Fact or fiction: doomed to be fat forever?

motiv8td18 · February 2017

Hello, I have 40 lbs to lose to be back at a healthy weight and just began my endeavor this week. Therefore I have only seen a 0.2 weight reduction and will go to weekly weights thereafter to save my sanity. I have seen web based research that has said that once you are overweight or obese the likelihood of returning to a healthy weight despite diet changes and exercise is unlikely. This is very very deflating as I have gained about 50 lbs in 5 years

cmriverside · February 2017

I lost over 70 pounds in 2007.

I'm still maintaining that weight loss.

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

richardgavel · February 2017

I'm not surprised to hear research like that and I can understand it. Over those 5 years, you've built up certain habits around how much to eat, what foods to eat and how much to exercise. To change that means changing those habits that are very ingrained and that's not easy. Someone who never was overweight doesn't have habits to unlearn. That's why I focused my first few months on burning in the new habits every day while the motivation was highest.

Need2Exerc1se · February 2017

It's totally your choice. Most people who are overweight will either remain overweight or lose weight and then regain it. But it's because they don't work at it. They either don't put in the work to lose weight, or they fail to continue to work at maintaining the loss.

It's not that they can't, it's that they don't. You control which group you'll be in.

GottaBurnEmAll · February 2017

Successful weight loss is down to you. If you form healthy habits and continue to practice them, you'll succeed.

Read about the success achieved by the members of The National Weight Control Registry/. I learned a lot from reading that site when I first started on my path to losing the weight I needed to lose (which was quite a bit more than you need to lose), and it taught me a great deal and gave me hope.

The statistics on lasting weight loss are only dire because people have the false belief that they can go back to their former way of eating and maintain their weight loss. People, in general, are woefully misinformed as to how weight management truly works. If you truly understand the fundamental principles of weight management and what it takes to either lose, maintain, or gain weight, the whole process is rather simple and not at all up to chance.

happysherri · February 2017

I lost about 50 lbs and have kept it off for years. It takes work and I have set backs but I refuse to give up. I'm normally leaner in the summer and then around November and December I take a break (little fluffier). I don't believe that once your obese that's it. I did plateau for several weeks but broke that last week. I hear you on the sanity weigh ins, and have decided to not step on the scale for all of February. I know I'm doing everything right so that little bit of less stress will help me. Hang in there and know that you will have good days and bad days.

not_a_runner · February 2017

I lost 60+ lbs a few years ago and gained 80+ after because I went back to what I had always done (over eating and not exercising).
Since then, I am down 30 and have maintained this for about a year, and starting on losing another 30 now. I've realized that maintaining the loss is totally possible, it will just require some effort on my part, much like losing the weight. Regular exercise, changing my eating habits, and watching my portions sizes (or logging my food) will be necessary for me to continue to maintain my loss. As well as losing the weight with a method and intake that is reasonable to sustain.
I think gaining weight back is often easier than the work it takes to keep it off, but after doing this a second time I've realized it will be totally worth it.

zyxst · February 2017

Myth. I was morbidly obese for 30+ years. Four years of hard work, lost 173#, and am at a "normal/healthy" weight. Starting my second year of maintenance.

duddysdad · February 2017

I've been obese for around 24 years. I lost 160 pounds in 2015. Despite gaining a little weight, I have kept most of it off. The extra weight is something I can lose in a few months of moderately trying. It can be done.

beades112 · February 2017

In about 9 months during 2015, I was able to lose about 75 lbs, due to primarily being conscientious of how much I ate and exercised through MFP. Then, once I hit my goal, I got a little lazy and didn't continue to work at it. Well, slowly but surely, the weight began to come back. I gained about 45 lbs of my total weight loss back. When I got sick of feeling terrible about myself, I got back into it. I am happy to say that I've lost 10 of the 45 lbs that I gained back and am working to create and MAINTAIN a better and healthier me. So, to answer the question... NO, you are not doomed to be fat forever, BUT you and your own discipline will determine if that healthy lifestyle lasts!

cross2bear · February 2017

I cant think of anything that we are doomed to be forever - everything and anything can change if you want it to change. Maybe ethnicity, but even then.............so no, you are not doomed to be fat (or thin) for the rest of your life. Make a decision and go for it. Change is in your hands, its your life so live it the way you want, whether its overweight or not.

Lynzdee18 · February 2017

It's habits. Bad food habits make you fat. More wholesome food habits AND exercise make you thin.

It's up to you.

Do you prefer a bag of chips and quart of ice cream or feeling good about looking in a mirror as you walk by or flipping through a photo album?

Yes. The choice is yours.

Tacklewasher · February 2017

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

It's totally your choice. Most people who are overweight will either remain overweight or lose weight and then regain it. But it's because they don't work at it. They either don't put in the work to lose weight, or they fail to continue to work at maintaining the loss.

It's not that they can't, it's that they don't. You control which group you'll be in.

This.

I don't think it qualifies as either a myth or a rule. But I do think there is a lot of truth to it in that most people who lose weight don't keep it off and end up heavier than they were before they lost.

I'm still losing and can't speak to how I will do long-term, but I think I have enough knowledge to know how to keep it off once it is gone. I guess only time will tell but I'm optimistic. I'm resigned to using a food scale and weighing at least weekly forever. Maybe I won't have to, but at this point I expect I will.

breathless575 · February 2017

cmriverside wrote: »

I lost over 70 pounds in 2007.

I'm still maintaining that weight loss.

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

What did you do to lose the weight?

crzycatlady1 · February 2017

The long term success rate for weight loss adherance is pretty dismal, but it's up to you if you're going to be one of the many who fail, or one if the few who are successful. Me personally -I decided to be successful and I'm approaching my 4 year maintenance anniversary in April, (50lbs lost).

lorrpb · February 2017

motiv8td18 wrote: »

Hello, I have 40 lbs to lose to be back at a healthy weight and just began my endeavor this week. Therefore I have only seen a 0.2 weight reduction and will go to weekly weights thereafter to save my sanity. I have seen web based research that has said that once you are overweight or obese the likelihood of returning to a healthy weight despite diet changes and exercise is unlikely. This is very very deflating as I have gained about 50 lbs in 5 years

Absolutely untrue. I don't know what "web based research" is, but not everything you see on the internet is true. Most of it is not true. Please read the Success Stories forum here on MFP for hundreds of stories of people who've lost weight and kept it off. These are case studies, not scientific research studies, but they disprove your theory.

PaulaWallaDingDong · February 2017

It doesn't mean you're doomed, but once you've been overweight, being a healthy weight is a lifetime commitment.

Reaverie · February 2017

I am not a product of circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. Stephen Covey

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. Nelson Mandela

You don’t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there. Robert Jordan

I am learning every day to allow the space between where I am and where I want to be to inspire me and not terrify me. Tracee Ellis Ross

What do you want: The pain of staying where you are, or the pain of growth? Judith Hanson Lasater

Do, or do not. There is no try. Master Yoda

Dont be a statistic. Be the exception. -Me

You want to change what you are? Then form new habits and break the old. Then that callus article you read wont be about you but about those who give up trying.

HippySkoppy · February 2017

While the stats on people sustaining their weight loss long term are confronting low, it doesn't mean that you will fall into that group at all.

I have maintained a loss of 178 lbs for 4 years. Everything that others often use as reasons why they have not even tried to lose weight or why they have re-gained was in the deck I was holding.

I started losing at 48, menopausal and on HRT, had no gallbladder (told by my ever 'supportive' Mother and Sister that once that organ was gone I was doomed), on meds. notorious for weight gain and difficulty with losing, plus multiple health issues. I just said bugger to the naysayers and all the negatives, I found putting my fingers in my ears and singing La-la-la to be effective

started eating less and getting out for a walk as often as I could.

Finding MFP and reading, learning fact from fiction and logging accurately was a total win, especially as I had got to a stall point alone. I needed the guidance and understanding of how much I was eating regarding CI.

I got fitter and stronger than I had been for years. Dropped a lot of weight related meds. and started to really feel alive...interesting snippet though, many of the people whose prediction of doom and failure now started to say how 'lucky' I was to be losing weight, they also made comments about how my metabolism compared to theirs was better. Again fingers and ears were used....

Now I'm 54, 3 years ago my health went down the toilet and everything has changed for me. I can no longer bushwalk for hours and get my adrenaline on climbing mountains etc. I do what I can movement wise with weights and Yoga mainly.

MFP has continued to be a valuable resource for me. I log in every day still, making sure I am getting adequate nutrition. I tend to lose quickly when in a flare. I also take steroids, anti-depressants and other meds. that have bad reputations for weight gain....it hasn't happened for me because CI-CO is reliable and simple.

Hope this helps.

Nikion901 · February 2017

Some already said something like this .... the longer you have been overweight or obese, the harder it will be to lose a lot of weight and keep it off .... because of habits mostly. That said, I have read research (that has been discussed on these forums) about the body wanting to revert to it's status quo condition .... which, after many many years of a certain weight is the status quo. That's what I have also found to be true for myself ... but I also recognize that my brain and all it's secret hidden secrets are part of my body and that a lot of the walls I've hit in trying to lose and maintain that loss come from my personal preferences and habits.

Never give up! If you want to be thinner, you CAN DO IT ... it will take effort, it will take work, sometimes it will feel bad, other times it will be good.

TimothyFish · February 2017

motiv8td18 wrote: »

Hello, I have 40 lbs to lose to be back at a healthy weight and just began my endeavor this week. Therefore I have only seen a 0.2 weight reduction and will go to weekly weights thereafter to save my sanity. I have seen web based research that has said that once you are overweight or obese the likelihood of returning to a healthy weight despite diet changes and exercise is unlikely. This is very very deflating as I have gained about 50 lbs in 5 years

It is unlikely because people don't want to do what they need to do to lose the weight and get healthy. But there's a big difference between unlikely and impossible. In fact, anyone can do it if they are willing to.

Fact or fiction: doomed to be fat forever?

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