My Struggle My Weakness

Milizxa
Milizxa Posts: 9 Member
edited December 3 in Food and Nutrition
Hello,

I've been on MFP for a few years now and my weight is a horrible reminder of how my "diet" (lifestyle change) is going. It goes of great! I lose the weight hit a goal and I push forward but then slowly the weight crawls back. Never fails. No matter what I eat, how much how little the ending is ALWAYS the same. My weight always crawls back up.

I've done weight watchers in high school

I've done pills

I've done clean eating

I've done reverse dieting

I've done a lot

Replies

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,563 Member
    I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. Can you let us know what kind of support you're looking for? This is an amazing community with so many people who've reached their goals in so many different ways, and so many willing to share their experience.
  • JinjoJoey
    JinjoJoey Posts: 106 Member
    edited September 2016
    Do you continue to track your food after you've hit your goals? Most people gain back because they simply go back to their old eating habits and get lax on what they eat. For a lot of people, especially people who have always struggled with weight, it needs to be a permanent lifestyle change. Myself, for example, I haven't always struggled with weight, but in the last 10-15 years of my life, I haven't really cared about nutrition or my weight, which led to me getting way out of shape and needing to track all my food to get back on track. I don't know if I'll track for the rest of my life, but I'm going to be tracking for the extended foreseeable future because I know if I quit tracking and don't pay attention, I'll probably gain weight back.

    It may just be something you always have to track. Once you hit your goal, tell MFP that you want to maintain your current weight and make sure you always come in at your recommended calories and do your best to log and track everything.

    EDIT: I just want to say the word "Track" one more time.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    First time I tried MFP that happened to me - lost it then gained it all (and a bit more) back even though I was still doing a bunch of classes at the gym just about every workday.

    It was because I was not eating enough (the default 1200) and doing a stack of cardio.

    After that I learnt to eat more, do less cardio and slooooooooowly - agonizingly slowly like almost invisible stopping weight loss happened. Scales didn't budge much but clothes started to feel better and dress sizes drop.

    Took AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGES.

    I now am giving maintenance a go using IIFYM.

    Maybe you need to revise your goals and as someone told me (my old trainer) if it took you a year to get fat it should take you a year to lose and be able to keep the weight off. You can lose it quickly yes - but won't keep it off because as soon as you eat normally again the weight comes back.

    Good luck :)
  • DetroitDarin
    DetroitDarin Posts: 955 Member
    Some of us - ME - cannot go on a diet. We have to fundamentally change who we are and stop eating so-damned-much. That's the brutal fact. But it's only brutal until the change happens. Your body will obey you; it will comply and that compliance may take very real pain and frustration. I am so sorry you are having trouble but I would not wish this battle away for anyone because upon your success and by success I mean 'during your trials and struggles' you will become measurably better and grow as a person. You do not have faith perhaps, but let others have faith for you. You got this - no matter how hard you have to work, if you want this? You got it.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Milizxa wrote: »
    I've been on MFP for a few years now and my weight is a horrible reminder of how my "diet" (lifestyle change) is going. It goes of great! I lose the weight hit a goal and I push forward but then slowly the weight crawls back. Never fails. No matter what I eat, how much how little the ending is ALWAYS the same. My weight always crawls back up.

    I've done weight watchers in high school
    I've done pills
    I've done clean eating
    I've done reverse dieting
    I've done a lot

    You have made an amazing discovery. You've found out what doesn't work. Now, do what does work. Don't go on diets. Calling the diet a lifestyle change doesn't make it less of a diet. Dieting is eating less to lose weight. You need to eat less to lose weight. But you need to eat well to be able to eat less. Your diet is how and what you eat. Create your own diet. One that you can and will stick to. One that doesn't require you to push. One that you don't want to go off just because you've hit goal weight and feel "done" (and "done for"). This diet will take an effort to assemble (because of all the preconceptions we have about "healthy eating"), but very little effort to stay on.
  • suzieprstn199
    suzieprstn199 Posts: 25 Member
    I agree with the comment above. Mfp works for me because it's not a diet as such, its changing how I eat and view food. As the calorie allowance so gradually drop as my weight drops, I grow accustomed to eating that many calories so it's maintainable. Don't look at it as a diet, that's a short term view, take the long-term viewpoint. Its a change for life, it will take some time to implement and run smoothly. Best of luck, you can do it!
  • biggsterjackster
    biggsterjackster Posts: 419 Member
    That's why I am counting calories for the rest of my life. After weightloss you got to keep an eye on your maintenance calories. Always!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You have to keep the same mindset than when you're losing. Just with a bit more calories. People hate the whole 'lifestyle change' phrase but it's really what it is. There's no 'ending'. It's forever.

    I suggest you go browse the 'maintenance' forum, lots of good advice there not to gain the weight back.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Milizxa wrote: »
    Hello,

    I've been on MFP for a few years now and my weight is a horrible reminder of how my "diet" (lifestyle change) is going. It goes of great! I lose the weight hit a goal and I push forward but then slowly the weight crawls back. Never fails. No matter what I eat, how much how little the ending is ALWAYS the same. My weight always crawls back up.

    I've done weight watchers in high school

    I've done pills

    I've done clean eating

    I've done reverse dieting

    I've done a lot

    The problem, as I hope you've discovered by now, is that you've been constantly aiming to lose weight as a short term goal. Instead of shooting for a goal then returning to old habits after you reach it make a permanent change you can live with for the rest of your life. That means no pills, no "clean" eating if you don't intend to keep with it, no reverse dieting (whatever that is), just simply eating few enough calories to maintain the weight you want to be. It's really that simple.

    One of the easiest ways to lose weight and get to and maintain a goal weight is simply to eat and exercise in a balanced way to maintain your goal weight now. If you consistently eat at that calorie level, you will eventually reach that weight because that's the way our bodies work. It will certainly take longer to reach that goal weight than if you were eating to drop a lot of weight quickly but you'll teach yourself how to maintain your weight for the rest of your life.

    Find an exercise regimen you can live with. Find a way of eating and a calorie level that you can stand to eat from this point forward and simply do those things on a regular basis. You'll have a lot more success than dropping a bunch of weight quickly on a crash diet but never learning how to maintain the weight you want to be.
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