Is losing a second time harder?

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jbrown2339
jbrown2339 Posts: 52 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started doing mfp about a year and a half ago, and lost thirty lbs. was very happy with the results. Am a 6'3" man, and was eating about 1900 calories to lose 1.5 lbs a week. Some up, some down. Around the holidays I put on 5 lbs, no biggee, but then did a cruise and came back twenty lbs heavier (lot of food and drink, made bad choices). I was shocked at that, but lost about five of that pretty quick, and assumed I would just lose the total twenty gained again after going back on eating plan as before,

However, I'm still sitting at twenty lbs back that I had lost, and been unable to lose them again, all from January. I still am doing 1900 calories a day, although with all the wet weather, I've been excercising a lot less often then before (primarily walk, jog, hike, bike) since I love being outdoors and hate the gym.

What baffles me is that while I am logging food, and doing similar things to what I did before, I'm not losing much, just fluctuating, reading online I'm seeing some to say eat more since my body is in starvation mode (doubtful), perhaps I should eat less, even some advocate that people like me may have metabolic damage (again, doubtful).

Has anyone been in this situation? I've not been eating back the calories I do burn (still at least walk the dogs twice a day), but those have not been as strenuous as what I like doing (trail running, hiking, mountain biking) due to all the wet weather making the trails muddy. However, since I am keeping calories at that 1900 level, does this make a large difference?

Is it a simple matter of it being harder a second time? Or has my body adjusted to being on a lower calorie diet, and I need to reduce to a 1600 calorie diet, which mfp says would met me 2 lb a week loss? Just confused. Excercising less shouldn't make as big a difference since I am keeping my calories down, right?

Thanks! Just confused and not sure what the best approach is.

Replies

  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited May 2015
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    It's not harder the second time from a mathematical perspective. Your BMR will decrease very slightly with age if all else remains the same. Since it was only a year and a half ago that decrease is negligible.

    Have you been logging your food and eating only 1900 calories since January and not losing?
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    So you are asking why your not losing as much at the same 1900 calories like before. You exercise less right? You are burning less than before if I am reading correctly.
  • LegendOfErin
    LegendOfErin Posts: 18 Member
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    I lost 90 lbs in 2013 and then gained it all back. I am on yet another attempt to lose weight. So far for me, the weight falls off at the same rate as it did before. However it is harder to motivate myself the second time around. I find it harder now psychologically, not physically. So I cannot specifically say that your problem has to do with another attempt. Having said that, I would say perhaps the yo-yo aspect of weight loss/gain may alter your metabolism and that could be why you are struggling. I don't know much about medical aspects of it (maybe a doctor could help you more with it) but this is just coming from my experience.
  • rusgolden
    rusgolden Posts: 1,337 Member
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    You might have your Dr. run some blood work and make sure it isn't something else that is causing the issue. The only time I gained weight that fast (about 30 lbs in just over a month) was when I was diagnosed with thyroid disease. After getting on the correct meds to supplement my deficiency, I am pretty much back to normal as far as how difficult/easy it is to lose weight. Good luck!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Age and losing lean body mass will lower your BMR but it likely isn't enough that losing the second time should be that much more difficult to lose weight. Most of the difficult the second (or third, or fourth...) time around is, IMO, mental (i.e., getting past the self-shaming aspect of having to re-lose the weight.) However, from what I'm reading here, you aren't exercising as much as you were during your previous weight loss effort. It comes down to CICO and your CO aren't as high this time, thus the slower loss rate.
  • andympanda
    andympanda Posts: 763 Member
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    The only reason the 2nd time is harder for me is last time i had an active job. This time i am not working and trying to avoid mindless, boredom eating. But once I got into the swing of things, and created new habits, i do not see much diffrence.
  • jbrown2339
    jbrown2339 Posts: 52 Member
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    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    So you are asking why your not losing as much at the same 1900 calories like before. You exercise less right? You are burning less than before if I am reading correctly.

    That is correct, I have been excercising less, but I'm also not eating back the calories I had won back after I was excercising. Before I would eat some of them back, not all. since I put the weight back on, I have not been eating them back at all, even on the days I do a strenuous bike or hike.

    Guess the question really is, if my prior eating level was at 1900 with excercising (and not eating all my calories back), has that become my new baseline for maintenance? Even at goal, I noticed eating more than 1900 with exercise saw a rise in weight, perhaps my goal should be set lower than what mfp is saying?
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Since you weren't eating all of your exercise calories before, it is possible that you were burning more calories than you thought. Those exercise calories that you didn't eat back add up.
  • Slotpro
    Slotpro Posts: 2 Member
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    jbrown - Thank you so much for asking these questions. I can't believe how similar our stories are. I had dropped weight successfully week after week till around the holidays and after an amazing cruise to Bermuda I came back twenty lbs. heavier as well.

    I admit that I had a hard time getting back into the groove of walking with the cold/snowy filled weather we had in Boston this past winter and I probably ate/drank more calories than I should have adding extra coffee into the plan "to stay warm" ;) .

    The past several weeks I have really stepped up my game and am walking and eating as I did when I started this new lifestyle and have yet to see any results - but am hopeful. I'm anxious to hear what others think about it being harder the second time around. I really did expect to have results of some weight loss by now but - am holding out hope that the more diligent I am to logging and exercise the better my results and it won't be harder the second time around for either one of us. Good luck with your answers on approach and I hope to learn something from your questions so again - thanks for asking!
  • jbrown2339
    jbrown2339 Posts: 52 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Good point. I think I started to read what different blogs had written, and got worried. Some said I needed to eat more calories and do more low intensity exercise, some said to eat less and work out extra hard, some said that would cause metabolic damage....then others said metabolic damage is rare and all these bloggers have it wrong. This is exactly why I hate reading things online!

    I am going to go with the assumption that my calorie burn last year was higher than I thought, I used a jawbone up band and classed everything as easy even if it was strenuous, so as not to over count. I also got an aria scale so I can track more granular weight trends, I've been a bit dispirited at the gain so have weighed less, I bet I've been fluctuating and not captured that.
  • jbrown2339
    jbrown2339 Posts: 52 Member
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    Slotpro wrote: »
    jbrown - Thank you so much for asking these questions. I can't believe how similar our stories are. I had dropped weight successfully week after week till around the holidays and after an amazing cruise to Bermuda I came back twenty lbs. heavier as well.

    I admit that I had a hard time getting back into the groove of walking with the cold/snowy filled weather we had in Boston this past winter and I probably ate/drank more calories than I should have adding extra coffee into the plan "to stay warm" ;) .

    The past several weeks I have really stepped up my game and am walking and eating as I did when I started this new lifestyle and have yet to see any results - but am hopeful. I'm anxious to hear what others think about it being harder the second time around. I really did expect to have results of some weight loss by now but - am holding out hope that the more diligent I am to logging and exercise the better my results and it won't be harder the second time around for either one of us. Good luck with your answers on approach and I hope to learn something from your questions so again - thanks for asking!

    Amazing how much damage a cruise can do!
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited May 2015
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    jbrown2339 wrote: »
    Good point. I think I started to read what different blogs had written, and got worried. Some said I needed to eat more calories and do more low intensity exercise, some said to eat less and work out extra hard, some said that would cause metabolic damage....then others said metabolic damage is rare and all these bloggers have it wrong. This is exactly why I hate reading things online!

    If you're not losing weight then you shouldn't increase your calories. Decrease your calories by 20% of your TDEE, you'll be fine.

    Monitor your food intake accurately, and weigh yourself every morning after going to the bathroom. Chart your data for a few weeks. If your not losing, then you should add more exercise into your routine and keep your calories the same. If you're exercising (cardio more than 3 hours a week) then cut your calories by about 250 and log your progress again for another few weeks. Just repeat this process until you hit your goal weight.

    Unless you slash your calories down to anorexic levels, then no reason to worry about stuff like "metabolic damage". A general rule of thumb is to keep your calories above or at your BMR.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    jbrown2339 wrote: »
    Slotpro wrote: »
    jbrown - Thank you so much for asking these questions. I can't believe how similar our stories are. I had dropped weight successfully week after week till around the holidays and after an amazing cruise to Bermuda I came back twenty lbs. heavier as well.

    I admit that I had a hard time getting back into the groove of walking with the cold/snowy filled weather we had in Boston this past winter and I probably ate/drank more calories than I should have adding extra coffee into the plan "to stay warm" ;) .

    The past several weeks I have really stepped up my game and am walking and eating as I did when I started this new lifestyle and have yet to see any results - but am hopeful. I'm anxious to hear what others think about it being harder the second time around. I really did expect to have results of some weight loss by now but - am holding out hope that the more diligent I am to logging and exercise the better my results and it won't be harder the second time around for either one of us. Good luck with your answers on approach and I hope to learn something from your questions so again - thanks for asking!

    Amazing how much damage a cruise can do!

    Well for the last cruise I went on, its been too long since, I was going to the gym every morning in a sling a month after pectoral repair surgery. I used to drink a lot of alcohol. I must say that If anything I stayed at maintenance during my cruise.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    1900 seems quite low for a 6'3" male. I wonder if you are tracking accurately. Are you weighing and logging everything?
  • jbrown2339
    jbrown2339 Posts: 52 Member
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    girlviernes wrote: »
    1900 seems quite low for a 6'3" male. I wonder if you are tracking accurately. Are you weighing and logging everything?

    It is what mfp gave me, for a 1.5 lb reduction, and Fitbit gave me a similar #.

    I have steered towards things that are easy to measure (tsp or 1/4 cup) vs stuff you have to weigh, or stuff that is so low calorie an exact measurement won't matter (kale, spinach), so that way prevents me from eyeballing stuff. I really think my issue is what was said above, I was alot more active last hear this time of year, and probably had bigger calorie burns, which made up for any occasional eating out splurges. Those are the days I think I undercount calories, but try to keep those to a minimum. Since I'm doing what I did last time, it must be that differential on excercising.....we need the rain (Texas) but it does impact my ability to get out.
  • noxxmod
    noxxmod Posts: 12 Member
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    I'm finding myself in a similar situation. I've re-gained 15 of 75 lbs I lost. This time around it seems like I have to do alot more work to see the scale move. However, when I think back of what I did to lose that weight (2 hours of spin class or other cardio) and very little weight lifting, I don't want to go that route again. Now, I'm reversing it, with more weights (not 2 hours though) and a hour of cardio maybe 2x a week. Hopefully, this will help me reach my goal.

    I'm also getting ready to go on vacation and I'm already dreading not being able to eat what I want so I don't have to pay for when I get back.
  • madcat444
    madcat444 Posts: 38 Member
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    [quote=

    Amazing how much damage a cruise can do! [/quote]

    Oh how true, how true......still, usually worth it at the time. 24/7 food on tap is my idea of heaven....sadly, my body has to go through hell to counteract it! lol :smiley:

  • mizzlarabee
    mizzlarabee Posts: 134 Member
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    Unfortunately, it is harder every time you gain weight back. So many studies to reference here... however, to answer your question, yes it's harder but possible. I would dial back your weight loss goal to .5lb per week and go for the long haul. Drastic weight loss means higher restrictions, which means you're more likely to rebound and put the weight back on and continue in this cycle -- which does get harder every single time.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    jbrown2339 wrote: »
    girlviernes wrote: »
    1900 seems quite low for a 6'3" male. I wonder if you are tracking accurately. Are you weighing and logging everything?

    It is what mfp gave me, for a 1.5 lb reduction, and Fitbit gave me a similar #.

    Connect your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/fitbit

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Set your goal to .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Learn to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging is simple, but it ain't easy. Logging works.

    Read the Sexypants post: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • kozykondition1
    kozykondition1 Posts: 45 Member
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    galgenstrick wrote: »
    It's not harder the second time from a mathematical perspective. Your BMR will decrease very slightly with age if all else remains the same. Since it was only a year and a half ago that decrease is negligible.

    Have you been logging your food and eating only 1900 calories since January and not losing?

    I disagree. When you lose weight the first time around, you lose fat and lean body mass. We calculate approximately 3,500 calories for one pound of fat. But one pound of (fully-hydrated) muscle contains only about 400 calories (3,500 / 9 x 4 /4) (muscles are ~75% water). Glycogen has nearly identical caloric density as muscle (~400). But we only have about 3-4 pounds of glycogen in our body when carb-loaded. Of course water has zero calories and bones virtually zero.

    When you lose weight, you generally lose from all of those categories. But when you regain weight, you gain glycogen first, then fat. And of course, glycogen will settle on an equilibrium depending on your caloric deficit/surplus, exercise regimen, meal timings, and amount of carbohydrates in your diet.

    Losing 50% of your total weight loss from fat is not atypical, especially if you do not lift heavy and take in a surplus of protein in your diet. So you may have only required a ~1,750 - 2,000 calorie deficit to lose weight the first time around. But when you rapidly regain weight, you do not build lean body mass at the same rate as refilling your fat cells. You will lose less lean body mass the second time around, since your body can less afford to lose it based on your weight.

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