[srmb60]

We hear so often from folks who have not succeeded with weight loss before and are afraid to try again. According to Anne Fletchers book most losers have attempted weightloss many times before they succeeded or even made progress.
How about you? How often have you tried before this time?

[teahoney]

Too many times to count. I've been trying to lose weight since I was 8. I'm 26 now, almost 27. You do the math. It drives me crazy thinking that just about all of my life has been focused on losing weight.

[Hibiscus8]

The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different outcome. Persistance is important for weight loss, but attempting to go about it the same way over and over only yields frustration. Your approach has to change.

[Meg]

I tried and failed a thousand times. But I picked myself up and tried one more time - and that's the time that worked.

Now I'm closing in on four years of maintenance.

[_MelissaLyn_]

just like teahoney i have been dieting since childhood, i would say about since i was 6 or seven. doctors always had me listed as overweight and my mom tried her best to help. i will be thirty in july so i would say that 25 years of being the heavy one has gotten old!

i have tried countless times to lose weight and only have had sucess one time other then this attempt, when i was 17. and that was because i liked a boy something fierce. goes to show that if you arent losing weight for yourself it will just pile right back on. in my case it came back and then some.

my highest weight was 315 at 23 years old. i am well aware that my weight will be a struggle for the rest of my life but i am going to weigh less then i do today in the future and everyday after that!

[shush]

When i was 20 I lost 42lbs (and put it back on).

When I was 30 I lost 70lbs (and it pu it back on).

In the last 2 years I've lost the same 28lbs 3 times

Now that I'm 40 I need to lose around 98lbs.But I've got to keep trying because each time I do it I learn something new and I've got to believe that this time might just be THE time

[NotTheCheat]

Shush - I think there is an interesting mathematical correlation there!

I too have tried more times than I can count including two summers at Weight Watchers camp when I was a teen. Here I am at 32 and somehow it feels different this time. We'll just have to see . . .

[josie4]

I tried once a couple years ago, lost 20 lbs and kept thirteen off. Last January I decided to lose the rest of my weight, and have done pretty well so far.

[YP1]

I've never seriously tried before. I kind of put it off because I assumed I'd fail, then one day everything clicked and I just did it.

Of course, I still don't know whether it's going to be the last time, but I'll be doing everything I can to make sure it is.

[TBJ333]

Hmm, interesting question.

I lost weight twice before.

Now, I am not re-gaining, but I am losing really slowly. As in, 10 lbs. per year. But I feel like I'm trying and failing, trying and failing.

[kykaree]

I answered twice. I got sent to weight watchers when I was 14, but that doesn't count in my book, because I didn't try. At 23 I lost about 40lbs, but then put it all on and lots more when my marriage broke down following a miscarriage.

It was only late '04 that I decided I had to do it, the timing was ideal, I was basically happy with my life, feeling strong, and thought, right lets give this a go.

[Glory87]

Here's my weight loss history to date.

1985 high school, weighed around 140 lbs. I remember trying to eat lower cal, but not really knowing what that meant. I remember eating toast for breakfast with a thin scraping of butter and jelly and riding my bike all around the neighborhood. I remember the scale reading 133 lbs, the lowest it would weigh for 20 years. Just gave up and quit doing it, reverted back to old habits/way of eating.

1989 summer in college - weighed 151. For 4 weeks I ate nothing but a bowl of rice krispies and an orange every day (Dexatrim was involved) I got down to 137. Stopped "dieting," gained all the weight back and more and got 2 lovely stretchmarks on my stomach due to the weight coming back on so quickly. I distinctly remember what triggered the end - a binge on 4th of July. Specifically O'Boise's potato chips. I had been restricting so long, I had one chip and couldn't stop. I ate all day until I was ill and that was the end of that.

1992 college, sr. year - weighed 175. From Jan - June, I did "low fat." Pretty much anything I wanted as long as it was low fat (including stuff like Snackwells) Got down to around 141 for my lowest weight. I would constantly binge on low fat sugary stuff - those snackwells teddy graham's were a big weakness. Ate a lot of pasta and white baked potatoes. From this diet, I did incorporate some very long term healthy habits that have stuck with me through today - greatly reduced the amount of fried foods, no mayo, no more full fat salad dressing, no butter, very little sugary soda. I also really cut back on meat during this time.

1992-1999 Managed to gain/lose, gain/lose but stayed around 150ish. After losing all that weight, I knew "how" to do it. If I wanted to lose weight, I would just restrict for a bit and the weight would come off, and then I would stop. And the weight would come back on. Then I would lose it. Then I would gain it back.

99 - weighed 150, had my jaw wired shut for surgery, lost 10 lbs on a liquid diet, gained it all back very quickly. Unavoidable - I really couldn't eat solid foods. Was around 145 or so. I think this set me up for the rapid weight gain that happened in 2000 after I started working at my new job, I gained a lot of weight...quickly.

1999-2004 - weight went from 150 to 190. Lots of wishing to lose weight, very few real attempts lasting longer than 2-3 days. Got down to 170 one time before a big work trip, gained it all back right away though.

04 - weighed 192, decided to completely overhaul eating and concentrate on whole foods with high nutritional impact and avoid foods with low nutritional impact. Super food diet! Currently weigh 128 lbs - 10 months maintenance.

Interesting to see how I always gained back the weight and MORE! This is why I'm so obsessed about calories and gaining the weight back - I don't want to go back to being heavy.

[RobertW]

This is my longest and most successful attempt. Over the past 25 years I have lost 30-50# over a period of a few months of dieting and then let it creep back up in a years time.

I definitely never reached the point where I was no longer obese, although by bodyfat percentage I am starting to approach that point now.

[LovesBassets]

I'll tell you what's weird about me. LOL, I'll tell you ONE thing that's weird about me anyway ...In my entire life, I've tried to lose weight twice. And I lost weight both times -- 20 lbs in 1995, and 50 lbs this time around. I gained all 20 lbs back after the 1995 success, though, so my goal this time is to seriously keep it all off for life.

You have to understand that I can be slightly obsessive and SUPREMELY project-oriented. Once I get it into my head to do something, I DO it. Not always a good thing (especially when the idea in my head is a wacky one) but in this situation it's been a huge plus.

The thing that I find interesting is that despite being overweight and/or obese for at least 20 years of my life, I never thought I could lose weight. Therefore, I never even bothered to TRY (other than in '95 and now). Bizarre.

[Ruthxxx]

Well, I was overweight as a teen (120 pounds!) and have been dieting since I was 15. I am still dieting after 52 years. I'll be 67 tomorrow and I will NEVER give up!