How do people who lose a ton of weight put it all back on?
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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.0 -
who's judging? who am i, anyway?
i just asked a question.
You asked an awesome question! i don't see where you were judging anyone. Incidentally, when I went through my divorce i lost about 40 pounds in about 6 months, 40 (that was about 15 pounds too much and it wasn't intentional or healthy. I gained it back over the course of 5 years by being "non-aware".0 -
Food is tasty, exercise is hard. There's your answer.
So much this.0 -
who's judging? who am i, anyway?
i just asked a question.
You asked an awesome question! i don't see where you were judging anyone. Incidentally, when I went through my divorce i lost about 40 pounds in about 6 months, 40 (that was about 15 pounds too much and it wasn't intentional or healthy. I gained it back over the course of 5 years by being "non-aware".
OP's 2nd post on page 1 is kinda judgy. FWIW.0 -
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.0 -
The same way that someone who quit smoking starts again. It's usually the case that for every success story of someone giving up an unhealthy habit (cigarettes, alcohol, overeating, etc.), they have at least a handful of failed attempts before they kept on giving it up. It's much less common to quit a bad habit and have long-term success first try. Backsliding...it's too easy.
I agree. I quit smoking 4 times and started back up, until this last time two years ago because this last time I really wanted to quit. Weight was never and issue for me until the last year. I plan on monitoring it for the rest of my days, so I don't be a yo-yo dieter.0 -
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.0 -
I had lost 100lbs and due to an injury my exercise routine was halted. I have never truly regained, and have since fallen into depression and that alone messes with the body. Add into the mix, a baby, turning 40, diagnosis of a physical disorder (fibromyalgia) and post-partum depression, you get a not so pretty mindset. It is very difficult to see myself now, 50lbs heavier than my goal, and not see failure. But I have to work what feels is 3000% harder than I did before to just keep moving forward. Its not at all easy, and I hope you never judge a person for having such a major set back (not that you are) - that you would actually encourage that person that they did it before, so they could do it again.
And I personally did not lose 100# in an unhealthy way. I followed Weight Watchers and exercised. I was burning more calories than I was taking in. Basic information. I never deprived. I ate cake, just not the whole thing. Its the hurdles in life that have set me back.0 -
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
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They look at food and...***pooof***! It magically comes back on !:bigsmile:0
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Part of the problem is that food is needed for survival, so we can't just quit food like we can alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs. We have to find that balance of eating what we need vs eating enough for four people in a day. For someone like myself who used to eat out of boredom, loneliness, or just because food made me happy.. it's super easy to stop caring and put the weight back on.0
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It might not be overeating like many here think. That's the most common, true, but sometimes depression, stress, poor sleep, and lack of activity for a variety of reasons can cause the gain.
I lost roughly 50 lbs back in 2006 walking and biking to college. Then I moved cross-country and gained a bit back, about 20 lbs or so. I still was eating healthy and wasn't snacking so it wasn't food at fault, but I was not sleeping well due to the urban apartment setting (I grew up in a pretty quiet area). Then I lost that weight by walking and using the exercise room offered to residents, but then we bought a house (in a quieter area luckily) and soon after I had my son and suffered post-partum depression pretty bad. I didn't overeat, but I found it hard to even get out of bed at all. I'm now heavier than I was when I first tried losing those first 50.
I'm slowly working my way back to college weight now that life is 'under control' (at least as much as it can be with a 3 year old). I'm not planning to stop there though since college weight was still obese.0 -
It's easy to gain weight. We all know that.
I have this bit of advice: If you know someone who has lost a lot of weight and is looking a lot better, don't say anything about how they looked before they lost weight. A friend of mine was getting really big, really fast, and that always bothers me seeing people close to me getting out of shape. Well, he cut a lot of weight quickly working with a personal trainer. Great job, I told him. And, I actually informed him about how I was worried about his size before. Well, within like two months of that, he had gained a lot of the weight back, and today he's bigger than he was before. I feel like a heal about what I said to him about his previous weight gain, and when I see him, I think he knows what I'm thinking now. Awkward.0 -
I realized, some time ago, that I'll have to log my food for the rest of my life.0
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I had been skinny my whole life mostly because of my activity level and it wasn't until College I gained about 80 pounds over the course of 3-4 years. When I lost it, I think my mentality was all screwed up about how to maintain. The only way I knew was I didn't have to do anything. I'm going to have to retrain myself when I lose it *all* AGAIN.0
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I think there is a lot of evidence that suggests that a lot of people go on diets when they feel like they have gained weight and feel like they have to lose weight so they can get back to their lives. They hit their goal and fall back into the lifestyle that got them big in the first place. The people that make real lifestyle changes are the people that keep it off. The people that go back to their previous habits are doomed to gain it back.
I can say this because I was the first guy and now I'm the second.0 -
I lost 100 lbs on WW about 5 years ago. I ate healthily and exercised well. I was still about 60 lbs from my goal weight, which was the upper end of my BMI range. Then I put about it all back on, plus some.
There are serious issues which cause me to eat like I do, and it may seem mind boggling to people whose weight problems are a result of a few too many beers and dinners out that they can easily cut out if they set their minds to it. I won't trivialize the difficulties anybody has with losing weight - it's difficult for most of us - but it's also different for most of us.
I wish I knew what it was that causes me to throw away a great week of healthy eating on the weekend, or to spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing good meals for the week only to stop for fast food. Maybe it is just that I'm weak willed, although I've accomplished many things that might dispute that. Maybe it is genetic - mentally, metabolically - as all my father's family is morbidly obese, as is my sister. Maybe it's an addiction.
It's not that I don't know how to eat properly, or all the tricks and silly platitudes. It's something in my head that is broken.
All I know is that giving up is never an option for me, and it won't be no matter how many people like the OP say "why bother?". I've been working with a PT for a year and spinning regularly, and while I'm still struggling with nutrition, I am much fitter than I was even though I've lost only about 30 lbs since I started.
There could be all kinds of reasons why a person gains weight, or re-gains weight. I just roll my eyes at the "How could he/she let herself go?" questions. Yeah, it's THAT easy...
I'm just going to keep rolling the boulder up the hill, and one day it'll stay there.0 -
I think there is a lot of evidence that suggests that a lot of people go on diets when they feel like they have gained weight and feel like they have to lose weight so they can get back to their lives. They hit their goal and fall back into the lifestyle that got them big in the first place. The people that make real lifestyle changes are the people that keep it off. The people that go back to their previous habits are doomed to gain it back.
I can say this because I was the first guy and now I'm the second.
Bingo.0 -
I lost 112lb in space of 8 months in 2009. I did it with food addicts in recovery ( 12 step support group ) I had a sponsor who told me exactly what to eat. I called her every morning for 15 minutes , i had to call 3 other members in group every day and speak to anyone who called me. I also had to go to 3 meetings a week come rain or shine in inconvienient places at inconvienient times when i was tired fro work and just wanted to go home. It was like a culty religion with all the getting on knees to pray, reading of big book and reading other material every meating. It was a program for the truly desperate. I stuck it out for 8 months and lost 112lb. The food plan was very healthy and around 1500 calories a day. There was no sugar, flour or alcohol at all ever. I was also not allowed grains until i reached very near goal. It was all good but so so inflexable.
My dad died, my job was driving me nuts, my sponsor in group could no longer work with me and then my husband who married me when i was big , he walked out and left me when i got normalish looking. I also had some painful dental work.
I just could not hack it anymore after that. I was severely depressed and gradualy slipped back in to old ways. It took me 8 months to lose 112lb and nearly 2 years to put it back on and another year to put even more on.
So in my case it was a combination of a long term unsustanable plan for me and unfortunate life stuff that lead me in to a depression. I have bipolar and other health issues that complicated things.
This time round it has to be long term sustanable0 -
I realized, some time ago, that I'll have to log my food for the rest of my life.
THIS. Probably will also have to do so.0 -
I realized, some time ago, that I'll have to log my food for the rest of my life.
THIS. Probably will also have to do so.
Me too. I'll weigh in daily or log my food probably forever lest it gets out of control.0 -
I gained weight while pregnant, despite exercising and eating well. Maybe people look at me and wonder why I'm not as thin as I was last Summer! Although I expect they saw my huge baby bump not so long ago.
I expect the lady in question lost weight too fast initially, or cut calories too much. Or maybe something happened in her life to affect her eating since you last saw her.0 -
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.
WELL SAID!0 -
YES!!!Part of the problem is that food is needed for survival, so we can't just quit food like we can alcohol, cigarettes, or [other] drugs
Ya gotta start somewhere.I can't manage to fit in exercise, so I'm starting with diet only. So far I have lost 7 lbs. WooHoo... 70 lbs. seems so ridiculous to me.
If you hadn't lost 7 lb, you'd still be the same weight.
Besides, controlling calories in is the best, most effective way to lose weight.
"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
"To maintain your weight: work your way up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent mix of the two each week."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
Yet there are women who get pregnant more than once.This isn't about how does one become overweight. It is about how an overweight person loses a ton of weight only to put it all back on. I would assume that person, going through all the pain and suffering once would be enough of a lasting memory not to get to that point again.
Talk about completely preventable pain & suffering!
Pot, kettle.who the *kitten* are you to judge her?! ... Mind yourself and stop being a judgmental prick.
Besides, he said he's not judging, he's wondering why someone would throw away all that hard work.
The CDC disagrees with you.I don't think there's any evidence that how you lose it matters
"evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1-2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html
There's a forum here on MFP which advocates binge eating ("one meal a day), and despite being reported to the moderators it is still up & running. They claim in the rules for the site that they won't let people advocate for unhealthy or detrimental things, but there it is.All the before times were eating once a day, fad diets, excessive exercise, and aiming for 4-5+lbs per week losses
Lots of his posts are very strange, sounds a lot like when people talk about a cleanse or religion, and he can't come up with any scientific studies to support his position, then attacked me when I posted info from & links to scientific studies showing that his idea of binge eating is unhealthy.
No, they didn't cause the weight gain. You were eating more than your body needed.started taking anti- depressants that had a side effect of weight gainThere could be all kinds of reasons why a person gains weight
Weight goes up when the person is eating more calories than their body needs.It might not be overeating like many here think. That's the most common, true, but sometimes depression, stress, poor sleep, and lack of activity for a variety of reasons can cause the gain.
Any of those things you list could affect how many calories the body needs, but in the end, the person gained weight because s/he ate more than was needed.
:laugh:now that life is 'under control' (at least as much as it can be with a 3 year old).0 -
seems like little hope for 4/5 of the overweight population.
I think it's just best to keep that fact in mind as we work to get in shape. The Blerch is chasing us all, and we have to try to out run him every single day.
We lose weight, hit our goal and think, "Yay! I'm done!" There's no done. Every pound is just waiting to creep back on, and they'll bring friends if you let them.
Food will always be tasty. Exercise will always be hard.
But if we work on it, always keep an eye on our habits, we can be the rarified few who take it off and keep it off.
Best of luck to you, me, and every one of us running from the Blerch.
I agree 100% and any reference to The Oatmeal is awesome. I was one of those people that thought I was done and then just ate junk again and gained all of the weight back plus an additional 5 lbs. I've collectively lost about 55 lbs and I have accepted the fact that once I get to my goal weight, I have to realize that the work doesn't stop there. I'm always going to be working at it. And some days I know I'm not going to be perfect but I will work at it as this is going to be a life long learning experience. I used to have this all or nothing attitude with it in the past and that got me nowhere. I think this whole process is just you continuously falling on your butt and getting up again. It's never perfect or easy, but all we can do is try again and not to give up when we're not "good" or whatever.0 -
I realized, some time ago, that I'll have to log my food for the rest of my life.
Same here. Just like realizing I have to test my glucose for the rest of my life, it's accepting it and realizing that these are tools to help me and not beat myself up because other people don't do it.0 -
Pretty much this.The same way she gained it originally, by overeating.
The statistics are overwhelmingly against people keeping it off.
We all think, hope, and are determined, that it won't happen to us, but the statistics say otherwise.
If it were easy, no one would be overweight.
I've known people who've lost a lot of weight in a healthy way, and gained it all back. I've known people who've lost a lot of weight in an unhealthy way and gained it all back. I've known a *few* people who've lost a lot of weight and kept it off for life.
It REALLY has to be a lifestyle change. Not just calling it a lifestyle change.0 -
Only weak people gain the weight back. It takes hard work to lose weight, and equally as hard to maintain.0
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It's like an alcoholic who's been sober for 10 years relapses, they stop doing the steps. They quit doing what they needed to do to maintain their sobriety. In this case, she quit doing what she needed to do to maintain her weight loss.0
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I should just stop posting and look for your post to quote. :happy: You have a way with words my friend.In a nut shell...many people talk a good talk about "lifestyle change" but generally fail to even conceptualize what that actually means, let alone follow through with such a change.
People have this notion that eating healthfully and exercising regularly is for weight loss...in reality, it's all far more important to maintaining a healthy weight. Regular exercise and general activity as well as a healthful diet have to become the new normal...and that is a rarity considering only about 5% of people who make efforts to lose weight actually maintain that for more than a brief period.
This. All of this. (I just said it, but he said it so much better)0
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