I have read a few articles this weekend that all say the same thing, and it really depresses me. The articles all state that 95% of people who lose weight are destined to gain it back again.

I have already failed twice to keep the weight off. I can't go through the agony of regaining. But basically I only have a 5% chance of keeping the weight off?

The articles also say that surgery is the best way to keep the weight off, but I know that people fail after surgery too. I would be even more depressed to go through an invasive surgery and still fail.

If it is already a struggle just to lose the weight, what hope do I have to maintain the weight loss once (if?) I get to goal? Just having one of my self-pity moments...

No, not at all. You have 100% chance of keeping it off if you stick to your plan and truly change your relationship with food and exercise. It's a life long commitment but you have the power to do it, remember that, you're in control of what happens when you lose the weight. It's your body.

I understand it's difficult, I've also regained weight. I lost weight without trying previously just by being happier and healthier and because I didn't pay attention I gained it all back so this time I'm very aware of what's happening.

You can do it

We need to keep working on it. I know it is going to be a life long struggle. It is going to take hard work.

That figure (95% of dieters fail) is a made up statistic from the 80s. I'm not sure why it has stayed around so long but it has. The problem is people diet without being tracked. You'd have to do a long term study of people dieting to get an accurate account and that kind of study would cost quite a bit of money.

The fact is that no statistic will determine your own individual success rate. I've never hit under 200 lbs but I've lost over 100 lbs and kept that off for over 5 years and I'm going to say that I'm fairly happy with that.

I don't believe they're destined to regain the weight -- they choose to regain it. On either a conscious or unconscious level, they opt for the short-term pleasure of eating what they want over the long-term pleasure of having a fit, trim body. As a previous poster said, you have a 100% chance of keeping the weight off if you stick to your plan.

Also, even if 95% of people end up regaining the weight, that means there are a million people who DON'T regain it for every 20,000,000 who've lost weight. That's a lot of people. There's no reason you can't be one of them, especially if you keep hanging around 3FC, where awareness seems to be much higher than average.

F.

Growing up I have always had to watch what I eat to stay skinny....After my second child and a tubal ligation I could not lose the weight so easily, so I just believed that I couldn't lose weight and so I might as well eat whatever I wanted to.... The point is this, I love food and I cannot control myself....so I must for the rest of my life be cautious of my eating habits and if I do that I will be able to stay skinny... Some people like my 6 year old, husband & his father's side of the family have little to no appetite, therefore don't have to worry about watching what they eat because they are never really that hungry anyway... My oldest son is like me and absolutely loves food and cannot control himself... Don't get discouraged....I did and thought that I wasn't capable of losing weight and so I gained even more weight! ....but so far I have lost 14 lbs.... I now know that I can lose weight...

If you need some inspiration and long term success stories, I highly recommend reading Thin For Life. It's packed full of long term success stories and methods to help you keep the weight off.

I'm not doomed, are you? I choose to continually work at maintaining healthy body fat and habits, modifying as needed, trying new approaches, and continually being accountable to the scale/tape measure/energy improvements and other markers I am using to determine my success.

You only fail if you give up. If you allow it beyond your control and cede power to food or circumstance instead of getting creative and finding another way. Life happens and sometimes regains occur with stress, childbirth, death of loved ones, hormonal changes, etc etc. These are real and can temporarily impact our habits or force us to put some aspects of our health on the back burner. But again, do you just roll over and give up? Quit? Decry the unfairness of it all and suffer?

For me, my choice is to deal with my circumstances and find a way to succeed if I find life has interfered and something is no longer working. I will NEVER give up. I will NOT quit. I haven't done it as long as I have been on this journey and I sure as shootin' am not starting now.

A statistic created by some agency or researcher doesn't determine my success. I do. I'm not giving some number that has nothing to do with me and my body any more power than it deserves, and neither should you

When I was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia in '04 I though I was about to die and really over ate. I gains 60# very quickly. But remission lasted 6 years then HCL again in '10 I gained again but more from inactivity and not as much. So I wanted to share a photo of my friend the frog. It was a photo my son traced for me when HCL came back the second time he tracing is on my desk at work. This is the photo he traced.

Gosh, I didn't know I was supposed to fail...I've been at goal since 1977 after losing 200 pounds. The reason people fail is they go on diets. Once the diet is over, they return to old eating habits and regain.

C'mon over to the Maintainers forum, OP. If you prepare yourself ahead of time for what happens when the losses are done, it will make things at little easier. Not saying we don't have our lapses, but collectively we have lots of strategies for not being part of that statistic.

That is simply Awesome and inspiring. 35 years at goal. I have 193 more to loose of a total 250 so hearing from someone who has done it is so encouraging.

While the statistic is depressing if it's true, I don't see why any one of us can't be a part of that 5%

I agree that those stats are very old; they have been spouting them so long, I can't remember when I first heard them. My new doctor throws those stats around all the time: I said that they are too old to be reliable.

Also, I do not believe people deliberately choose to regain weight. Only now are we finding out what we have to do to maintain. Fad diets are futile. We have to eat in a healthy way, long-term. I have kept my weight off for 7 years now and plan on eating healthy for the rest of my life.

Once you get that through your head, that even if you eat a bit more one day, you just eat better the next snack, meal, or day -- you'll more than likely keep it off. No-one is doomed. Eat healthy every day to lose; and eat heathy every day to maintain.

But what about all of the people who lose weight and never regain it?

I think a lot of people regain because they find maintenance to be the most difficult part of their journeys. Just thinking about it fills me with some trepidation: I know how to lose weight and I know how to gain it, but I don't know if maintenance is quite so simple.

But honestly, your plan has to be a lifestyle change - anyone who is dieting and wants to lose a significant amount of weight can never go back to their old ways once they lose the weight. If they do, of course they're going to regain. I've never lost as much weight as I have now, but every time I've lost weight (15 lbs or so) I always regain it because I immediately go back to my old habits once I break the diet. But those habits have to be something we say goodbye to forever - not just for now. I will never be able to return to the things I was doing.

You can definitely lose weight and keep it off. But you will have to actively work to keep it off by watching what you eat and remaining vigilant about falling back into old habits. I'm not really qualified to give advice about this, but I know there's people here who have lost really large amounts of weight and kept it off. I'd be very interested to hear what they have to say about maintaining, and how they make sure they keep the weight off.