Hello everybody,im new to this site.It was recommended by a friend.I would like to introduce myself,and tell you a little about me.My name is Kim,i am 45.Four years ago,weighing 260 pounds i found the atkins WOL,lost 120 pounds,got down to a size6/8.This past year i have gained back 80 pounds of that very hard earned weight loss
Two weeks ago i finally decided i had had enough once again.I have lost 15 pounds in this 2 week period and intend to get all the way back to my goal weight of 140,if it kills me!!!!
My question is,are there any others of you on this board that have lost a large amount of weight only to gain it back?What plan did you use,how are you going about losing it this time around.TIA for all your advice.Im looking forward to getting to know you all.I havent had much of a chance to look the board over yet,but i intend to ASAP.Nice to meet you all~KIM
Hi, Kim; welcome! First of all, way to go on losing all that weight! If you did it once, you can do it again! I lost 30 pounds last year and gained it back (plus loads more) so I know what you're struggling with. Look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you!
It's a story commonly happening in the world, sad to say. You aren't "bad" because you gained the weight back. I think what happens is that when we lose all that weight and reach our goal, we are so tired of the plan we just want to be "normal" again. But for many of use, we can't just go back to the old way of eating and (not) exercising. Do you know this old saying? "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got."
The trick seems to be first, having a sensible plan that doesn't feel like being in prison for a long time, and second, having a maintenance plan once you get to your goal.
There is a Maintainers' Forum here on 3FatChicks--check it out.
My question is,are there any others of you on this board that have lost a large amount of weight only to gain it back?What plan did you use,how are you going about losing it this time around.
Twice before, I have lost a significant amount of weight only to gain it all back and more.
When I decided to make a change this time, I looked carefully at past attempts and why they failed so I could learn from both of those mistakes. In all my dieting attempts (the little ones as well as the big ones), I noticed two trends.
1. I started a diet I planned to one day stop. My plan was to eat "normally" again after I lost the weight.
2. I was overly restrictive and after awhile I would just binge uncontrollably.
This time - I decided to make my goal health and not necessarily weight loss (although I did want to lose weight!). I looked at how I ate and just made changes. I switched from white carbs to whole grains, added more vegetables, cooked with less butter/oil. I learned what a portion size was and how to order as healthfully as possible in a restaurant. I try to eat 5+ servings of veggies and 2+ servings of fruit every day. I could never do Atkins since there is no way I could live with reduced carbs - I love sandwiches and toast and pasta and stir fries over rice and enchiladas with whole wheat tortillas - I don't know what I would eat without carbs!
From the first day I started, I knew this "diet" would never end, this would be how I would eat forever so I would have to love the foods I ate. I was planning maintenance from the very moment I started. I have been maintaining almost a year now (a personal record for me!!) and I do exactly what I did to lose weight - I count calories, I food journal, I plan healthy meals, I pack lunches, etc etc.
In the past, I've never had a problem losing weight, but keeping it off. This time, my goal was to try to eat foods with high nutritional power and avoid foods with little nutritional power. I wanted to eat foods for health - like blueberries for the brain, spinach for the eyes, walnuts for the heart, tomatoes to help prevent cancer. This is how I eat now and I like it, I like the way it makes me feel and fitting into size 6/8 jeans doesn't hurt the motivation either!
Hi Kim good to see you here. You did it before and you can do it again. Lots of us starting over. This time we are a little wiser. We will celebrate our successes! Even if our successes only consist of not gaining.
There is an Atkins forum you'll find soon enough. See you there.
Me too. In 1996, I lost around 40lb, to get back into the middle of the normal BMI range. I maintained my goal weight for 6 years.
Then, 2 more babies in 2 years put me from around 150lb right up to 195lb. Last July, ten years on from my original diet, I had all the same weight to lose all over again. Which goes to show you can maintain for years and then life will hijack you again!
I also found it really upsetting, as I had always thought losing that 40lb was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, in my life. Having to lose the same weight all over again was really daunting. So I took it 7lb at a time! Lots of mini goals. If at the start I'd thought *You've got to lose 40lb*, I would never have done it. I just thought in half stones.
I went back to the healthy way of eating I has started in 1996, but now see it not as a 'diet' but as the way I will have to eat forever.
I exercise far more than I did in 1996. My last diet took half the time to lose this amount of weight with a fraction of the exercise I've had to do this time round.
Kim, I do happen to think low carb diets (even the supposedly 'milder' ones) have built in failure as they are banning an entire food group - which your body is designed to eat. So just as for any of us, whatever plan we choose, have to accept it as a new way of eating rather than a *diet*, with low carbing you would realistically have to be able to give up/limit perfectly healthy foods forever. Can you do that? I'm sure some people can but for the majority, it seems to me to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've noticed that low carbers often have to only eat an ounce of pasta or a tiny amount of bread to gain 1lb overnight, which has serious implications for maintenance, if you think about it.
Were I you, I'd look for a way of eating that's sustainable, and spend time researching that, if you want to keep the weight off, as so many people on low carb plans seem to regain, fast, the minute they stop.
Last edited by PhatPhoenix; 02-14-2006 at 06:04 AM.
When I was 17, I did Atkin's, and lost about 40 pounds, I THINK...I wasn't weighing myself back then really...I guess I wasn't really all that passionate about losing the weight and keeping it off, as I quit the diet before my 18th birthday. Fast forward to a year and a half later....roughly. It's December 2005, and I'm 19 years old, and weighing in at a TERRIBLE 350 pounds. I decided once and for all that I was tired of being fat, and being made fun of, and on December 12th, 2005, I started the South Beach Diet. It's working out really well for me. I've been on the phase one for two months now...(I've checked online, and it's fine if you have a significant amount of weight to lose), and I'm doing great! I added regular exercise into the mix about 3 weeks ago, and I'm down nearly 40 pounds.
What plan are you looking to follow, and what kind of exercise are you going to work in? As the two work hand in hand.
Thank you all for th nice welcome and smart advice!
Right now i am doing Atkins,it works for me,i can take the weight off fairly easy this way.Can i eat this way the rest of my life?Well if the past speaks for itself...probably not.
I intend to look into other avenues,once i get some more of this weight off.I need to be able to LIVE with my diet and be able to maintain without gaining 5 pounds over night from 1 slice of bread.Im working on it and i will figure out whats best for me,i have no doubt.
As far as exercise,im getting plently.My husband and i joined the YMCA 2 weeks ago.I do an hour on the treadmill EVERY day without fail.Im slowly adding in the strength machines(2 days a week)i have also been a member of curves for 4 years,havent gone in many many months,but i may start that again,it helped me ALOT the last time.
Thank you all for sharing your stories with me,im sure i will learn alot from you all,and hopefully i will contribute as well.Thanks again~KIM
Right now i am doing Atkins,it works for me,i can take the weight off fairly easy this way.Can i eat this way the rest of my life?Well if the past speaks for itself...probably not.
Read this a few times to yourself. This is the key, right here.
Just based on my personal experiences - carbs are not bad or evil. I lost 60+ lbs eating at least 3 servings of complex carbohydrates every day (and at least 2 servings of fruit in addition). I did give up/reduce food with little nutritional value - white rice, white bread, white potatoes, packaged baked goods, chips, cookies, fast food, sugary soda.
But the carbs that were good for me? Fruit, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, whole wheat tortillas, sweet potatoes, quinoa, barley, corn, brown rice, wild rice - why stop eating healthy foods that are good for me?
The best part is - now that I'm maintaining, I'm eating exactly what I ate to lose weight. I didn't start a diet and then stop. I haven't re-gained any weight at all in a year! (in fact, I lost 13 lbs since I started "maintaining.")
Honestly, with a low carb diet, it's going to be VERY hard to stick with it for the rest of your life. I'm doing South Beach, because once I allow myself to go to Phase 2, I'll be allowed to have grains, pastas, and fruit again...in moderation of course. That's a major difference between Atkin's and South Beach. And once I get to my goal weight, I'm going to maintain on Phase 3 of the diet for a year, and then just watch what I eat...
Introduction&question
