For those who have lost and gained and are losing again (what I've learned)
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I have found that every time I stop using MFP to journal my food, the lbs start coming back on. I need to be accountable and logging is the best way for me to be honest with myself.
Told my wife last month - "If you see me slipping and not using MFP, etc. you have my permission to hold me accountable and please give me a hard kick in the butt."
Have also learned that low calorie is a short term solution but low carb, high fat is easier and the meals are more satisfying and my blood work is outstanding. I don't find myself thinking about food and now doing keto OMAD with great success.17 -
Just a quick update: according to Google, I've finally hit a normal bmi. Although other charts say the threshold is 130, I'm taking it, lol.
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Congratulations! I cannot wait until I hit that "normal" range. 9 more lbs!
I've been up and down since my days as a teenager with an eating disorder. Throughout my early 20s I would slip in and out of gym cycles and my weight would fluctuate. Then after college I just stopped going to the gym and gained over 70lbs. I lost that in a year before my wedding, but then gained back about 20 since. I'm down 10 of that re-gain, but I now know what I need to do to maintain a healthy, fit lifestyle in terms of exercising, eating, and logging. in terms of mental health, that's an assortment of issues I'm still trying to fix but I'm hoping staying committed to this lifestyle will help with my self esteem.9 -
RelCanonical wrote: »Just a quick update: according to Google, I've finally hit a normal bmi. Although other charts say the threshold is 130, I'm taking it, lol.
Whoop woop. Good job5 -
Ohh, that is awesome. That's my next milestone, 14 lbs to go..
Congratulations.6 -
I'm just fightin' to get to "overweight", 5'9" @ 203 lbs. Good job!8
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RelCanonical wrote: »2. I needed to make my goal more flexible, and include more maintenance days for treats.
6. I will have to live with my urge to binge eat the rest of my life, but I have good ways to cope now. That's a big part of life, just learning how to cope healthily.
These resonate with me!
Congrats on reaching healthy bmi today!RelCanonical wrote: »brenn24179 wrote: »what ways have you found to cope now rather than eat? I found journaling helps me or drink something rather than eat and take that walk!
Self care also helps.
Sometimes I do still eat to soothe, I’m definitely not perfect in that respect, but I make sure I make better food choices.
Ditto to all of this! I'm glad you're finding success.5 -
Chris_2013 wrote: »I have found that every time I stop using MFP to journal my food, the lbs start coming back on. I need to be accountable and logging is the best way for me to be honest with myself.
Told my wife last month - "If you see me slipping and not using MFP, etc. you have my permission to hold me accountable and please give me a hard kick in the butt."
Have also learned that low calorie is a short term solution but low carb, high fat is easier and the meals are more satisfying and my blood work is outstanding. I don't find myself thinking about food and now doing keto OMAD with great success.
Man, I could have written this same thing. I'm on my third cycle of losing weight and am determined to stay this way. I will continue logging on MFP as well in hopes to stay in better shape.
Good luck to you!
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From an emotional overeater, two important lessons I learned:
1. Keeping track of my emotions and reasons eating has helped me be more mindful to eat for fuel and deal with emotions without food. I ask myself "Am I hungry? What am I feeling? Stress? Bored? Etc.
2. Some foods I love do not love me back. Example, chips are my go to stress ball cruncher would stall my weightloss for days so switched to roasted salted almonds one at a time.
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Your point 2.5 really resonates with me. Weight loss does not make me happy. In fact, I would almost say that I'm happiest when fat! I was around 185 for most of my 20s at just under 5'1. I started losing in mid-2011 and by mid-2012 I was in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. I was not happy and nit-picked every.little.thing about my body. I ended up down to 105 for awhile and looked sick and sad. I actually ended up maintaining a healthy BMI until 2016 but I was basically "on a diet" the entire time. Never letting up on myself and I think the binges got more frequent until I gave up and just gained it pretty much all back in a year. (The rate at which I can gain weight is insane. People always say "You didn't gain it that fast, so don't expect to lose it that fast." but in my case I can literally gain 10lbs a month for several months in a row!)
I'm really struggling right now with perspective because I'm still 11lbs overweight but kinda feel good about myself and I worry that I'll end up in the same predicament that I will not be happy when I lose it all. I've wondered a few times why I don't just maintain at a little overweight, but then I remember how fat I felt when I was gaining the weight and that tells me that staying here isn't the right decision.7 -
greenolivetree wrote: »Your point 2.5 really resonates with me. Weight loss does not make me happy. In fact, I would almost say that I'm happiest when fat! I was around 185 for most of my 20s at just under 5'1. I started losing in mid-2011 and by mid-2012 I was in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. I was not happy and nit-picked every.little.thing about my body. I ended up down to 105 for awhile and looked sick and sad. I actually ended up maintaining a healthy BMI until 2016 but I was basically "on a diet" the entire time. Never letting up on myself and I think the binges got more frequent until I gave up and just gained it pretty much all back in a year. (The rate at which I can gain weight is insane. People always say "You didn't gain it that fast, so don't expect to lose it that fast." but in my case I can literally gain 10lbs a month for several months in a row!)
I'm really struggling right now with perspective because I'm still 11lbs overweight but kinda feel good about myself and I worry that I'll end up in the same predicament that I will not be happy when I lose it all. I've wondered a few times why I don't just maintain at a little overweight, but then I remember how fat I felt when I was gaining the weight and that tells me that staying here isn't the right decision.
We have similar stats. I'm also 5'1'' and hung around in the 180's in my 20's until I had my first significant weight loss. I gained my weight back pretty quickly too from binge eating.
Regarding your second paragraph, for me, "feeling fat" has more to do with what I'm eating than with what my actual weight was. I most fat I felt was during the time I was binge eating. I felt much lighter, even at my highest weight, if I was eating better. Focusing on goals besides weight loss, like exercise and nutrition, helped me avoid that feeling.10 -
RelCanonical wrote: »greenolivetree wrote: »Your point 2.5 really resonates with me. Weight loss does not make me happy. In fact, I would almost say that I'm happiest when fat! I was around 185 for most of my 20s at just under 5'1. I started losing in mid-2011 and by mid-2012 I was in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height. I was not happy and nit-picked every.little.thing about my body. I ended up down to 105 for awhile and looked sick and sad. I actually ended up maintaining a healthy BMI until 2016 but I was basically "on a diet" the entire time. Never letting up on myself and I think the binges got more frequent until I gave up and just gained it pretty much all back in a year. (The rate at which I can gain weight is insane. People always say "You didn't gain it that fast, so don't expect to lose it that fast." but in my case I can literally gain 10lbs a month for several months in a row!)
I'm really struggling right now with perspective because I'm still 11lbs overweight but kinda feel good about myself and I worry that I'll end up in the same predicament that I will not be happy when I lose it all. I've wondered a few times why I don't just maintain at a little overweight, but then I remember how fat I felt when I was gaining the weight and that tells me that staying here isn't the right decision.
We have similar stats. I'm also 5'1'' and hung around in the 180's in my 20's until I had my first significant weight loss. I gained my weight back pretty quickly too from binge eating.
Regarding your second paragraph, for me, "feeling fat" has more to do with what I'm eating than with what my actual weight was. I most fat I felt was during the time I was binge eating. I felt much lighter, even at my highest weight, if I was eating better. Focusing on goals besides weight loss, like exercise and nutrition, helped me avoid that feeling.
This is so true and is also something I've been pondering! When I had gained from XS to M, I was overeating on a regular basis and felt so gross and fat and bloated all the time. Now, since I'm losing, and not overeating, I feel pretty good in a M size and enjoy that I have clothes that are loose enough that I can layer instead of cramming into too small things :-D6 -
I don't even know what lap of this race I'm on anymore, but I'm definitely running up the hill in the mud on these short stubby legs. I need to find that place of acceptance with my weight so that I can take the power away from the numbers. I started back on MFP at the beginning of the year as I was starting to put on weight at an alarming rate after the last depression induced loss. I started logging again and joined a weight loss challenge at work. The challenge gave me incentive, but it also added stress to the situation. I felt ashamed if I gained so I was overboard diligent, borderline unhealthy. I placed 2nd in the challenge and subsequently stopped logging, started bingeing, stopped exercising and stopped weighing because I didn't want to know. It's like the perfect storm. Without weighing and without logging, I just assumed I was failing every day. Thoughts of failure just reinforced the bingeing... Ahhhhhh. It was like I watched myself self-destructing and just couldn't stop it.
I keep saying "just get back to what worked. Log, exercise, live healthy." I just can't get there. Something is missing. I have no drive. I have no will power. Truth be told I simply have no belief in myself and I'm ashamed of where I am now versus where I was then. I miss the me that was full of energy and fun to be around. It's like I'm mourning who I was as if I were a completely different person. There are circumstances that helped destroy my pretty little world of health and fitness, but those circumstances are gone and I'm still sitting in the rubble. The other day I took my first step toward finding my healthy space, I stepped on the scale and assessed the damage, 35 pound up in 7 months, D@MN! It isn't pretty, but I've been here before. Yesterday I started logging again, I was over, but my eyes were open and I didn't punish myself for it. Today, I read a thread about one person's journey and trials with re-losing the weight, again... I saw that forgiveness and kindness are key components to a healthy life, not just words.
Thank you for adding an aid station to this crazy race I've been running. Here is to hoping this smooths out the road, makes all the hills rollers and delivers me to new places filled with stunning views and great company.
Cheers Y'all!28 -
I feel you on the "I'll just get back to what worked" thought and then the failure to really do it. I don't know if it's burnout, or complacency, or what - but, I can barely force myself to behave for any extended period of time, these days. I am still exercising - thank goodness it's become a habit for me - so at least it's not too serious of a yo-yo thing - but, I just can't quite get my head into the right space to do what I did to get where I am.
The worst part about the whole thing is - when I DO keep it together for a few days, the scale moves in the right direction - but then the weekend comes, or a special event, or a company potluck and it all goes to *kitten.* You would THINK that a little positive reinforcement would give me the incentive to keep on going, right? But, no.
Rather than wallowing in the why of it, I have decided to just let it ride. Aiming for maintenance and getting stronger. My personal trainer is greatness. I figure if I can just avoid the holiday weight gain - that will be enough.
I will keep working on getting strong and stop worrying about getting thin. Maybe in January I will catch that fever, again - and be a little more on top of eating properly.
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Somehow it has taken me this long to see this post, but thank you for posting this and it's advice everyone here, new or old, should take to heart.
Although I'm shook to see that you do not, in fact, look like a k-pop boy band singer 😜7 -
Somehow it has taken me this long to see this post, but thank you for posting this and it's advice everyone here, new or old, should take to heart.
Although I'm shook to see that you do not, in fact, look like a k-pop boy band singer 😜
Lol, that was pretty entertaining when people found out. I don't think it helped that my "type" is quite androgynous and that I had a penchant to use casual selfies as profile pics. xD2 -
Another progress pic...this one is with the same dress. First pic is me when I was just barely able to zip it up. I was about 40 pounds down. The second pic is 60 pounds down, and not only does it zip easily, but I can layer under it for winter. 20 pounds went a long way lol.
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@relcanonical, you look so cute in that dress! Congratulations on reaching your goal. And your original post is spot on, insightful and helpful. My weight graph over the past 5 years looks like a very volatile stock market graph. I know how to lose weight, but have't yet learned how to maintain it.6
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I needed this post. I've lost (40lbs) and gained (40lbs) and lost (30lbs) and gained (39lbs) and lost (42lbs) and started gaining again the last few weeks (~4lbs) and decided instead of letting this spiral to continue to look on MFP for inspiration.
Thank you for sharing your story. The mental component of weight loss is such an important, yet easily ignored factor.
Congrats on finding what works for you and thanks again for inspiring others ☺7 -
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I've lost and gained a couple times in the past, usually gaining when life gets overwhelming and I don't take the time to care for myself. Most recently I was working out a lot but eating horribly (and far too much), and finally decided that if I was going to put in so much effort in the gym I needed to not sabotage myself with my nutrition. I logged back into MFP and weighed in and found that I'd gotten all the way back to my highest ever weight from the last time I'd used MFP (184lbs at 5'8", albeit with slightly different body composition this time, I'm sure).
This time around it was interesting because I was starting off feeling pretty physically fit and strong already, so it felt easier to just add the nutrition component vs starting with diet and exercise from ground zero. Have been logging for 70 days now and 18 pounds lost!
I definitely feel like I've learned a lot about fitness and my body this past year too. My first couple weight loss adventures I was doing almost nothing but cardio, eventually leading to a knee injury so I can't handle much running at all anymore. Now I feel like I'm the opposite - super eager to go lift weights or do circuit training with little desire to do any cardio, which is its own problem I guess.12 -
This post is awesome. So much truth and reality! @RelCanonical
At 44....I can say that I have spent 75% of my life on some form of a diet or a binge. Thank the Lord I have finally come to terms with who I am and how I am made. I know what makes me tick. That is at least some of the battle won. Now on to learning to live without walls of confinement. Just living life and enjoying it.
Thanks for your post.14 -
For anyone interested, I wrote out my story about when I was binge eating, and recovering from it, if you want something LONG and WORDY and maybe somewhat TRIGGERY. I put it in my blog just in case so people could decide more readily if they want to read: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/RelCanonical/view/my-binge-eating-story-97643513
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Updated before-and-after, now with face pics:
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Looking great! Are you officially in maintenance now?0
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Thank you for the update or I might have never seen this thread!
Sharing your insights makes me want to reflect on mine and take some time to write them down. Thank you!
In the past the losing wasn’t the hard part once I was mentally in that headspace. Maintenance was the challenge because I was either “dieting” or I wasn’t. And when I wasn’t, nothing was off limits - types of foods or quantities. What I am finding through my tracking using MFP is that I can still have the foods I want, just not in unlimited quantities. If I choose to eat high calorie, low nutrient foods, I will 1) be able to eat less food overall, and 2) most likely will still be hungry. Trade offs/priorities. I am happier when I am not hungry all the time, so eating nutrient dense foods is leaving me satiety.5 -
Some great insights here. Thank you. I was 180lb, lost over 40lb but then over a 3-4 year period I managed to hit 192lb (currently 187lb). Hopefully I can use some of your advice here and succeed properly this time!4
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Thank you for sharing your journey! I struggle with the same thing. I'll try follow your advice!1
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RelCanonical wrote: »Updated before-and-after, now with face pics:
Girl, you look great already! Good job
Wish I would have seen this thread before posting mine. I originally lost about 60lbs then gained almost half of it back. Having a hard time getting back on track, keep going up and down, back and forth
But yeah, is does help a lot to see others have gone through the same thing. The mind is the hardest thing to break, I think that's the main issue2
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