Why did you regain?
 

For those of you who have lost weight and then regained some or all of it -- why do you think you regained? I'm want to break the cycle, so I'm all ears :listen:

I've been thinking about this a lot lately in an attempt to get back on track. Although I could make a list of reasons ... they'd still just be excuses. Some good, some not.

I think the thing is focus.

You know when you're driving down the road and you see a pond just flocking with lovely birds? If you look too long, you'll drive off your lane but if you glimpse but remain focussed on your driving, you'll be okay. If you stop to take pictures and adopt a bird and donate to the conservation fund .... you've lost your way.

I think someone has used the 'thread in fabric' analogy before. We are always aware of how we feel. We always move and always eat. It's apparent like the threads in fabric. But for it to be a lasting situation, it has to be a bold coloured thread of larger dimension. Outstanding and always a factor in our daily decisions.

Did that make sense?

My head-scratcher is this ... why does sickness or ill-health divert our attention from fitness and well-being?

I gained back 15-20 pounds in 2008.

Like Susan said, it's the focus. For much of the year, the problem was that many days I was just eating 200 calories or so over maintenance. That's good for nearly 2 pounds a month if you do it everyday!

But I got tired. Tired of writing down my food EVERY DAY. SO many days I didn't. But on those days I ate a little too much food.

I used to have the mindset that eating something I don't normally eat -- such as a big cookie -- would be The End of the World. Of course, that's not the case, and I learned that. But then, if one cookie wasn't The End of the World, then why not have just one...

Well, that leads to binges, and there were some of those last year too. Some days when I indulged many of my wants regarding food. And once I started doing that every now and then...

So, lack of focus and a sense that's okay to go off plan led to a vicious cycle that's hard to reverse.

I gained weight back because I couldnt just have a 'couple potato chips'. If I had a couple I would think to myself..."I already screwed up my diet today so I might as well eat bad food while I can...I will start off better tomorrow"...everytime I would slip up I would think this way...


Now I have a better approach...If I have a tiny slip up, I think to myself "it is a lot easier to burn off 300 calories than it is to burn off 3000 calories...so I better not binge"...

I dont even keep junk in my house anymore because I know I will have slip ups and dont want to take the chance of ruining everything.


:)

I've yo-yo'd a bunch of times. When I was younger, I'd crash diet and lose 10-15 pounds for some short term event and then be "done" with the diet and go back to "normal" eating. No big surprise, I'd then just gain it right back. One time I lost 20 lbs on a strict, monitored (expensive) weight loss program, fell off the wagon once (business trip), and figured I'd blown it and never went back. A year later ... all back on. I lost 25 pounds in my early 40's, thought I had this thing licked this time. But, life and work got in the way, disrupted the healthy habits I'd established and over 2 years -- gained back that 25 and more.

So I regained because I viewed the "diet" as temporary and not something requiring permanent lifestyle changes. I regained because I stopped exercising and watching what I ate. I regained because I stopped monitoring my weight, even avoided the scale and entered the state of denial, refusing to recognize where my weight was going.

Weight loss is a forever thing. I have to live differently than most everyone else around me. I have to ignore societal cues and pay attention to what I eat every day and monitor the scale. I have to exercise regularly. Forever. Whenever I forget this and just try to go on auto-pilot, then the regain happens. If we lived in a society with a healthier lifestyle, then I don't think this would be so hard.

the reason we gain is just basic math, we are taking in more calories than we are burning

For me, I simply stopped doing the behaviors that caused the weight loss. If I eat the way I used to and sit on my duff, I'll gain it back. If I make healthy food choices and I exercise most days, I seem to be able to maintain (I guess I've been maintaining 6 months now).

So I agree it is the daily focus. Coming here, weighing daily, planning food for the week, packing food for work, scheduling exercise. etc., all these things keep me on track. And on the days I get off track, I get right back on. Sometimes I will even say outloud, "I control my next food choice."

For me, I think it was a sense of complacency. After I lost weight, I felt sooo good and had so much energy that I'd think I could burn off extra food easily. One more chip, one visit to a fast food restaurant, wouldn't kill me. But I never seemed to get back on plan, stopped weighing myself, etc. So, I guess I agree, I lost focus. Let me tell you, I'm focused now that even my "fat" jeans are tight!

The first time I lost, I had moderate post-partum depression. When I was five months out from delivery, I was medicated and the weight came on like a ton of bricks. I felt so much better though that I didn't mind the weight so much.

I agree. I lost focus 2 times. Once when my ex and I split. I never hit 256 again, but I did regain about 10lbs of 20ish lost. The second was over the holidays. I hit 228 :eek: but I'm happy I stayed away from the 230s. I'm back down to the low 220s again. And I'll be able to prepare myself for the holidays this year.

Winning the War...you just about explained what happened to me. Also, i was/am too busy making a point to my bf that i am a good cook. lol. I was having way too much fun trying out new recipes. I am still doing that but trying to just reserve that for like Sunday Football get-togethers now.

I stopped excersizing, stopped watching my portions, and stopped cooking with the healthier options (fat free cheese, egg whites, ect...).

But now, i'm back (well, food wise anyways). I'm making small changes and it's hard to not over eat at dinner but i'm trying to find the right balance of eating health and light during the day, so maybe i can enjoy the same foods i feed my family at night but without over doing it. And as soon as i get income taxes, i'll pay off my gym what i owe them in back payments and start going to the gym again. Also, getting an elliptical for the house this weekend and will start working out at home at night also.

But there you have it. Why i gained weight back. I quit counting, i quit excersizing and thought i had made it to goal and didn't have to do anymore work to stay there. My bad. lol.

My reason each time was pretty simple. I stopped dieting.

In my old view, I was either dieting or not dieting. On or off. Perfect or not perfect.

When I dieted to lose weight, 2 things always happened:

1. I would restrict too much, binge helplessly, feel like a loser and stop dieting.
2. I would reach a goal weight, stop dieting.

In both situations (although I did the diet cycle multiple times in my life), when I stopped dieting, I regained weight. I never thought one second beyond "losing weight" that was my only goal. I wanted to diet for a short time (boring diet frankenfood, nothing I liked to eat, hungry all the time, restrictive and punitive) and then stop and eat normally.

It took me 20 years to realize that my normal way of eating made me heavy. The day I realized I had to change "normal", was my breakthrough moment.

I finally realized I couldn't diet and stop. I had to change my diet and then live my life. For me, that meant the end of short term, restrictive diets I couldn't stick to. I had to find a way of eating everyday that I liked, full of foods I enjoyed that I could maintain for my lifetime. I think this is the part of the diet plan that is so personal and there really isn't a "one size fits all" plan for all of us. I can tell you what I did, which was right for me, but it might not be right for you.

Next month will be my 4 year maintenance anniversary. It's hard to believe I have been slender for 4 years, when I had never maintained weight loss for even a week before.

The secret of my success - maintain weight loss exactly the way I lost weight. I still weigh once a week, food journal, plan meals, pack lunches, eat mindfully, avoid junk food, packaged baked goods and soda. I do have a treat meal once a week (that I really look forward to) but it is a treat MEAL not treat day, not treat weekend.

Another important factor for me - not expecting perfection. Before, I had to be PERFECT. If I messed up I was devastated, the day was "ruined" might as well just eat whatever I wanted and start over "later" (maybe tomorrow, maybe "Next Monday" maybe months later). Now, I realize that I am constantly surrounded by temptations and sometimes, I'm going to eat food I didn't plan. Since I eat so healthy most of the time, these blips do not derail me and my goal is to be back on track at the next eating opportunity.

For me, it comes down to external reasons (aka excuses) and internal reason (reality).

Background: Was always heavy, started Atkins in 1999 at about 300 lbs, lost about 80 lbs in six months, then maintained; in 2003 lost about another 40; late summer 2003 began gaining and gained it all back by Christmas, then over the next two years gained about another 60, up to a new highest weight of 360. Restarted Atkins August 2008 and have lost more than 80 lbs so far.

External reasons I regained all that weight are easy: after 14 years of marriage my husband suddenly demanded a divorce; I was laid off for the third time in a row; couldn’t find another job; broke, with bills and debt mounting; nervous breakdown; diagnosis of OCD and starting Paxil, which indirectly contributed to weight gain . . . sure these are all reasons, but they are also excuses.

The main reason was internal. I didn’t truly think I was valuable enough to deserve to be healthy. For me, my new commitment to Atkins and a healthy lifestyle comes from my finally realizing, five years after I regained all the weight I’d previously lost and kept off for three years, that I am a valuable person and I deserve to be healthy. I also deserve to be happy, and being healthy—feeling and looking good—makes me happy.

It’s taken me nearly four decades to finally learn this fundamental truth: food is neither a reward nor a punishment. It’s just food. It has no power over me other than the power I give it. I refuse to give away my power any longer. Used to be, if I had a bad day, I’d reward myself with food. Or if I had a good day, I’d celebrate with food. Then I would feel guilty about whatever I ate. So it was a punishment and a reward at the same time—a reward I always felt guilty about.

Now, I have finally realized, food is a terrible reward and a terrible punishment—therefore it is neither. When I do something I need to be rewarded for, I, like, buy an iPod or have my hair highlighted or go out for drinks with friends (and have club soda). I don’t buy a bakery cake and eat it all in two days.

This was probably way TMI, sorry.

DC, thanks for sharing. I know that in the past I have used food when I was stressed, happy, sad, bored, etc. It never satisfied those needs longterm and I had to find other ways to satisfy those needs. I still enjoy food, the taste, the mouthfeel, trying something new, experiencing culture through food, etc., but those are rare events and my tried and true foods are healthy, filling, and also tasty.

I love your post and I'm glad you shared. :) Not TMI at all.

Well, of course that's the bottomline. So *basic math* aside, I believe the OP wanted to know the *reasons* as to why one STARTS taking in more calories then they burn. Eating more then they NEED. Overeating. Especially after one has experienced weight loss success.


I have never lost a substantial amount of weight, so I can't chime in here. But I can relate to all of your answers. I think it's quite *easy* to put the weight back on. I know I'd have no problem doing it. And the second I stop focusing on my weight/my health (I don't plan to) my weight will for sure sky rocket. Keeping the weight off is without a doubt a constant day in, day out thing.

Yup, what she said. Except the part about reaching a goal - I don't seem to remember ever actually doing that.

I also realized how much I tied food in with my emotions. Emotional eating was a way of life for me. I ate because I was happy, sad, frustrated, stressed, tired... you name it. It took a lot of work for me to recognize when I was doing that, and even more work to reprogram myself so that I don't reach for food for comfort. I still struggle with this sometimes, especially when I'm stressed out, but it's a lot easier now. (These days I like to remind myself that the only problem food can solve is hunger.) What gave me the most help on fixing this, especially at the beginning, was Geneen Roth's books. "When Food is Love" and "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating" really changed the way I thought about myself and about food. It wasn't as easy as simply reading them (I wish!) but they gave me the tools to get started.

In past years, after successfully dieting I would lose focus and go "off my diet", quit exercising and eventually put it all back on plus. My last weight loss was 80 lbs between 1/2006 and the fall of 2007and I'm am pleased to say that even though I had lost some of my focus I was still mindfull of what I was eating and exercising almost daily. But I allowed myself to be tempted, way too often, by sweets and other things I should not have been eating so much of. Always telling myself that I will go back on plan on Monday. And I tried to get back on plan many, many Mondays, never staying focused through the week. I finally told myself that I would do it after the first of the year. At the begining of this year I was 27 lbs heavier than I was in the fall of 2007. So far, thank goodness, it seems to be working, I've been doing very well staying on program, exercising daily and I feel like I have my head in the right place.

Well, I got down to 145 from 170 for my wedding. Within two years I was at 196 (just a little over a year ago) got down to 186, now I'm 210.

Why did I regain the weight? Because I stopped. I kept thinking that there were just tooi many things going on and life was too hectic. Or there was this special event or that special event and I'd pull it back together. Or I was in a bad mood so I'd skip a couple workouts. Or eat a doughnut. Or two!

In the end I've come to realize that I have to just keep going. If I wait for life to be less stressul, it won't be. Or to not have any special events or occasions or reasons to eat out. I can't wait for anything, or press pause, or whatever. Regardless of if I want to, or feel like it, or am too tired, or sore, or had a bad day, Ihave to keep working on it. And the more that I allow myself to "take a break" and soothe a bad day with food, the more I'm reinforcing my body's idea that food fixes things.

But now I'm convincing myself that this is just something I do- like clean my house, or pay bills, or watch TV, or do laundry. This is just a part of daily life, and that's not going to change.

I'm 20 pounds UP from my lowest weight of 130 :(

20 pounds.

I maintained between 135-142 for almost 4 years. Since August (my wedding), something switched and I gained 12 pounds.

Why?
I decided that going to the gym and doing a half a**ed workout out sporadically was enough.

I decided that I could get away with eating take out 5 nights a week.

I decided that half a bottle of wine every night wasn't "that big of a deal".

I decided to NOT weigh myself unless I felt sure I would get a number I was satisfied with (so really, I didn't weigh at all anymore).

So I'm unraveling 4 years of hard work in 4 months because I decided to stop caring.

Hopefully, I can undo the damage and put my life back into focus.

I know you can, Junebug. :hug: How can we help?

:drill: ? :hug: ? Both?

I was about 211 in my senior year of high school, lost maybe 15 or so due to the lifestyle (schedule, less free time to get bored and eat) change that happened when I finished HS and started taking classes in community college while still living at home. When I went away to school and lived in a dorm, I dropped down to 175 without even thinking about it, probably due to the enormous amount of walking I was doing and a commitment to drink only water. My mom made me promise to drink water or milk at at least two meals a day, rather than soda, and I took it a step further for the first semester.

During the summer between the first and second year of college (I only went for an Associate's), I got a job at Burger King, which was kind of dumb. I really should have tried to get a job at a restaurant whose food I didn't like. Dang chicken nuggets and onion rings. I gained 40 pounds back with a quickness. It was bad.

After college, still fluctuating between 200-220, I moved away from home to NC, where I got a job making the kind of money that allows a lazy, homesick person to indulge in the ease and comfort of fast food as often as twice a day (although I managed not to do that very much). Before I knew it, I weighed 248. I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't do anything about it until recently, when an unpleasant experience with a scale revealed my weight to be 276. I've lost a few, not much, as you can see from my little sidebar thing here (I haven't been here long enough for a ticker), but I have a long journey ahead of me.

I know I went right back up when I quit putting "being on plan" at the top of my list. It is just way too easy to put everyone else's needs first, to get overwhelmed with everything else going on, and getting lazy. All of a "sudden", I'm off plan and the weight just comes right back on.

Hmm... I'm going with option :drill:. That's what seems to be working for me. I fit into NONE of my pants and facing reality has really helped. I weigh every single morning and that has really lit a fire under my arse.

So, no more scale collecting dust and no more telling myself that I'm only wearing one pair of jeans because they're "my favorites". I've also had to wake up to the fact that going to the gym for 1 week and taking a week and a half off does not a gym goer make.

I HATE excuses more than anything and now I know why- they make you fat.

I have had to face it and that seems to be doing the trick. I was so very afraid, so no coddling this girl!

I gained weight in 2008, because I let myself slack off. I had surgery in May and it was a downward spiral from there on out. I allowed myself to have one slice of pizza, a few chips, a bowl of ice cream, but once I would get started, I couldnt stop. I also stopped exercising. I was down to 236 from 307 and found myself back up to 265.

for me it was just one weekend that went off track... that turned into a week... then into months. i was seeing myself lose weight and i wasn't miserable doing it, i was very proud of myself, then i just started giving up.

i think i have a bit of a problem with self-destruction. even when i see i am doing well, i start to pull away.

it also didn't help that i was still in college and my roommates and friends liked to go out for midnight donut runs and out to dinner. this time around my fiance is working with me to do this (he's in the same position i am) and we are going to support each other instead of enable each other.

I lost 50lbs a few years ago, was about 10lbs from goal, was so sick of my very restrictive diet and crazy exercise, I decided to take a short break from it. Since I felt so deprived, and this was just a little holiday, I ate everything in sight. Of course the weight came back. I gained quickly, but just kept on eating, planning on getting back to dieting soon. Let out the seams on clothes that I had taken in, now they were loose, so I ate until they were tight again. I refuse to repeat this pattern, Like others have said, it has to be a lifestyle, not something you go on until the weight is gone. My idea of maintenence was gain 5lbs, then take it off, repeat. except I never did. I made so may bad choices. This time I am being sane about it.

I think my whole yo-yo dieting thing is directly related to my newly diagnosed anxiety disorder. My Dr. seems to think I've had it for a very long time. Probably since the time I started self medicating with food at the age of 5. Later I added to the self medication with nicotine, later alcohol. All in attempt to make the anxiety go away. And it worked for a while. Funnily I've always been anti-drug...I knew how to cure myself....EAT, Drink and be merry. My views on prescription drugs are changing some now.

I found that once I quit drinking, smoking, and lost 140 pound I was having constant anxiety, it is truly debilitating...to the degree of ER visits and near fainting. Most people would have felt better after acomplising what I have, but I felt worse. Looking back, and reading bits and pieces of an old journal, I am positive that is what happened to me in the past. I just couldn't take the chronic anxiety any longer, the only thing that made me feel better...(or not feel worse) was food, nicotine, and alcohol in that order.

well for me, it was kinda a warped mind frame....

I went through I, I was about 240 at age 16, lost 100pounds in 6 months with WW....then went to uni and entered a very dark time period, now I understand that was depression, but I think I put weight back on simply because I didn't want to know I was.

I lost 83 pounds once, to my maintenance weight of 180. Then I found myself in a relationship that took a horrible, painful, abusive turn, and I methodically gained 114 pounds.

Why did I turn to food? Food was there, it was available. I didn't have to justify it, I didn't have to explain things to it, I didn't have to try to understand it. It was comforting. It was also something I could tell myself I was "focusing" on, and keep me distracted from what was really going on--keep me in denial. It's not any wonder I never lost through those years. If I had lost, then I would have taken the veil off my eyes. And I obviously wasn't ready to do that.

When I started losing this time was when I finally WOKE UP and said no more. When I finally started fighting for myself. When I finally started really taking care of myself, rather than trying to take care of myself with food. That's when I didn't need the food anymore. I'm still working on it, and still trying to excise and heal deep, dark hurts. But I'm doing it, gradually.

So why did I regain? I guess it boils down to emotional eating. Really, though, what I was doing was using food for something that's not supposed to do. Food is fuel. Food is sustenance. Food is not your friend, it is not your companion, it is not your saviour. Keep food in its place.

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts. It's pretty fascinating how the vast majority of regains seem to occur because we lose focus -- even after years of maintainence. I like Susan's analogy with the car. It's just kind of exhausting to think that we will have to keep our eyes on the road forever. Even though I think I've "redefined normal" for about a year now -- the new "normal" can still slip away without constant vigilance. That's what I think is the scariest thing of all.

Maybe there was never a "normal" way of eating. Even when we fall off plan, what feels like a constant "normal" way of eating might in reality be always accelerating into more and more dangerous territory.

I was bored with what I was eating and I stopped writing what I ate.

Mine was- i just didnt KNOW what i was doing.

I had just finished highschool lost 40 lbs by eating healthy and exercising...i ddint have a goal or i didnt know what maintaining was! i was young and dumb.

as soon as people started to notice how good i looked, i stopped and started eating "normal" (not actually nomarl tho!) again. i thought because i looked to good i could eat whatever i wanted.

now i know..it is a life long journey that will always be hard

I think I did a bit of it all (although I didn't read every single post); I've lost weight and regained it many times. Lots of changes and stress; and then marriage and focusing too much on others instead of myself. I let others come before me; I'd eat to comfort hurt feelings (emotional eating) instead of telling people off or to get lost ...

I baked and cooked for others; and of course, I would want some too since I did all that cooking. And then for myself, I just snacked too much: I made unhealthy choices. I stopped walking and exercising like I done to lose the weight and keep it off. A lack of knowledge too: at first, I just didn't realize that it would all come back on if I didn't keep to the 'plans' diligently.

I was naive and kept believing 'the so-called experts' that if I just did this or that, that I would lose the weight and be slim for the rest of my life. Some plans I just couldn't stick too; they were just too restrictive. I lost a lot of weight and in 2008, started to gain again; huge sorrows and stresses came, and I started munching (snacking) too much. I think I need to find better ways to deal with negative emotions: like replacing them with love and positive experiences.

That's why I came here: I am learning. I am trying hard to eat healthy all the time, but it isn't easy. Christmas was hard for me, but I am doing better. I have a long way to go, but I'm looking at this as a life journey, not a short diet to a goal (like Glory said) and then I'm free. No, I wanna be healthy for the rest of my life, so I'm changing my mind and changing my ways. I need to make better choices: healthier ones.

I need to learn to love myself enuff to do what is good for me. I'm trying to find a balance between consistent healthy eating and a more regular active lifestyle ... it's a journey, for sure!

I stopped cooking dinners at home and started eating out a LOT. Steak dinners and pizza buffets on the weekends were the absolute norm for about 6 months. I started only working out every other day and just stopped caring about what I ate and how much I ate, so I gained about 16 lb.

I was just in a really relaxed place with food, and used it to socialize. It was fun but so, so unhealthy. I needed to find other ways to spend time with friends than eating.

fad diets! i never lost a ton of weight, but i'd lose 5-10 pounds constantly and regain them all back because i was depriving myself. i feel like i've finally found the answer though -- running! i can't eat tons of bad food because then i can't run, and running burns tons of calories and i love it. hopefully it sticks.

First time I regained was during a dark depression and I did a LOT of binging.

The last time I regained was when I first met my boyfriend. I wanted to spend all my time with him and he doesn't like exercising so I barely exercised. We also ate a lot of junk food. I wanted to act "normal" and being normal packed on 25 lbs.

"Redefined Normal." I like that. That concept has been hard to grasp for me since I quit smoking and drinking alcohol. I got it into my head that I only had to do it consciously for three weeks, the proverbial amount of time that it takes to make a new habit or break an old one. I keep thinking that I just have to make it so many more days and then I can have what I want, and then realizing, oh yeah, there is no end to this. This is the new way that I live now.

It's hard to accept the idea that I will not be indulging in one of my favorite weekend activities for a long time, if ever again (chain-smoking while sampling import beers and foreign foods at various restaurants). I'm on day 18 of the rest of my life, and I need to develop some new hobbies that don't involve eating or inhaling or consuming unhealthy things.

So-called "normal" eating has America in an obesity epidemic. That's why they call it SAD - Standard American Diet. Society shoves enormous portions of high calorie density foods in our faces at every turn. At the same time, most folks drive everywhere, use a clicker to change the TV channel, and spend their weekends sitting on the couch. Every social occasion revolves around food. We are seeing teenagers with heart problems and diabetes and obese TODDLERS for gosh sakes. It's scary!

Us chicks are the only ones that are trying to get it RIGHT! Redefining "normal" .... we are only trying to re-establish normal, our society has distorted normal beyond belief. If we eat like everyone else, then we will LOOK like everyone else.

Off my soap box now.

skinniest to heaviest
 

I lost a lot of weight and then gained it and went from my skinniest adult weight to my heaviest within a few years. I think for me it was a few things: what I call the all-or-nothing syndrome that I'm either going to be really really good or really really bad and nothing in between, the new-found attention and feelings about it (gossiping from jealous people pushing you back to a weight that people won't gossip about), and the feeling that "I deserve bad food" and a "break" from being healthy because of a bad day...or a good day.

I am now on day 2 of losing weight now that I'm at my heaviest and I'm hoping to break this cycle too and not care what people say and be healthy for myself. My new focus wont' be to look good but to be healthy because I deserve to live, be happy, and I deserve to stop putting things in the way of trying new things.

I find my attitude towards weight loss is different compared to in the past when I would lose weight and then regain it all.

First off, I realized that this was a lifestyle change, not a diet. Before, I dieted for a short while, and would then go back to my old ways of eating. So of course I gained.

Second, if I got bored with exercise, I gave it up and didn't get any exercise at all. Now if I get bored with a particular exercise, I make the effort to try to find new exercises that keep my interest. I don't do the same exercise every day. I try to mix things up to keep myself from getting bored.

As for exercise, if I didn't feel like doing it in the past, I didn't do it. I had many of those days. I still have days when I don't feel like doing it, but I make myself. I just come home from work, change into my workout clothes right away so I can't talk myself out of it, and do it.

As I've said, my attitude towards weight loss has changed. In the past, I'd stick with a plan for maybe a month or two and give up. Now, I have been in this lifestyle change for two years (I started in January '07) and while I have had setbacks, I haven't given up. Before, I was like many people, wanting a quick, easy way to lose weight. I came to the realization that, for me, it wasn't going to be quick, and it sure wasn't going to be easy. I realize now that weight loss is uncomfortable at times (sure I'd rather eat the chocolate someone offered me, but sometimes I can't) and if exercise is hard, then that's a good thing; I don't get to the point where I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack when I exercise, but I know I have to challenge my body. If I found it too hard in the past, I gave up; now, I know that when an exercise gets easy, I have to find something harder to challenge my body once again.

As I've said, I've had setbacks...sometimes I let the tempation win. Then, I pick myself up, and get right back on the horse (I did't do this in the past). For me, it has mostly been my attitude change, I think, that made me stick with the lifestyle change that is different from what I did before that made me regain in the past.