Anyone Lost Weight Only to Gain It Back? What's Your Story? :)

MelissaLu1216
MelissaLu1216 Posts: 17 Member
edited January 2022 in Motivation and Support
I'm in the process of losing weight once again after gaining back the 50lbs pounds I lost previously :(

Looking for some encouragement if anyone else has found themselves in the same boat and if you were able to lose the weight again. Or if you're in the process, I'd love to know as well. Looking to make some real changes this time around and not look at weight loss as a one and done kind of deal. :smile:

Hopefully we can build each other up as well :smile:

*edit* I know I've posted something similar before, this time just looking to see success stories, not so much advice.

Replies

  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
    Got divorced. Got fit. Stayed fit while single. Got in a relationship and, well... I stopped paying as much attention. No logging, less exercise. He liked me bigger, I didn't. So..

    Ditched the guy and finally taking control again. 30 lbs down from September with 10-15lbs to go. I finally feel like my old self again!
  • MelissaLu1216
    MelissaLu1216 Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2022
    sbelletti wrote: »
    Got divorced. Got fit. Stayed fit while single. Got in a relationship and, well... I stopped paying as much attention. No logging, less exercise. He liked me bigger, I didn't. So..

    Ditched the guy and finally taking control again. 30 lbs down from September with 10-15lbs to go. I finally feel like my old self again!

    I can relate a little to this. I was dating a guy on and off between 2020 and 2021 who would always buy me food and we'd go out to eat all the time. I gained 15lbs each time (also some because of the whole COVID thing like most) and another 10 this past Holiday season.

    My current struggle is working two jobs. Going to try and work out at least 3 times a week even if it's only 30 minutes. I know it's more about what you eat but I find exercise helps me keep on track a lot easier. xD
  • JolieSvelte
    JolieSvelte Posts: 21 Member
    I am in exactly the same boat. I lost 20 lbs using MFP from Sept. to Dec. 2020 and lost 15 more lbs organically from Jan. to June 2021.
    In July my mood plummeted and from July to December I gained back all the weight I lost.

    I am now 177 and would like to lose 47 lbs. My previous daily logging of calories and exercise on MFP was tremendously helpful. The calories in, calories out plan worked for me.

    The second thing I did last time and am doing again is taking front, side, and back pictures of my body, printing them, and putting them in a prominent place in my house. I take pictures with every 5 lbs lost. I post the pictures in Success Stories. Next to the pictures I have pictures of my body from when I was at my ideal weight.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you want to do check-ins. Good luck!
  • summerviking1
    summerviking1 Posts: 91 Member
    I gained weight years ago and lost it and kept it off because I changed my bad habits. Then traumatic life events happened and working at 2 highly stressful jobs no sleep major surgery, bad marriage and
    I gained a lot of weight. Now I am back at losing weight and this will be it. I am not going to continue this year after year into my late 40s and beyond. I see so many people that have to focus on the same thing over and over and I do not want that to be my life.
    I want to wish everyone good luck and know you can do this and you will be successful.
  • MelissaLu1216
    MelissaLu1216 Posts: 17 Member
    I am in exactly the same boat. I lost 20 lbs using MFP from Sept. to Dec. 2020 and lost 15 more lbs organically from Jan. to June 2021.
    In July my mood plummeted and from July to December I gained back all the weight I lost.

    I am now 177 and would like to lose 47 lbs. My previous daily logging of calories and exercise on MFP was tremendously helpful. The calories in, calories out plan worked for me.

    The second thing I did last time and am doing again is taking front, side, and back pictures of my body, printing them, and putting them in a prominent place in my house. I take pictures with every 5 lbs lost. I post the pictures in Success Stories. Next to the pictures I have pictures of my body from when I was at my ideal weight.

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you want to do check-ins. Good luck!

    Hey! The pictures thing is a great idea :smile: And yes, I get you, counting calories is the only thing that works for me as well. Good to see someone in the same boat. Ideally in the long run I'd like to lose 60lbs but even I just lost 40lbs I'd be content. I set my goal at 40 for now and then see how I feel and go from there. :smile:
  • MelissaLu1216
    MelissaLu1216 Posts: 17 Member
    I gained weight years ago and lost it and kept it off because I changed my bad habits. Then traumatic life events happened and working at 2 highly stressful jobs no sleep major surgery, bad marriage and
    I gained a lot of weight. Now I am back at losing weight and this will be it. I am not going to continue this year after year into my late 40s and beyond. I see so many people that have to focus on the same thing over and over and I do not want that to be my life.
    I want to wish everyone good luck and know you can do this and you will be successful.

    This is the boat I'm in right now with regards to the two jobs thing. I think that's what stopped me last year from losing weight cause I just started working the second job and the stress and lack of time is really tough to deal with. But now that I got a better handle on it I think I can do it this year. :D
  • Approximately the same situation. I lost 50 pounds in 2020, and gained 25 back in 2021. It's been very difficult to stop that slide.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    Oh yeah, every time I move internationally (or just move) I regain some weight as life is so complicated all of a sudden. Lots of ready meals, lots of boxes that need unpacking, usually next to a busy job. First thing that goes out of the window is tracking. It's usually replaced by bags of crisps or whatever the local super delicious snack is. I never regained so much, but I'd say about 1-2kg per month. So I better catch myself quickly there. The last move was really bad as I spent nearly 2 months in furnished rooms without my stuff. I learned I will never share again (if I can help it) as I miss privacy and a kitchen of my own. And this time I also got sick and really didn't feel like cooking dinner and tracking. And being in a place I didn't want to be. But I'm getting there slowly now. So yes, I know what goes wrong and why. Acting on it is a different story though :D
  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 836 Member
    I’ve spent my entire 20’s losing and gaining. I’ve moved countries every couple of years and while I’m settled and have a routine I do so well but when I’m sorting out the next step I do terribly! This time I’m focusing on how to make it sustainable, how to ensure it fits into my life and how to make being more active a bigger part of my life 😊
  • MelissaLu1216
    MelissaLu1216 Posts: 17 Member
    Approximately the same situation. I lost 50 pounds in 2020, and gained 25 back in 2021. It's been very difficult to stop that slide.

    Lol, yes for sure. That's where I'm finding myself right now. I know once I get my groove I can do it, it's just getting there that's the hard part.
  • melissan84
    melissan84 Posts: 487 Member
    edited January 2022
    Yes, 10 years ago to be exact. I was 168 lbs after giving birth to my daughter. I was always very thin so after looking pictures I decided to lose weight. I went down to my goal of 135. Then I fell sick with pneumonia and couldn't exercise for a month doctors orders. My asthma was out of control for months. Finally when it was I started nursing school. The stress made me gain weight. Not like I was eating too much calories just not eating correct. Once a day here and there. I used to count calories.
    Fast forward 10 years I am now at my heaviest ever. I hate looking myself in pictures. I started this journey one week ago at 249 lbs. I am back at it counting calories. Last week I only exercise twice. But I also work and currently in school again to be come nurse practitioner so I have clinicals. My life is hectic. Making time for the gym is hard. But since I focused on will power last week and counting calories, this week I’m gonna focus on exercise. So here I am. I did it once I can do it again. So far in one week I have lost 4 lbs.
  • rbn_held
    rbn_held Posts: 691 Member
    Yep. Started MFP back in 2012 when I weighed about 180 lbs (i'm only 5'3), over the course of about 10 months I lost 41 lbs. I managed to keep it off over the next few years but then slowly the weight started piling back on. Now I am close to that 180 lb weight again and am determined to shed it once and for all. I know the only way for me to be successful at losing is to log my food and exercises daily. I've been using a fitbit for years and always questioned how accurate they were as far as logging calories burned so I purchased the MyZone monitor and so far I really like it. I still wear my fitbit to keep track of my daily steps but I rely on the MyZone when I do my workouts. Took before pictures this time so I am excited to see the progress as I go along. Good luck to everyone...We can do this :-)
  • nsk1951
    nsk1951 Posts: 1,304 Member
    Over and over and over again for the past 50 years! In small increments but it was always gain a few and lose less than I had gained.

    It started with 5 pounds at a time in my 20's to slim down for that bikini or date dress event .. I now call it 'The Band-Aid Diet Method', because once that 5 pounds was gone quickly and the event was past, so was my dieting and I would eat again indiscriminately of all the goodies I wanted - until the next event. Well ... I didn't know it at the time, but when you lose weight, your metabolism slows down a little bit, and as you age it slows down a bit more ... but when you regain the weight you lost, your metabolism doesn't automatically jump back up to it's previous amps ... at least that's what I've read in the more recent years about diet and nutrition and body responses ... and I got fatter with each passing year than I had been the year before for the next 20 years!

    I have to be fair to myself here ... it wasn't all about what I ate, it was also some of what medication I took. Some of the meds I was placed on for one or another condition triggered something in my makeup and I became a person with what is now called 'metabolic syndrome' ... insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood glucose ... with an awful BMI and a worse waist to height ratio. .. Morbidly Obese by the age of 50.

    Now I am 77 and still trying to slim down .. and still having a very slow go at it. However, even though my body is all lumps and bulges, my health is better than it had been 20 years ago because I have finally learned to eat for nutrition and not for pleasure or sport or companionship or any other reason besides that my body needs sustenance and fuel.

    Will I ever get to a normal weight in my lifetime? I doubt it. Will I continue to improve? You Bet!
  • 5naryjane5
    5naryjane5 Posts: 2 Member
    I can relate to this. I lost 80 lbs with MFP a few years ago. Then got pregnant and gained 20-25 lbs during pregnancy that I never lost. Gained 20-25 lbs with my next pregnancy and didn't lose that either. Didn't gain anything with my third but also didn't lose anything (obviously I did after giving birth but I gained it back quickly). I lost and gained 10ish pounds repeatedly after having my youngest 2 years ago. So I didn't gain all the weight back but I had put back on almost 60 pounds when I started trying to lose weight again a couple of months ago.

    My current goal is to lose 10% of my body weight and I am about there. I'm at the point where one day my scale says I am at goal but a couple of days later I am over. Because I know my weight can fluctuate by several pounds each day, I need some consistency from the scales (a week or two at or below goal) before I declare it a win!
  • fatty2begone
    fatty2begone Posts: 249 Member
    88olds Thank you, I am on the loss journey but will remember and your wise words once I get to my goal.
  • brittgreenlikethecolor88
    brittgreenlikethecolor88 Posts: 1,080 Member
    edited February 2022
    Ohhhhh yeah. I've losted and gained back many times since 2007.

    (2007, 18 yrs old) High School I was at my highest weight: 220lb
    (2008-2009) Lost 70 lbs using MFP, down to 150lbs.
    (2010-2012) Maintained between 150lb-160lbs for 2 years.
    (2013-2014) Gained 25ish lbs, put me back to 180lb.
    (2014-2015) Lost 30lbs using MFP. Back down to 150 lb.
    (2016-2017) Pregnant and gained 30 lbs.
    (2017-2018) Pregnant w/ 2nd baby, gained 20 lbs.
    (January 2019) Done having babies lol: 200 lbs.
    (2019-2020) Lost almost 60lbs using MFP. Hit my lowest weight in my adult life!! 142 lbs.
    (2020) Covid took it's toll, I gained/maintained between 145-154lbs.
    (2021) Work and family stress late in the year, I gained 10 lbs: 164 lb
    (2022, 33 yrs old) I'm currently at 160 lbs, working on getting back down to 145 lbs for the summer.

    Weightloss/maintenance is definetly a journey & takes alot of commitment! Ups and downs happen. I've just learned to never give up and focus on the future. Good luck! :)
  • emalethmoon
    emalethmoon Posts: 178 Member
    I lost 90lbs in 2014, only to gain 50 back. I lost 40 of those lbs in 2020, and gained them all back between July and January of this year. So I'm back on here again...

    I find that if I don't come here every day and log what I eat, I slip into old patterns of compulsive overeating. I've come to terms with the fact that I will have to log my food for the rest of my life.

    Now in fairness the last time I dropped a lot of weight I did it completely with diet. Now I'm doing diet and exercise. I hope that's more sustainable.

    Original start weight 275
    Lowest ever adult weight 182
    Today's weight in 218.4