curiouskate Member

I totally relate and could have written that myself about 5 years ago (except for me it was 120 lb). When it gets that hard- all it takes is one (or two) life stresses and holding on gets even harder. I currently think this is normal human nature and evidence would suggest most humans experience this as extremely difficult…

I guess we all have our ways of looking at the world. For me, I am trying to be super honest with myself this time around, and not to have rosy glasses or pretend I can say for sure what will or won't happen in life. It feels the most rational given my experience. I've always been aware of this general phenomenon, but I…

I don't think people should assume they will fail. But my own outlook is that I am not sure what will happen to myself. I will do my best, and that's all anyone can do. Being sure I would succeed has not helped me in the past, maybe being more wary will help.

A lot of people have replied to me - sorry for missing it. Just wanted to say it seems like a lot of people got mad and didn't actually read what I initially said. I said "most people." If that's not you, then it wasn't about you. But I think it might be worth looking at why you feel super definsive reading that little…

Wow. And that wasn't smug?

The thread is for "unpopular opinions" is it not? Clearly mine is one. I honestly do wish everyone good luck.

Great. I wish you awesome luck.

Ok but have you ever seen a study that says that people who lose weight over and over eventually succeed to keeping it off? I haven't. Would love to read it if you know of one.

Yes I agree, that's why my opinion is "unpopular" even thought it's factual. I personally have no expectations anymore. I cannot tell the future. I'll do my best, and that's all anybody can do.

Anyway I'm giving it another go now, so if I get a different outcome, I'll come back and tell people in another decade ;)

I believe that being less arrogant about it may not have helped me keep it off, but it would have saved me a lot of apologies/embarrassment when I was wrong.

Totally agree. But I think it makes more rational sense to be realistic. Know that if you are going to be in that small minority it is going to be a challenge forever. Never get complacent. And even if you believe you can do it, know that things are going to change in your life and you might not know now how you will…

Trying to tell people about what happens to most people who lose weight. Nobody wants to hear it. I get that.

I never listened when people told me the dire statistics until I became one. I used to get mad at the suggestion, in fact. And remember that "20% success rate" includes anyone who kept off 10% of their weight loss. Heck, by that standard I won! But I don't consider gaining back 90% of what I lost success at all. I doubt…

I quit smoking 5 years ago. It's a lot easier than staying thin because you don't need to smoke to live. I barely think about it anymore. Whereas keeping weight off requires constant effort for the rest of your life and you can't just quit eating. That's the difference.

Right. "Most." It's the truth.

Nope. I have celiac disease myself and I see a GI doctor. She says that almost everyone reports feeling better if they quit gluten, even if they don't have celiac. I'm really glad a lot of people want to be gluten free. It helps there to be more options for people with celiac. That's a win. Also I live by the "Eyes on your…

My weird tip: Tell everyone you're losing weight so you will feel ashamed if you give up. Especially tell somebody who won't believe you- defiance is an awesome motivation.

I've always been annoyed by the idea that maintaining 10% of your loss is "success." Who would actually be happy with that? If you went from 280 to 160, but then ended up maintaining at 260, you wouldn't feel very successful at all. Or at least I don't.

Yes I agree. And as someone who has lost and regained the same 100 lb multiple times, I would caution people who feel very assured it won't happen to them. It's a real blow to the ego to have to think back on all the times I said to others "nope, won't happen to me because I know x,y, and z." Going at it this time with a…

I can go along with this, but I would say I don't believe someone is going to maintain until they've kept it off for ~10 years. 2 is just the beginning.

Well I'm here (again) aren't I? ;)

Exactly. Hey if it was just me, I'd probably just have decided I'm a personal failure at weight loss after gaining back 100 lb the second time (again, it took years to lose it, years of maintaining, then a few more years of gaining it back.) and I used to sound exactly like every person who believes this will not happen to…

I think most people have a hard time with life at times. I mean, maybe some lucky people don't but most of us have periods of change/difficulty/adjustment that change things. One of the big ones for me was being forced to move a lot farther away from my job and having to commute. It has never gotten easier to make the time…

It's not about "faith" in people, in my opinion. It's observations. I'm not trying to talk anybody out of their attempts of faith in themselves, but sorry you sound exactly like me and many other people I know/knew then - who gained the weight back. Such declarations no longer mean much to me. But do carry on, I just saw…

No no, it's not about me. That would be arrogant to think one person is the rule for all others. It's my observations of others as well as my own experience. Last time I lost my 100+ lb (putting me barely in the normal weight range) I did it the "healthy way." And it was a lifestyle as they say. It took me 2 years to lose…

And I wish you luck and won't give you my downer experience to try to change your mind, because I've been there too. It's worth it to try.

I thought the article was pretty great. As a life long yo yo dieter, I always wonder if there is a health benefit (or detriment) to losing weight even if you gain it back. I wish there would be more studies done on that question. My opinion is that it must be beneficial on some level so I keep doing it. Over and over.

My unpopular opinion: most people who got fat as children/teens will never maintain a healthy weight, and the best we can hope for is yo yo dieting. The other option is accepting being fat for good. The existence of a few exceptions to this rule doesn't change my opinion. Statistically, it's an obvious fact.

I have celiac disease so no gluten. Found out about it 2 years ago (at age 37). It's kind of a blessing in disguise because it means a whole lot of food is just off the table. I can't eat fast food even if I wanted to.