Has anyone actually succeeded at losing weight?

[FruitSaladIsNotPudding]

And by that I mean, has anyone lost all the weight they wanted to lose and kept it off for more than a couple of years without yo-yoing?

I ask because I have been trying to lose about a stone for, ooh, ten years or so. I can lose weight, no problem. Sometimes I can keep it off for a while, but never forever. Low calorie diets make me STARVING and obsessed with food. Low carb is better, less hunger, but still obsessed with carbs. Exercising is great, to a point, but actually makes me hungrier in the long run.

It's like my body just does not want to change weight! And it's not that I am at the right weight - technically I am in the healthy bmi catorgory, but I am small framed and should definitely be carrying less than I am.

I have heard of the 'set point' theory and it makes sense, but how the bloody hell do you change your body's set point?

Would be extremely interested to hear from anyone who has lost weight and kept it off, long long term.

Btw, I do eat quite reasonably and healthily, although my username suggests otherwise!

I have dieted off the same two stone FOUR times!
I am now dieting yet again with WWatchers and reckon this must be the fifth time I've shifted this lot.
Sorry I can't help you but I would love to read your replies when they come in

Don't be embarrassed. I think most people probably yo yo around if they are honest!

Hmm. Not a resounding response of successful dieters then.

Every week i lose 2 pounds and every weekend i put them on again so i am useless :) but i have a friend who has lost a lot of weight doing the Dukan diet. The process of losing and then learning to maintain while following the diet will take more than a year. There is a very long phase which supposedly retrains the body not to put the weight back on. It has worked for him but it has been hard work.

I lost 3 stone ten years ago, it was after eating and drinking my way through university but apart from two pregnancies I kept it off.

I lost it through mainly Rosemary Conley's very low fat diet, I just bought the cookbook, started to educate myself about eating low fat stuff and it did come off quite steadily in about 7-8 months. I think it worked for me because I don't really have a sweet tooth so the only real "trigger" foods I had to avoid was cheese, otherwise quantiy wise I ate as much as I wanted as I have a big appetite.

When I lost the weight I did then relax (as previously I only ate under 4% fat foods) and put on half a stone but I can see now the original target was a bit unrealistic, anyway I kept the 2.5 stone off really until I got pregnant. For me, the reason I didn't / don't put weight on again was/is;

1. I was in control of my eating, i.e. without any "control" I would just binge on "nice" food and eat huge amounts, so it was a case of initially training myself not to eat certain foods so I just stayed away from all high fat foods etc and mainly chose healthily. The fact is I can't just eat what I want when I want so I found a good base that I didn't have to think about anymore, i.e. it just wouldn't occur to me to buy some chocolate or crisps, although if someone offered me some I would probably take some. You can see this because when I got pregnant I just went berserker eating anything and everything, although I just felt rotten the whole time.

One issue I have with calorie controlled diets is that you can still eat "bad" things you just have to control the amount, but for me I would rather say to myself 'no if i eat it then that little bit is not enough' as I can easily still have a blow out. For example, if I eat 2 slices of buttered toast I will probably end up having about 10 slices of buttered toast because I just love it so I just have either Jam and Toast or hummus because it doesnt trigger the overeating.

1. Vanity - I look so much better than when I am heavier, and I put on 5 stone then 3 stone when pregnant so I know what i'm talking about.

1. I lost the weight purely through diet, I don't believe exercise makes you lose weight and yes can just make you hungry, I obviously do think it is better to exercise than no,t just I think a lot of people kid themselves by going to the gym but not looking at what they eat.

hope that helps

That's what a was afraid of rubyruby!

Thanks carrotsandpeas - I do get what you are saying about triggers. Toast and butter would be one of mine. But I'm scared of banning any kind of food because past experience tells me that no matter how long I keep it up, eventually I will start craving it. And for me, the cravings following any kind if diet/food restriction ( even the most reasonable) are huge.

I lost the weight I wanted to lose (10 kgs) over two years ago and it's still off.

It was a fundamental change in my diet rather than and I have never stopped eating that way - half my plate is either salad or vegetables, a quarter is protein, and a quarter is carbohydrates. None of it in heaps, obviously. A long as you have a bit of rice or pasta with every meal (attention to sauce), you will not be hungry.

If you are starving on a low calorie diet, that means it has far too few calories. If you are constantly hungry, that is actually counterproductive. Or it could mean that you are not eating any carbohydrates which keep you feeling full.

Interested in carrotsandpeas observations. I have recently lost 4.5 stones (had been fat for 7 years post childbirth). Reached goal in July so very early days. Am doing as carrots did though - trained myself not to eat certain foods such as chips, cake, chocolate, sweets, curry ( except dry chicken tikka) or anything deep fried. It might sound restrictive but I have no 'off' switch and it's all or nothing for me. Some foods I can't have in the house because I gorge on them, these include weirdly, muesli, mini picnic eggs and less oddly, nutella. IMO most people regain weight because they take their eye off the ball. Depressing fact is that weight maintenance post weight loss needs constant vigilance.

Incidentally exercise works for me - especially resistance training to increase my lean muscle mass and raise resting metabolism

Yes, I suppose so. Constant vigilance is perhaps a good way of looking at it!

There's a massive gap, isn't there, between people's hopes and expectations about weight loss ( just look at this board!), and the long term reality.

I gained 4 stone in pregnancy & lost it all on WW 5 years ago and kept it off for c.3 years until I fell pg again. I managed this by a combination of vanity (I looked good slimmer), budget (I'd binned my fat clothes & couldn't afford another new wardrobe) and exercise (3+ times a week 30+mins cardio & I can pretty much eat what I want). Unfortunately SPD in pregnancy put pay to all exercise, I had to buy maternity clothes so budget/vanity went out of the window & I regained the entire 4 stone I lost :blush:.
Lost a stone last year on WW now half a stone down on Dukan with 2.5 to go. My problem isn't keeping the weight off, it's losing it in the first place!

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm a yo-yoer. The worst thing for me is people are so keen to congratulate me on the way down: that I look so different, that my face looks totally different and lots of flattery. They must therefore think the opposite when I'm on the way back up and I can hardly look people in the eye.

I'd love to be able to keep it off...

I'll let you know in a few years time, but for now enjoying my first slim Christmas season this millennium.

I get the impression it's not the method that counts - people who have kept it off have done it in a variety of ways.

Sounds good fluffy. Hope this thread hasn't put a dampener on your weight loss.

Last year I lost 2 stones, and kept it off until I got pregnant in June this year. The most important thing for me was the motivation. Once you find a good reason to lose weight, it will be easier.
BTW, I am now 6 months pregnant, with a HUGE bump and still below the weight I was last year. MW says I have put on slightly too much weight though :)

OP, I lost about a stone and a half 18 months ago by low carbing and running, and it has stayed off. My low carb eating has become a way of life, although I am much less strict than when I was actually losing weight.

I could never do low-calorie dieting, as it just made me hungry and I felt constantly "deprived". Being able to eat cheese, butter, heaps of veggies, plenty of meat etc. makes low-carbing easy to maintain, and it is so true that protein fills you up better than a wodge of carbs (and doesn't sit on your belly for six hours afterwards).

But I've never been a yo-yo person, weight-wise. My weight tends to be very stable, and I have to overdo it for a long time to put weight on (but it did creep on, hence the diet last year). My DSis, however, only has to look at a cake to put on a pound; I don't dare buy her clothes for Christmas because ever time I see her she's a different size. Different metabolism, I guess.

I lost over 4 stone nearly 2 years ago. hal a stone back on but i am a 10-12 and happy with that.

No low carbing or faddy diet - I used Food Focus where you can eat whatever you like, just not quite as much.....

I also started running and still try and do 4x exercise per week. no alcohol in the week, unless special occasion and watch that i am not mindlessly shoving food into my mouth. savour every mouthful became my mantra.

Great to hear success stories.

I lost weight with WW, got to goal July 2003 and was in a normal weight range for the first time ever (was a fat child, fat teen, fat 20-something). At that point I had 3 children. I've since had 3 more babies, and despite gaining lots of weight each time, I lost it again by following WW after each birth and I now weigh 4.5stones less than when I joined WW way back when. But from what I've read, I'm in a v small percentage of people who have successfully kept it off. My top tips would be to keep a food diary, and if you're like me and did it through a club like WW, go along to be weighed every now and again. I eat normally, I'm not on a permanent "diet" but if I didn't at least THINK about what I was eating, I'd be a size 20 again rather than a size 10 because I love food too much!

I am in the process of it now. It will stay off this time. I am sure of that. It's like something inside my head has changed iywsim?

I used to survive mainly off lots of sandwhiches and tins of diet coke. I cannot bear the thought of drinking diet coke now. Pepsi max is a different matter but one step at a time and I can't remember the last time I ate bread.

Exercise and drinking more water is the key for me. 3 more lb and I will have lost 2 stone. I actually enjoy exercise now. I am already looking forward to tommorrows run and I plan to do JM No more Trouble Zones afterwards (not straight after, but at some point during tommorrow)