A question for all of you wise chicks
 

I was just sitting here wondering, we all know they say it is unhealthy to lose weight quickly and I totally agree. But, why do people gain it back and then some? Technically, if you eat healthy and at a maintenance level (via calories) wouldn't you maintain your loss? Is it because they go back to their old ways of eating unhealthy foods and not watching their diet? Or is there something I am missing here? They just make it sound like losing it fast is the cause of their regain.

Just wondering, because I eat lots of food even though it is only 1500 calories a day. And I am losing at the rate of about 3 lbs per week and have lost 29 lbs in 8 weeks as of today. I know that's too fast in most peoples opinions here, but I am gaining muscle and eat plenty of healthy foods, mostly whole foods. I feel great and look fantastic compared to how I looked two months ago. And I have lost before several times and it was slower than this time for sure!

I guess i'm just asking because I definitely do not want to lose too fast and then regain. Should I eat more calories (which would be hard because I eat alot now) or keep on going as I am? I need some opinions and ideas please ladies! Thank you in advance!

jefferz -- I think you're doing just fine! 1500 calories sounds like a good number for your weight. You've started recently, right? We often lose faster at the beginning of weight loss.

When we talking about losing quickly and eating too little, we might be thinking of people who are regularly eating less than 1000 calories a day and losing more than a couple of pounds a week at a lower weight than yours.

And yes, the problem is that people frequently go back to their old habits -- we don't gain it back by sticking to our successful weight loss plans! Basically, when people are doing something unsustainable to lose weight quickly they tend to crash and burn...

I agree with Heather...I think the main reason people regain their weight plus some is because they eventually go back to their old habits. 1500cal/day sounds good...especially if you're losing 3/week...I think I've heard that 2-3 per week is safe & healthy...but also remember, like Heather said, the weight comes off faster in the beginning. Then your body will adjust and you'll hit the dreaded plateau. Once that happens, you'll probably need to re-evaluate...change exercise routine or calorie intake. I'm no expert or M.D., but all in all, I think you're doing just fine...great actually!!! SO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! :)

People also say your metabolism slows and you lose muscle with too low calories. So I'm guessing (someone confirm?) even if the crash dieters eat healthy and normally, their metabolisms have slowed so they'll gain back more.

Check out the maintainers forum. There is quite the discussion there about this.

I found this thread really helpful in understanding this.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/livi...intenance.html

I gained back about 10kg (22 pounds) by reverting back to old eating habits and not staying on plan with Weight Watchers. As long as you are eating enough and eating healthy with a balanced diet and some exercise, your weight loss sounds good to me :)

I lost and regained several times - some times I regained because of pregnancy and other times because of binge and emmotional eating I wasn't aware I was doing. Now I'm not planning on getting pregnant and I'm dealign with eating issues I hope I will never put weight back on (I never managed to lose this amount of weight before - the most I lost before was 34lb so I am sure I can do it.) Yes you are right thoughit's got to be perminant changes and not just changes ot lose weight or weight will go back on.

Sometimes I also feel I'm losing weight too quickly but if your'e eating 1500 calories I'd make the most of losing it quickly for a while as yoru weight loss is bound to slow down at some point. I'm aiming for about 1500 calories too.

I'm not even sure what "too quickly" means and I'm not sure what "people" mean when they say it. Too quickly???

Don't worry about losing "too quickly" provided you're taking in a healthy amount of calories, eating healthy foods, which you are. Don't worry about gaining it back - UNLESS of course you plan to STOP taking in those healthy foods in healthy quantities. Because then it will come back, whether you took it off quickly, slowly or anywhere in between.

If you revert back to your old ways, the ways that got you to be overweight in the first place, THEN you'll gain back every pound and then some, regardless of the time it took to get off or even how many years you've had it off. Losing weight is a choice. Keeping it off is a choice. GAINING it back is a choice. It's all in our own hands. And as long as you/we keep CHOOSING to keep it off - we will. :)

Congratulations on your loss thus far - and by all means, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

I think the term 'fast' is in the eye of the beholder.

At various times, we've had posters who are - disappointed with only losing two pounds last week
-thrilled to be losing a pound a week
-frightened because they lost 2 pounds overnight
-irritated by a half pound gain

I think you'll find that, over time, your averages will settle into something that looks reasonable to you.

As many of the others have said, it's about learning life long habits.

If you're losing weight in reasonable fashion by implementing healthful eating and exercise habits than there is NO SUCH THING as too quickly.

People regain because they go back to their old way of eating, plain and simple. The only argument I can think of in support of "don't lose too fast, now..." is that the more time it takes you to lose, the more time you have for those healthy habits to "stick".

Hey, congrats on your 29 pounds!

I think it all depends on the person but I think if "dieters" actually make a "lifestyle" change they do not go back. If you deal with your true food issues you won't gain back.

For example...I have a horrible weakness for Coke. Love the stuff. I use to drink over 2 liters a day. I know I can not never have a coke again but I also know that I need to plan for that. So I switched to ice tea with Splenda. It has worked well for me and I have one can of coke a day with my lunch but I always have a gallon of tea in the fridge.

My point you have to deal with whatever was making or keeping you overweight or you will go back to your old ways and gain. I don't think it has to do with how fast as much as how. People assume if you are losing fast you are being unrealistic or obsessive. Sometimes that is true sometimes it is not. :D

If you maintain your healthy lifestyle, you should be able to maintain your healthy weight.

But if someone who loses weight goes back to old ways, then tend to gain it all back very quickly.

Partly because they are simply starting at a lower weight and with less mass to support, the BMR is lower. So the same amount of food that might maintain a very overwight person will cause a thin person to gain.

Partly because their body has adjusted to calorie restriction and gotten very good at getting by on fewer cals, below the standard BMR calculation. Maybe they have gotten more efficient at extracting calories or maybe their metabolic rate is lower but in general, folks who get thin restricting calories don't tend to have as much slack in their calorie budget as natural thinnies.

Maybe partly because when some folks go "off a diet" they try to "make up for lost time" and eat all the things they have denied themselves in a short time, when they wouldn't even have eaten all those things in short order before losing weight.

So, if someone self-denies too much and crash diets (which is where the "too fast" weight loss comes in), they almost inevitably gain fast when they go off the crash diet. Instead, adopting a healthy lifestyle which incorporates treats and accommodates holidays and other celebrations may allow them to stick with it for a lifetime.

The reason people regain is because they go back to old habits. I am at goal and if I want to stay there (I DO !) I cannot go back to eating the way I did before.

For me, speed of original weight loss had absolutely no bearing on why I gained it all back, plus more. What I did was, get divorced and depressed, then started eating carbs again. Because I just didn't care. Then later, I kind of 'woke up' and started to care again. So now I back to counting carbs and losing. Speed had absolutely nothing to do with it. Carbs did. But that's just me.

Thank you all for your opinions!

I assumed that they were re-gaining due to eating the way they did before they lost the weight and I know that you have to maintain healthy eating to not regain. I definitely plan on eating healthy and "maybe" eating out on occasion, or cooking something not too low in calories rarely. I've realized that was my problem before, eating whatever I wanted all the time, and I SO do not want to go back to the old me. I feel TOO good to want to go back to that! I think that is the real eye opener for me, is realizing how the foods I eat now are better tasting and healthier than the processed, fast food junk I ate so much before. And hopefully, that will keep me out of the overweight category.

Again thank you all for your replies... Rockinrobin, awesome advice thank you, I was hoping you would chime in! Yoyoma you made alot of great points and made it easy to understand, thank you as well!