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  #1   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 06:30
Chef Ron Chef Ron is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 52
 
Plan: Keto
Stats: 293.6/261.6/180 Male 5' 11"
BF:
Progress: 28%
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Default Why do we re-gain weight?

Here's a question from a guy who's trying to lose around 100 lbs (at my heaviest I was at 298 lbs, currently I am at 275 and hoping to go down to 180)... I know there are some of you who had lost a huge amount of weight before, and then "the life happened" and you regained all that back, so now you are trying to lose it again. I did it too, I've never really lost a 100 lbs and gained it back, more like 30-40 lbs. However, what happens, once we reach that goal, and then we lose focus for so long in order to put all that weight back? It doesn't happen over one week, it takes time to gain 100 lbs back. So, why do we slip for so long? How do you prevent that? I am so scared of going back to my 290 lbs life that, at this point, that fear keeps me away from any bad food - I think that even one slice of bread will make me fail and go back to the "old way of eating". Do you lose that fear once you're all skinny and fit? Or is it something else? Is it eating when you're stressed out? And, if so, how do you prevent it (and why do we eat carbs when we are stressed out, anyways)?
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  #2   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 06:53
RonnieScot RonnieScot is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 352
 
Plan: LCHF, no breakfast.
Stats: 256/178/140 Female 5ft 3"
BF:
Progress: 67%
Location: Scotland, UK
Default

I feel the same, worried about putting it on again if I change, slip up and let myself go.

Statistically we’re most likely to put the weight back on. Whether talking about set-points, lowered metabolism, some emotional or genetic propensity for increased appetite or adipose tissue, etc, we will never be able to eat like slim, normal people who don’t have whatever these issues are.

It takes effort and awareness and honesty to keep the weight off. Whether we lost weight low cal, low carb, through fitness, muscle building, fasting, etc, this really is a LIFE change. Going back to SAD will result in going back to being obese. One might hope we can use many tools to get to target and then relax and just use some tools to maintain weight. I don’t know if this is ok, and who knows which areas we can each slacken up on? Some people do great on moderate carb, some feel they need below 20g or whatever their number is. Others may prefer to eat more carbs, also fast and work out.

My weight is almost low enough, now I want to be healthy. I plan to be at this journey for the rest of my life. That makes it easier as I’m coming to accept it. I have to be honest with myself, carbs and problem foods make me deceive or damage myself: ‘It’s only a little bit...’. Or ‘I’ve lost it once, I can do it again next year’. I will need to be very aware of what I’m saying to myself to stay on track.

I’m stressed right now, I emotional eat; eaten five apples today. It’s not great, not in ketosis, but it won’t kill me. Had it been toast, I’d have eaten the whole loaf by now. Apples aren’t so bad, they and the roast chicken and black coffee will be ok for my health. I have problems and hope to figure it out eventually. None of us got fat because we’re fine, happy, healthy and doing great.
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 07:36
jschwab jschwab is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,378
 
Plan: Atkins72/Paleo/NoGrain/IF
Stats: 285/220/200 Female 5 feet 5.5 inches
BF:
Progress: 76%
Default

For me it's two things: illness and how I feel. I gain really quick with inflammation when I'm sick. And I'm tired and get lazy and unfocused about what I eat, too. The second reason is I don't find a huge advantage physically in being at my lower weights. I tend to get injured more frequently and I don't feel better overall. I think if I had physical motivation I could stay at that low weight. The last time I was that low it was because I was not eating due to a very stressful life event. I looked and felt horrible. My best physical conditioning has happened at 40-50 pounds over my low weight. But I still want to be thinner. It's a hard balance.
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  #4   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 07:57
Sniggle Sniggle is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 370
 
Plan: General Low Carb
Stats: 215/197.2/195 Male 73.5
BF:
Progress: 89%
Location: West Virginia
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by RonnieScot
It takes effort and awareness and honesty to keep the weight off.


Although my hill has never been as steep as yours, I think RS nailed it with the above. I have done the low carb thing twice before, dropped 20 lbs the 1st time maybe 15 years ago and dropped close to 40 lbs the 2nd time 18 months ago, and here I am again. The biggest mistake I made, I believe, was not stepping on the scale daily after I reached my goal. Without that information, I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that I was sliding again, until a few comments from the wife and tight 36 waist pants yanked me back to reality. It is human nature to not want to receive negative information, whether it is a job evaluation, looking at the bank balance, looking at your kid's grades (my least favorite at present), or seeing you gained 2 lbs on the scale.

I viewed my previous successful low carb efforts like climbing a mountain, and once I reached my goal I allowed myself to believe that I had nothing left to do. That did not work out.

So I think the starting point, at least for me, is to:

Face The Scale Daily - Once I am at my goal, use this information as the guard rail; to keep me from veering off the path

Last edited by Sniggle : Mon, May-27-19 at 14:32.
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  #5   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 08:52
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
Default

My experience since eating the Atkins way or similarly since 1972:

Losing the weight is the easy part. Maintenance is harder. Please note that this is the first time in my life that I've maintained my weight loss. Before, I'd lose the 30 lbs The Same 30 Pounds and then quickly gain it back. The gaining back for me went much quicker than the losing. That old axiom about "losing slowly" didn't work for me.

I'm currently doing much self experimentation (n=1). The Science of what is going on inside my body is different from everybody else. I need to ascertain what my body needs to stay healthy and mobile and maintain my weight loss.

My advice is based upon my own experience. While you're losing, try to figure out the Science of why you're losing, how much is water weight, how much is fat loss. Dr. Jason Fung has the best explanation for all these things and you don't have to buy a book to find it, just go to his blog. It's all there. The search feature on the site is very good.
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  #6   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 09:03
s93uv3h's Avatar
s93uv3h s93uv3h is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,662
 
Plan: Atkins & IF / TRE
Stats: 000/000/000 Male 5' 10"
BF:
Progress: 97%
Default

Pick up this book. Amazon has it for $9.35 before shipping.

Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival (2000) [ goodreads ]

introduction page 2 [ pic 1 ]

introduction pages 2 & 3 [ pic 2 ]

random paragraph from the above goodreads link:

When we don’t get enough sleep in sync with seasonal light exposure, we fundamentally alter a balance of nature that has been programmed into our physiology since day one. This delicate biological rhythm rules the hormones and neurotransmitters that determine appetite, fertility, and mental and physical health. When we rely on artificial light to extend our day until 11 p.m., midnight, and beyond, we fool our bodies into living in a perpetual state of summer. Anticipating the scarce food supply and forced inactivity of winter, our bodies begin storing fat and slowing metabolism to sustain us through the months of hibernation and hunger that never arrive. Our own survival instinct, honed over millennia, is now killing us.
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  #7   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 10:50
Lbangle's Avatar
Lbangle Lbangle is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 199
 
Plan: Atkins/Duke diet
Stats: 267/173.8/145 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 76%
Location: USA
Talking

I think most regain because they either consciously or unconsciously look at their diet as a way to get to their goal - their desired weight. Once they are "there" they think they are done and slowly go back to eating what they want without regard to what is it doing to them. Usually the regain is slow and before they know it they are back where they started.

I have struggled for years up and down. I am losing slowly this time.....Probably because I am not eating extreme zero low carb/keto. I am low carb - not zero carb. I eat a few carbs each day.....more like the atkins 40 or maintenance. I am concentrating on cutting carbs, and eating less food totally, especially at night. It is working for me, and I have made some permanent changes to what I eat.

Basically, like everyone says, you have to change for life. You can't look at this as temporary. Also, I weigh myself daily. I know weight fluctuates with water retention, etc., but I do it anyway so I am always aware of what I weigh. I will not let this creep up again.

I have lost about 86 pounds and have 35-40 more to go to reach the "normal" BMI for my height. I figure it will take me another year to get there.

You just have to remember that YOU control this. You are in charge of what goes into your mouth, so you only have yourself to blame or congratulate for your progress. ..........

Here's a little rant.............it drives me CRAZY to see fat unhealthy cats and dogs, because I know that they did not open that refrigerator or bag of dog food themselves. ........ as a dog lover it is something that drives me nuts! Just like with people, overweight pets die early and suffer health issues they would not have at a normal weight......ok, I'll get off the soapbox now......What is so weird is that I may have allowed myself to get fat, but my dogs were always in perfect weight. Odd that I was so concerned about their health and appearance and let myself do just the opposite...Yikes....that's scary
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  #8   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 14:15
Bob-a-rama's Avatar
Bob-a-rama Bob-a-rama is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,953
 
Plan: Keto (Atkins Induction)
Stats: 235/175/185 Male 5' 11"
BF:
Progress: 120%
Location: Florida
Default

With me, I went on this diet in the 1970s. I only had about 50 pounds to lose, and I did, but there were times when the scale started creeping up again, regaining up to 10 pounds.

That's when I realized I was slipping, sneaking in a few extra carbs and kicking myself out of ketosis.

With me I have to stay on a strict fewer than 20 carbs per day or else I gain. So you eat at a friends and you thin a simple "a bit of this won't hurt" but in reality, it does hurt.

If I want to keep the weight off, I have to stay strictly on-plan and make sure I'm not getting too many carbs or not enough fat.

Of course we are all different.

If you don't want to gain the weight back, keep on plan for life. It gets easier with the passing years to resist the temptations of the past.

Bob
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  #9   ^
Old Mon, May-27-19, 14:31
cotonpal's Avatar
cotonpal cotonpal is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,283
 
Plan: very low carb real food
Stats: 245/125/135 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: Vermont
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob-a-rama
If you don't want to gain the weight back, keep on plan for life. It gets easier with the passing years to resist the temptations of the past.


That's it. That's all it takes. Just stay on the plan, the same plan that you used to lose the weight, just continue on that way and you'll be fine. I've been doing it for 15 years. It works. The one time I went significantly off plan (too many carbs) I gained 20 pounds. I learned my lesson. For me maintenance is not hard. It's easy. I just keep eating the way I've been eating and everything goes fine. A few extra carbs of on plan food and I will start gaining weight so I never stray very far and I am hardly ever tempted. Right now I am about 10 pounds up from my lowest weight but I've stopped gaining by being more careful with my carb counts. Most people seem to find it hard to maintain but I don't. I just stick with the program.
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  #10   ^
Old Tue, May-28-19, 10:43
DaisyDawn's Avatar
DaisyDawn DaisyDawn is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 363
 
Plan: Higher P/Moderate F + C
Stats: 152/146.6/130 Female 66
BF:
Progress: 25%
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chef Ron
Here's a question from a guy who's trying to lose around 100 lbs (at my heaviest I was at 298 lbs, currently I am at 275 and hoping to go down to 180)... I know there are some of you who had lost a huge amount of weight before, and then "the life happened" and you regained all that back, so now you are trying to lose it again. I did it too, I've never really lost a 100 lbs and gained it back, more like 30-40 lbs. However, what happens, once we reach that goal, and then we lose focus for so long in order to put all that weight back? It doesn't happen over one week, it takes time to gain 100 lbs back. So, why do we slip for so long? How do you prevent that? I am so scared of going back to my 290 lbs life that, at this point, that fear keeps me away from any bad food - I think that even one slice of bread will make me fail and go back to the "old way of eating". Do you lose that fear once you're all skinny and fit? Or is it something else? Is it eating when you're stressed out? And, if so, how do you prevent it (and why do we eat carbs when we are stressed out, anyways)?


I was never in the triple digit club, but I have been successfully maintaining a 50ish pound loss for over 6 years now so here's my input, for what it's worth

First the reality check-
The weight loss phase is the easy part, maintenance is where the work actually begins. This is because during the relatively short weight loss phase you're highly motivated. You're seeing a downward trend on the scale, you're fitting into new clothes, you're getting compliments, you're blood work/health conditions are improving etc etc. On the other hand-this all pretty much stops once you transition into maintenance and you lose those motivators that pushed you forward.

Instead there's 1.- 20, 30, 40+ years of 'real' life that's mostly 'same old, same old', mixed in with 2.- things like sickness, death of loved ones, injuries, holidays, job changes, moves, family dynamic changes (divorce, kids moving out, taking care of aging parents etc), vacations, stressful times, financial upsets etc etc. That combination leads to a 'perfect storm,' and it becomes very difficult to stay focused. And with loss of focus comes adherence failure.

And then throw into the mix all the old habits that you thought were gone that suddenly hit you from behind, when you're not paying attention/defenses are down, and it's a recipe for disaster, for most people. The long term success rate for weight loss management is absolutely dismal. BUT-there's a few of us statistical freaks of nature who are successfully maintaining and here's the good news-there's absolutely no reason why you, or anyone else reading this, cannot be a part of the 'elite' who are successful at this.

Second, the Plan-

-come up with your maintenance plan NOW, while you're still in the weight loss phase. It doesn't have to be super detailed, but write down some strategies that you'll be implementing on the day you hit your goal weight.

-along with a plan, always be working towards a new wellness goal-this is so important! It could be expanding your food horizons/learning how to cook new things, a new fitness goal, a new hobby or sport etc etc. It doesn't have to be something big-just a new focus that keeps your head in the game.

-be honest with yourself, always. My daily weigh-ins, that I keep on a trending app, make me be real with myself. You can do daily/weekly weigh-ins, or take measurements once a month etc-but have some sort of accountability tool that you use regularly, so you don't let a small blip become a large gain.

-realize that you'll have a maintenance range and not a set weight. Most people chose a 3lb-5lb range and this factors in normal weight fluctuations, small changes in exercise/routine, seasonal changes etc. Keep your eye on this range-it's your focal point. If/when you start creeping out of it, then you know it's time to make some small adjustments to get things back into that range. There's no need to panic when this happens, because you have a plan in place-you just need to get back to it with a bit more focus and then move on.

-realize that you will need to make adjustments as you go along and that's ok! Be open to being flexible and realize that you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be consistent most of the time. There will be times that you go off your plan and that's ok. The important thing is to keep these moments structured as much as possible. There's nothing wrong with giving yourself some grace when the difficult times hit or you're on vacation, or it's your birthday, but don't use these times as an excuse to completely fall away from your maintenance plan. In a nutshell-be an adult and take responsibility and get done what needs to get done

Last edited by DaisyDawn : Tue, May-28-19 at 11:06.
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  #11   ^
Old Sat, Jun-01-19, 08:51
dcc0455 dcc0455 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 167
 
Plan: Low Carb
Stats: 230/165/160 Male 67
BF:
Progress: 93%
Default Regaining weight

I have never understood the "Life gets in the way" explanation, so I can only tell you my experience. I lost about 60 lbs, and then stalled eating a casual low carb diet. I lost another 15 lbs by following a strict Atkins 72 style of eating. Once I hit my goal, my mindset was maintaining by getting back to a casual low carb way of eating. I quickly gained a few lbs and started experimenting over the next year with IF, carnivore, 80% fat, etc., which resulted in me ending up about 20 lbs over my goal weight. The best advice I have seen here had nothing to do with me, but I found it very helpful. There was a question from someone who recently started low carb asking about including high intensity training into her regime. Along with the typical answers about how to do that, one reply was to simply get your food right before adding anything else. I have implemented that strategy, and quit worrying about tracking macros, ketone levels, fat ratio, etc. and just started eating, without following any specific plan but similar to Atkins 72, Dr. Westman page 4, strict keto or whatever the terminology. Anyway, I stopped worrying about a goal weight, but I am slowly heading in that direction. I'm not sure what you can take away from my story, but for me, the lesson was to get (and keep) my food right instead of thinking in terms of weight loss mode vs maintenance mode and the rest won't really matter.
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  #12   ^
Old Mon, Jun-10-19, 13:03
Sunny59 Sunny59 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 520
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 327.0/324.8/120 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 1%
Default

I have lost and regained a ton of weight.. and my problem is simple.. I have no willpower....I can't say NO... or wait for a special day to have a serving of something...also when I start an eating plan, diet and if I don't lose right away I get discouraged and figure what the heck I am not losing anyway might as well eat this or that....
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  #13   ^
Old Mon, Jun-10-19, 16:44
Bob-a-rama's Avatar
Bob-a-rama Bob-a-rama is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,953
 
Plan: Keto (Atkins Induction)
Stats: 235/175/185 Male 5' 11"
BF:
Progress: 120%
Location: Florida
Default

You don't need willpower, you need "won't power" (I won't eat that)

Bob
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  #14   ^
Old Mon, Jun-10-19, 17:33
Sunny59 Sunny59 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 520
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 327.0/324.8/120 Female 62
BF:
Progress: 1%
Default

Makes sense to me Bob....
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  #15   ^
Old Mon, Jun-10-19, 20:10
thud123's Avatar
thud123 thud123 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 7,422
 
Plan: P:E=>1 (Q3-22)
Stats: 168/100/82 Male 182cm
BF:
Progress: 79%
Default

Quote:
I'm not sure what you can take away from my story, but for me, the lesson was to get (and keep) my food right instead of thinking in terms of weight loss mode vs maintenance mode and the rest won't really matter.

I so agree! If you can get your mind around making a simple change in what you eat (or don't eat as Bob mentioned) and make that change a permanent habit, open to slight changes here and there, weight loss may or may not follow.

Focusing on losing weight is like focusing on the final score of a particular football game before the season has even begun. It's ass backwards.

Make a change, stick with it, see what happens. It may or may not work out for your ego's goal weight - let it go. You likely will not be any happier at that weight then you can be right now in the knowledge that you're taking steps to take care of yourself, and in turn, be better able to take care of others.

</rant>

ps, we gain weight back because we ingest more than we expend - that's my theory anyway - why we do this is another story So go eat nutritious foods that don't make you more hungry than you naturally should be. In time your weight problem should take care of itself, I hope.
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