I was looking back at my weight over the last few years. I've decided that I'm good at losing weight. I do it often enough. My problem is keeping it off.

When I started sereiously to lose weight, I weighed 197, at 5' tall that's not good. My dr scared me about high blood pressure, knee replacement surgery, strokes etc. And I got serious and lost down to 155 pretty quickly and effortlessly. When I first lost the weight, I was adament I was not going to be one of those who gained it all back, all smug and secure in my weight loss.

Then I stalled, and started to slowly regain, just a pound here and there-it's water weight, I ate too much salt. And other excuses. After about 6 years I found I had gained back to 188. -


Then I've slowly yo-yo'd from 188-168 and back several times over the last couple years.

This time I want to make the mental change to keep it off. Lean to stop turning to food when I get emotional or sick. Learn to listen to my body and stop eating when I'm not hungry instead of cleaning my plate and eating until I'm full.

I'm working through a couple books The Beck Diet solution by Judith Beck and A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson. I'm finding both very helpful to figure out the why. I think Shrink Yourself is also really good. I've checked them all out from the library.


What is helping you make the mental switch to keep off the weight this time?

I also had medical health scares that propelled me to take care of my body, so we're kind of in the same boat there.

The reason I haven't stopped or gained all the weight back in the last two years is because the weight has come off really slowly.

I sit here sometimes and I feel sorry for myself that I lose maybe 10 lbs every year on average, but in some ways, it's also good, because I am not gaining it back either.

By doing it this slowly, I focus on what IS important, which is less how much weight I'm losing per week or per month, and a lot more on what I'm eating and how much I am exercising and making it a part of my regular day to day life.

I don't look at the food I'm eating and think, "God, I hate this, but next month I'm going to be 10 lbs lighter and then I can eat that candy bar." Or worse yet, "I'm going to eat salads all week and then pig out on Saturday night."

Those behaviors make it like this is DIET, not a lifestyle change. And what I'm doing is for the rest of my life.... I'm not going to gain any of this back!

So, exercise is just a part of my life. Eating is what I will always eat. When I get bored, I know it's time to change things up in the kitchen, it's not an excuse to eat whatever I want.

Sometimes I do sit here in the middle of denial and I have to pull myself out of that muck and face reality. If I am gaining weight, it's not "water" weight. It's 3 lbs that I now have to work at losing again (which is what happened over the summer).

Maybe what can help you is to say to yourself when you hit a new low weight that you can never weigh MORE than that weight again. If you're 178 lbs now, make yourself that promise. The goal is to stay the same or lose some weight next week.

Let's say you hit 177 lbs next week. Then you can't weight more than 177 (ever!) again. 178 lbs is no longer an option for you.

It's GREAT that you know how to lose the weight, but the mentality has to be stronger about not letting yourself gain it.

Let's say you go out to eat and you step on the scale and now the weight is 179..... omg, sirens, red flags, this means you have to eat healthy until the weight is down to 177 lbs again. It's an emergency!

I've had friends and aunts who maintained their weight in that way. They never let themselves cross a certain threshold and they will eat healthy and exercise until their weight comes down again.

As I gained my weight, I let those "thresholds" not matter. I used to be 135 lbs back in my younger years (not sure I'll get there again, so we'll see!). I don't know how I let myself get to be 165. Or worse, how I saw the 2 in from the number when I hit 200 lbs. Sure, I saw the scale at 185, 195, 199... but I didn't do anything.

I think I magically wanted it to come down again.

My new strategy is the one I recommended to you above. Especially once I hit goal weight!

I love losing weight but I HATE having to lose what I just lost! If I had a choice I'd rather be 180+ pounds starting my journey than face the fact I have to lose these 10 pounds I recently put on after taking them off. Talk about a double failure!

I really enjoyed Rena's post and she made excellent recommendations and points. I think I'm going to have to implement a few of those myself. My mindset has been "restrict now, eat whatever later".

This did not work for me. I can NOT eat whatever later. I just can't.

Thanks for posting this......

That's what happened with me. I remember when I was 125 and healthy in high school. I watched each pound go on every year but somehow it didn't register to stop doing what I was doing and try something different.

I remember saying to myself, 150 will be the cut off, that's the bad weight for me, then 150 came and went. I had a physical for a new job and weighed in at 197 and I'm thinking that's almost 200 pounds. Then the doctor told me I had borderline high blood pressure and other ailments that were ailments for older people.

Your advice is so very appreciated.

Oh boy, do I feel you here. When I first lost 50 pounds back in 2006 I thought it was so easy, I couldn't figure out why so many people struggled. Well I have gained back that 50 pounds MORE THEN ONCE since then. I have gained back 20 and lost it. I have gained back 30 and lost. More then once on both accounts.

Well I here I am, I have gained back almost the full 50 and the the thought that I was160 pounds just over a year ago makes me wants to throw up. How did I let myself do this again and so quickly?

I guess the important thing is to not dwell the past, take one day at a time and just keep chugging along.

Fellow yo-yo dieter here. I've reached goal several times in my adult life. Once or twice I even kept it to within a few pounds for a few months. I don't know what it was each time that made me just not care any more and eat with reckless abandon, but I do remember as I gained the weight (and I didn't have to weigh myself to know I was gaining...your clothes have a gentle way of letting your know) that it was no big deal. I'd tell myself, "I've lost it before and I'll lose it again." Like losing it the last time was a piece of cake (no pun intended)! Yeah, well, losing 5 pounds may not be a big deal, but when you finally do step on the scale a few months later and realize that you've put on 50 or more pounds when you "thought" it coudn't be more than 10-15, it's a whole other story. And, as many of you know, the older we get, the slower it comes off.

I plan on doing a lot of research and reading up on maintenance this time around...way before getting there so that I can put into practice what I learn ahead of time. I know this has to be a lifestyle change with very few special occasion events. And those events need not be a free-for-all either.

We can do this!

I've been up and down, too. I lost 100 pounds in college (30 years ago) but my life didn't magically become perfect so I started gaining it back within a few years. I would occasionally lose some, sometimes a lot, but I never got back to my goal weight. So here I am in my 50s, with high blood pressure and kidney stones, trying to lose 100 pounds again. I'm down 40 pounds since starting in July so I'm feeling optimistic this time. I use a calorie tracker and exercise every day, and am hoping to develop some long-term strategies for controlling my compulsive eating. Support groups like this one are immensely helpful!

I just got back to goal weight and I can tell you I know I do not have this maintenance thing figured out yet. I tried to transition to the healthy foods the rest of my family eats but things were going downhill quickly. For the short-to-medium term, I am back in a weight loss mode. I decided to take off another few pounds. I lose slowly, so I am sort of hoping to make it through the holidays this way, with a day off here and there for festivities.

One thing that helped nip my weight gain in the bud last time I was regaining was that I had pruned my wardrobe of pants that had any extra room in the waist line. And I promised myself not to buy any that were bigger. After I gained about ten pounds, I had nowhere to hide. I couldn't ignore the fact that I had gained and I had to get back on track lest I run out of pants I could wear.

I am trying to "downsize" (literally) again, but I need to find enough replacements before I get rid of all my current slightly-loose pants. I'm working on it! I want the pants to be snug, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable or muffin-top inducing. And I have to really love them. So, it's a tall order to find pants like that in such a narrow range.

YES! This is what stopped me from gaining more than 10 pounds. I donated or threw out all my old clothes and I refuse to spend money on those sizes I used to wear. I kept one pair of 18's just as a reminder. In August I was so close to getting comfortable in 6's and now, back in 8's. But this is why I'm such a huge proponant of getting rid of clothes that no longer fit -- in a GOOD way!

I keep a pair of size 6 pants hanging in my kitchen. I see them every morning as a reminder I will be getting into them again by Thanksgiving! YES I WILL!

I think this has something to do with it. Nothing changed in my life. Even though I had gotten down to a size 10 from an 18. I had this subconscious idea that my fat was causing all my problems. I know in real life that fat doesn't have anything to do with how I relate with others but for some reason I thought it was because I was fat. When nothing changed I slowly gained it all back.

That's why I want to work on the emotional and psychological reasons for over eating this time. To finally conquer this.

Big-time yo-yo-er here. ~sigh~

Well, I'd have to say... I'm really just TIRED. Very, very TIRED. Tired of clothes not fitting properly or looking worth a damn on my out-of-shape body. Tired of my gut getting in my way when I do simple things, like tie my shoes or give myself a pedicure. Tired of looking "frumpy". Tired of FEELING frumpy. Tired of it all.

I've lost/gained/lost/gained about 7 times in my adult time. This is over the course of 25+ years. I always felt SO GOOD when I lost the weight... working out, feeling "spry" and looking hot. Then, for whatever stupid reason, return to old eating habits, and gain more weight than I lost, until I finally hit 192 lb. I was so disgusted with myself. Still am! - for allowing myself to get that big, to not "stop it" 30 lbs ago, etc.

But I'm doing this now. Again. FOR THE LAST TIME. I am absolutely determined to never let myself down again. I am losing it slowly, and I am not denying myself anything that I love, and I am not freaking out over a slice of birthday cake or the occasional cheeseburger or the fact that I can't maintain my "food routine" while on vacation. I will take it easy on me!!! I will lose this weight once & for all & never look back. I will take care of my body, my health, my mind & my soul. I AM IMPORTANT TO ME!!!

SING IT, SISTA!!! Honestly, I could have written the same exact post...word for word!! Are you sure we weren't seperated at birth? We are the same age after all.

Love your attitude now! I feel the same way. I am way too important NOT to take care of myself.