How do you gain it all back?

maryd523 · December 2011

People often have stories of how they lost weight in the past and then they gained all or some of it back. I'm curious as to how this happens.

Do you just stop weighing yourself or caring? What about when your skinny clothes start getting too tight? Isn't it just a horrible feeling to gain the weight back? What is going on mentally?

How do people who watched you lose all the weight react when you start getting big again?

Thanks for sharing your stories!

puppywalker · December 2011

I have lost weight and gained it all back twice. For me it happens when I stopped the "diet" because I thought I was at a good weight, then it just creeps back on. You get tired of dieting and it is just easier to eat what you want. No one said anything to me either time about gaining it back. They probably just assumed I was lazy. It is an awful feeling to gain it back. We never intend to do it, but I happens if we are not diligent with our eating and exercise for the rest of our lives. My body will always fight me to stay fat ( my doctor even told me this.)

Partyofpugs · December 2011

I have been yo-yo dieting my entire adult life. It creeps back on when I feel I've made it successfully. Then I quit writing stuff down and weighing and give in to tempting food. Why not eat it? I've been "good" for so long. Then you need a bigger size. But it's only a size. I'll lose it again when I'm ready. The problem is I take a long time to get ready. And the pounds pack back on because I'm sick of dieting and depriving. Usually it takes a health scare to make me start over again. This time it's for good. I'm so sick and tired of the cycle. I'm in a 5 year weight loss clinical trial which really makes me accountable. I hope in 5 years I will have finally mastered this. I will die much younger than I should if I can't keep the weight off. I really have too much to live for.

moran1917 · December 2011

I gained weight the first time cause my life changed from being very active to sedentry. I was an athletic person, i played soccer year round which is a runners sport. Once i was too old to play and left high school i took a job that was not very active and ate like i still played soccer 6 days a week. I just couldn't adjust to my new lifestyle. Then i met my husband, who is over weight with poor eating habits, and started living his lifestyle. I gained a ton of weight and was really unhappy. One day i decided that it was time to live my lifestyle, the one i always had. I started working out regularly and eating better and lost 60 lbs. I was finally healthy again.

Then very stressful life conditions caused me problems with mental illness. I had severe depression and aniexty. This culminated in a nervous breakdown. The medication that they gave me caused weight gain. I would binge eat and hate myself for it. I would feel my clothes getting tight, i would by a larger size just to have it happen all over again. I could not convince myself to work out, i could not control my eating, and all my doctor would say is that weight gain is normal on the medication and treating my mental health was more important than my weight. Gaining weight caused further depression and the cycle just went on.

My mom was horrified cause she knew how hard i worked to lose the weight. she would say things to me that were not nice as she tried to get me to care. Thing is i did care, i just wasn't able to do anything about it. My husband was ok, he said he loved me no matter what to just focus on getting better.

I felt like i was not ok. like i was incapable of being myself. the medication left me in a state where i literally sat around and stared at walls. i could not even watch a half hour tv show cause i would have no idea what was going on in the show. I would cry, i would get mad, but ulitmately i couldn't change it at the time in the condition i was in.

It's been 3 years since the breakdown and i ended up heavier than i had ever been. My medication has now been reduced and i can hold down a job and do most things again- still have trouble with memory and concentration. The second i felt better i started losing weight again. I have lost 25 lbs since the summer (15 since i started mfp). I am happy with my progress, but i feel cheated and upset that i have to do this all over again.

chrissi_k · December 2011

I lost about 27 lbs in 4-5 weeks, I stopped eating - nothing to be proud of...things went upside down, I ate again...slowly the weight came back on...I made unhealthy eating choices again - only drank milk for a few weeks...So everytime I started eating again I gained weight back, but not all of it ...I started working out 7 days a week for quite a while, stopped it again, started again....this up and down (always more than 20 lbs) did go on for about 9 years...

then I met my husband and had my weight and eating habits somewhat under control for quite a while, just a few pounds up and down...I didn't eat sweets or candy for 8,5 years. then I lost my job, my husband deployed for the 5th time (for me it was the 2nd) and I just started eating all kind of junk...my clothes got tight and I felt awful, did it stop me from gaining more weight, nope...Even though I was unhappy like hell it didn't help...
Since then it was like it was before, hardly eating at all, or too much...

So to sum it all up. I gained weight because I didn't work out, I sat on my butt all day and ate pizza and pasta, ice cream etc....but when I hit a certain weight I would freak out and diet...Who can I blame - me, myself and I.

ehunte · December 2011

It is way easier to gain it back than it is to lose! Believe me. I've lost weight before and gained it all back. I kept working out, but I was eating everything under the sun and before I know it I was back to were I had been. This time I hold myself accountable and with the help of MFP, I look at it as a way of life, not a diet!

julslea · December 2011

I went from 230 to 160 and then got pregnant. After having my daughter 3 years ago I just have not been willing to do what it takes to get the weight back off. I am now back at 200lbs. I will loose the weight and this time I will kee it off.

mem50 · December 2011

When I was doing the "trends" I lost the weight but did not learn HOW to eat right and stay consistent. That and I never addressed the real problem. I am a compulsive and emotional eater. I was in a stressful and abusive relationship, Low self esteem. OK, I should have said multiple problems! I always kept my old clothes. Mentally.....I was a mess. I did NOT care about me is all I can say.

I got the help I needed. I lost the weight. I kept it off for 3 years. Medical issues came up that needed a specific medication. It had a steroidal effect on me. I had put 45 pounds back on in about 3 months. I knew it was happening....but nothing I did seemed to help. I fell back into old habits.

When the 3 month check-in with doctor came around he saw the weight gain and put me on a strict program. I did not want to be fat again. I liked being thinner. It took me almost a year but I got rid of those pounds and have been in maintenance for almost 3 months with no gain. I just have to remember to log my food and exercise everyday.

avaloneternal · December 2011

For me it is all in the mindset. I am all or nothing. When I am healthy, I am really healthy, when I am not, I am really not. I am not really an in between person. I was running 5K every day in college and was about the weight I am now (a few pounds more, but very fit) then exams hit and I lost momentum. I gained back about 20 pounds and stayed that way for about 2 years. I have been back on the running bandwagon for about 2 years now and have again lost the weight. I have to have a goal to look forward to or I lose focus and stop caring. That is why I find races great motivation and incentive to stay on track with exercise and (for the most part) eating. I am a little fearful now that my race is over because I do not have another one chosen on my calendar yet but I am staying on track knowing that there will be another marathon sometime in the near future and it is easier to keep the endurance I have already built than lose it and try to start again from square one.

Missjulesdid · December 2011

About 12 years ago I went from 285 to 215 pretty quickly by following a super low fat diet (which caused me to develop gallstones but I won't even get into that right now). I walked 4 miles to work every day. I did contra dance and international folk dancing a few days a week, and hiked up to 15 miles on the weekends.... and then I just got out of my routine. I had some big life changes.. I broke up with my fiance, I moved 2000 miles back to my hometown, I got a new job, I took on the responsibility of raising my two sisters. I just stopped caring honestly. I was really overwhelmed and I just stopped focusing on me and my health and the things that I enjoyed. For me gaining weight is SUPER easy. I don't have to sit around eating whole pizzas and buckets of chicken, It's just if I don't stay right on top of my diet and exercise I am capable of gaining a ridiculous amount of weight very quickly. It didn't help that I was working in a food oriented office and I had a real problem saying "no".

As for the clothes it is pretty easy, you just "forget" about those clothes and just buy new ones.

Nobody reacted to my weight gain. Maybe because everyone is just used to me being fat. I didn't realize how large I had gotten... My first shocker was maybe 6 years ago when I was at my heaviest of around 360? I went into Lane Bryant and I couldn't fit into the largest size. I was mortified. The LARGEST SIZE at a PLUS SIZE shop didn't fit. This is when I turned the corner and started looking at my health more carefully. I lost 45 pounds and have been bouncing between 315-340ish for the past 6 years unable to get below 315. I look back to when I was 215 and think how stupid I was to let myself gain back all that weight and then some but working 50-60 hours a week while taking care of two kids by myself, I just felt too too tired and lazy to tackle my weight. I can't even express how tired I felt all the time. I was sleeping maybe 5 hours a night and I was hypothyroid and didn't know it.

This time around I'm losing weight ever so slowly. I'm hoping that once my thyroid gets fully under control the weight loss might pick up, but either way I know I'm making healthy choices and the exercise is good for my health regardless of if I lose the weight or not.

LorinaLynn · December 2011

Brief history (edit: ok, not so brief!): I was a skinny kid and very thin (under 120#) until my mid 20s. Then I got a desk job and a husband. I was less active from the job, and ate more with the husband. When it was just me, I didn't bother with meals every night. So I gradually gained weight. Then lost a little when I switched to diet soda, then developed TMJ (slipped disc in my jaw joint) and was unable to eat normally, and lost weight. Too much. Once my jaw was functioning normal again, I was soooo happy with being able to eat, and so tired of being skinny, that I didn't care about gaining. Every once in a while, I'd try to lose a few, but thought my options were (a) starving to be a little thinner or (b) eating what I want and maintaining a slightly more than I'd like but still healthy weight. Maintaining always won. Then I developed depression after losing my mom, my job, my dad and my cat, and gained more weight. Once I had enough of wallowing in my depression, I started here and learned the RIGHT way to lose weight, which for me is being a lot more active and eating just a little bit less, not starving.

So, for me, gaining happened when I didn't care that I was gaining, whether it was from depression, or because the alternative was being hungry and that sucked a lot more than too-tight pants. Sometimes it was a matter of denial. Like believing my jeans shrunk in the wash. Or acceptance, thinking, "Well, this is what happens in your late 30s."

Now that I know how to lose, and how to maintain, and how good I feel with regular exercise, I can't see me ever going back.

Goal_Seeker_1988 · December 2011

I've lost 85lbs and I haven't gained any of it back! I refuse to let the scale go up!!!

Btw I've kept it off for over 3 years!

keiraev · December 2011

I think part of the reason I have lost weight and then gained it back in the past is not understanding the whole maintenance process.

I would lose a few pounds and then not understand that you can't just go back to eating how you were before, and that when you're lighter you need a lot less calories.

I also used to exercise loads but then think that was a licence to eat whatever I wanted, which I now know is not the case.

It takes so much motivation and commitment to change completely, I was constantly putting it off until "Monday" or "Next week" or whenever, and like someone else said you can still squeeze into the same size clothes for a long time before you finally give in and admit they're too small!

ashnm88 · December 2011

I've lost 85lbs and I haven't gained any of it back! I refuse to let the scale go up!!!

Btw I've kept it off for over 3 years!

Awesome!

I think some consider it a diet, instead of a lifestyle change. I don't plan on going back to what I ate 8 months ago, I have gotten use to all the healthy foods and plan to keep on eating them. Also I plan never to give up on exercise. I like my new clothes a lot better!

stevwil41 · December 2011

It's happened to me once. Basically, I made drastic changes to my diet that I couldn't sustain. I hit my goal and immediately started eating the way that got me fat in the first place and I got fat again.

capriciousmoon · December 2011

I gained a little back because I wasn't exercising as much. I moved to an area where it wasn't as easy to just go out and walk, so I got lazy. I still maintained a 90 lb loss for 3 years.

Now I'm on here to lose what I gained and another 30 lbs.

debussyschild · December 2011

I've never had the experience of gaining it "all" back, as I haven't yet succeeded in losing it "all" yet. I've gained back 10 or so before. Mostly due to a lack of organization and planning my meals and exercise. I got inconsistent and since I wasn't seeing results, got discouraged. Being consistent is the key as is not going back to old habits, though they DO die hard.:ohwell:

debussyschild · December 2011

I've lost 85lbs and I haven't gained any of it back! I refuse to let the scale go up!!!

Btw I've kept it off for over 3 years!

Awesome!

I think some consider it a diet, instead of a lifestyle change. I don't plan on going back to what I ate 8 months ago, I have gotten use to all the healthy foods and plan to keep on eating them. Also I plan never to give up on exercise. I like my new clothes a lot better!

For stubborn people like me, it may take a few attempts to finally realize that it is indeed a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Getting to that point takes a lot of work, but it's worth getting there.

FluffyCanadianGirl · December 2011

I lost 40-45 pounds by exercising and eating right, but then gained it all back. I started working 2 jobs and dropped my gym membership because I was out of the house from 7 am-9 pm everyday and worked on Saturdays as well. I mostly ate fast food lunches between jobs and didn't get to eat dinner until 9:30 when I got home. Breakfast was usually cookies because I was always in a rush to get out of the house and my office had a cookie drawer. I didn't sleep enough and didn't have a life. I barely saw my hubby and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have taken the second job! It wasn't worth it for 14 months of exhaustion.

Yup, looking back I'm extremely frustrated because I know how hard I worked to take the weight off and it came back soooo quickly and brought some of it's friends as well! But, I made excuses. I have nothing and no one to blame but myself. I could have gone for walks on the weekends, and I could have eaten properly, but I didn't. I've owned that, and now I'm back to square -1. My self esteem and confidence have suffered a lot becaue of the weight gain and I felt like a failure, but I'm here now (and only working 1 job again!)!

krissybabydoll · December 2011

Basically you just slip back into old eating habits slowly. You have one day of eating bad, which turns into 'whats one more day of indulgence'.. which, once you are back in your old headspace, its hard to stop and you end up eating what you used to eat pre-diet. And then you realise you've gained weight, but you aren't in the right headspace to lose the weight again. And thus goes the vicious circle of yo yo dieting..........

MrsNoir · December 2011

I think you can describe it as yes "i forgot to weigh myself", sometimes my brother has been staying for a couple of weeks, or my parents, or in Christmas, you relax, only for 2 weeks .. and you eat whatever you want, and then... when you decide to go on a scale due to comments from the significant other, mum or very real friend, then you go on a scale and find out you've put on some lbs more.. more than you wish.. but not surprising, however, might be not shocking enough to consider start dieting. You think you can eat the same things again, just a little bit less, or something. But I guess once your tummy has got bigger you find it harder to control the portions, and so on.

This time I've put the weight on during pregnancy, but I didn't let myself go too far, some people find excuses on that to be forever overweight, I've been all days after the 6th week after birth controlling my calories and working out!

.. as I was already on my losing weight track when I got married, only one month earlier before I got pregnant!

How do you gain it all back?

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