Has anybody lost and maintained long term?

[MrsSeptember]

I lost 4 stone about 3 years ago and kept it off until last year after my wedding.

I've now gained 2 of those and I'm feeling really down about it. Every diet I look at makes me despair at yet another eating plan (I lost it with slimming world and can't bear to look at another Muller light)

Has anybody successfully lost their weight and kept it off?

I've got major unhealthy eating habits and I'm addicted to chocolate but any attempt at stopping makes me eat it all the more.

I lost nearly 2st with ww and kept most of it off for about 4 years till i started having children! I exercised a lot then too. I lost a bit in between each pregnancy, but after the third baby I was overweight again. So far I've lost 2st 10 with sw, hoping to lose a bit more yet. I can't do gym type exercise at the mo though because of the children, so I'm just generally active now.

I found it hard work maintaining the first time, but I think I went a bit too low and cut calories too much maybe? I did manage it. This time I might keep going to the classes and not set such a low target!

Everyone I know who has done Slimming World (myself included) has put the weight back on again. Without exception! I'd go to group, rejoining time and time again and see the same old faces, all still overweight.

I am currently doing weight watchers - I don't go to group but the only people I know who have done it have kept the weight off. My friend lost 7 stone about ten years ago and has kept it all off (she fluctuates within a stone but has kept most off). She is my inspiration! FWIW I find WW much easier than SW. And I eat proper yoghurts

This is the problem with "going on a diet" as opposed to "changing your diet".

regardless of your genetics, big bones, body shape etc, the basic rule still applies, if you take in more calories than your body uses, you'll put on weight.

After years of doing WW etc I lost around 35 pounds 4 years ago and I've kept most of it off. I fluctuate within about 7 pounds but have managed to stay around 9 1/2 stones. The biggest thing for me was to realise it's actually good to feel hungry, we should be hungry for a while before eating a meal - this is where WW, SW etc really annoy me with their 'never feel hungry with our plan' claims! And don't get me started on their products and cereal bars I only ever eat food a really enjoy, just in smaller portions or less often, e.g tasty yogurt but every couple of days, not 5 muller light in 1 day, none of which are satisfying. Keep carbs to an absolute minimum and I run 15-20 miles each week. Good luck x

Firstly, congratulations on losing 4stone! Try not to get too down about putting on two stone-if you start now you can nip that in the bud and get back to where you want to be.
I know what you mean about Slimming World. I found the group great when I started, and got to my target. However, a knee operation, no exercise for months as a result of it, and bread for practically every meal afterwards meant that I put up over a stone in three months! I went back to Slimming World, but honestly, I just can't take the mullerlights (I seem to taste whatever sweetener is in them now, which I didn't before), the quark/fat free yogurt/fat free fromage frais substitutions in so many recipes and the hour and a half meetings any more. So, I've decided to go it alone and do it myself.
After reading here about the My Fitness Pal app and Fitbits, I downloaded the app and last week I bought a Fitbit-but I haven't used the Fitbit yet. My plan is to aim to lose 1lb a week-it probably seems very little but 14 weeks at that rate would be a stone off, which I would be delighted with. I'm on 1,500 calories a day, and that amount of calories means that I'm eating very normal meals. An example of a day's food would be:
Glass of hot water with half a lemon squeezed into it, an orange, 40g of high fibre cereal with 8 raspberries,skimmed milk,glass of water, and a mug of coffee if I have time, for breakfast. 1/4melon and tea/coffee at break (I work full time). Lunch-when I'm lazy-is a carton of shop-bought soup where the whole thing comes in at under 200cals if possible; Dinner was chilli con carne-a Slimming World recipe, admittedly, but no substitutions, and plenty of protein, with 60g(uncooked weight) of rice, followed by a yogurt-whatever type I fancy, so if it's full fat, it just means I may have fewer calories left for the cup of tea at night. My nightly mug of tea accompanied by 1or 2 biscuits, or a mini roll or the new Kellogg's "Fibre One" bars-90cals, or Nature Valley's "Sweet and Salty Sark Chocolate, Peanut and Almond" bar at 139cals.
I also aim to walk for 30-40mins every day-I use the iPhone app "MapMyWalk ", as it plays my music and tracks my distance and gives an estimation of the calories I've used. I cannot run, because of my knee, so walking it'll have to be, though I might add in swimming in a week or so to switch it up a bit. Oh-I also drink a 500ml container of water during my work day.
I weigh myself once a week only-some people weigh every day, but I think daily fluctuations would make me give up, so once a week it is- and I take a photo of the weight shown, to have a record of it.
I suppose the reason I've written so much is that your post resonated with me, as I was really disappointed at putting over a stone in a very short amount of time whereas it took me a very long time to lose it! But I don't want to be paying other people to tell me what to do when I think I know what to do, so I'm taking control this time and using the time I spare at meetings for myself, and using the money I spare for myself too! So far I've lost 4lbs in 3weeks-that's a lb more than I planned, but that's just a small bonus! 1lb a week will be 1stone in 14weeks, and in your case it would be 2 stone in 28 weeks, which is only 7months, and very doable. As the mantra goes, the longer it takes to get off, the more likely it is to stay off!
Don't be too disappointed about your weight creeping up. Most people find that the pounds can creep up after marriage, as your lifestyle can change a bit. The important thing is that you've lost weight before and managed to keep it off for a long time. You've put a bit of it back on, but you can get rid of that again. Be kind to yourself while you lose it. Don't try to lose it too quickly because you'll be depriving yourself of too much and may find it harder to stick to. If you really can't face Slimming World again, maybe MyFitnessPal and daily (reasonable!) exercise is the way to go. A 30/40 minute walk can really lift your mood, in addition to burning a few calories, so it's well worth it.
Best of luck, and if you want to post your daily/weekly thoughts here, I'll read them and cheer you on!

Argh! When I started writing my post, you had no replies, which is why I wrote such a long one. Sorry!

I lost 7 stone about 15 years ago with ww, and have kept it off, fluctuating within a stone. I've had two children in that time, too. I'd think I was Liitlepond's friends, except I lived somewhere else when I lost the weight, and nobody knows about it where I live now!

I have to say I still find it a huge struggle, but what works for me, if I want to lose some weight now, is fasting 2 days per week (500 cals on those days), eating 1400 cals on 3 days, and then eating whatever I want on the weekend. I do a lot of exercise, but it honestly makes no difference to my weight at all.

When I want to maintain, I eat a bit more (although I'm not great at maintaining; I still excel at gaining ).

For me, it's all about what I eat, and I've just had to accept that I will always struggle.

I hope you find something that works for you.

Oh-I forgot the chocolate thing-yes that's me too. I can never buy a single one, it's always two or more and I eat them like that too.😳 However, I find that inputting the calories has helped curb my purchasing greatly. If I want to have chocolate I put in the calories in the app. It just means that I have fewer or none for my cup of tea at night or I may have to add another 30minutes to my walk. However, I genuinely haven't bought or wanted to buy too much chocolate in the past 4weeks, and I put that down mainly to drinking my container of water throughout the day. I carry an extra one in the car, and drink a little of that on the way home. It means that, when I call into the shop for milk or whatever, I don't actually feel the urge to buy chocolate. Maybe try something similar? Or work in some kind of chocolate in your daily plan, if you think you really want it. The trick is to control how much of it you eat-don't be a two, three or more girl like me.

I lost 6 stone twice over with WW - as soon as I stopped counting points and actively trying to lose weight it went back on again.

Started 'healthy living' in January and have lost 36lb so far, haven't counted a single calorie or point or syn and am infinitely happier. Learn which foods will fill you up and be good for you nutritionally. Do plenty of exercise, not for weight loss but for general fitness and mental wellbeing.

Thank you everyone. You've given some fab tips.

Procrastination4 don't apologise for your long post, it was really interesting to read your story. We definitely sound very similar regarding the chocolate
I have MFP and I started using it but I only used it on the 'good' days rather than face up to the bad days. I think I'll go back on it and be a little more honest with myself.

I think a big problem is my self esteem. Now I've gained some weight and it's all on my belly, I feel really bad about myself. In reality I'm not a big as I used to be but in my head I'm huge.

I hate the fact my self esteem is linked to my body and the way I look. Losing that 4 stone, everybody saw the drastic change and I feel like people are judging me for gaining it again. (I know my MIL does as she said 'I told you you'd gain it all back after the wedding )

I have. I lost 3 stone doing 5:2 in 2013 and haven't put any back on. For me, 5:2 made me appreciate what it felt like to be hungry and knock habitual eating eating on the head.
I don't snack very often and I eat twice a day. I don't 5:2 anymore, as I do a 16:8 which just feels natural to me, I've never really been one for eating breakfast apart from at the weekend when I'll eat at about 11am.
It worked really well for me, I lost 9" off my waste in 3 months.

Waist!

For me its changing what I eat. If i eat processed food, biscuits, bread, chocolate bars then my weight goes up even when eating mindfully. What works for me is eating a cleaner way. I tend to eat Paleo (no dairy) and that works. I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, salad and protein. Lovely salads with chicken and herbs with walnut honey and balsalmic dressing for instance. So good. Or whole roasted chicken cooked and basted in its own fat and eaten with loads of veg. I make peanut butter cookies if i fancy something sweet which is not very often. Im never hungry and enjoy bacon and eggs, mushrooms and toms for breakfast/lunch. Its lowish carb but the weight comes of slowly and stays off. Its also helpful with a whole host of health issues.

Lost 2 stone about 15 years ago, my downfall was snacking so I don't keep snacks in the house (I would eat them all in one sitting!).

I lost 2.5 stone last year in about 4 months, I then relaxed over xmas and have only just started to get back into dieting/exercising again. I have only put on 2 lb since my before xmas weight and have eaten like a pig so am happy I didn't immediately put all the weight back on.
I did fall into bad eating disorder habits so what I did isn't advisable but it worked for me. The main points I have taken out of my weight loss last year (ignoring the extreme stuff) was

A initial complete detox. I didn't eat any carbs, sugar, chocolate etc for about 2 weeks. I was really strict.
What I found when I then started eating it all again was that I didn't crave it half as Much (e.g. Before I could eat a whole pack of Jaffa cakes, afterwards I was satisfied with 2 and the thought of a whole pack made me feel sick)

Drink loads and loads of water.

Small portions and add lots of veg/salad.

Just have a couple of bites of naughty stuff, e.g. I would have a couple of crisps out of the kids packets rather than a whole packet of my own - I'd get the taste but a small proportion of the calories

Log every mouthful into a calorie tracker, made me realise how much of things you could eat e.g. A chicken salad sandwich was 500 calories but a big bowl of soup was less than 200.

Full fat everything. Low fat just has extra sugar/fillers in to make up for the taste. Marge is full of chemicals etc

I didn't follow a diet just made changes, still ate chocolate etc just made sure they were within my calories

I did do a lot of exercise as well- running and gym and some classes. I actually found they decreased my appetite rather than increased it luckily!

Ignore your mother in law! If you're already using MFP, just input on it every day, no matter what. Even if you have "bad days" it's not the end of the world. If you eat sensibly most of the time, and build in some type of exercise as part of your daily routine, the weight will come off again. Everyone's entitled to a little adjustment after their wedding! But now, just decide to lose it slowly, give yourself a pound a week goal and that's very doable. Even if you don't lose one week, you could have a 2lb loss the next week. The important thing is to make conscious decisions about what you're eating rather than eating because you're bored, fed up or dehydrated. For the first two, go for a walk or distract yourself by doing something else, and for number 3, make sure you're drinking enough water throughout the day. Small amounts of water throughout the day rather than slugging back a whole glass at once is much better for you (think of how you'd water a pot plant-if you pour the whole container in, it passes right through the compost and drains away, so you use a little at a time and allow it to soak in.) And remember, you don't need the same quantity as your husband. A lot of women say that's their problem when they get married or move in with a partner-they start eating the same sized portions as their husbands or partners.
Best of luck and hopefully in seven months time, your mum-in-law will be eating her words!

By the way, people who care for you won't judge you for gaining weight. They'll be hoping you'll get your motivation back and get back to a weight you're happy with and that's healthy for you. The whole weight thing is a vicious cycle. When we start to lose it, it improves our mood and physically we are more able to exercise and, when you exercise you're less likely to eat things such as chocolate as the exercise gives you the "buzz" you can get from chocolate (serotonin). When we put on weight, our mood becomes lower, and it's comforting to turn to chocolate and other sweet things, looking for that buzz, and walking or other forms of exercise aren't high on our list of priorities. Don't beat yourself up about gaining some weight. You can lose it again, and as you get into a good routine, things will fall into place for you. Forget what was. You've got your lovely wedding photos which may have been the motivation for losing weight in the first place. Now do it for you, so that you can sleep better, enjoy clothes shopping trips, enjoy having your photo taken, have more energy, lead a healthier life, etc.

I lost 3 stone, went from 13st to 10st and a size 16 to a 10 (bmi of 'just' obese to well within the healtgy range). Started in jan 2015 and have been pregnant and given birth in that time. It really was a lifestyle change - stopped eating frozen food (pizza, kievs etc) and tend to low carb on week days and eat sensibly on weekends but always ALWAYS making sure i have a shit ton of fruit and veg every day. I dont deny myself and do have occasional binges but reflect on my progress to get me back on track. Ideally would like to lose another half a stone by june but its stubbornly holding on - i blame breastfeeding!

Also adding i had to religiously input on mfp for about a year before the change in eating became habit and i havent had to use mfp since as i am innately more aware of calorie content and that, for example, something like a couple of slices of toast probably will make me overconsume my calories as opposed to it being a snack i just forget about and then wonder why the weight wont go (if that makes sense). It also made me acutely aware of what a portion should look like!