I would not be very healthy, but I think my self esteem is suffering more now, than when I weighed 250 pounds. makes me feel like a failure. BUT I just have to start again. and again and again. until I get there.

    Good for you for taking charge again
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    Lost approximately 70 pounds in a year. Changed jobs, stress and life. Went back to old habits as a comfort measure and couldn't get back out of it. Gained all that back in the following year after changing jobs. Now I'm trying to get back into the ways things were three years ago.

    its so easy to gain but so hard to loose it
  • TrekkieLianne
    TrekkieLianne Posts: 8 Member
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    Not watching what I ate...it gets me every time! More restaurant food and less home cooked food. Eating and not journalling so I could keep track. "I don't care today" pig out days which were meant to be only one day that turned into a week or two in a row. Because home-cooked, preplanned, thoughtful meals are what take the weight off. The opposite of those puts it back on every stinkin time! (Including these 20 lbs I need to lose right now....grrr)
    :grumble:
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    I lost 25lbs and gained 10 back in as many months. Mainly it was because I quit tracking. I still exercised (though more like 1-2X/week rather than 3 or 4) but it was really because I got comfortable and started overeating.

    Oh I see. that`s my fear as well so I feel more confident tracking food because sometimes we tend to eat more without realizing it
  • Chibukalu908
    Chibukalu908 Posts: 212
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    For me, I stopped caring about maintaining. I was burned out on everything. My brother had just died. My husband was out of work. Money was tight. Then when I had the opportunity to make some extra money, I spent every spare minute working. I had a minor injury that made exercise uncomfortable. I prefer exercising outside, and with the Winter from Hell, I had no desire to bundle up to go out in single digit temps. And chocolate makes everything better.


    It's really not so bad, though. I didn't gain much back, and most of my clothes fit. I'm healthy and fit and a lot of people still call me skinny. I still wonder if being 15-20 pounds lighter is worth the effort it would take to get there.

    Oh nice.it sounds like you carry your weight well

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