Long Term Success Stories

Othique · January 2023

I see a lot of "I've Achieved my Goal Weight" posts.. and I see some "I'm back to where I was" posts.

I'm curious to hear some long-term maintenance success stories?
i.e. "I lost ___ lbs and have kept it off for __ years"

AnnPT77 · January 2023

I lost 50-some pounds in 2015-16, have been at a healthy weight since, after about 3 previous decades of overweight/obesity. There've been some ups and downs along the way, but never out of the normal BMI range, or out of a healthy range for me, and all in the same jeans size. Up a little still after the holidays at 133.8 this morning, which is BMI 22.3 for my 5'5" height. I'm F, 67 y/o.

There are quite a few people here who've maintained a healthy weight for several years, though I think some people tend to drift away from MFP after maintaining for a while, whether they continue maintaining or not.

I'm not sure how many maintainers visit Success Stories often, maybe more likely to focus on helping new folks (Getting Started, Intros, Health and Weight Loss) or their own Goals (Maintaining Weight, Fitness, Bodybuilding)?

aCountryVegan · January 2023

I am 65 year old male and have lost 120 pounds, went from a 48" waist to 32" and now maintain it thru running and tracking on MFP. When I was injured I did bounce up 10-20 pounds, but as soon as I got to running again I dropped it right back off. I doubt if I will ever stop tracking my calories, as it is as important for losing and maintaining weight as it is to ensure I am eating enough as an endurance runner. Back in the early days I had times where my calorie deficit was so big, that my training was suffering for it. So I will track calories for the rest of my life.

middlehaitch · January 2023

Ok, here I am.
Been on MFP since 2010.

I lost 30 lbs and have kept it off for ~13 years without going over my 100-105 goal, travel water weight excepted.

I hadn’t even noticed the 30 lbs creeping on over 5 years (late 40’s early 50’s) until my daughter in law sent a Christmas 2008 picture which was, to say the least, unflattering.

The 2008 pic at 55yo 130 lbs.
2016 63yo 103 lbs.
2018 at 65 yo about 106/7 lbs, travel water weight.
Sorry no recent pics.

I started counting calories and doing my 1st ever exercise class (aqua fit) that week. Kept at it for a year and by Christmas 2009 I was back at my usual weight. (Since my mid teens I had weighed, roughly, between 100-110 lbs)

The weight gain was easy to figure out and counteract once I sat and thought about it- we had moved to the suburbs and I now had to drive to get anywhere rather than ride my bike or walk. (Hadn’t even owned a car for about 20yr).

Now, I rarely count calories, weigh occasionally, and do 1hr purposeful exercise/movement x5 a week (min)*. I am not a person that is into charts and graphs.

Up until the end of 2019 I was very active on the boards. Unfortunately since then, though I visit daily, I don’t have the wherewithal to post often. My energy has been taken up supporting my family through non Covid illnesses and deaths. (Inc trips from west coast Canada to the UK and numerous travel quarantines when needed)

*exercise went by the wayside this past year or so and, though I hate my lower fitness level, I just am not back into it yet.

Stats: started at 130, top of healthy bmi at age 55, 5’1.
Maintaining at 100-105 bottom end of bmi age 69, 5’1.

More info than needed but less than I could have said.

Cheers, h.

BartBVanBockstaele · January 2023

I was at 127 kg in 2012. I currently am at 64 kg and am still losing a bit, but I am on my forever diet. That means that the loss is expected to stabilise and turn into a steady state without changing the diet. If, and that is a big if, the weight loss continues to below what is appropriate, I'll tweak the diet a bit to add a few calories, but it won't be much. What I did and do, works for me. It has advantages and disadvantages but altogether, I have the best diet I have ever had and see no valid reasons to change it if the situation does not call for it, so while my weight will almost certainly still go down a bit, I am pretty much in the maintenance range.

Annie42019 · January 2023

Started MFP in 2018 and lost 75 pounds. I’m 62 now. I’ve kept it off since loss fluctuating no more than 5-6 pounds. When I start to creep up I go back to diligent tracking and eating st the low end of my calorie range.

brenn35 · January 2023

I have kept 40 lbs off for the last 10 years, I would love to have some retirement friends, please friend me.

Lolinloggen · January 2023

I have been in maintenance for 4.5 years I lost somewhere around 20kg. It has not always been easy to maintain. Certainly it was a weight pendulum at times, but never more than 3Kg. For me the trick has been to continue to do some level of logging (in total over different platforms and account 8 years now) and learn what my triggers are and avoiding them as well as being active.

Long Term Success Stories

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