Just curious if there are other serial yo-yo dieters in this forum?

My 40 year weight chart is quite a sight. I figured out that as I've gotten older that my diets are more frequent. It's amazing how much weight I've lost (over and over -- I think it's around 600 pounds). The only silver lining in my chart is i do have pretty good willpower to lose weight when I put my mind to it. Also my long term moving average (the red dashed line) is finally moving down for the first time in 30 years. The bad news is I have shown 0 skill in maintaining any lower weight I achieve (so far at least).

I decided to see a psychologist recently to help me identify my triggers and what my mindset is when I am either trending up or down. I am hopeful that I finally have a handle on things and will be able to finally get my weight down and keep it down.

If you are a yo-yo dieter -- what things make you stop dieting -- what goes through your head when your weight turns and starts heading up -- and what motivates you to start dieting again.

I am no expert on this topic, but I wonder if some of it might be that you like working towards a goal. Just at a glance, it looks like you've lost 50-100 lbs multiple times over the years? Do you like the feeling you get when you reach goals, but then you stop reaching goals, so go back up instead, only to work down again?

Off-topic - Nice chart! I'm impressed you have that much info over the years. I wish I did!! It might've encouraged me to keep the losses off and not regain them. LOL

On topic - I was kinda wondering the same as Beka. That maybe the lowest goals are your end game. So to speak?

You asked what makes you stop dieting and what makes you start again...

My major weight loss the time before last I don't remember how much I lost altogether, but I do remember that I just got tired of the dieting. I'd gotten down low and just felt like I was tired of watching what I ate and really missed my favorite foods I had strictly cut out.

My last major weight loss I was trying to get back to my high school weight in time for my wedding. Once I did and we married I started gaining again. I'd mistakenly thought once I controlled what foods came in the house it would be so much easier for me to continue losing. Not so!! It was actually harder! LOL

This time I realized I was now in my early forties and I had spent my ENTIRE life obese and several of those years in the morbidly obese catagory. I've never known what it's like to be skinny. I want to know now. I'm determined to know. This time I've stuck with it longer than ever before and I believe because I have the amazing support and knowledge that the wonderful people of this forum give and the awesome tool of MFP to help me I can not only lose it but maintain the loss as well. I feel smarter about losing the weight this time because my view of approaching the loss is changing the way I eat for life. NOT by doing a 'diet.'

Hello Beka, Thanks for responding. Yes that's one thing my therapist identified. She thinks I have an addictive personality/characteristic. That when my weight is falling I become addicted to scale results. And one of the triggers for me to stop dieting is when I hit a plateau (where I am continuing to diet, but no longer losing weight) -- then in my head I think this ... "why am I killing myself with this diet, I am not making any progress" -- then I stop dieting and my weight turns. Then I switch into my "food addiction" mode -- an addiction that is easier to feed (no pun intended). She also thinks I start getting slightly depressed over a rising scale and my feelings of failure I then stuff (asuage) with food. Sort of like "give up mode". At some point the excess weight often sets off medical or physical ails (I start feeling so bad or develop a physical problem -- that I start the whole cycle over again with another diet).

Another way in how it feels to me ... Is my body actually "wants to be fat" -- (I realize that sounds weird) --- that it's very easy for my body to gain weight. Both my parents were really fat and all my siblings were fat ... and there was a lot of obesity in my extended family (Aunts, Uncles, Cousins) ... So I do have (I believe) a genetic predisposition to being fat. So it feels like I can lose weight with a LOT OF EFFORT, but I have trouble keeping up that effort for periods longer than 6 months or so (typically) due to getting sick of dieting or hitting an extended plateau that pushes me into "give up mode". Then when I go back to eating normally (typically) -- the weight piles back on.

In any case, understanding these triggers and mindsets -- is helping me this time around (at least that's what I am thinking) -- and I am hopeful I will be able to keep the weight off. I did make 2 other changes -- I decided to start exercising more (I am doing hill walking for 3 miles (an hour) every morning -- and second I decided to stop thinking about living my life in a "diet / no diet" mode and start thinking more about "lifestyle changes" (which actually means to me dieting for the rest of my life).

Hello Jesslan, Thanks for your input! The chart is from a Microsoft Excel Template where you punch in the date and weight and it makes a nice graph. The reason I have so much weight data (so extensive for 40 years) is I am very weight conscious and I am always thinking about my weight (always wishing it was lower) -- so I've tracked it over the years.

Yes I really identify with the way you described your weight fluctuations. Exactly. I do tend to get "tired of dieting" and when my weight gets down, I find it easier to justify a break from dieting to return to some old comfort foods -- my weakness is Italian food and I have a sweet tooth on top of that. It's sort of like wanting a reward after reaching some weight goals -- but then my rewards become addictive ... then i get semi-depressed over a rising scale ... and I fall back into "give up mode".

That's great you were able to get your weight down for your wedding -- that must have made for some nice pix!

Yes, exactly, you hit the nail on the head with your "lifestyle change" thinking. I was completely stuck in the dual mode of "Diet / No Diet" -- that clearly doesnt work for me. Now with my lifestyle change mindset and with my increased exercise routine -- I am hopeful I can finally lick this long term problem.

I am so proud of you for losing nearly 140 pounds recently. That is a WOW number! Congratulations!

Maybe once you reach a plateau, you can adjust your goal to "maintaining" that plateau number (within 5 pounds or so). In my experience, plateaus only last so long until your body acclimates. I spent most of the spring/summer maintaining/stuck at about 190-193 lbs. I buckled down again in the fall and quickly dropped another 20 lbs.

In any case, the goal should be to not gain. Even if you're still in the overweight range...