Almost everyone quits losing weight

Its hard to really nail down what was different this time - but I think it boils down to realizing a) I'm lazy by nature and b) once I admitted that to myself it became a choice. And I choose to be a more active version of me - I'm liking the results. Not just in terms of being at a new weight, but my energy level and feeling better overall.

glickman1 wrote: »

Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it?
Why do you think others quit?
What makes you different?

I don't know if I'm different, or if I will be different, I don't know if I will regain the weight or not, but what I know is that I have found my groove and for the first time in my life have been able to lose weight. 100 pounds down and 2 years later I'm still losing. I don't know what that means in terms of my future weight, all I know is that I like it so far!

joaniee2003 wrote: »

I'm so scared I will lose motivation and quit or quit because I hate compliments from strangers.

I have found I self-sabatoge myself due to this. I've been at this for 2 years, have lost 70 lbs, and am half way to my goal but have been sitting here for a year because of the unwanted attention it draws. I don't like attention, I would rather not be noticed but people have noticed and it makes me uncomfortable. As soon as I can deal with those issues, I know I will be able to complete this journey.

1. I don't think I'm 'staying strong'. I think that I've learned many things about health and weight loss that I didn't know before - which is why I've managed to actually lose and maintain a healthy weight.
2. I think others don't manage to stick with it because they haven't learned the things about health and fitness and weight that they need to make themselves successful... and most don't know that they don't know, so they aren't looking for the information. Once they find it, they'll be successful too (I hope).
3. The thing that makes me different is the fact that I actually know what I'm doing with my health now. I have goals and I actually know how to achieve them. I am so thankful I found MFP. Once I actually started using it, losing weight was easy, maintaining a healthy weight was easy, getting into fitness was easy... because so many people here have BTDT, and are incredibly willing to help others. I'm grateful for the 'mean' MFP users who share their information - even if it feels like a kick in the gut sometimes. They are the reason I have succeeded, and the reason I know the things I needed to know in order to maintain better health.

Why do you think you'll stay strong and stick with it? I have already lost more than half the weight I want to lose....NOT giving up this time!! I know that food and body image will always be somewhat of a struggle for me, but I've come so far and become so strong that I know I can certainly maintain my new healthy lifestyle.


Why do you think others quit? Not patient enough-- losing weight isn't something that happens overnight, in a week, or even a month. Its takes time. You have to work for it- exercise and eat healthy!!

What makes you different? I am ME!! Doing my own thing!! They say eat 3 meals a day, or 5 small portions!! I'm breaking the rules...lol...just listening to my body and eating when I'm hungry and snacking on veggies and fruits if I feel I need it!!

I've stuck with it for years, so I don't see myself changing. I had a temporary blip when I was 26/27 when I did my teacher training and I was so busy and stressed that I slacked off from the gym for a bit, but I got back into it, and I didn't exercise much in my 2nd pregnancy, but I exercised through my first and third pregnancies, and I was back at the gym 5+ times a week after my 6 week check with all 3 of my babies. My youngest is now 7 months and I have no plans to quit anytime soon!

I've always had to exercise a lot to be slim so it's a good thing I enjoy exercise . It's just part of my life.

I suppose others quit because they're not really committed to it, or because they restrict calories too much. Not everyone is bothered if they put on a little weight. Just because I love exercise I don't assume that everyone is the same.

I don't know what makes me different. Very strong willpower?

I'm 40. I've been on and off diets since I was 8. With a few bouts of various sorts of disordered eating in there too for good measure. So this is not my first ride on this pony. But I think I might stick with it this time. I lost quite a lot of weight a few years ago, and never went back to anywhere near the weight I started out at. That's pretty encouraging.

THIS time round, I've learned to have a meal off, not a day off. This time round I've learned to start again immediately when I fall off the pony. This time round, I've found a way of exercising that I enjoy and look forward to, instead of it feeling like punishment. And it's become such a part of my routine that no matter how blergh I feel, not going to the gym is going to make me feel worse than staying home. ( I usually tell myself on blergh days that I'll just put my kit on. After making that effort, I find I might as well go lift some damn weights.) This time, I'm at a point in my life where I've learned to accept myself, with all my faults, but still constantly strive to do better. I'm also wiser and less stupid, so I'm approaching this with kindness and a sensible attitude.

Also I'm sort of competing with someone else, for the first time ever, and it turns out that I'm pretty damn competitive. :-)

And I'm not even more motivated than I've ever been before - I started with just moving more about 18 months ago, and I've built up a comfy momentum that feels easy to sustain.

I think others quit because they want quick fixes. So they make it way too hard on themselves. I think there's a perception that dieting has to feel like suffering - if you don't hate it, it can't be working.

Now that I've worked out that eating lots of protein stops me wanting to overeat, I can see how the way I ate before, both on and off diets, was very like feeding an addiction, kicking it, and then getting hooked all over again, every day. I think lots of people who will start in January and fail will not be paying attention to their macros, will be trying gimmicky diets that aren't sustainable. They'll beat themselves up when they fail, and decide, even unconsciously, that it's easier to just not try. Then there's that whole "start again Monday" mentality that leads to binges, and the yo-yo dieting cycle.

I'm not different from anyone else. If I was, I wouldn't have been trying to get fit and healthy for 32 years. But I've learned and developed so that I have a better chance of getting to where I want to be. This time.

dangie2002 wrote: »

You are right, in the past, I'd get only so far and quit. I'd get frustrated, tired of depriving myself of what I wanted. What makes it different this time? I've come to realize I'm an emotional eater and binger. I'm learning to love me which means I need to show myself I love myself by making choices that will help me and not hurt me. So far, I'm in uncharted territory, most weight loss ever, longest consistent commitment to exercise ever, learning that all foods are permissible but not necessarily beneficial. If I want chocolate, I have a piece, not the whole bag. Everything in moderation. I've also discovered a joy with exercising, especially weight training. I've come to realize that this is my life, not a temporary fix. If I stop, I will be right back where I was before I started this journey 2 years ago.

Yep. This. All of it. I have chocolate in my house. Some of it has been there for weeks. WEEKS!! I can have one piece and walk away. For someone who has never had disordered eating, this may seem like a silly thing to get excited about, but bloody hell, this is exciting me. It's like I've developed a super power!

I am one of those people that quit...a couple of times. It was always for a different reason. Once it was because my diet was too restrictive and made me miserable. Another time it was a vacation trip that disrupted my routine and turned into weeks of mindless eating. Yet another time, it was loss and grieving that disrupted the routine (and all that food people bring to the berieved.) Despite the fact that the way I was losing weight didn't seem all that restrictive, it apparently wasn't sustainable enough to bear up under life's unexpected events.

I'm back at it again. I'm now doing things in a different way (a type of IF) and I have the added incentive of a health scare (or more accurately, a health epiphany.) It early days yet, but it may be that the "health first" motivation mentioned by a previous poster may be the thing. That and the fact that at my age, I'm running out of decades to repair the damage already done by careless consumption.

I don't think I'll quit because I worked on my mental health before/during this "lifestyle change". A lot of people lose the weight, then realize they still don't like what they see in the mirror, or see things they didn't notice before like wrinkles (none of that pudge to fill in fine lines! )... so they say screw it, I don't like what I see now, so why not go back to how I was before, not liking what I see but at least being able to comfort myself the way I'm used to?

I'm not going to be like that. :]