Any people lost weight and have kept it off for 3 years or more?

I went from 178 to 124 and stayed there until last year (injury), currently working my way down very slowly.

I was motivated by the fitness side, so started there. I started with Jillian Michaels DVDs, then added C25K, as well as circuit training (with dumbbells up to 20 lbs) and plyometric bodyweight workouts (bodyrock, then led by zuzana light, who has her own channel now - zuzka light on youtube). I started proper weight training kind of late, once I was in maintenance. I worked out with intensity most days, for 30-60 minutes.

(I should say that all that high impact activity was ultimately not good for my joints, despite good shoes and attention to form. Poor biomechanics, hypermobility, many years of sedentary living, and doing all that jumping as an overweight person added up to an ankle injury, which I think contributed to other injuries further up the chain and which I am dealing with still today. So I wouldn't recommend going that route, especially if you have any reason to suspect you might have bad biomechanics. Instead, I'd suggest staying away from high impact activity and focusing on weight training and low-impact cardio.)

Food: I used the TDEE method and went with a very conservative deficit, which I found very sustainable and easy to adhere to. I ranged from 1800 to 2200 (I'm 5'7, well 5.65).

Focusing on food quality helped me meet my calorie goals without getting hungry. I stuck with meat, veggies, dairy, nuts, legumes (beans less often), whole wheat/grainy bread and pasta, didn't get into fruits too often. Mostly cooked my food - meats and salads, and small portions of starchy carbs. I mostly used measuring cups - used scales for a while, but they broke down on me, and the measuring cups were fine for me. I also sometimes had frozen stuff from a "lighter" brand I liked (PC Blue Menu, if you're in Canada) for when I was lazy. I occasionally had fast food, but didn't make a habit of it (because it got me off track). I didn't keep trigger foods in the house, made myself go out to get single servings out of the house. I'd say I was pretty consistently eating 80/20 for healthy vs. treat foods.

The year of weight loss, I probably did get a bit obsessed It was all new, so there was just a lot to learn, about which foods and meals worked for me, and how to connect the food I saw and felt with portions and measurements. All that was useful and stuck with me. In maintenance, I was able to relax, because by then I knew what worked and didn't, and I had my menu of meals, which kept me pretty satisfied. I stopped counting calories around the third year into it, and it was fine.

To lose the last few pounds of regain that came up this year, I am having to learn new ways of keeping calories down, because I can no longer rely on those calorie burns, so my target is lower. 1700 feels very different from 2200 I'm still tweaking my diet to do that, but for me, focusing on food quality is still a winning strategy for satiety. Also, I'm reducing carbs, by a bit.

I have. I'm in my 50's. This was my first time trying to lose weight - I had just moved out of the top of my healthy BMI and dropped 40 pounds. I'm now around 21.

It was easy. I logged everything. I figured out what the major source of calories was I didn't care about (bread, milk, cheese). I dropped down on those. That gave me a deficit. Once I lost the weight, I loosened up a little and added more exercise.

I always ate food I loved. I don't eat food I don't like. I don't eat out of habit. I ate whatever I want, but small portions of things that are calorie dense. I log like I brush my teeth or wash my hair - it's something I do without thinking too much about.

Although I continue to log, it is quite rare that I have to stop myself from eating because I'm at the top of my calories. More often, my log tells me to eat more because I'm too low. Or it tells me maybe I should walk a little more tomorrow to make up for that second piece of pizza I ate today because it tasted so good.

Information is power.

Me!!! I lost 40 lbs (WW) 6 years ago, and I'm still maintaining
I may gain 3-5 lbs if I relax too much, but then I go back to basics and Voilá!
Back to goal

I'm coming up on completing Year #1 on maintenance. Here is what is helping me stay on-track and not regaining the almost 75 pounds I've lost:

1. Weekly weighing
2. Using MFP journal for maintenance calorie intake
3. Fitbit to measure activity and keeping it balanced with MFP
4. Allow myself ever so often a "no guilt" day. The longer I'm on maintenance, the less I want these.
5. What I have is a goal weight +/- 5 pounds for variance. Life happens and being 1 pound over my goal shouldn't cause emotional stress.
6. Reminding myself that if this is worth having, it is worth working hard for.

Honestly, my negative side tries to tell me that I'll be in the % of people that gain it back. My focused side says "PROVE THEM ALL WRONG....YOU ARE DOING THIS!!!"

Hope this helps. Look forward to sharing my 3 year mark when it happens.

FitBit to maintain an average of at least 10K steps per day
Weigh and log everything I eat in MyFitnessPal
Try to keep wasted calories to a minimum
Indulge in ice cream, fast food or restaurant meals rarely....and as a special treat
Weigh myself daily

bfanny wrote: »

Me!!! I lost 40 lbs (WW) 6 years ago, and I'm still maintaining
I may gain 3-5 lbs if I relax too much, but then I go back to basics and Voilá!
Back to goal

the bolded part for me too.

Me. 50 pounds for 8 years.
I yoyo around with about 15 pounds.

I try to focus on little bits of acivity..doing chores, walking the dog, walking to the market.
I no longer drink alchohol. I limit cheese, bread and butter most days.

I lost 95 lbs and have kept it off for 4 years. I initially lost it by diet and light exercise but I found the trick to be coffee, green tea and vitamins daily. I don't exercise much anymore and I sit at a desk all day. I keep my metabolism going so the foods I eat don't sit in my body. I do bi weekly clenses of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and water. Sometimes I binge and gain a few pounds but I quickly loose it by detox and greens for a few days. Its all about balance. I take supplements such as acidophilus, flax seed oil, fish oil, b12, hair/nail vitamins, acai and spurlina. They also help suppress my appetite. When I was 240 lbs I didn't take any vitamins. I found instant results once my metabolism sped up and I've been able to maintain it with a lifestyle change in diet.

I think rybo made a great observation. Calorie bombs. Some people may eat too much all the time. But I (and sounds like him and also the person who dropped butter and cheese most days) just have a few things that add just enough calories for a slow weight climb. Get rid of those and you're good.

I've lost about 50 lbs 10 years ago and lost it again after having 2 kids. The important things for me are staying active and continually challenging your body most days, weighing every day, eating more protein and fiber to feel full, and having treats sometimes just not ALL the time. Once these became habits and part of my life, it's really not hard to keep the weight off.

yusaku02 wrote: »

It's been about 2.5 years. I went from 200 pounds to 153. When I got that slim I decided I wanted to start lifting weights and build some muscle so I've slowly gained up to about 175 pounds while keeping my body fat % under 15.
Once you've established healthy eating habits you don't really get cravings for garbage foods and you don't need to keep such a careful watch over your calories. I don't think I've tracked my calories for longer than a week at any point in the last year.

Awesome! I want to do this.

I went from 109kg to around 72kg and have been maintaining for about four years now. I'm now around 69, planning to go down to around 65kg. It's all about finding what works for you—you can have the most perfect diet and fitness plan but if you hate living like that, it's not gonna work long-term. I love food and still eat everything I ate when I was obese, just in smaller amounts and with a different balance (pasta sauces, for example, now contain more veggies and less cheese most of the time). I also discovered forms of exercise I enjoy, which makes it easy to stick to that, too. Also, like others have said, knowledge is power.

I'm at 2.5 years that I've kept off 60 lbs. I'd like to lose 10 more if I can. I've gained 5 lbs from my lowest set weight, but that's a combo of increasing my muscle mass and at times not eating right. I'm 43 and was overweight almost all my life. My heaviest was 265 lbs when I was 30 years old.

Here's what worked for me:

-Weighing myself at least every other day.
-Using MFP to log everything I eat.
-Having high protein snacks (beef jerky, Think Thin bars)
-Having a pre-planned breakfast and lunch. Lunch is always a bagged salad kit from the grocery store.
-Every weekday I walk as much as I can. Usually at least 6 miles a day.
-Converting my work desk to a standing desk.
-Donating all my clothes that were too big for me (this made a psychological change that my new size is now normal).
-Changing my eating habits permanently. Except for very rare occasions I don't eat chips or cookies or crackers. Basically if it's "shelf stable" I don't eat it. I also make sure I eat at least 4 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
-When I eat at a restaurant I choose things from the menu in this order: Salad --> Fish --> Chicken --> Meat --> Pasta. Even if you don't know the calorie count, you're fairly safe ordering a salad or fish to stay on track.

TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »

Me, kept it off for a bit more than 20 years
Became injured and gained weight and now almost back were i was before and start maintaining again.

the way i kept it off? Control, not over eating and i was very active. Ate the same amount of calories as i burned.

Sorry to hear that you were injured. Congrats on getting back to maintenance, though.