I joined 3FC a couple years ago with a different username. I was at 290 lbs, and I decided it was time to try to lose weight. I lost 40 lbs, and I was very pleased with my progress. Unfortunately I fell off the wagon and went up to around 290 again. I was going through a really toxic relationship. A few months ago we broke up and I was struggling really badly with different emotions. I was put on a few different medications that unfortunately made me balloon up to 345 lbs. So I've joined Weight Watchers, and I'm trying again from the beginning.

Why did we gain it back? This is an easy one to answer...emotions. Eat when im sad eat when im mad eat when im anxious eat when im nervous eat when im stressed ....and on and on...I eat cause im trying to stuff down and mute out the feelings...then i attempt to eat healthy when its passed...but then i step on the scale and see a gain..then i feel again...and back to stuffing it down which means more calories which means more weight.

Iam successfully losing again through calorie counting and IF with one cheat meal a week. Through this i have felt more in control of my eating and binge free.

Does misery make great company or what??
I, too, am not a stranger to 3FC, although I took a couple years off because of the giant 9 month plateau I hit. Then, I split with my personal trainer, I started traveling with work, I stopped working out, and I just ate whatever I wanted--because as Berry said--I wasn't losing anyway, so why keep being conscious about making the "right" choices.

What good was it doing me to work out 5 days a week, eat right, stay OP, and still NOT lose?

AS a result, I gained every ounce plus 5 or so lbs back, lost ALL discipline, and formed an attitude of not caring. My cholesterol went up, my BP went up--I actually had a BP! Normally I was 90-100 systolic, but last week when I checked it, it was 131 systolic. Now, I know many people would love to have this #, but for me to have a 40mmHg rise is HUGE!

I can't wear any of my clothes--even my scrubs are tight. Who the heck has tight scrubs?? My undergarments don't fit--I, too, had to buy new larger sizes, which SUCK, b/c I have so many cute Vic Secret sets that I can no longer wear and my back hurts too much to wear the lovely bras. So, I am forced to wear comfort instead of "show off" lingerie'.

I decided to come back over to 3Fc because this is where I started last time I lost 20lbs. Looks like I'm in good company.

I haven't gained it "all" back but I did gain a good 15 lbs since the spring of last year. I managed to get heel spur that turned into plantar faciatis. I had to take it easy on my feet for a few months and in the meantime I was also self medicating with food and wine. Oye! I'm back on track and I just wish the weight would come off as quickly as it seems to jump back on. Best luck to all!

Gained 20 of my 40 back. Reading everyone else's post I feel good for catching it now. I got lazy. I didn't want to watch it anymore. I didn't want to count my food, etc. At least I kept the exercise habit. Now I realize I need to watch it everyday. My father had a heart attack at 54 yrs old. I am approaching my 50th bday. I need to take care of me. No being lazy.

I gained back most of what I originally lost because I put in the work to lose it for all the wrong reasons. My ex-husband wouldn't have sex with me until I lost weight....but then I lost over 30lbs and he STILL wouldn't. I felt like...if I wasn't getting any pleasure from him OR my food, I should just give up and enjoy my ****ing food.

As it turns out, the problem was HIM not me! ;P It just took me a few years to see it clearly.

WOW!! I knew I wasn't alone. I almost wish I was, because to be blunt...it sucks when all your hard work kind goes in the ole dumpster. But here's my story...

I had to take a job I really, really hated from the jump. But bills had to be paid, because life was going to continue on moving forward. Then life continued happening. My hubby had soooo many health issues, he still does but they seem manageable for now...
Then the bottom really fell through. I went in for a basic check up to see if exercise would be okay to do. I went in for my gyno exam, which I hadn't done in probably 6 or 7 years. PROBLEM!! The nurse practitioner my clinic had said, "I cannot find your cervix. I need to refer you to an actual gynecologist." I was scared. I found an awesome doctor. He did an exam & verified her (non?) findings. I was immediately set up for CAT scans & sonograms.
Waiting for the results was horrific!!! What was wrong with me?? The not knowing was killing me. I went in for my results...he gave me the news. I needed to be scheduled for surgery ASAP! I had a HUGE CYST that had taken over my reproductive region. Think size of a loaf of homemade bread! And on top of that, my gall bladder was basically just a HUGE gall stone. Great......
I had surgery a few days later. I was basically sliced open from my navel to my pelvic bone. Healing was also not a walk in the park...my sutures did not want to stay sealed. So what should have been a 6-8 week healing time, it was more like a 12-14 week healing time. Then since I had to have a complete hysterectomy I was thrown immediately into menopause. Swear to you, I was having hot flashes within like 12 hours of getting out of surgery.
Then came the battle to find the right combination of drugs to control my flashes & get me off those mood swings!!!
The tweeking & adjusting of my medications took about 6 months, so now I was up early April '15. Felt soo much better.
Then we bought a home (a fixer-upper) that summer. So moving from our place where we had been for basically a decade...how did we accumulate soooo much stuff????
By the time we were all settled it was nearly Halloween. And I was spent. Struggled as I knew the holidays were approaching. I don't celebrate any holidays except the patriotic ones, so when Thanksgiving arrived I decided it was time to re-do me. I've been at it every since!!!

I had lost the weight in college, but it was intensely short-lived because I was using dangerous, unhealthy calorie levels to get fast results. I was doing a lot of theatre at the time and feeling pressure to be "prettier" any way I could.

I did 300-600 calories a day for a while and people said I looked great. Then I got tired of it, started eating regularly again, and went back to the way I was.

This is why I am obsessive over the sustainability of what I'm eating, even during my "diet"--I don't restrict myself from eating chocolate, I make sure I have three full meals a day. This way, I won't feel constantly on the verge of "snapping out of it" and gaining all the weight back.

MrsTryingAgain

Hi my old friend wanted to thank you for the kind private message and let you know I am back.

Best of luck to all on this journey. I lost 5lbs over last 3 weeks and just had a binge day today of 2900 calories total for today,thats an extra 1300 calories,why do I sabotage myself.Tommorrow is a new day and my goal in February is to intense exercise 5days a week.

I finally have accepted that it is nothing I am doing. I have tried every diet. and they all went the same way.

Eat less and exercise more - slow losing
Eat even less and exercise even more -- extremely slow losing
Eat almost nothing and exercise like 2 hours, no losing about 20 lbs above my goal weight.

Now my metabolism is super suppressed and *something* happens where I no longer can count every calorie and exercise for 2 hours. Mom gets sick, move from my house, break my toes. And very quickly, I gain hand over foot. And am ravenous -- almost like a boomerang.

I am trying a new way of dieting that I hope... and some science says will stop this... and I hope it will.

Basically lose 10% body weight and then stop and maintain for a long 4 month period.Then lose 10% more and stop and maintain. The goal is to keep the body from suppressing the metabolism.

I am looking for people who want to try this too and compare results. PM if interested.

Hello lovely ladies! I'm still lurking around and in the fight. This is a side point, but are most of us around the 40ish age range? I'm asking because some of your posts seem to indicate some life experience. Also, the 40s support group used to be popping back when I was a regular, and now there are maybe 1 or 2 ladies on there, which makes me sad.

Anyway, since December I've been a regular at the doctor's office - one visit leads to another visit to another specialist, and each specialist orders scans and tests to be done outpatient at the hospital, and it's basically a domino effect. The visits are all to deal with my hypertension and rule out any resulting health complications of my kidneys (in the clear!) and heart (echocardiogram scheduled for next week).

Here's the thing - since having all of these appointments, I have felt FATTER than ever. I wrote here in November (after my first doc appointment) about needing to get back on track. However, to see the term "obesity" bandied about on my lab orders and charts really sucks!! I don't think of myself as obese (overweight, yes), but apparently other people do. Now I wonder if I simply don't see myself clearly?

For example, today at the gym I've been going to ever since it opened over 2 years ago, I was on a piece of gym equipment that works the upper arms. I saw an older man who is newer trainer at the gym lurking about and he seemed to turn his attention to me. I felt his movements following me as I moved to different stations. Finally, I got up to go to a different station and he approached me to critique my form on the last piece of equipment I was on. I smiled and nodded (headphones in ear) in dismissal. I wasn't interested in hearing his sales pitch to sell me training sessions, and the only reason he was lurking about instead of working with a client is because he isn't a popular trainer and doesn't have enough clients - hence the lurking. He proceeded to try to "train" me through my workout on the machine, as I did my best to ignore him. I actually cut my arm day workout short just to get away from him and did an extra hour of cardio in its place on the stationary bike, but that wasn't what I had planned for this morning.

Anyway - about 15-20 minutes into my cardio workout, I see this trainer walk up to the sign-up desk with another unsuspecting new client (victim) - another overweight middle-aged woman he had cornered at the weight machines who he had told wasn't doing it right. When I saw them walk up, I realized that this guy targeted me because I look old, fat, and unaccustomed to exercising! I'm feeling really insulted, humiliated, and discouraged. I've been working out at this gym longer than he has! Sheesh!

Anyway, thanks for letting me have my tantrum. I'll be back in my routine doing my thing tomorrow...I'm not letting any shmucks get me down. If he approaches me again, I'll say thanks but no thanks.

For me it's usually my mental health. I have C-PTSD and when it flares up I can't focus on anything other than my past. My most recent bout was in the end of August beginning of September. Weight loss seemed so trivial compared to everything I was feeling emotionally. But then how I looked and felt as a result of emotional eating made me feel even worse and more like a failure. Even after I came through the other side there is this apathetic complacency when it comes to how I'd eat. Like others have mentioned, I gained the weight, I felt fat, why did it even matter anymore....until I'd then see myself in the mirror or try on my old clothes and start crying.

How is everyone doing with their reboot efforts? Man, I forgot how slowly the pounds come off for me! If only I could have one good week of exercise and diet and be at my goal weight! It takes so long, it's easy to give up. Today I'm still here. How about you?

Well I've been off this site for about 2 years...that's when I gained my weight back...and I was just 3 lbs from my goal. I broke 3 ribs and punctured my lung and the weight came on immediately. I was convinced that my thyroid or SOMETHING was medically wrong with me. Nope! Dr said it was the perfect storm...body was stressed from the injury and I went through 'the change'.

So 2 years later I'm still not willing to accept this is my new norm...I'm 10 lbs higher than my previous high! I have to get back on a plan. Any jumpstart ideas?