Anyone Lost Over 30 and kept it off for more than 5 years, who doesn't work in the fitness industry

Start Date: 12/24/2016 Start Weight: 318.6 lbs.
Restart Date Weight: 05/1/2023 Start Weight: 280.2 lbs.
Current Weight 6/16/2023 270.6
I will not blame covid as I was an essential employee.
Failure to restrict the piehole and resumption of bad eating habits would be the culprit.
I am now retired and have very high hopes of once again getting below 250 lbs.
I am 63 and 5'10" male.
My advice is that you have to find a reasonable food intake level with an eye to good nutrition.
Friendly carbs and so forth.
I hate exercise especially mindless exercise.
Instead of a treadmill I bought an electric push with a bag and rotate through our half acre with it.
I live in the south, so this actually gives me about 9 months of an exercise window.
I will just have to find something else to be productive during the winter.

When I started my program in June 2015 I was 375 pounds and over 50% body fat. My lowest has been 172. That was 2017. I maintained until 2022. I've been bad and struggling with my sugar addiction and am back up 210. I know what's wrong. It's just getting back on the program

I failed
I lost over 40lbs about 10yrs ago. I got down to 9 stone from 12. Despite being active, it slowly crept back up to 10 stone and stabilised at around 10.5. But then I had surgery and it went back up to 12 again in the last 2 yrs.
So started again back in April and am now 11 stone.

IAmTheGlue wrote: »

I’m back to add a comment .. because I’m sick in bed and just thinking.

I think this may the the root of your question… how is it some people keep it off and some don’t?
...
Well, one day, you will get sick of your own bull… ish and that will be the attempt that takes. One day you will get fed up with your own nonsense. One day you will say “enough is enough “ and do exactly what it takes to lose weight and … keep it off. It’s an actual brain change. Weight loss is a mental process.
... You can do it. I believe in you. With all loving kindness… you *can* be a success story. Just keep going.

I love this. It's a brain change indeed. And I haven't felt ready to fully commit before. I've drifted through life grasping at pleasures (food, clothes, whatever) and not "planned" my life. Now I'm in my 60s and I'm fat without a lot of money in the bank. So I'm buckling down on both counts. I believe it's not too late. I am rethinking my priorities and planning. I'm saving now every month, paying off remaining debts, and even saving for a big vacation. The food has been the hardest because I usually go on autopilot when eating. Can't do that anymore. I have to really think with each meal, "can I afford this today"? Today, I can end the day with something i enjoy because I counted my calories and walked a lot. Tomorrow, maybe not! Each day is a challenge, but I love the person who said it takes as long as it takes. Just no going up or going back. That sounds like a good plan. And honestly, having a big trip is motivating - I want to be
able to walk all day and explore new places, and I don't want to be carrying all this extra weight around.

I've been working on simple meditation and being more grateful and more mindful. Now I have to be more mindful of what I eat and spend - not just my mindful of my thoughts. But I can see that it all works together.

Thanks for this thread. I lost 90 pounds at one point but gained it all back plus 30 more in the ten years that followed. I want to go back to that weight. I felt so great. I loved how my body looked. I'll never be young again, but I can be a lot healthier, and that will save me money and pain in the long run!

Hi,
I lost 30 Kg (~60 pounds if I'm correct) a while ago and kept it for like 5 years.
Due to a brain tumor and losing sight of the track, I've gained that way back. But I'm here to do it all over again ♥

I started my weight loss journey 12 yrs ago, I lost 135 lbs,but it took me almost 3 yrs. I used MFP, walking,going to the gym and exercise videos. I have kept it off within 5 lbs until the last yr gaining 12 lbs and going up and down. My husband had 2 brain surgeries last yr for Parkinson’s and is currently doing radiation and chemo for tonsil cancer that has gone into his lymph nodes. So for me it’s been stress eating, and not exercising as regularly due to being at medical appts. But I am getting back on track before it gets any more out of control. I find it really is a mindset thing. I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired and was more consistent than I had ever been. Before I tried everything to lose weight but I would view it as a diet meaning I did it for awhile , then would slowly go back to my old habits. never really changing . This time it was a lifestyle change

First comment for me ever on MFP and I've been on and off since 2009. I am typically in the "I gained it all back plus" group.
This time feels different. I have been losing for just over a year now and am down 40lbs. I have gained 3-5 lbs back but then lost it immediately again. I find that the hardest part for me is getting enough movement in my day. I have a sedentary job (office) where I force myself to get up and walk about but that burns very few celeries intermittently. I HATE exercise and find myself doing great for about 3 days and then not going back to it, so my plateaus are longer than I'd like them to be. My longest just passed, it was 3 months long, same weight every day!!!
So, to answer your question, not longer than 5 years and not even 5 years as I am still losing. But I've lost 40 and counting in 1 year and I feel confident this time.
My secret?
Keep starting over. EVERY day. So, you ate 500 celeries over yesterday, Today is a new day! Don't give up, if you have a bad week or bad weekend or month. Just keep starting over,. Keep logging what you eat even if you stumble....
That's my two cents worth !

I lost 40kg (88 pounds) back in 2010 on MFP and have kept it off for the last 13 years (with a 10kg (20 lb) fluctuation up and down due to life stresses). I don't work in the fitness industry although when I was losing the 88 lb I did do a lot of sports.

I think that it would be a bad idea to base losing weight on having a guaranteed active lifestyle as a lot of those 10 kilo fluctuations since 2010 with me have been due to not being able to exercise over the years because of serious injuries (car accident, back injury). What goes in your mouth is definitely the most important factor - I gain weight whenever I stop tracking calories but now I have the tools to come back to MFP and start tracking again and knowing I will need to do that for the rest of my life due to a disordered attitude toward food. Here to lose the last few kilos now to get down to a truly healthy BMI.

I lost 35 lbs. and have kept it off for 5 years. It "helps" that I have some pretty severe digestive disorders that sometimes make it hard for me to eat, but for the most part it's been a matter of giving myself a 3-5 lb. limit on how much I can gain before taking real action (calorie reduction, intermittent fasting, going off starches). I weigh myself every day. That was the one hard and fast rule.

IAmTheGlue wrote: »

I’m back to add a comment .. because I’m sick in bed and just thinking.

I think this may the the root of your question… how is it some people keep it off and some don’t?

All of this is my own personal opinion. Just some rando on the internet… so grain of salt and all that..

Well, one day, you will get sick of your own bull… ish and that will be the attempt that takes. One day you will get fed up with your own nonsense. One day you will say “enough is enough “ and do exactly what it takes to lose weight and … keep it off. It’s an actual brain change. Weight loss is a mental process.

Until that day, I think a lot of people are just floundering… buying shake weights and ab rollers and eating cabbage soup… (not that I don’t love cabbage soup), trying to find a magical combination of foods that melts away fat. Looking for a magic pill. There must be some secret that some people know and others don’t .

I just wanted to address all the “hoping for a miracle, hoping one day it will stay off “… the actual difference is not magic. It’s stick- to- it- iveness.

It’s getting up every day and making choices that bring you closer to your ideal life, your ideal weight, your ideal fitness.

I’m just some rando, but CICO works. It can and will work for you if you are just honest with yourself and log accurately.

There is a phrase about learning a new skill (and managing your weight is a skill) and that phrase is “embrace the suck”. There is a period of time when learning any new skill that you suck at it. Keep going. Learn from your mistakes, but just keep going.

You can do it. I believe in you. With all loving kindness… you *can* be a success story. Just keep going.

I have to agree with everything said above. I am a returning user to this app after a five year absence. The app itself was always one of my favorites and the tools provided are progressive and more supportive than other programs I have tried. My family as a whole is "obese" I watched my Mom "yo-yo" diet my whole life so at an early age I chose to make fitness a lifestyle. I educated myself. I made healthy choices about what I put in my body. I am a firm believer in garbage in, garbage out. I started working out but not at athlete status. I began hiking and then, later, strength training and cycling. I had three children and never gained over the recommended 30 lbs. At 34-39 years of age, I was in the best physical and emotional shape of my life. I truly believe that was because of years of training and consistently working at a healthy lifestyle. It didn't happen overnight or in six months. Four years ago ( during the pandemic) I stopped going to the gym. I started eating processed fast food with my children. I didn't eat as many greens as I had my entire life and I probably tripled my carb intake! And I don't eat bad or sugary carbs. I gained 40lbs in a matter of about 3-5 months. And 40lbs on a curvaceous 5'5 can look like 100lbs. I went from a size 6 to a size 12-14. So this week, a month before my 50 th birthday...I said I don't want to look this way anymore. I want to like the way my clothes fit. I want to not be ashamed of the pics that are taken with my children and share them with others. I want to have more energy. I want to be able to do my own toes and not be uncomfortable iny own skin. I have been making excuses, Covid changed my life drastically, my age, my hormones ( I actually had my labs ran hoping there was something medical that caused the weight gain that I needed to address. You know what my doctor said? She had never in her life seen such perfect numbers for cholesterol, and everything else was in range not to mention my blood pressure has always been and was about 115/80.) These lab results were because of me making fitness a lifestyle. Everyone in my family has health issues. My siblings are younger than me and take medication for various conditions. I blamed depression, the loss of my father, pretty much everything but the truth is ITS MY HABITS. I know if I change those things, the weight will come off. Set realistic goals and forgive yourself when you fall short. It truly is a journey and not a race to a destination. Before entering my information into my profile...my mindset was I want to take this weight off immediately. The app said even aggressively that the soonest it will be is the end of January. Okay, shrug, I can live with that. Because I know the end result is that I will feel better but in January, the work isn't finished. I have to continue making the healthy decisions every day to keep it off. Wishing all of you the best. P.S. I smoked cigarettes for fifteen years. Gave the habit up 10 years ago and I am still successful at not smoking. Hardest habit I ever kicked. Just in case, anyone is struggling. It was a process as well.