Is it easier to lose weight you have already lost once?

I think the hardest thing is maintaining, after losing the weight. I am also back for the 2nd time trying to lose again what I had lost a year ago. It's hard, but you know that you can do it!! I think the best strategy to keep it off long term is to eat what you would normally eat, in smaller quantities and treat yourself once in a while. Otherwise, it's easy to go crazy once you hit your goal because you feel like you deserve it after "depriving" yourself for so long! At least this is my experience...I went gluten free to help me lose and it worked! BUT to maintain that for the long term was not realistic for me and I know that now, I have to eat what I enjoy normally and just keep it in balance. It may take much longer to lose, but like they say it's a lifestyle change, so you're more likely to keep it off in the long term that way. GOOD LUCK! You can do it and you're not alone!!

JeffBrown3 wrote: »

The first time I lost the weight, I thought it was easy. But the second time is definitely harder. I'm sure it's just "in my head" but I don't get excited over losses anymore. I just feel guilty because here I am losing the same weight over again. I believe it's being scared of failing again and again. Dieting and losing pounds is simple. Getting in the right frame of mind isn't always so simple.

Yeah. In the first round, you've got that sense of certainty that you'll succeed. It's a confidence trick.

Second time around, you have to think about it differently. For me, my motivations have changed a little. In addition to the aesthetic ones (which are still there), I want to take care of some creeping health conditions (arthritis, high cholesterol), manage others (IBS), & do my best to stave off the worst. That motivation might not be so available to very young people, though, who haven't seen things show up yet.

I see some people in their 60s, 70s, 80s with very limited lifestyles due to illnesses and chronic pain. (I am related to some.) I know you can't control everything, especially when it comes to health (genes of course play a role), but I don't want to be like them. I want to be like the older people who are still hiking & walking & dancing and enjoying their lives. (Also, exercise can reduce the odds of Alzheimer's, for example.)

So I look at it as body maintenance, like you'd look at car maintenance or something like that. Take care of it and it'll serve you better for longer. (Also as a kind of hygiene. The number of things I have to do on a daily or monthly basis to keep myself in working order has increased by the year I mean, for me it's very clear and immediately obvious that when I don't take care of myself, in a smart way, things start to fall apart.

I think it's important to do that, as a responsible person. Again, you can't control everything, but if you do what you can to keep the worst from happening, maybe it'll lighten the load on people who might have to take care of you later, as well as help maintain a good quality of life.

So for me it's down to that kind of long-term thinking (which quite honestly is kind of a grind, if I let myself think about it, which I don't, I try to let it just amount to habit). Almost as much as wanting to look good in a bathing suit