Is it much harder on your body losing (alot) of weight the second time around?

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bellagotblues
bellagotblues Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This is my second time at losing a mass amount of weight.

I did it when I was 21 and lost about 60 kg or 130 lbs and it seemed like I did this effortlessly - my body was very responsive and I lost consistently the weight just dropped off me - my skin didn't sag much afterward.

I kept it off for a while. I lost control again and ended up gaining it all back plus a bit more. Biggest mistake/regret of my life.

Now I am 26 and need to start all over, but this time I am noticing my body isn't nearly as responsive or forgiving as it used to be. It feels almost 'impossible' to lose how I did when I was 21. I am very sure I will be left with a lot of excess skin, but more than that I am wondering if my body is even capable of losing that much again? I don't know, it's hard to be motivated again when it feels SO much harder than it used to.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with losing alot of weight for the second time?

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    IMHO it gets harder every single time ...and almost impossible to follow the same weight loss diet you did previously because you already know all the cheats and there's no learning curve

    This is the first time I started off by thinking of the end game, the end game being maintenance for the rest of my life and not yo-yo back up and more ever again. This is the first time I've thrown away all my knowledge and pared it down to CICO and movement. I've been at maintenance since February ..I'm still logging daily and my aim is to always do so
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
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    I'm in an almost identical situation! When I was 21 I went from 75kg to 55kg pretty easily. I lost the first 12kg at a steady rate of 1kg per week for 3 months. And, I didn't even exercise or use a food scale! Much harder this time round (thought less to lose), and I think it's mostly because I'm much more social now and social events at 27 seem to centrer more around nice restaurants and meals rather than house parties, ha.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    When we're younger, it's all new, and we're more resilient.

    We often get jaded when we age.

    That's my theory, anyway. I'm trying to buck the system. :) MFP is new to me. Oooh, shiny! :)
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    When you're younger you move more naturally ...no car, no sedentary job, different social life

  • koala65
    koala65 Posts: 1 Member
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    I believe it always seems harder the second time around because we carry those feelings of guilt of gaining back that weight in the first place. But, no matter of the cause or reason of the weight gain we can still get back to our goals.
    I have started my weight plan again. I solely believe diets do not work at all. There will be some weeks that weight loss does not show on the scale and I have accepted that. I have lost 10 pounds so far and concentrate each day at a time with achieving short term goals of 1-3 months and then I have set goals for my 6 and 12 month goals which does not all involve weightloss and exercise.
    We can all do it for ourselves :)
  • SallyinIL
    SallyinIL Posts: 85 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    This is the first time I started off by thinking of the end game, the end game being maintenance for the rest of my life and not yo-yo back up and more ever again. This is the first time I've thrown away all my knowledge and pared it down to CICO and movement.
    Amen.

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Orphia wrote: »
    When we're younger, it's all new, and we're more resilient.

    We often get jaded when we age.

    That's my theory, anyway. I'm trying to buck the system. :) MFP is new to me. Oooh, shiny! :)

    Laughssss
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    I think when you're younger you're more active, and you don't have the same responsibilities you do when you're older. I gained weight as a teenager, and lost loads at university. I admit I didn't eat much, but I was active walking and cycling everywhere, and I did go out a lot drinking (hey, I'm British :) )

    I started to gain weight again when I was about 26 when I did my teacher training, and then kind of yo-yo'd for a few years, until I got engaged at 30, then I lost 42lbs in 10 months for my wedding. Back then I basically underate too much, and did a lot of cardio. I got pregnant straight after getting married, carried on exercising but still gained. Lost it all. Got pregnant when he was 13 months. Gained way too much this time. Lost it all and more. Got pregnant again when child no.2 was just 2. Now baby no.3 is just 1 and I've lost a lot again, but still have a bit to go.

    I'm finding as a parent I am incredibly active, far more than I was pre kids. We get a year for maternity leave in England which has helped for weight loss as I take my kids out all the time and we walk everywhere. Now I'm back at work, but as a teacher I have a crazy day, rushing about, on my feet all the time. I work part time so get 2 days off to spend doing stuff with my kids, plus the school holidays. Plus I still go to the gym as often as I can. So actually I haven't found losing weight too bad. The biggest challenge for me is the lack of sleep, and the fact that my husband does shift work so now I'm back at work I've had to cut down on the gym a bit. I'm 37 by the way.

    I've changed what I do as well. Now I do a lot of strength training and I focus on fitness goals as well as weight loss ones. Oh, and I've changed from the 1200 calories a day mindset to eating 1600, and that has helped.

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