Lose 10 lbs, Gain 15... Rinse, repeat

Ameengyrl
Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This has happened to me a few times. Is it all in my head? It's like how did I maintain at 250 for a year, lose 10 lbs then once returning to my old eating habits, my weight jumps to 265...

Does anybody have any insight? Or explain scientifically what happens? Does the body store more calories/fat once it's been on a restricted diet?...

Replies

  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    Ameengyrl wrote: »
    This has happened to me a few times. Is it all in my head? It's like how did I maintain at 250 for a year, lose 10 lbs then once returning to my old eating habits, my weight jumps to 265...

    Does anybody have any insight? Or explain scientifically what happens? Does the body store more calories/fat once it's been on a restricted diet?...

    Uhhhh ...

    wpid-storagesdcard0memesalbert-einstein.jpg


  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Of course you're going to regain the weight if you go back to eating the same as you did, that led to weight gain in the first place.... :huh:
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
    Why isn't anyone answering the question? ....
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
    My question is why wouldn't you just return to the same weight... As opposed to gaining more. I'm no longer in this pattern
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Work out how much you have to eat to maintain your weight and go by that.
    You also have to accurately weigh, measure and log your food
  • Mech9
    Mech9 Posts: 252 Member
    Unless you were calorie counting the whole time you have no way of knowing whether you were eating exactly the same amount of calories. You could have returned to "eating like before" but ended up eating more.
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
    Mech9 wrote: »
    Unless you were calorie counting the whole time you have no way of knowing whether you were eating exactly the same amount of calories. You could have returned to "eating like before" but ended up eating more.
    This is probably true.
  • AlaskanPaws
    AlaskanPaws Posts: 1 Member
    It also depends on how you lost the 10 lbs... If you lose muscle, then you could go back to eating the exact same as before, but you have less muscle to burn the fat.
  • healthymama1776
    healthymama1776 Posts: 5
    Homeostasis is when the body wants to return to what it's been at for a lengthy period of time. The reason you are gaining more is because your body thinks it needs to store what you're eating as FAT to prevent more loss. It's a survival thing the body does when it thinks you might be starving it.

    Also, while you may have lost 10 pounds of water, fat, muscle, if you were not working out some to prevent muscle loss, when you return to those eating habits, the fat cells fill back up right away, and the body makes new ones to ensure plenty of energy stores to keep you alive.

    Our body will take the easy way out - homeostasis. That's why once you start exercising and have been doing it a month, you feel cruddy when you DON'T do it....homeostasis works both ways. :) The good news is that you can make it work FOR you if you keep your healthy eating and activity going.....it just becomes part of your life. That is the key.
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
    :) so informative. Thank you so much!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Ameengyrl wrote: »
    Why isn't anyone answering the question? ....

    You ate more than you use to
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    You gained back the weight because you started consuming more calories. I am at goal weight now, and I continue to log in my calories. That 25 pounds was just too hard to lose for me to try and find it again.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    Ameengyrl wrote: »
    My question is why wouldn't you just return to the same weight... As opposed to gaining more. I'm no longer in this pattern

    Because you aren't performing resistance training. Therefore when you lost weight, you lost BOTH muscle and fat. Whereas, when you started regaining you just gained fat. This trashes your metabolism, and causes you to regain more.

    It's a well known phenomenon. That's why temporary diets always fail big time in the long run.

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