I've been slim all my life except after having babies- I tend to have loads of weight to lose after each pregnancy. I've lost it each time by cutting (not eliminating) white carbs, reducing sugary snacks and running. I don't let myself go hungry and I don't calorie count, having said that, overall I usually trust my relationship with food. I breastfeed as well which probably gives me a bit more dietary leeway.

After my 3rd pregnancy I had a great whoosh when I started losing the baby weight but this time there was no shift for FIVE WEEKS. I have no idea why but once I started losing it was pretty steady. It was discouraging and I wondered whether being older (40) meant that my metabolism had changed but I don't think so. I kept motivated by reminding myself that I loved running and that I was going to do it as long as I could, irrespective of my weight.

So, in short, I have no idea why I didn't have a big loss to start with but 5 months later with only 9 pounds to go it doesn't matter anymore.

I whoosh for the first week (approx 5 pounds of "loss"), then gain it all back, then start an up/down loss with overall trend of downward.

The reason why I believed that the dieting messes up your metabolism is because Oprah preached it. I'm not kidding. Don't laugh at me.:)

Don't put words into my mouth. I never said anything about permanent damage or anything of the sort. I'm really sick of "data" and "research" to be honest, I pay attention to what's going on in my body and what I see going on around me. If you have a good explanation for why people have a harder time losing weight after years of dieting then by all means please provide it. I don't think starvation mode is true and I don't believe someone's metabolism can be irrepairably damaged after dieting, but I do think yoyoing has an effect, that's my opinion judging by what I can see in clear and utter daylight.

Generalizing from personal experience is one way to convince oneself that he or she is on the right track. Whereas rigorously controlled studies have an actual possibility of eliminating false assumptions. Nevertheless, that concept sure upsets a lot of people and always has. Remember what happened to Galileo? :D

Attempting to quantify weight loss efforts can be very frustrating. There are too many factors we don't understand or are not aware of at play. It's important to be aware and know what to tweak but the basic premise of weightloss is that if you're doing it right it will pay off with slow yet maintainable results. Trust your process, make sure you're eating good wholesome food, not too much of it, exercise and have faith in yourself. Beginners luck is for gamblers.

I've seen you post quite a bit about psychology so undoubtably you're familiar with confirmation bias and how powerful a force it is. That is why we need data and research.

I have no doubt that over time dieting is harder and harder but the primary reason, in my opinion, is psychological.

Then there is the fact that people who have lost weight tend to burn fewer calories over all than expected but only a small percentage of this is BMR.

I don't know if is psychology or age or a negatively affected metabolism. I have observed in myself and see in others that many years of dieting can slow down the process of weightloss. If the reason is indeed psychological then there is no better remedy than to stay positive and hope for the best.

I agree, JohnP, with my own confirmation bias on this!

I do think a lot of weight loss is psychological and so few people address the psychological aspect of it because there is still a bias against it -- so it's people who are in the extremes that get help (being overweight due to traumatic experience or anorexia/bulimia issues) and then the people in the middle don't get that help either.

I was able to lose a bunch of weight not because I stayed on a diet and exercise plan, but also because I addressed minor psychological things that happen in my head when I am dieting -- some of those were thinking no one around me who was thin controlled their calories (I didn't want to either!); dieting not as a punishment but rather self-care; understanding dieting is not only about willpower, but fixing my health issues (I have IR); understanding I can't exercise away bad eating; changing my expectations of what I can/should eat versus what I used to eat; and so on.

That's a lot of little things that aren't labeled "psychological" but they are. I haven't read the Beck Diet Solution, but it sounds interesting because it seems to touch on that part of weight loss.

I think successful dieters figure this part out. I gained weight last year because I stopped addressing those issues (I am not sure they ever go away).

This