How fast did you gain your weight? (And why I'll be logging forever)

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Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    edited January 2016
    16 years to gain 100+ pounds. with MOST of the gain being in the last 9 years.

    1 year to lose 70 of it ;)
  • amberlyda1
    amberlyda1 Posts: 154 Member
    80 pounds in less than 2 years. I had major negative life events and i was depressed and ate my feelings. Im much better now and i have lost 25 pounds since the summer
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
    I think the most I ever put on (and subsequently lost and put on again at least two more times) was 25 pounds in 2 years. The weight always seems to come on when I switch jobs and when I don't pay attention to how much I am eating. I also fall into the trap of "I'll eat this pizza now and worry about watching my calories tomorrow." Tomorrow never comes until I've already put on the weight.

    Ultimately, I'd like to achieve not having to log everything, but considering I've put on and lost the same weight numerous times the last 10 years, I will need to log long term before I achieve that. Right now, the plan is to log indefinitely and be mindful of falling into the trap of "I can eat this whole pizza and just get back on track tomorrow."
  • SuggaD
    SuggaD Posts: 1,369 Member
    I gained 100 lbs when I got pregnant so 9 months. I don't think looking at it as an average of a small number of calories provides a good picture. Just as weight loss isn't symmetrical, I don't think weight gain is symmetrical. For example, I can go weeks eating at what appears to be a small surplus and not gain weight. Lots of evening out with all the inaccuracies. The body isn't holding on to every extra 70 calories on a daily basis. But that's just my unscientific opinion.
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I had lost 52 lbs and I've gained back 22lbs of it in the last year and a half....probably more than half of it in the last 8 months. When I'm not logging things I slowly start increasing my portions, I drink too much and I stop exercising. I've always yoyo'd but I'm trying to be accountable sooner so I gain less. I'm not good at getting on the scale when I know I've been eating bad...and the longer I stall, the more I gain.
  • sisu89
    sisu89 Posts: 38 Member
    Wow, this is an interesting question! I did the math, and it took me 6 months to gain 15lbs. It's not a lot, but it's still an overage of almost 300 cals/day. So that means the next 6 months, I averaged having a ~600 cal shortage per day? Is that right? I lost 30 pounds in those 6 months.

    I also never realized it took 6 months to gain it. I just know I changed jobs in June and my pants were too tight in January!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    edited January 2016
    Wiseandcurious wrote: »
    TL;DR: A 70 cal average surplus a day is all it took me to gain almost 100 lbs. in 13 years. That little. So yeah, I'll probably log my food forever. How did you gain your weight? How do you plan not to regain it when you're done losing?

    So today I finally did the math on my own weight gain and I thought the result was worth sharing.

    I have never in my life yo-yoed or really binged. I do sometimes boredom-eat, or eat to postpone an activity I don't want to do, or sometimes even anger-eat, but it's never been a huge thing. Yet at the start of 2015 I was 97 lbs up from where I was at the start of 2002.

    I did the math today and that is a 70 cal a day surplus on average. Assuming it's all fat, which of course it isn't, but I'm just estimating here.

    I truely did not have periods of very rapid weight gain, but there probably were more stressful periods when the weight did creep up a little bit faster so say I was maintaining two thirds of the time (it was closer to half actually) - that still makes it a 210 calorie surplus a day for the periods I was gaining faster. That is, what, 2 slices of bread? Three small apples? A large glass of fruit juice?

    My point is, that kind of difference on a day -to - day basis is so easy to miss. Especially since I've been weighing and logging all my food, I am so acutely aware of this. So weighing and logging it is for me then, for weight loss and hopefully for maintenance after that.

    BTW, why I didn't do anything to stop that creep up the scale? Because I was convinced that weight loss had to be this hard, spartan experience where you starve to be thin. Only on MFP did I learn different, and for that, thank you!

    Did you gain your weight fast, or slowly? Have you regained multiple times? What is your syrategy this time, to lose it and to keep it off?

    I totally understand. It took me 28 years to gain 170 lbs. 5-10 lbs per year. I lost only one time, about 20 lbs when I did Atkins.

    I've thought a lot about how I will maintain. My plan is to set a goal range, continue weigh ins, and when I get above my range, start logging again. This is key because in the past, I obviously knew I was gaining but wasn't sure what to do (even though I'd counted cals to lose) or tried to tell myself that 10 lbs wasn't that big of a deal and I carried my weight well.

    I actually haven't logged since about 3 months in, but I continue to lose. I have logged for a week a few times when I felt like I was starting to stall.

    I've also done the math, and determined that 100 cals per day = 10 lbs per year. That's not much good and not much activity that can make a huge difference.

    SW 301
    CW 176
    GW 150
    19 months
  • anniebag28
    anniebag28 Posts: 29 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I gained about 30 lbs over about 6-7 years. But it wasn't a steady gain. Gain some, lose some, for a net gain.

    I plan to lose it by moving more than I did while gaining (hence my username) since the weekly surplus was a number that is easily burned through exercise. I plan to keep it off by not getting lazy again, though I do expect that I'll be back in the gain some, lose some, cycle.

    Edit: I don't plan to log forever. I rarely log now.

  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    It took me 17 years to put on 100 lbs. It wasn't 100% steady or linear, but it was definitely directly related to my ability to be physically active. I wish I'd counted calories all along, but if wishes were horses beggars would ride. I'll be counting forever now, and honestly, I'm glad because it means I can control this portion of my life no matter how rough my autoimmune disease makes things.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    I think when I did the maths it ended up being 120cal surplus a day for 13 years.

    Such a small amount.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
    All my adult life I was ~105lbs. Seven and a half stone in my head.

    Bought a car and didn't move as much= 30 lbs gain in 5 yr (50-55yo). Highest weight 130, scale change mid loss make the actual numbers a bit ambiguous.
    I averaged it out once too.

    Lost the 30lbs within the year, back to 105, but much, much fitter with fewer jiggly bits.

    Maintained the past 6 years between 100-105. (62yo 5'1- just incase anyone was worried about my weight :) )

    Cheers, h.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
    It takes me a summer of 12 hr work days and standing for 14+ hours to go from size 12 to size 10 and about four months of being back in school and sitting on my duff in class all day to completely reverse all that.... does that help? ;p
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
    I weighed between 150-175 from puberty to 28 years old so I have no clue. I'm bulking right now and gained 8 pounds in 90 days. Little faster than I want. That's with 250 extra calories per day and reckless eating for Thanksgiving, my birthday, and 4 days of xmas dinners and goodies.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    Weighed 158 lbs. at 16. Got a job at a pizza parlor. One year later, I weighed 260.
  • icandothisok007
    icandothisok007 Posts: 2 Member
    Gained about 80 pounds in less than 1 year. Stress, depression and several surgeries. Already down 35. It amazes me how quickly I gained. I had a total thyroidectomy and I remember asking if the rapid weight gain was related. I was told on average only 5 to 10 pounds is gained.
  • x311Tifa
    x311Tifa Posts: 357 Member
    Gained 100 in 5 years. I am thinking I am going to log forever. We will see, but for the next 3 for sure as I work on losing it all.
  • missionYCO
    missionYCO Posts: 31 Member
    I put on 50 pounds in 3 months at the end of 2014 :( One year and three months since I hit 'peak', I've lost 23 pounds and I want to lose another 20.
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
    20 pounds in 2 and a half years (still a net loss of 75 pounds so it's not too bad). The way I eat hasn't really changed but I changed jobs within my career and while I LOVE my job it's been hell on my gym schedule. I used to have time to go to the gym everyday after work but now I'm not as active as I once was.

    I can't eat like I train 6 days a week if I don't actually train 6 days a week anymore.
  • ModernRock
    ModernRock Posts: 372 Member
    edited January 2016
    I could have written a similar post. I've slowly and steadily gained--increasingly sedentary jobs, more money for food, and less "running around"-- from a muscular and lean 195 in 2000 to a max of 255-260 in fall 2015. (I'm 6'2".) There were certainly times where I tried to be more active, but no fad diets and certainly no more than 10 pounds lost. Since Sept 2015 I'm down 35 pounds to 219 as of yesterday. I ate no less than 1600 calories for the first month or so and never less than 1900 since then. I have a sedentary job, but I'm pretty active around the house and yard. I've done very little intentional exercise and have put off weight lifting until I get down to around 200 and allow an elbow injury to heal.
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
    I gained 16 pounds over about 6 years, so yeah not eating at much of a surplus at all. Moved 5 times in there, got divorced. Probably most days I wasn't eating at a surplus at all. But I love a big meal.... Love to go out to eat. I think that I will be able to just "keep in touch" with calorie counting when I get to my goal. Watch the scale and my clothes and track if I start to notice a up trend. I hope so anyway :)

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