People who lost weight and then gained it back

It took you a long time to put it on it will take a long time for you to lose it

I haven't put it all back on, but, I have always started dieting again if I put more than a stone back on.

Also I keep within my daily maintain calories

I think two big final lessons I have learnt are don't under-eat by more than 500 . Don't deny yourself any food

A lot of people can't give up chocolate because they deny themselves it instead of just saying 'I don't want it'

Five years ago, I lost half my body weight, around 140lbs. Since then, my weight has slowly crept back up and I am now 75lbs overweight (was 90lbs, but have lost 15lbs so far since starting MFP in April). How did I let this happen? This is a tough question...

Over the five years, I put weight back on due to specific events...eg I put 4lbs on during a three week holiday or 5lbs on over Christmas. The problem was I never knuckled down enough to loose those pounds afterwards (like I think some normal weight people do). During my normal day-to-day eating, I would maintain my weight (I generally don't eat junk, take away for anything like that). So basically, I would 'splurge' on something and then not do the hard yards to get it back off.

This was also combined with moving countries which was the biggest upheaval of my entire life. All the foods I had known, all the exercise routines I had established, completely changed. Losing weight was no longer the top priority for my life and I couldn't spend hours on it like I used. It's taken me a long time to adjust.

But as I write this, I feel like I am making excuses. At the end of the day, I took my eye off the ball and I now know that I will never be able to do that again. It's exhausting thinking about it how much this is a battle I will have my entire life but it's more exhausting being obese.

You might also find this article interesting...http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

After I had my daughter I lost 105 pounds (from 310 at her birth to 250 without working at it then 205)...

Then I got diagnosed as hypoglycemic. I also go the news that I have a heart rhythm disorder and will one day need a pace maker as well as was told that I have extraordinarily low blood pressure and needed to add more salt to my diet.

I honestly felt betrayed by my body and decided to just try to stay at that weight rather than lose more weight. I also felt discouraged because I didn't know how to eat for hypoglycemia. I couldn't do what I had been doing to lose weight when I'd been told that I needed to consume at least 6 grams of protein every 2-3 hours.

In all honesty, looking back, I wasn't tracking calories but I couldn't have been eating enough and I was super restrictive. I had a list of things I wouldn't allow myself to eat- pork, any added fat, ice cream, any and all sweets, red meats, etc... It really wasn't the way to go. My body was starving! My body seriously held onto EVERYTHING afterwards.

Not very long after my diagnoses I moved across the country to be with my SO. I started working at a job I hated and eventually changed jobs to one where I work 50 hours a week. I had to deal with cohabitation and all of those stresses. I also went from simply raising my daughter on my own to helping raise his as well (he has custody). I also had my grandfather and uncle (step-mother's family) die within a month of each other. My maternal grandmother became ill and went into a nursing home. I caught pneumonia and was out of work for an entire month and also on steroids for much of that month. Not to mention, my SO has very different eating habits (150 pounds and eats whatever he feels like without gaining weight.)

I got depressed and I turned to food in my time of need-mostly sugar laden foods. I produce too much insulin and sugar only exacerbates the cycle. I eat a bunch of sugar and my body produces a flood of insulin as a response, causing my blood sugar to then drop rapidly and me to feel even more depressed/sluggish/shaky. I then eat more sugar to bring my blood sugar back up. Emotional eating- that monster that I thought I'd slayed was really my downfall. However, with a score of 300 on the Holmes and Rahe stress scale and depression in my past, is it really so surprising that I gained 80 pounds in a year and a half?

Now, I'm losing weight the right way for me. I'm watching my carbs (hypoglycemia makes this essential), getting enough protein, exercising moderately and generally trying to remember that slow and steady wins the race... I even took a week off while I was on vacation and managed to get back on track when I came home!

I lost about 70 lbs in about 7 months back in the 90's. Did that by going to Weight Watchers, but cheating like crazy, and exercising my butt off, literally. I was in the gym 5 days a week, minimum. Then we had our fist baby. Well, up at 2am, then 3:45am, guess what? I'm not getting up at 5am to hit the gym, I'm tired! Exercise stopped, and 130 pounds and 17 years later I'm here. I lost a lot but I did not change my eating habits.

I'm taking years to lose this time because I'm losing eating on a maintenance plan, NOT a diet. On other programs it was that deprivation and trying to go 'back' to real food that did me in. I'm losing not depriving myself of anything, just eating what I should every day. It's gonna take me about 3 years to get where I want to be. That's fine.

For me I am 51, married in high school (no, not preg.) but I was bigger then I wanted to be. Until then I never gave my weight much thought but the moment that I admitted that "I have a weight problem" there was NO turning back. Although I went through times that I let myself go the "Knowing " was always in the back of my mind haunting me. So I now realize it will never go away even after reaching my goal I will know I still have a weight problem but this time I plan to use that "knowing" as a controling tool instead of being agravated by it. It will always have to watch it to keep it in check

Its like climbing a rope you don't struggle ,fight and strain to get to the top just to totally relax .

Hello, I'm on week six of the first weight loss journey that I've actually ever taken seriously aside from all the yo-yo and fad dieting that have been unsuccessful. So this is the first time I can actually say I've lost weight in a healthy and real manner (12 pounds down, 40 to go). This is the longest I've ever stuck with this lifestyle change and also the most I've ever lost and so I'm starting to really understand how difficult and long of a process this can be.

So my question for the people who got down to their goal weights or lost a significant amount but gained some or most of it back is - why did that happen? I'm asking just because I want to be mentally prepared the closer I get because going through this process now makes me want to never have to start at having to lose 50+ pounds again.

Thanks!

The times I gained most of my weight back seemed to be during times of short-termed depression. Not blaming it, but when I've tracked back to when I regained this is where I was in my life. The first time I got down really low, my ex-husband and I moved home and temporarily in with my parents, I gained 50 lbs in like 2 months time and I was depressed.

I lost the weight again, I did well and then I bought my house. Again a short term of depression set in and I gained again. You may be asking why did you get depressed after getting a house, what you've wanted, I have no idea, but when anything major changes in my world I get slightly depressed.

Anyhow, I got laid off in August, you would think this would be soooo depressing, but for some reason it had an opposite affect on me. I started working out again, I started watching what I ate. First just doing it on my own, and then in January joining this site. So seems this time I made it work in my favor. I also feel like this time, I don't let setbacks depress me, so if one week I gain the 2 lbs I just lost, I don't give up, I don't cry and I don't get depressed or think I'm not working as hard, I just realize that it's a process and since I still lost inches, I know it's temporary. Maybe the mindset has changed now. But I feel like it would take a lot to have me regain significantly. UNIVERSE THAT IS NOT A CHALLENGE.

I believe if I reach my goal weight I have to continue counting my calories... forever.

That's where I'm at. For me food isn't a temporary problem; it's an addiction I've been dealing with my whole life. The day I stop combating it is my last day on earth. One day at a time.

IMO if you have a lot to lose and have lost it and regained it there are probably issues other than calorie control that are motivating you. I lost about 40 kilos five years ago and gained about 12 back, mostly due to depression. The reasons for gaining weight are much more complicated than just putting the food in your mouth... if you can deal with the issues then you probably won't gain any back.

In 2010 I lost 22lbs. I just kind of stopped wanting food. I was stressed and was having problems with my boyfriend. It was also my sisters wedding, so along with not wanting to eat I would try to exercise etc. I was feeling so much more confident with the weight lost that I started to be too comfortable... I would have alot of nights in with the friends with Takeaways... and have pizza night with the boyfriend and things like that.. I treated food as an event.. something to do rather than just fueling your body. I was alo very depressed.. so before I new it all the weight piled back on with an added 4lbs! I never felt like I was doing anything wrong as I have never eaten a big quantity of food. I would also never have breakfast and lunch. I generally never went over 2000 calories when having bad food unless I had a shaketastic milkshake. (about twice a month) and without I was eating about 400 a day. I also have PCOS which promotes weight gain.

This time I am taking it so slowly! I am eating more food but better healthier foods. I am drinking more water and exercising. My progress is extremely slow at an average of 0.5lb a week.. but I would be able to keep this up, if not... the only thing i'd do is eat less... so i'm pretty confident i wont be at my highest again

I lost 110 lbs and kept it off for 2 years then I stopped tracking my food and stopped exercising and I gained 70 of it back. It was very clear to me at that time that you just cant loose the weight and do nothing from there on out and maintain. this truly is a "lifestyle" and something you will need to do for the rest of your life if you want to keep the weight off.