Yes, more than once.
The first time I was sick, and I didn't regain the weight. I was below my "red line" for several weeks. I finally just moved my red line down 3 lbs.
The next time, I took an "active" vacation. I lost 2 lbs while I was gone and never gained them back. Again, I moved my red line weight.
I finally adjusted my goal weight down to where I settled in (120) and moved my red lines to 117-123. I have finally stabilized at 118-120 for the last several months. Illness and vacations don't seem to cause the fluctuations that I used to see.
My weight doesn't creep either way without help from me. I need to be spot on plan day in and day out to lose any weight. On the other hand, my weight creeps up pretty easily, but never on its own, I'm always helping .
Having said, there were two times in my life when I lost weight without trying but I don't recommend either approach. The first was after my mom died, when I was working long hours at a place where there simply wasn't any food available. All I ate all day for most of the summer was a couple of bowls of cereal in the morning. If you only consume 600 or so calories (they were big bowls) a day, you'll lose weight. And if you are consumed with grief and exhausted from work at the time, it will feel like you aren't even trying.
The second time was after I broke up with my college boyfriend. I went off the pill and started smoking--dropped five pounds just like that. Don't think I'm not sometimes tempted to try it again...
Yep, twice, actually (as in, for more than 'just' 1-2 lbs).
First time was when I went to college at 18. Everybody talks about the freshman 10 or 15, for me it was actually the reverse process. The second time was in 2008-2009, when I prepared for the CAPES concours (teacher competitive exam); one of my resolutions was "I won't be on a diet this year, because I need to focus my mental resources on something else than counting calories", and now with hindsight, I bet that had I actively tried to lose weight, I'd probably have gained instead, or not budged at the best.
Both times, it didn't happen in an unhealthy manner, I must add. I ate in quite a balanced way, I even crammed in fencing classes (12 years ago) and jogging (this past year). But I think the main component of this weight-loss-without-doing-anything was that I was seriously busy with intellectual work: both times, I prepared for a national competitive exam. I have a tendency to munch and graze only when my hands are not busy, for instance when watching TV, and so, it just doesn't happen at all when I'm spending most of my time buried in books. And preparing for those concours is something else than 'only' preparing for a License degree, because you can't just focus on getting an average note, you have to make sure you'll do better than everyone else on top of it. So I was focused on that, had very little time to spare, and wasn't tempted to eat some more after lunch or dinner, because I had to hurry and finish my homework for the day, not waste time diving into a box of cookies. (Honest.)
In fact, I tried to munch on stuff while working, early in September. I ended up putting chocolate on my copy of Jane Eyre. It angered me, seeing my poor book that way, and I gave up on the eating chocolate part.
Initially? Yes. My goal was 135, but I crept down to 125 and maintained that for a long time. I *intentionally* went on a rampage to gain some muscle mass and did that, followed by a crazy cutting regime (for a bodybuilding contest). This last month, I've been SO hungry and have made some pretty lousy food choices, but I'm back to being healthy now.
Now? I feel like if I BREATHE, I will gain weight. I have to watch everything VERY closely. I have no idea what weight my body is "supposed" to be, but my composition is VERY different now than it was at 125 pounds. I'm 10 pounds heavier again, but I have a lower body fat percentage. I don't know if it would be healthy at this point for me to get back down to that size without sacrificing the muscle mass I worked so hard to obtain. I have to admit it was nice being so slim, though.
I'm trying not to obsessively watch the scale and will see what weight feels most comfortable maintaining.
Oh, I have lost weight without trying, like BlueToBlue, on several occasions: the end of a 3.5 year relationship (7 pounds... everyone commented on how skinny I got), when I got my wisdom teeth pulled (5 pounds... I didn't feel like eating much), and any time I get a cold, I usually lose between 2 and 5. If it's 5, 2-3 usually come back.
This has happened to me a few times when I'm not trying to lose weight. Once, I was running a lot -- went to the doctors and weighed in at 5 lbs less than I expected. Last time I was on a "diet" I stopped dieting and then dropped another 4 lbs without trying.
It crept down once last year, well past goal and stayed there for a couple of weeks until vacation eating brought me back well above goal and ever since it seems like it is much harder to get back to goal, much less below it.
I think I hopefully may have discovered what will finally be able to get me down to goal weight by accident. My boyfriend's father recently had a mild stroke, followed by surgery in a large hospital an hour away, so for two weeks we were never at home or able to worry about food. Food 9 out of 10 times was from a cafe or a restaurant on the way home from visiting. I noticed that by not counting calories, but by simply only eating when I was hungry and stopping the moment I was full (satisfied, not stuffed) I dropped weight. In the span of a week I lost about 3 - 4 lbs, and even when I switched to experimenting with my food this way after I was at home on a more normal schedule, another 4 or so lbs the next week came off. I order what I want when I go to a restaurant, which in all honesty isn't usually anything bathed in a cream sauce because I know I'll feel yuck later, but just stop when I'm full. I think it's because I obsess about food less, so I'm less tempted to think about being deprived or thinking about what I can plan for dinner that is within my calories, etc. It took up a lot of my time, stressed me out, and made me prone to mindless snacking and binges. Hopefully not thinking about it will continue to go this well...
Last edited by LindseyLouWho; 08-24-2009 at 05:45 PM.
Yeah, there is effort. Like when there's a big birthday cake staring you down, or a second margarita and you ask yourself "Am I still hungry?" and the answer is "No, but I want it anyway." O.O Pretty much the same problems I've always dealt with... except for now instead of asking if it fits into X calorie level, I ask if my body (not my head) really wants more. The best thing that's come out of it is that I discovered that I sort of eat like a bird. Also, I haven't had the uncomfortably full feeling either, which sometimes still happened when I was POP with calorie counting... because I always finished my plate even if I wasn't hungry simply because I had budgeted the calories and that food was MINE, dangit... haha.
It is really encouraging to hear so many people having a similar experience to mine. I decided to try out maintenance at 145, even though I was 5lbs from goal. I ate intuitively like Lindsey but still logged the calories, just to see what "intuitively" meant for me. Turns out it was about 1800 calories (losing mode was about 1500), and I just lost those last 5lbs naturally. I love to hear that eating intuitively is working for someone, and that other people have experienced a loss while their bodies become accustomed to goal weight.
The other time my weight crept downward was during a bout with depression my sophomore year of college. I would not recommend that "trick".
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