If you've lost weight, how long did it stay off for? Did you gain any back?

[AutisticLegoLover]

I've been reading various articles where it's stated that around 80-95% of people put most of the weight lost back on or even end up weighing more. There's various diets to choose from of course and some suit people more than others.

I want to lose the extra 9lbs I gained thanks to a combination of medication, peri-menopause, chronic conditions and eating too much of the wrong thing. Mainly the latter. I'm losing it slowly by eating less junk, making healthier choices, proper portions, exercising more, increasing fibre and fruit and veg, and not eating after dinner at 5/6pm. I would usually consume half a days calories in the evening through mindless snacking so I've stopped that. I'm less bloated which is a big plus. Essentially it's not a diet plan, it's a healthier lifestyle plan and it works for me.

If you've done keto, Atkins, paleo, fast800, 5:2 or whatever else there is and lost a significant amount of your body weight (eg from obese to a healthy weight) did you gain any back once you stopped following the diet? Or did you make long term changes once you'd lost the weight to maintain the loss? As a trained nurse a lot of the popular diets go against the principles of health I was taught at uni and by the NHS Trust head dietician I studied with so Im dubious as to their long term benefits and worry about risks eg from high fat diets.

What's your experience of weight loss? I'm wondering the point if most of us will put the post weight back on again.

That's exactly the problem. Quick fix or extreme measures then back to the old way that got them (us) there without making a long term change

My post was simply a statement that people in general eat too much after you said you would have to eat a lot less if you didn’t exercise.
You are questioning there is any point in losing weight if most people put it back on but, for it to go back on, people are eating over their maintenance calories i.e too much.

@Walkacrossthesand that's amazing well done! I used to work with patients with type 2 diabetes and it was an exercise in frustration for them and me mainly but some worked hard with me to make changes and their bloods and weight showed the difference.

Prevention is always better than cure for everything of course but it's not easy for people. Obesity is multi-factorial.

I agree that to put it all back on then people are going over their maintenance. I'd only heard of maintenance calories on here but it makes sense. Portion sizes creep up over time or there's a reliance on convenience foods and take aways. Society has changed so much and how we eat has changed with it. I'm not sure we can ever reverse that now on a societal level. Personal level, yes, but I think society has changed too much to get back to a healthy way of living. Not in my lifetime anyway.

@OriGanOver , @ZZTopGuitarSolo , it wasn't so much a list of non-food treats, more a conscious reduction of importance of 'food-as-treat'. I really found that filling my 'happiness bank' from increased awareness of beautiful moments - peace after rush, really listening to music, general appreciation - reduced my focus on food as a source of happiness.

I love this - thank you.