How to Avoid Regaining the weight

For me, I plan to continue using MFP and logging my food/exercise for awhile after I get to my goal. You can re-set your goal on this site to 'maintenance' and it will help you learn how to manage your intake/output to maintain your weight without having that gain. The key is that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. You are not just trying to drop weight, you are learning to manage it. You don't have to be all on your own after you lose the weight, you can still use the tools provided here to help you stay where you want to be and have support in the process. :-)

It can not be a diet, it must be a life style change you can never go back to your old life style if you do you will surely return to your old self.

For me? I have to keep logging not estimating and weight once a week. Anymore than a 2-5lb fluctuation, it's time to pay attention. I regained years ago simply by not paying attention and ignoring the scale even as sizes went up.

It can not be a diet, it must be a life style change you can never go back to your old life style if you do you will surely return to your old self.

Agreed! I did diets like Jenny Craig, as soon as I went off I went back to my old ways and gained most of it back. I went on WW prior to going back over 300, I didn't wanna go back there. So this time it's a life change and not a diet.

I agree with et.al....you can't go back to your 'old ways'. Lose the weight slowly and in a healthy/realistic manner. it must be a life style change you can never go back to your old life style if you do you will surely return to your old self and even become worse like the research shows. Even scripture says a man who cleanse his house and leaves it unattended becomes seven times worse. This is why you need to change your mind set too. IE. VICES what caused you to start eating ALL those comfort foods in the first place? Trauma? Drama? To FEEL what? SOMETHING? Thats why you have to walk in forgiveness daily, let stuff go, not get angry and upset about life, people, situations. Monitor what and why you are putting food into your mouth.

I am in the process of maintaining my weight loss now, I have gained 4 lbs over the past 3 months only.
I still don't eat cakes, and candies, sweets, try to stick to coconut oil and pure olive oil for my fats. I watch my carb intake very closely and try to pay attention to what food does to me. If it makes me bloat, irritable, or want to over eat I try to stay a way from it or substitute it with something else. I feel that reaching my goal although difficult is half the battle, keeping it off is the most important part.
I also feel that if my body stays at this weight for at least 6 months, it will become used to it and I may be able to relax the rules a bit. I will find out when I get there.
Exercise, is a big part of maintaining and making my body beautiful. I don't like being sore, so I do lighter exercises and build up my muscle slowly then up it some more.
I wear beautiful clothes that make me feel great, so that I want to stay this size and am willing to fight to stay this size.
I took pics of my self and hung them on the fridge for me to see and help remind me of my accomplishment so I don't go back.
I hope this helps.

I don't think I can ever stop watching what I eat, it is just too much of a risk. I worked so hard to get here and I love where I am.

For me - the main thing is Never Ever Ever Ever No Matter What Never Give Up and quit! For years I would lose 30 gain back 50, lose 40 gain back 60 - lose 20 gain back 30 - and so on and so forth. What has made the difference is I told myself no matter what this time I would never quit. I was at 327 lbs, worked hard for 6 months, dropped 40 pounds. Then - I went on a long vacation and gained back 20 pounds!!! The old me would have thrown in the towel but I got back on the horse and 6 months later I had lost those 20 I gained back plus another 20 -for 60 total. The weight loss slowed down - but I eventually got to 100 lost - which was great - but then I hit a road bump again and gained back 30. That's when I joined mfp - and I've lost those 30 plus some and have been doing very well. Nobody said this had to be perfect - and I have learned from my mistakes over the years and the biggest thing I learned was to never give up. Even if I do gain a little back here or there (or a lot -although I hope that doesn't happen again) - I will never ever quit.

it is totally a mindset. things interfere with your focus on the healthy lifestyle journey and one of those things is complacency. From my own past failures with losing weight and gaining it back, I've taken time this year to reflect on the reasons for my past failures. It was upon reflection that I understood how and when the complacency creep and other mental stumbling blocks wreaked havoc with my journey. My past failures have led to reflection. My reflections have led to written lists. I believe my written lists will help me stay focused this time around. Here's a link to my will power pill blog for your consideration.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/H_Factor/view/recipe-for-a-will-power-pill-for-help-with-the-mental-part-of-the-journey-155978

I think once I reach the "maintain train" it will be a little harder but I don't see it as a huge problem. I do enjoy getting all the compliments from my family members, but for someone that has ALWAYS been on the heavy side of the scale all my life, will enjoy myself once I reach my goal! My extended family knows how hard I have worked so far to get to where I am now because they have seen me all my life as the "heavy one". So once I reach my goal and STAY AT THAT WEIGHT for a long period of time they will see how dedicated I am to not being the "heavy one" ever again! Plus I will get rid of my "bigger" clothes as I go so I don't use that as a crutch (well IF I gain the weight back I will have some clothes to wear). Nope not me not going to do that! As I shrink out of them they are going to the consignment shop here in town! Then once I get some $$ for them I will get me some "new-used" clothes from there in the correct size I need. Darned and determined to make it work and keep it working for me!

I am not going to give up cake, ice cream, carbs, etc when I get to maintenance - shoot I haven't given them up at all during my weightloss and things are going just fine. The difference is that now I know how to portion out my servings so that I can eat a portion that fits into my calorie goals for the day. If I can still eat the things I like and lose weight, certainly I can still eat them and maintain, too. The key is portion control and staying close to your calorie goal. (unless you have certain medical conditions or dietary restrictions that require you to restrict certain food groups).

I've gone through many major weight loss and regain periods in my life. When I started MFP two years and 94 pounds ago, my only goal was to not gain the weight back. I've worked hard to try and figure out why I gained the weight back in the past and how I was going to avoid it this time around.

I agree with most of what everyone has written here with some additions. Mostly, I don't think will power is enough. Sooner or later, life is going to throw you a curveball - an injury, illness, accident, job change, house move, death in the family, divorce - nobody lives a charmed life. Time and time again, I've seen people write on these forums about something that happened to them and they gained the weight back. In stressful times it's going to be too hard to keep up an iron will about what you're eating.

So I'm convinced that it has to be more than a lifestyle change, more than an exercise of will power. It has to be a mind transformation. You have to see yourself as a different person altogether. You're not a fat person who's lost a lot of weight. You're not a person who usually eats too much and is exercising self-control. You're a healthy-sized person who eats the way healthy-sized people eat. You have to think of yourself that way, you have to see that person in the mirror, you have to approach food that way. Don't tell people you lost weight or how much. Don't let people make a big deal about it. Just smile, say thank-you and change the subject. As much as I love it, it's not good for me to be excited about how much I've lost. I want compliments when I look good now but no more than any other healthy-sized person usually gets. I don't want them because I used to look fat. That was somebody else, it's not me now.

Yes, I have to track everything I eat and I have to weigh myself regularly. Someplace in my brain, I'm missing the part that just naturally monitors how much I eat. I have to consciously monitor my eating, exercising and weight.

And yes, under stress, I'll eat a big chocolate muffin but I don't feel guilty about it, I don't beat myself up about it. I just notice that I'm not as hungry for a while and I don't eat much until I feel a healthy hunger again. I have to do this by logging it all because it takes more of an effort on my part than it does other healthy-sized people.

And I know that, sooner or later, I'm going to suffer through a stress period and I'm going to gain a few pounds. But, as one of the other posters said, that's not a reason to give up. In fact, there's nothing to give up because I am no longer a person who gains a lot of weight thoughtlessly. And the only way to not be that person when the time comes, is to work hard on believing it now.

I'll echo what the others say .. but really really hope that you can find the key, because successful Maintenance is keeping what you have been doing to lose it as a LIFE STYLE ... and I believe in accountability. Especially after watching Sunny on Biggest Loser last week with her hubby - he didn't feel comfortable telling her what he was really seeing, and now, after the show, he is going to tell her if she's slipping!!

I lost 110 pounds and right now have gained back 50 of that loss. I'm thankful that is all that I've gained back - it's been 3 years. I've chosen this website/phone app / supporters here because I lost it the first time around by obsessing, using a personal trainer and huge numbers of hours in the gym - I just can't support THAT as my lifestyle change - to stay thin, I am going to have to learn how to eat better and how to get some exercise in without going crazy.