To wonder if anyone has been really fat, lost the weight and then kept it off permanently (at least 10 years)

[Mammylamb]

Just that everyone I know who has lost weight has put it back on again with interest. My mum was a healthy 9stone when she started dieting at 25; since then she has been up and down (up to a maximum of 15 stone): I have lost a few stones a few times but it always creeps back up

I lost 6 stone 15 years ago and I've kept it off.

I went from being a fat, depressed teen at around 12st, too a tiny 19 year old at 8 st 7. I mainly starved myself so I fit in with my friends and was miserable when I was tiny.
So inevitably the weight piled back on over the years and I'm now back to the 12st mark (I'm only 5"1) but I'm losing it slowly with a mixture of Paul McKenna and exercise. I think people gain it back because the method they lost it all was unsustainable long term, and it didn't really feel like 'them' I know that was the case for me. I ate for emotional reasons and food always controlled me.

Interested to read people's replies

My uncle was obese as far back as I can remember. About 15 years ago he decided enough was enough, and went to see a dietitian. She put him on an Atkins type diet (it was all the rage) and he lost 40kg.
Has been the same size since. He is a keen cook and has completely overhauled his cooking and eating habits, until the healthy way became his new normal.

Everyone else I know who lost loads eventually put it back on, because they take their eye off the ball and slip back into their old bad habits

My colleague lost 10 stone 15 years ago and has kept it all off

Vacant; how did you lose it and how do you keep it off? I'm not being goady,I just want to know so that I can also do it

I lost a load on the 5:2 diet but I've put it all back on.

I'm currently 24 stone, at various points in my life have lost up to 8 stone by following various plans, but always put it back on again and now I'm heavier than I've ever been (size 24). Now I'm waiting for a date for gastric bypass surgery, hopefully it will happen by October/November if I can lose 17lbs by the end of July. I'm hoping this is the definitive answer for me. Nothing else has ever worked, I'm 45 but feel 75 and this is the last chance saloon

I think you can keep it off, but it requires a complete overhaul of your relationship to food, and that can be hard. Some who lose loads of weight drift back into their old habits - poor portion control, eating for the wrong reasons, not aware when hungry, not upping the activity level. I lost 4 st in 2008 & kept it off for 5 yrs because I really changed the way I ate, became aware of when I was eating for the wrong reasons & exercised more.
I recently drifted back up due to going thru a horribly stressful divorce, but now that I am thru the other side, I am losing the weight & re-tooling my attitudes.

I lost 8 stone back in 2010. Gained a bit (a lot) when I was pregnant 2 years ago but it's off again now

I only know of two very large people who have successfully kept weight off long term.

In both cases, interestingly, once they'd lost the weight they underwent a total lifestyle change - I don't mean dietary, both divorced their respective spouses (although so far as I can tell neither were particularly happy in their marriages before hand), one had a complete career change and one moved to another country.

If I was to play couch-psychologist, I would suggest that their previously unhealthy eating habits and relationship with food was caused in part by disfunction in other areas of their lives.

Currently trying to shift three stone myself though and am very happy with both dh and my job so god knows where that leaves me!

People gain it back because they lost it on diets. If you are obese, it means your eating is wrong as it is. It needs to be changed permanently, forever, for the rest of your life - and then the weight won't come back up. (I'm currently 9st 3lbs, at my heaviest I was 13st.)

I lost just over 5 stone after my ds was born 18 1/2 yrs ago and kept it off. The problem with weight regain is that people view what they do to lose weight as a temporary rather than a forever change of way of life.

I don't weigh myself religiously but go by my clothes and no when I have gained a few pounds, usually associated with moving and holidays where it is harder to be in control of my food. When I have checked the most I have put on is 7 pound. I will never be big again

Wise words from Iona

I lost between 3 and 4 stone, 12 years ago and kept it off until I had my children (2 in quick succession!). For me it was much more about getting fit and enjoying it than not eating so much (although obviously that played a part too). My youngest is just coming up for 1 and I've got about 2 stone to come off so the trainers have come back out for the first time in a long time!

I lost 4 stones 5 years ago, and gradually put most of it back on (minus half a stone). Have lost about 22 pounds and planning on losing the rest. The good thing is I am a lot fitter than I was 5 years ago and my body is more toned than it was at a corresponding weight, because I got into the habit of exercising.
I always gain weight because I'm just a pig, basically. If it's it there I tend to eat it. I've lost weight over the last few months because I'm skint at the moment and can only afford a minimum amount of food, and am having to walk a lot.
That is the pattern for me, I lose weight when I am short of money or very busy. When I have money and plenty of time I eat too much. I find it hard to control myself (though I know I can do it).

I lost 8 and a half stone 4 years ago. Divorced my husband, met my childhood sweetheart, had a baby with him and gradually put a lot of it back on.
Going back to slimming world in march with the view of shifting this fat ass!

I watched a programme about this the other day...
People eat too much... they get fat.
They go on a diet, they lose weight. Hurrah!
They stop the diet, go back to what they were doing before (eating too much...)
And they get fat.
What is difficult to understand here???
Although I've never been huge as an adult I was a rather overweight child and the only reason I'm the shape I am today is because I exercise a lot and watch what I eat. So although I haven't "lost weight" I feel that I qualify as being someone who has "kept it off". If I ate what I wanted and moved as much as I felt like moving, I would be HUGE. As it is, I have no idea what I weigh but it always used to be around 10 stone.
It's simple.
But it is NOT easy.
The hormone levels and general calorie requirements were interesting, but larger people naturally burn more calories just existing.
To maintain a healthy weight in the modern world is difficult, but do-able.

Apparently the one constant in keeping the weight off is doing a minimum of an hour's exercise every day.