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

Options
12346

Replies

  • ElvenToad
    ElvenToad Posts: 644 Member
    Options
    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.
  • MystifiedFluff
    MystifiedFluff Posts: 50 Member
    Options
    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.
  • DavidSTC
    DavidSTC Posts: 173 Member
    Options
    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.
  • logiatype
    logiatype Posts: 110 Member
    Options
    I realized, some time ago, that I'll have to log my food for the rest of my life.
  • mysmileighs
    mysmileighs Posts: 103 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Coolhandkid
    Coolhandkid Posts: 84 Member
    Options
    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.
  • deboraht007
    deboraht007 Posts: 3 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Kimdbro
    Kimdbro Posts: 922 Member
    Options
    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.
  • persistentsoul
    persistentsoul Posts: 268 Member
    Options
    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 sustanable
  • marissanik
    marissanik Posts: 344 Member
    Options
    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.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    Options
    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.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Options
    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.
  • TLCEsq
    TLCEsq Posts: 413 Member
    Options
    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!
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    Options
    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
    YES!!!
    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. :(
    Ya gotta start somewhere.
    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
    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.
    Yet there are women who get pregnant more than once.
    Talk about completely preventable pain & suffering!
    who the *kitten* are you to judge her?! ... Mind yourself and stop being a judgmental prick.
    Pot, kettle.
    Besides, he said he's not judging, he's wondering why someone would throw away all that hard work.
    I don't think there's any evidence that how you lose it matters
    The CDC disagrees with you.
    "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
    All the before times were eating once a day, fad diets, excessive exercise, and aiming for 4-5+lbs per week losses
    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.
    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.
    started taking anti- depressants that had a side effect of weight gain
    No, they didn't cause the weight gain. You were eating more than your body needed.
    There could be all kinds of reasons why a person gains weight
    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.
    Weight goes up when the person is eating more calories than their body needs.
    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.
    now that life is 'under control' (at least as much as it can be with a 3 year old).
    :laugh:
  • mmd575
    mmd575 Posts: 88 Member
    Options

    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.
  • mmd575
    mmd575 Posts: 88 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Options
    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.
    Pretty much this.
    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.
  • andyrh525
    andyrh525 Posts: 8
    Options
    Only weak people gain the weight back. It takes hard work to lose weight, and equally as hard to maintain.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Options
    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.
    I should just stop posting and look for your post to quote. :happy: You have a way with words my friend.
    This. All of this. (I just said it, but he said it so much better)

Categories