For those of you who lost weight then gained it back....

ricelean
ricelean Posts: 18 Member
in Motivation and Support
How did you lose weight last time? What are you doing differently this time to avoid gaining it back again?

Replies

  • SisterSueGetsFit
    SisterSueGetsFit Posts: 1,211 Member
    I lost about 50 pounds and then fell off track. Although I only gained back about 3 pounds, that's all it took. I stagnated at 50 pounds down for about 3 months, not losing anything. For me, it's about consistency. Once i start sliding, I slide far. The honest truth is, it's a lifestyle change, not a diet. I'm going to eat pizza, have a drink (although not for the next few months) eat cake and whatnot. You CAN do this, you have to do this because it's part of living. Just don't do it everyday. I try to keep in mind my health is important and I'm doing this to live longer. I don't know if that was too much rambling or if it will help... But there you go.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    edited October 2016
    I lost 38 pounds in my late 20s - I went from 164 to about 126 lbs as my lowest weight (but would fluctuate between 126 & 130) I'm 5' 4".

    Unfortunately I did it with a crash type diet that was also overly strict as far as what I couldn't eat- no sugar, salt, dairy, butter, oil, processed foods... red meat had to be smaller portions, nuts had to be raw... etc. It was a portions based diet so I had no idea how many calories I was eating at the time but later did the math and it was only 900 to 1100 calories a day.

    I will say it was effective for quick weight loss, but I was hungry all the time and I bet I lost a lot of muscle along with fat because though I was thin I was not strong and I was still kinda squishy. (I basically became "skinny fat")

    And I had no idea how to maintain and every time I ate off plan I would gain weight! So I tried my best to just keep doing the diet and managed to keep it off for almost 2 years...but after a while my hunger hormones took over and I started eating bigger portions and previously forbidden foods... salty foods, chocolate, ice cream, butter, olive oil, cheeses... soon I had gained about half of it back...

    I stayed there for a while which wasn't bad, though I was a bit heavier than I wanted to be and longed to be thin again but at least I wasn't back to my old weight...

    But then life went on and things happen- I developed some severe female health issues that troubled me more and more for like 4 years before finally getting a hysterectomy. Crazy hormones, inactivity, comfort foods, wine, and surgery left me at my heaviest weight yet: 167 pounds!

    I'm now down to 159 (and losing more every day) after doing a ton of research, trying many things, and finally stumbling upon what actually works... eating in a MILD calorie deficit, regular exercise including weight training and hiit cardio, as little stress as possible, and eating enough protein.

    I've been pretty weak all my life and my mom always made fun of me because she's super strong... well when I started paying attention to my macros I realized I wasn't even eating half the daily recommended protein for a sedentary female (and I was active, not sedentary!). I now try to get at least 100 grams a day, and it's helped me become strong, gain muscles, and now that I'm in a deficit it's helping me lose weight too- yay! It's hard because I can only eat 1-3 ounces of meat at a sitting (more just seems gross to me), so I have found various other ways to consume more (protein shakes, Greek yogurt, etc).

    I think this time I will be successful in losing AND maintaining because I understand more about how the body and metabolism works, calories, macros, and I have a new love of fitness on my side now too. I also have a PLAN for when I reach my goal weight- a reverse diet. Thats where you very slowly increase your calories up to maintenance so it gives your metabolism a chance to adjust and increase along with the calorie increase for minimal rebound weight gain.

    I'm also going to be more realistic about my goal weight too- I'm older and more muscular now and not aiming for "skinny" like I was the first time- now I just want to get to a healthy weight and bmi and be fit and feel good. :)
  • BigGMK83
    BigGMK83 Posts: 14 Member
    I lost 70lb in my mid 20s - found it easy then as I had a very active job, long hours, I had total focus on intake, then... lifestyle change - new desk job, less focus on food as the workplace mentality is work work work - you're lucky to stop for a breather for lunch. I spend 9 hours a day sitting on my backside in front of a computer which is killing me. I have been working out with kettlebells for a couple of years and have never been stronger, yet I've gained the ~80lb excess weight back. It really started to get to me until earlier this month when I decided I've finally had enough of yoyo dieting and estimating food intake. I'm back on the wagon with reasonable goals set, accurate food tracking in place, fitness band to kick my backside when I've been stagnant in front of an LCD screen for too long... No more disappointment, no more fooling myself, no more Mr Nice Guy :)
  • Berkgal33
    Berkgal33 Posts: 71 Member
    I am the yo-you queen! I have lost 20-30 pounds many times, 50 pounds, gained it back, 80 pounds, gained it back and now I am into my 3rd MAJOR weight loss. 75 pounds down and 15 to go. This time I did it slowly. I didn't jump in with crazy calorie restriction, 5-6 1.5-2 hour workouts weekly. I worked on my food/diet for a full month. Then added exercise at home for 3 months, then started back at the gym. I go 4x weekly for 1-1.25 hours. This time I track EVERYTHING I eat. The good, bad and ugly! I don't weigh myself as much as I should, it is really hard for me, but I KNOW when I have been less than ideal.
  • ricelean
    ricelean Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks for answering, this is truly awesome to hear!
    How about eating the number of calories you need at your goal weight? That way when you hit the goal, you won't need to reverse diet to eat more. Since that's your maintenance calorie intake already, your maintenance weight should be stable.

    How's your work helping you / limiting you from keeping everything's on track?
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    I lost 38 pounds in my late 20s - I went from 164 to about 126 lbs as my lowest weight (but would fluctuate between 126 & 130) I'm 5' 4".

    Unfortunately I did it with a crash type diet that was also overly strict as far as what I couldn't eat- no sugar, salt, dairy, butter, oil, processed foods... red meat had to be smaller portions, nuts had to be raw... etc. It was a portions based diet so I had no idea how many calories I was eating at the time but later did the math and it was only 900 to 1100 calories a day.

    I will say it was effective for quick weight loss, but I was hungry all the time and I bet I lost a lot of muscle along with fat because though I was thin I was not strong and I was still kinda squishy. (I basically became "skinny fat")

    And I had no idea how to maintain and every time I ate off plan I would gain weight! So I tried my best to just keep doing the diet and managed to keep it off for almost 2 years...but after a while my hunger hormones took over and I started eating bigger portions and previously forbidden foods... salty foods, chocolate, ice cream, butter, olive oil, cheeses... soon I had gained about half of it back...

    I stayed there for a while which wasn't bad, though I was a bit heavier than I wanted to be and longed to be thin again but at least I wasn't back to my old weight...

    But then life went on and things happen- I developed some severe female health issues that troubled me more and more for like 4 years before finally getting a hysterectomy. Crazy hormones, inactivity, comfort foods, wine, and surgery left me at my heaviest weight yet: 167 pounds!

    I'm now down to 159 (and losing more every day) after doing a ton of research, trying many things, and finally stumbling upon what actually works... eating in a MILD calorie deficit, regular exercise including weight training and hiit cardio, as little stress as possible, and eating enough protein.

    I've been pretty weak all my life and my mom always made fun of me because she's super strong... well when I started paying attention to my macros I realized I wasn't even eating half the daily recommended protein for a sedentary female (and I was active, not sedentary!). I now try to get at least 100 grams a day, and it's helped me become strong, gain muscles, and now that I'm in a deficit it's helping me lose weight too- yay! It's hard because I can only eat 1-3 ounces of meat at a sitting (more just seems gross to me), so I have found various other ways to consume more (protein shakes, Greek yogurt, etc).

    I think this time I will be successful in losing AND maintaining because I understand more about how the body and metabolism works, calories, macros, and I have a new love of fitness on my side now too. I also have a PLAN for when I reach my goal weight- a reverse diet. Thats where you very slowly increase your calories up to maintenance so it gives your metabolism a chance to adjust and increase along with the calorie increase for minimal rebound weight gain.

    I'm also going to be more realistic about my goal weight too- I'm older and more muscular now and not aiming for "skinny" like I was the first time- now I just want to get to a healthy weight and bmi and be fit and feel good. :)

  • astrocosmiczoom
    astrocosmiczoom Posts: 86 Member
    I lost 21 pounds, then I joined the military. Ate lots in basic training, gained about 19 back, lost 5 after that and maintained that for a while, then got to Alaska and gained 20 ;D
  • chdspdmom
    chdspdmom Posts: 177 Member
    I was underweight after my first child. My second was borm with complex congenital heart defects and the weight just crawl on me. All the hospital months, operations, stress... I reached 102 kg in 2 years. Got my stuff together, lost 20kg in 7 months, mostly proper diet and exercises. After another operarion got 15 kg back. Then i went on juice detox and lost those 15 kgs in 2 months, but got my back injured and lots of other emotional stuff happened and here I am again at 95.5 kgs... Its just not easy as I am emotional eater. Every time I get down I eat. Basically I eat for every emotion :blush: this app I use as a tracker not planner and it disciplines me. And I also am very positive on not giving in to whatever life wants to trow my way again. My past has made me stronger and my kiddos needs me happy and healthy, so Im giving myself another shot at it!
  • amanda_deanne
    amanda_deanne Posts: 38 Member
    I lost 70lbs with MFP a few years back. I maintained it no problem for 2 years, and then had two back to back pregnancies. With my first pregnancy, I gained nothing. We're talking walking out of L&D with my pre-pregnancy jeans comfortably buttoned up nothing. Six months later I got pregnant with my second and it was a whole different ball game... I gained over 50lbs! I nursed him until just before his first birthday and my body clung to every single ounce of weight while breastfeeding. I just quit nursing about 5 weeks ago and decided to get serious about losing the last of the weight. I still have 25 pounds to go to get to pre-pregnancy weight and then I would like to lose another 20 on top of that. The biggest thing for me this time is reminding myself that just because I've done it before, that doesn't mean I don't have to work as hard to do it a second time. So I guess it's a little different for me because how I am avoiding gaining it back is by not getting pregnant, haha. But I am still having to relose the weight, so I know how frustrating that is!
  • PennWalker
    PennWalker Posts: 554 Member
    edited October 2016
    ricelean wrote: »
    How did you lose weight last time? What are you doing differently this time to avoid gaining it back again?

    The only difference between then and now is the doctor told me I am at high risk of a bunch of serious health problems.

    I don't have that much problem losing weight (I'm within 10 pounds of my goal now). My big problem is maintaining it. I do not want to have a heart attack or be a disabled old woman taking millions of pills. It's time to quit lying to myself. There are some things I just can't do anymore, like eat a whole bag of chips or buy a candy bar every time I go into a drugstore.

  • BuffMom84
    BuffMom84 Posts: 180 Member
    I lost weight the first time by being consistent and just tracking everything I ate and all the exercise I did. I fell off track when I reached my goal weight because I thought I wouldn't have to track anything after I lost weight. Well, I know now that I'm wrong, I gained back all the weight I lost and then some. This time I'll do the same thing, but hopefully eat a little less junk food and drink less alcohol.
  • CALS0CCERBEAR87
    CALS0CCERBEAR87 Posts: 38 Member
    edited October 2016
    chdspdmom wrote: »
    I was underweight after my first child. My second was borm with complex congenital heart defects and the weight just crawl on me. All the hospital months, operations, stress... I reached 102 kg in 2 years. Got my stuff together, lost 20kg in 7 months, mostly proper diet and exercises. After another operarion got 15 kg back. Then i went on juice detox and lost those 15 kgs in 2 months, but got my back injured and lots of other emotional stuff happened and here I am again at 95.5 kgs... Its just not easy as I am emotional eater. Every time I get down I eat. Basically I eat for every emotion :blush: this app I use as a tracker not planner and it disciplines me. And I also am very positive on not giving in to whatever life wants to trow my way again. My past has made me stronger and my kiddos needs me happy and healthy, so Im giving myself another shot at it!

    i'm sorry you've had to go through all this... you know, sometimes talking to your primary doc and getting on the right anti-depressant (if appropriate) can help some ppl handle their emotions/feelings better which may help your relationship with food--along with tracking, support, exercise, etc....totally not trying to push drugs on u or anything but it's not always a bad idea
  • DisruptedMatrix
    DisruptedMatrix Posts: 130 Member
    If I fall off, get back on.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    edited October 2016
    ricelean wrote: »
    Thanks for answering, this is truly awesome to hear!
    How about eating the number of calories you need at your goal weight? That way when you hit the goal, you won't need to reverse diet to eat more. Since that's your maintenance calorie intake already, your maintenance weight should be stable.

    How's your work helping you / limiting you from keeping everything's on track?

    That's a good idea in theory, however my current maintenance calories are 1860 and the maintenance calories for my goal weight are 1700 (both of these are including exercise) so If I just ate the maintenance calories for my goal weight I would only have a deficit of 160 calories to start, which is a loss rate of only 1.4 pounds per month, and that would be even less as I lost weight. Right now I'm averaging only 3 pounds loss every month and that seems way slow already, I've been thinking about trying to go just a little faster actually- maybe 4 to 5 pounds a month.

    I work from home which is ideal most of the time because I can make time to cook and exercise due to flexible hours and no commute, but sometimes I have multiple project deadlines all due at once and then I am suddenly working 12 hour days with no breaks for a week or 2 and then I have little time for exercise and eat more convenient quick foods. I still track though. And trying to get better about planning out my projects & time better.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
    edited October 2016
    I posted a super loing post about how i went from 285 to 220 to 265 to 190. if you have like 5 minutes...bc i ramble.. you can read it here: https://www.quora.com/Can-anyone-share-your-inspiring-weight-loss-story-so-that-I-get-motivated-to-lose-weight/answer/Brandon-Westf
  • ricelean
    ricelean Posts: 18 Member
    I think what you are doing now is very good: eating in a MILD calorie deficit, regular exercise including weight training and hit cardio, as little stress as possible, and eating enough protein.

    Trying to lose weight faster is absolutely doable but thinking in the long-run, is it gonna make it difficult to sustain and potentially trigger another round of weight loss?

    If you can keep losing 3 pounds every month, say, if you are trying to get back to where you used to be (126 lbs), you'll be able to reach your goal in 10 months firmly and solidly, which isn't bad at all.
    courtneyfabulous wrote: »
    ricelean wrote: »
    Thanks for answering, this is truly awesome to hear!
    How about eating the number of calories you need at your goal weight? That way when you hit the goal, you won't need to reverse diet to eat more. Since that's your maintenance calorie intake already, your maintenance weight should be stable.

    How's your work helping you / limiting you from keeping everything's on track?

    That's a good idea in theory, however my current maintenance calories are 1860 and the maintenance calories for my goal weight are 1700 (both of these are including exercise) so If I just ate the maintenance calories for my goal weight I would only have a deficit of 160 calories to start, which is a loss rate of only 1.4 pounds per month, and that would be even less as I lost weight. Right now I'm averaging only 3 pounds loss every month and that seems way slow already, I've been thinking about trying to go just a little faster actually- maybe 4 to 5 pounds a month.

    I work from home which is ideal most of the time because I can make time to cook and exercise due to flexible hours and no commute, but sometimes I have multiple project deadlines all due at once and then I am suddenly working 12 hour days with no breaks for a week or 2 and then I have little time for exercise and eat more convenient quick foods. I still track though. And trying to get better about planning out my projects & time better.

  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Right? And I'm only trying to get to 140 this time so it should take about 6 months at this rate I guess. I think 126 was a bit ambitious and hard to maintain, plus I have more muscle now that I lift weights and exercise more. I'll reassess when I get to 140ish and see if I need to lose more or not. I might want to get to 135 but only if I feel good and can maintain my muscle :smile: I like to break it into small goals too. 155 is my next goal- every 5 pounds feels like a major victory.

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