Have you lost more than 10% weight and kept it off for a year (or more)?

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I'd love to know what permanent changes you have made, what has been your biggest challenges and how you feel about yourself?

I have lost weight multiple times in the past but have never been able to keep it off. This time around I'm trying to keep my eye very firmly on maintenance rather than what I need to do within a week to get the scale to go down a pound or two.

Yes I lost about 20% (lost 18 Kg of 83Kg) in 2020 and have kept it off (2Kg crept back slowly over last winter due to snacking with the heating off, slowly losing that now)

Basically I didn't go on a diet as such, I refocused on eating more healthily and looked in that as a positive thing. I was pleased with myself for taking better care of myself, rather than viewing weight loss as a punitive regime.

Bit by bit I cut down alcohol (had been having a glass or two of wine every night) , stopped snacking on less healthy stuff, and adjusted portions of normal evening meals, especially the high calorie carbs. But just smaller portions, still ate ‘normal’ dinners, just added more veg / salad.

I eat things I enjoy, I do still have ice cream etc, but as a conscious ‘enjoyment’. I did have to go a bit boot camp to begin with to break my craving for sweet stuff all day long.

Structured day:
Breakfast: I like frozen berries, Greek yog, low sugar meusli, sprinkling of flax seeds.

Lunch: no more than one slice of toast with soup or an egg, or sardines, tuna (in spring water), avocado or similar, good heap of salad or veg (e.g sometimes I have a heap of cooked frozen spinach with a poached egg on top on wholemeal toast)

Snack: keep healthy moderate calorie options ready! E.g Apple and 2 oat biscuits, banana, cup of cocoa (not hot choc) with semi skim milk and a packet of not-toffee popcorn

Normal dinner, easy on anything fried or loaded with cheese, don’t add garlic bread as a side, and watch portion size.

And of course I still have cake on birthdays, ice cream on a day out, etc.

But that’s just what suits me. Finding the right way for you to feel happy with what and when you eat is key, I think, so that you can establish healthier eating as a way of life, and sustain.

I changed my diet to make it long term practical and fit in with family life. So no extreme diets.
I started 16:8 for health reasons (gastric issues) and realised that it made me feel better so continued long term with no doubt also helps with maintaining.
I listened to my body and noted which foods were making me feel worse.
I dont deny myself anything, just work it into my calorie count.
Haven't weighed myself as I think I'd get obsessed with the numbers. I go by the size of my clothes. I've gone from a 16/14 to 8/6 (I'm petite so I'm a normal bmi).
I log all foods even now to make sure my weekly calorie count is maintained (rather than a daily count).
I allow relaxed weeks/days due to holidays or birthdays and don't count these as failures.
I think it just clicked after a while that this was my new routine. It wasn't a chore like previous because I'd made changes that fitted in with my life, made me feel better and were flexible enough when I needed.

Yes with Weight Watchers. I've tried fasting, slim fast (great success but couldn't keep it off) slimming world (mediocre success). Several quick fix diets for events, such as the heart diet where you follow a plan for 3 days & lose 10 LB. Calorie counting with fitness pal. Weight watchers just clicked with me (finally something worked). Slow & steady loss & I sometimes gain the odd pound(s). Get straight back on it & off it comes. Minimal exercise as I have an injury. Hope this helps.

Yes. I kept it off for nearly 20 years. Then I got arthritis and had to stop running. I can barely do 4,000 steps of slow walking in a day now. Then I hit the age of 60 and found I was reducing my calorie intake down and down to just stay the same. I'm now on 8,000 cals a week to just maintain. I eat around 900 a day, saving up the rest for a good dinner out at the weekend and some wine. Its so shit, but if I waver slightly I pile on 7lb in a day or two, evidenced by my 4 day holiday last week 😢

Yes, through diet and exercise.

In my mid 20s (early 2000s) I was 118kg. I lost a lot of weight, down to maybe 75-80, I can't remember exactly. Over the years it crept back up to about 90 by 2019 but still well down on where it had been. I then got focussed again and got it down to about 63kg during lockdown and have maintained around there since (I haven't actually weighed myself for a year or two but my clothes fit the same). In all that's nearly 20 years.

Exercise has been the constant throughout that period, getting my diet right is what gets me to the lower end of the range. I am more than capable of eating more calories than I burn if I don't keep an eye on it. At the moment I loosely count calories which keeps me in the right ballpark, if my size started changing I'd probably need to be a bit more careful with the numbers.

Got rid of my car and walk everywhere. Also don't eat sugar, drink maybe 4 times a year and reduced carbs.

I lost a stone but the next half stone is proving almost impossible to shift. I am menopausal though so it's harder.

At the age of 60 I gave up dieting and just ate whatever I wanted. I stopped weighing my self. At a recent medical appointment I found out I’ve lost 3.5 stone.

oh I also eat 30 veg and fruit a week but I have been doing that from childhood. Its not helping any more!

Yes, I lost 11kg, I'm now 59kg. I stopped drinking every day, and now only indulge very occasionally. I also exercise more now for the dopamine hit I used to get from wine!

Yes, I lost four stone about three years ago.

I fast from about 7pm until 12/1pm the next day.

Once a week I make a big pot of soup, usually chicken and whatever veg I have in the fridge, and eat that for lunch and tea until it runs out.

I don't drink much - almost never at home, the empty calories and wine munchies are killer.

I choose to eat less carbs, don't have none as that's hard work but I eat them less often and less of them when I do.

Yes I've lost 8 stone (from 120-70kg) over two years. I've kept it off by eating regularly but less, not much between meals or after 6 pm, low carbs, low sugar, no alcohol and lots of exercise. So far so good!

Yes, lost over 40% of body weight over two years, now stable at ideal weight for six months. I changed my relationship with food. I only eat when hungry, stop when I’m full, and apart from when I go out, I prepare all meals from scratch. I go to the gym at least four times a week, and walk any journey I can do in under an hour. Previously, I’d only lost weight when I was unhappy or ill, but I have reset my head to associate being slim with being healthy and happy.

I've gone from 16+ stone to 10 )sometimes a little lower but struggle to maintain that.

My issue for many years was portion control and learning to stop eating when no longer hungry (as opposed to full/over full). I've finally (mostly!) mastered that! I don't deny myself nice stuff (chocolates, ice cream, pizza, etc) but they are now more treats than daily meals. And one pint of have a whole large bar of chocolate and a can of pop mid morning. Every day!

I lost 3 stone on slimming world but have also done Joe Wicks 90 day plan and Herbal Life. All have worked for me and even now I use a number of recipes from each plan though I no longer follow anything/anyone.

I also run/workout saveral times a week. Feel so much better for it too. My weight still fluctuates but I'm better at nipping things in the bud and reigning things in.

I've lost seven stones (topped at 22 stones) so that's a 32% reduction, but it took 15 years and was very gradual.

Not by dieting as such, but by being careful with eating, i.e. no sugar in hot drinks, no hot chocolate (in fact very little chocolate in any form), really reduced chips and other carbs, no biscuits in the house, most meals would include salad or veg instead of carbs.

But I think the bigger factor was lots of walking, typically 8k-10k steps per day, by walking to/from work, a lunchtime walk, a standing desk, generally more active at work, i.e. getting up and going to filing room, copier, printer etc throughout the day rather than storing up little walks like that. A walk daily at weekends too.

Basically, I just chipped away at an unhealthy lifestyle and replaced it with "little and often" whether it was moderate exercise, small changes to meals, etc.

Thank you all for replying.

A common thread seems to be the intuitive eating - eat when hungry, stop when 80% full. That's something I'm trying to rewire my brain to do. Not the stop when full part. Portion size was never really my downfall. It's the eat only when hungry. I am such an emotional eater. I find myself, almost blindly, searching for biscuits or sweet food when I have lots to do at work, or if I am at home with the kids and trying to entertain them, or when I'm out and "free". There's a lot to unpack for me there.

Exercise is also a struggle. I have painful knees and hips. Always have done, even as a kid and young adult when I wasn't carrying any extra weight. I tried running, but never ever felt comfortable. Walking is really the only thing I can fit into my day (full time job, three kids, one with special needs) but I only get the walking in when I'm double jobbing e.g. school runs. I did Bodyslims for a while, where you have to walk an hour a day, but it got to the point that I was walking at 10pm or 5am, and falling asleep at work, so that didn't stick. I'm going to figure out something. I used to love dancing/clubbing, but hate that organised dance class/zumba thing as I'm usually so unfit I can't even get close to keeping up.

I lost about 25% of my weight and have kept it off for just over a year now. My mindset has definitely changed.

I don’t deny myself stuff. I drink alcohol, eat carbs, drink some fizzy cans, eat dessert, snack etc - I just do everything within moderation. If I felt like I had to eat clean or give up carbs forever I would probably just give up.

I don’t binge eat. I do eat things that are ‘bad’. I just don’t eat too many.

I put less food on my plate than I used to, and rarely take second helpings.

I do eat dessert if I’m out for a meal and sometimes at home. But if it’s huge I eat half and share the rest or just leave it.

I weigh myself every morning and have a mental top figure that I’m not willing to go above.

I think probably the biggest factor in motivating me is that it was hard work losing weight and I don’t want to have to do it again. But also, I like being a healthy weight, not having indigestion, having normal blood pressure, not getting out of breath, not getting chub rub, having healthy test results etc.

I also - vainly - like being able to buy clothes and feel like they look good.

I don’t exercise anywhere near as much as I did when losing weight. I have a full time job so I’m at a desk 35 hours a week. It’s all about avoiding bad diet habits for me.

Lost 2 stone a few years ago with SW. the only time it goes back on is when I'm pregnant

I went from 65kg to 50kg (and have stayed there for 11 months so far) by cutting out UPF and starchy carbs. It was an easy loss and I was not hungry and did not feel like I was depriving myself.

I am now happy with my fat % but would like to gain more muscle so I have now started tracking calories and protein intake.

I worked out I need around 1900 calories to maintain. I don't feel like I have been on a diet, it is a long term change to what I eat.

I think I was once of the few people who found lockdown helped their weight loss. I’d been doing a weight loss plan and was going to the gym regularly and thought lockdown would derail me, but it was actually a massive help in breaking bad habits. Could only shop once a week so if I didn’t buy bad food I couldn’t have it, and didn’t go out for meals/coffee/drinks. I also got really into getting out for a walk every day. It helped me break bad habits and build new ones which I’ve kept up since

I did but then I got long covid and it came back on though not all of it

main things I found

Moving more and I don't just mean exercise. But doing that 20 mins walk instead of getting the bus, walking up stairs instead of taking the lift. Even small things like that every day help.

Cutting out snacks - this was a real problem for me. I don't think I ever feel full from food and I could quite happily eat all day. So forcing myself to have a cup of tea or coffee every time I wanted to eat in between meals or having a glass of water. Or if I was snacking having something healthy like mangetout or broccoli or carrots. Just changing that notion of reaching for crisps/sweets/chocolate every single time.

I also didn't drastically change my diet and did allow myself to have days when I could eat what I wanted. In that way, I never felt 'bad' and I think that helped me continue with it. So if I had crisps once or twice a week I felt that was an achievement and certainly better than having them every day as an example!

I think you have to be kind to yourself or you just continually fail because you're so busy beating yourself up

I lost 30% of my body weight and have kept it off, the single biggest change to my diet was cutting out bread, I don't eat it at all now.

I tend to have two days a week of being strict with myself, three or four days I'm sensible, then a day or two where I eat whatever I want.

Thanks for starting this thread, some gret tips and advice here!