How do people who lose a ton of weight put it all back on?

I understand gaining a few pounds back at the end of the day but all of it!? when you lost so much!? I don't see how someone could do that to themselves either. Myself looking to lose a total of 180lbs when i'm done... i can't imagine letting it all come back! MAYBE like 50lbs ABSOLUTE MAX (weight jumps quick when vacationing from home i hear) but the whole thing? wow no. I am just as astonished.

I lost 40 pounds and gained 70 back. It's easy to gain all the weight back and then some when you lose weight in a very restrictive way. I ate super healthy and exercised every day. When I got to my "goal" -- I thought I could stop and went back to how I ate before I lost the weight and stopped exercising. This time -- I know this is something I will have to do on an ongoing basis. I eat what I want in moderation and I continuously stay active with exercises and activities that I enjoy. I know I will never stop logging my food because that is the only way I can be aware of how much I'm eating. Logging really doesn't bother me because I've been doing it for so long, it's part of my life now. I guess it's more of finding what you can stick with.

Easy. I had lost 60 lbs. at one time, but gained it all back and then some. And NO! I was NOT doing something "unhealthy", "unsustainable", or any other judgmental crap most of you are spewing when you have no freaking clue! (Thank you, OP, for NOT being judgmental.) So, I'm back on the bandwagon. Yes, I'm fat. But, dammit, kudos to me for trying again...and again....and again. At least I haven't lost all hope.

I was doing Weight Watchers, which is EXACTLY the same as MFP, except you counted points, rather than calories. The only difference was I was paying for the website. I was losing 1.5 lbs. per week. What happened? My mother died, and I got stuck having to teach my dad how to be self-sufficient, since his mother never taught him, but that was that generation. On top of that I had my own family, with its own problems (kids were beginning to head into their teens, and all the crap that entails), so you begin to forget to take care of yourself, when you're far too busy taking care of other people. You don't weigh yourself as often, so you don't notice it creeping back on. Your clothes feel a little tighter, but you figure they shrank in the wash, so you buy new ones a little bigger. You begin to feel that life is too short to be hungry all the time, and killing yourself with exercise, and you'd rather enjoy life instead (I hate exercise...I'd rather chew broken glass or have a tax audit, but I force myself to do it even though the pain I get from it is excruciating, what with my arthritis), so you eat what you want, rather than what you "should" (says who?) and you spend your precious little free time watching TV, rather than "wasting" it doing something you hate, like exercising. You get older. You start to not care. After all, you're old. You're not supposed to look "hot", anymore.

The problem with that is that as you do inevitably get older, you start noticing things don't feel right. Your back and your joints hurt all the time. You can't eat those foods you used to love because they certainly no longer love you. Your blood pressure starts creeping up. People you went to high school with begin dying from things like massive stroke or heart attack. It slowly dawns on you, that yes, life IS short. You'd better make sure you can eke out every minute of it. That being said, though, life is still life, and is still meant to be enjoyed. You can't spend it denying its pleasures. Want that candy bar? Eat it! Just make damned sure you account for it.

I never understand why anyone acts so mystified that people gain weight. Whether it's because they're just heavy or lost weight and regained it.

Food is tasty, exercise is hard. There's your answer.

Yep.

I haven't regained my lost weight (which is actually 65lbs despite my mfp ticker) yet but I'm sure I will at some point. I'm very much sick of being hungry, tired, miserable, and completely preoccupied with what I'm eating and what exercise I need to do on any given day. It's been 5 years, I'm reasonably sure my lifestyle has changed as much as it can at this point and it sucks. One of these days I know I'll get fed up with feeling like crap and BOOM 65lbs right back on. Oh, well.

Food is tasty, exercise is hard. There's your answer.

So much this.

This is one time where the word "sustainable" has meaning.

Bottom line, to achieve the best chance at sustainability, clinical evidence shows most people just need to get active. Don't worry about diet. Sure diet and exercise will give the fastest results, but most people tend to burn out in around 60 days (I've heard a few nutritionists advise against logging because of that phenomena).

Personally, as bad as I've been with my diet over the year I'm still running and cycling. Thinking of adding swimming, too.

Agree with this. And not that this is exactly positive, but when I regained before it started not with food, but with falling out of the exercise habit.

i dont know what it is, but, i will say this: why bother losing it the first time around in an unhealthy manner which you know will backfire? whats the point in the suffering?

it's easier said than done, i know, but why not just do it the right way and maintain yourself.

the girl i am referencing couldnt have been more than 140 lbs when i last saw her. today she was looking like she was pushing at least 260.

i remember when she was losing weight, she would go into the lunchroom and critique everyone else's meal. she was rude and judgmental about it too...serves her right , i guess.

Starting to sound judgmental yourself. Why not let her handle her situation and you handle yours? You are being critical of her and then complaining she was critical of others?

wake up.

sorry for shouting but I want to be very clear.

NO ONE HAS TO JUSTIFY TO ANYONE ELSE WHY THEY GAINED WEIGHT.

EITHER HELP THE PERSON, OR LEAVE THEM ALONE!

now, back to your regularly scheduled programming