Long term weight loss -- who's done it? NWCR study Participant :)

Hi all, this is my first post here. 

I?m in my early 50s, 5'8", and my weight is currently in the mid-130s. I was a normal weight kid until about age 7-8, when I started getting a root beer belly.  By the time I was 15 I weighed 205. Mid teens.... high school.... a terrible time to be overweight!! One day I got a stomach flu that squashed my appetite for a couple weeks, and I noticed I lost close to 10 pounds. Surprised that I could actually lose weight, I started regimenting my own eating and slowly got down to maybe 165 by HS graduation. My weight crept back up in my 1st 2 years of college (too much frat partying I guess) until one day on a Summer job in the maintenance department of a local hospital, a passing nurse commented to me as I stood painting away on a ladder, ?You?ve gained weight, Mr. Painter!!? That trigger sent me into more or less a permanent food management mode, or essentially a lifetime diet. I started out by keeping a pocket calorie booklet with me at all times, weighing or portioning everything I ate at home, substituting veggies for carbs and meats wherever I could, assigning mealtimes and snack times with hard and fast rules, and so forth. I got pretty darned good at estimating serving sizes and caloric contents of a wide range of foods (something that I think would benefit most people nowadays) so I could manage eating at restaurants. My weight has been up and down over the years, but usually below 150. If I noticed it creeping up, I?d reign myself in.

It?s not been a fun road, frankly. I?ve learned that I cannot trust my intrinsic sense of hunger--it wants more food than I need. I hate that. I also seriously envy people who seemingly can harmlessly pack away burgers and onion rings at lunchtime while I eat my green salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side. I feel kinda like an outsider, as if I?m from a dietary underclass. And I?m frequently asked if I?m vegetarian (I?m not) since I avoid a lot of the meats served in restaurants due to the fatty preparation. But the idea of letting myself get back up to that hurtful weight of years ago has been so distasteful to me that I?ve thus far been motivated to keep with my self-control methods as best I can (I also took up cardio workouts several years ago). 

I?ve many times wondered if there?s anyone else in my boat. Those times I?ve mentioned my overall weight loss to people, they?ve just been surprised....no one has ever congratulated me or encouraged me to keep up the good work. I guess losing a buncha weight and suppressing it for decades is just a curiosity to most, not a valued accomplishment (and it?s been a danged lot of work). But I did stumble upon a university/hospital study that is looking at exactly the type of situation that is my case--folks who have taken off a considerable amount of weight and kept it off. The study is aimed at finding out how people manage this feat in a nation where 2/3rds of the population is overweight and the cues for and supply of the wrong kinds of food are virtually everywhere. The study is called the National Weight Control Registry, affiliated with Brown Medical School/Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI (use your favorite search engine to find out more). I signed up to participate as a case study in the registry, and they sent me a long questionnaire as well as having me wear an accelerometer for a week to check my energy output. A dietician also phone-interviewed me on three separate days to check on exactly what I had eaten on those days. Sometime down the road they?ll send me a personalized analysis, as well as a summary of the overall findings of the population in the study (about 4000 people, I think). It should be interesting!

Thanks for reading my ramblings.  Comments are welcome!

Nobody else in my boat....? 

Just wannabe's ...  No, I'm sure there are you just might need to post this in the maintaining forum (pm a mod and request this post be moved).  To PM, click on a mod's name (I think United is active tonight) and when the profile comes up there will be a "send message" on the right side

Congratulations!!! 

Well, you have done a fine job at maintaining Bill! Congratulations to you! You have spent a whole lot of years making it happen, and that's incredible.

I have nothing on your decades of maintaining, but I have managed to drop from 196 to now 138.2 (as of this morning, lol). My battle rages on every day. My weight loss journey started in the year 2000, when I went to the doctor for a common cold and they weighed me at 196. I let 5 lbs creep up to near 200. Because that's how it starts...."Oh, it's only 5 lbs!"

Within these years, I had a wonderful baby boy. He's not a baby anymore as he is about to turn six in October. He was born in 2001, and I had lost about 40 lbs the year before I got pregnant. I was desperate to keep the weight off and not let "being pregnant" be the excuse to gain weight and eat. I gained 18 lbs through my pregnance and only had seven of it left after I left the hospital.

When my baby turned one I started going to the gym. I have packed this kid with me to gyms for 5 years now. He goes to the kids club while I do my thing. The weight loss process has been so slow for me since I lost the initial 40 lbs. I guess I am still trying to lose weight because I want to be 130, so my journey is not over yet. Through all the years of struggle, I have never let myself gain more than five lbs without "reigning myself back in."

I guess I have been successful, but I never see myself as "out of the woodwork." I fear everyday that I will be back at that 200 mark. I guess that's what keeps me eating my lettuce, cottage cheese, and chicken instead of double cheese burgers and fries.

Anyway, there's my rambling. I know it's not decades, but at least it's something. I feel that I owe most of my maintenance to exercise. Although, I do eat healthily most of the time as well.

"A dietary underclass." That's exactly how I feel about it too. Good way to put it.

I WISH I were in your boat. Unfortunately, I'm in the OTHER boat: the one where I've gained and lost and gained and lost and now I'm at my highest weight ever and I can't remember how I got here.

I've fluctuated between 130 and 230 three times over the last ten years, because I did not recognize what you seem to know about yourself: that I CANNOT have a normal, easy, care-free relationship with food and expect to maintain weightloss.

I mean, I can't order the eggs and bacon breakfast with buttered toast and jam; I HAVE to have the whole grain oats with green tea breakfast. I can't order the lasagne- I HAVE to order the green salad with strips of chicken breast on top. I have to measure out the dressing into a teaspoon- I can't just pour it on. I can't eat like my friends can because I want more than I need, and my body needs a lot less than it wants.

I don't get why I'm like this, but I envy you your decades of maintaining. I'm still fighting for balance and it's just dawning on me that I WILL be counting calories and keeping a strict food journal for the rest of my life, because it's the only way I can manage my food "amnesia" and tendancy to overeat and then be surprised at my weight gain.

I feel like I have some sort of dietary learning disability and it makes me feel sad- like I can't even trust myself with basic tasks like eating.  :( 
I'm happy for you. I wish I were there too.

Hey Bill,

I am a NWCR member, too, and I think I am kind of in your boat, though I am still trying to lose.

I was overweight starting in middle school -- not as much as I thought I was, but definitely chubbier than my friends. But in college my weight really took off. I don't remember how much I weighed when I started college, but by fall of my second year (right after a breast reduction surgery) I was 165, and was 180 by the time I graduated. By mid-graduate school, I hit my maximum weight at 205 pounds. That was in late 2003/early 2004.

In summer of 2004, I had gotten off a medication that was helping me to stay fat (and not care about being fat), and was separating from my husband. The prospect of being single again -- and the fact that I could no longer fit into any of my nice clothes -- really got me motivated. I started curbing my portions, focusing on fruits, veggies and fiber, and going to dance classes 4-5 times a week. By the fall I was down to 170 and hit a plateau (and had reconciled with my husband). I had to count calories to get down to 160.

By spring 2006 my weight had crept back up to 165, but I still qualified for the NWCR because I had kept 30 pounds off for more than a year. I kept my weight between 160 and 165 until last summer, when I had ankle surgery. The reduced mobility helped my weight get back up to 173. This summer I started watching portions again and going backpacking, which got my weight down to about 166, then I hit another plateau. So now I'm counting calories to get back to my old weight of 160, and then hopefully down to my goal weight of 145.

I didn't get nearly as intensive a screening for the NWCR as you did. No accelerometer, no personal interview. Just a huge questionnaire, and a follow-up one a year later ( I think they are sending them every year). I think they randomly select some participants for more detailed study.

My biggest motivation for maintenance/loss is my ankle, which I've sprained 30 times and had operated on twice. The less I weigh, the less pressure I put on it. I like to dance and hike, so this is really important to me. Also I have low back pain, and I think getting rid of the rest of my belly fat will go a long way towards controlling that.

Like you, my hunger signals seem to misfire, so I can't just eat when I'm hungry or until I feel full. I realized early on that to lose or even maintain I would have to remain a little bit hungry, all the time. It drives me crazy, and I love food. My husband has a very high metabolism and is a carpenter, so he needs to eat about twice as much as me. Basically whatever I make, I serve out my little portion and he gets the rest, with whatever fat he can add to it, and sometimes a sandwich or protein drink on the side. It's very frustrating, because it's hard for me to make food that will make me feel full on my portion and still give him enough to eat.

I also find it difficult that every social occasion seems to revolve around food, and I have very little self-control in these situations. If a bowl of cookies or dip is on the table, I will keep eating until it's empty. And alcohol has so many calories! My body is not very forgiving of me when I slip, either. Two days of overindulging at parties typicallyleads to a 3-4 pound weight gain, which then takes 2 weeks to take off. I am not thrilled about the prospect of having to count calories and control portions for the rest of my life, but it really seems like that is what it's going to take. Nearly everyone in my family is severely obese. My mother weighs close to 300 pounds, and being with her is a constant reminder that I never want to be like that. But I clearly have a predisposition, both genetically and how I was raised, to be overweight.

It does seem like no one really understands or appreciates just how much work it is to lose weight and keep it off. My friends who have never struggled with their weight just say, "eat less, exercise more, what's the big deal?" and my friends who have struggled with it seem to think that if you lose weight it must be easier for you somehow than it is for them, because of genetics or whatever.

Anyway, welcome, and nice to meet you! 

Hi all,

Thanks for the great replies! And I feel odd being congratulated....it's the first time in a very long time I've heard such words regarding my weight management efforts, even from my doctor. Thanks! But I also feel a little uneasy because holding the weight down is not a finished accomplishment, like getting an education or building a nice home. It's a nonstop, lifetime job that one always has the chance to either stay on track with or derail (sorry for the mixed metaphors). Like trying to hold a dozen corks underwater.

margareta87, the NWCR study I am in is actually a more specialized portion called the LITE (Living Lean In A [food] Toxic Environment) study. To be part of that, one needs to:

* Have lost 30 lbs or more
* Have kept the weight off for five or more years
* Have been weight stable (+/- 10 lbs) over the last 2 years
* Are at least 25 years old

(See http://www.nwcr.ws/substudies.html.) The questionnaire they sent me was quite detailed (at least 48 pages) and it seemed to me that it was intended to ferret out whether one is depressed, or obsessive compulsive, along with gaging one's overall eating and exercise habits. It never asked me the nuts and bolts questions like "do you sometimes substitute X for Y food" or "how do you manage portion control". It also did not address the emotional side of the issue--what it feels like to be isolated in a world of self-imposed austerity (or failure if you don't stay there). Like I said, it's good not to weigh what I did, but staying down is like pushing a big rock uphill, and that can be both rewarding and depressing.

I also completely sympathize with the challenges of social situations. When I go to parties, I need to resign myself to the rabbit food, if it's there. And I MUST decide that ahead of time, so I go in with conviction. (I've coined a new phrase about this sort of thing.... "It's easier to say 'no' than 'maybe.'" Deciding on the spot what you can and cannot eat among a plethora of seductive goodies can be torture.) The snacks and hors douvres served at parties are almost always very high fat and/or carb. As are the dips even for the rabbit food. It feels like a conspiracy to fatten me up! Where are the carrots? :) And the real downside is that I get a bit fixated on what I can and cannot eat which distracts me from the real reason I'm there....so socialize! Bummer.

As difficult as it's been, weight management has had its rewards. First is presumably better health, on average. I got launched into weight management (the NWCR people call it weight suppression, and I think that's a great term) based on body image, but weight control has 'forced' me to make healthier food choices that were more or less incidental, such as eating less red meat, less dairy fat, more fish, more vegetables, more whole grains, lower cholesterol and saturated fat, for many years. (I originally just wanted fewer calories.) Secondly, I do believe society treats me better as a 'normal' weight person than as an overweight person. It ain't fair, but it's true. I remember the unprovoked ridicule I got as an adolescent for being heavy. Those barbs wouldn't have cut into me if I hadn't been...well....fat. Thirdly, food management has given me something to hold on to, almost a sense of security. A task I can grasp hold of. If I do THIS (calorie control), I get THAT (weight control). It does pay off. And it can give a sense of victory and accomplishment, even if I'm the only one who knows about it.

But the battle goes on....

Anyway, it's great to meet you all. I feel a tad less alone in this undertaking. :)

 

-Bill

I'm kinda sorta in the same boat. You can read my story in my profile, but in a nutshell, I gained a lot of weight in my 20s (post-college), hitting the obese range and developing prediabetes (which I still struggle with, even now), then successfully lost it all, and for the past 20 years maintained the weight loss .... until last year!!

For those two decades, I had a 10-lb allowable weight range. (Well, it's a bit trickier than that... the weight I'd allow myself was dependent on muscle mass too... so if I was body building, for example, I would have a higher allowable range than if I was not). I didn't obsess about calories or anything like that. But, any time I went over this range, I would immediately focus on figuring out why... and fix whatever habits were contributing to it, until I dropped back down within range.

Then last year I went on a med and within a few short months... bam! I overshot my range ... and then some!!! I am only 5'0 tall and I went from 107 to 125 between Feb 06 and April 06. Yep, it was all very sudden. No, I didn't gain back all the weight from my 20s... but an uncomfortable amount, putting me in the overweight category, and raising all my blood test numbers (cholesterol, BP, insulin, etc).

Since then I've been in weight-loss mode and I'm once again back down within my healthy range. This time took A LOT more work and concentrated effort... perhaps because I'm now in my 40s. Or sometimes I think it's because once you do start gaining, you can reach a certain point where it becomes more of an uphill battle. Better to catch it early and correct the course quickly.

Anyway, I know what you mean by never being congratulated! I did receive lots of congrats 20 years ago, with the initial weight loss. But nobody congrats you for maintaining. My own mom and sister will write it all off "oh, you just have better genes than we do..." when in actuality I have the same genes, I just work on it every day.

Isn't it interesting how when you're fat, everyone blames your behavior, but when you lost weight or keep it off, it must be because of your genes?

Well  Bill, hopefully in another 3 years I'll be joining you in that sub-study!

Bill said: "When I go to parties, I need to resign myself to the rabbit food, if it's there. And I MUST decide that ahead of time, so I go in with conviction. (I've coined a new phrase about this sort of thing.... "It's easier to say 'no' than 'maybe.'" Deciding on the spot what you can and cannot eat among a plethora of seductive goodies can be torture.)"

I tried this last night at a potluck. It went ok. I ate a lot less than I might have otherwise, and hadn't gained any weight today. But I didn't stick to my original plan, either (to eat just one serving of the two items I had brought). Everything was just so tempting, and what I had brought wasn't filling enough. There was NO rabbit food at the potluck. Only bread, dips, desserts and pasta. I think I ate about 3x as many calories as I had planned on. Could have been worse, I guess.

I like to show off my cooking so I tend to make something fairly extravagant for potlucks. But that means if someone else doesn't bring a salad or veggies, there aren't any. There was another woman there on a diet, and she had brought a potluck dish but also a salad for herself, and only ate her salad. I might try that next time.

BILL-

Oh my gosh, I'm a member of NWCR too.  I've kept off 40 pounds +/- 2 pounds for the last two years.  And I agree with you, it is like pushing a boulder uphill on a daily basis.  My food choices, exercise, depression, moods, special events, all are especially challenging because I need to say NO and many times I say MAYBE: it has not been easy, especially over the last six months, I've slipped a lot.  But I've renewed my resolve and keep at it.  I've joined an on-line weight loss forum and we weigh-in weekly and post our "movement" weekly.  This helps me stay honest.  I'm also attending a meet-up group tonight.

Right now I weigh 150 and @ 5'2", that is still technically obese but for me to keep off those 40 pounds, staying at that weight for the rest of my life would not be the worse thing.  

I guess it really means that I'll be dieting until the day I die.... would that be so awful?  I've probably eaten enough candy, cake and icecream for a small family so I wouldn't miss anything because I know what it tastes like and frankly, I like fitting in between two giants on the subway, having the same wardrobe, feeling healthy and sane....

Lois

lois_schwartz@msn.com