If anyone had told me last August I would have voluntarily fasted for a day to begin testing for food allergies...well, I would have smacked them on the top of the head with my big heavy scary silver-pattern ring. Not to mention many of the other lifestyle changes I've made...which are now (gulp - really?) normal.

I agree with Robin. The statistics scare me a little, but then again they don't.

I've learned a lot from my previous weight loss efforts and from the maintainers' forum here at 3FC.

I learned that if I eat and don't exercise the way I used to, I will regain the weight. I learned that cause it happened to me---twice.

I've learned that I need to continue my behaviors. Not perfectly, but consistently. My previous loss efforts resulted in regain because I stopped the behaviors.

I've learned that I really do control my behaviors and that my choices really do count. No one else controls this for me. The buck stops here.

I've learned that I must be conscientious about my behaviors. That means regular monitoring of my weight, planning for food and shopping, and scheduling exercise. If I stop these behaviors, I will regain.

There are some conversations in the maintainers forum about how focused on these behaviors and weight management individuals wish to be. I applaud those who can go on "auto-pilot" and not regain. I can't/won't do that at this time. Sure it takes time and focus and energy to maintain my weight loss, but it is worth it to me. I am conscientious of the valuable aspects of my life: my family, my work, and now my health. No auto-pilot for any of these. Planning does not make it hard, planning makes it easier. I've learned that I control the fate of my weight management. I don't have to regain....if I do it will be because of a sum of choices.

I'm with Rhonda. WHEN I reach my goal and maintain I will part of the elite 5%, right?

I try to not put too much thought into any kind of statistics. Yes they include a lot of people in their studies but are they me? No. Nuff said

Right I usually figure something is wrong if I fit right in with the prevailing normal/usual/average

For me, this kind of falls into the category of "stuff I can't do anything about anyway, so I am not going to sweat it." I figure that if the studies showed that 90% of the people that lost a lot of weight kept it off, I would STILL be one of the ones that would have to be vigilant. So, there is no difference in my head at all.

You can stack the odds in your favor, however: find a way of eating that you can stay with for life instead of short-term diet; come up with ways to increase the amount of physical activity in your life with hobbies or sports in addition to gym work so that being active is an integral part of your life; hang out with people who have the kind of habits you would like to have yourself; etc.

The statistics are about "people who diet". I'm not dieting; I'm changing my way of life. It's not something that I will "go off". As others have mentioned, "dieting" is usually associated with restrictive behaviors that are temporary. If they're too hard to maintain over the long haul, then it's no wonder that people regain. That's what I did. It was only 30 pounds, but it was because I cast aside my heathy habits and gradually just ate my way back up to where I was in January.

I echo the sentiments of others--reading the Maintainer's forum has been invaluable for me. Because now I understand, at least intellectually, how it's done.

ive been thinking the same thing the satistics where very discouraging to me .... but i hadent been discussing it with anyone because i didnt want people to think i planned to fail ...... but this community makes me feel more hopeful that with healthy LIFESTYLE changes maintainance is possible !

Sign my name to Robin's post (as usual). This IS possible. And, thankfully - success is dependent on only one thing - ME!

I can do this! I AM doing this! 10 months of maintenance and counting

Doesn't scare me at all. I know that realistically a lot of people regain. I also know that most of those people DON'T have a wonderful support group, a realistic mindset and an idea of what healthful eating even looks like. I do.

I know that I will always have to be hyper vigilant. I know that. I'm okay with that