True or False... Weight loss means nothing, if you gain it all back.

I'm curious about everyone's opinions on this subject. Let's say you lose 30lbs, next thing you know you've gained those 30lbs back. You can't go around telling people you lost 30lbs, when you've gained it all back, that would just be embarrassing... or maybe not? What do you think?

if i lost 30lbs and gained it all back I would be so disappointed in myself!..It takes so much work to lose and maintain. Therefore I choose not to let myself gain the weight i have lost..I lost 11 lbs in 3 months and everyday I have to remind myself not to overeat and to exercise!

If I lost weight and then gained it back, I would try to figure out what went wrong.  Was my plan to restrictive and not sustainable?  Do I have some other health problem that needs to be addressed?  Those kinds of questions.

I don't tend to talk to people (in real life) about weight loss except for my husband and my mother (and I limit it for them, as well).  Firstly, because it usually bores them to tears.  Secondly, because it is none of their business how I manage my weight/health.  Thirdly, because it opens the door for all kinds of unsolicited advice about how to live my life.

Gaining it back would suck!

I read a long time ago that with every attempt at quitting smoking, you gain skills that will lead you to eventually quitting for good. Maybe weight loss works the same way? I would certainly hope so. But-dang!- I'm gonna' work like a fiend to not gain it back. 

It would be kind of like the big fish that got away.  You can tell everyone about it but no one would believe you if they hadn't seen it. Losing a lot of weight and gaining it back is unhealthy and discouraging.

So, I think weight lost the wrong way and gained back is for nothing. #1 lost by dieting instead of changing your lifestyle and #2 losing weight to please some one else or just for a special occasion. 

Original Post by margie83:

I lost 11 lbs in 3 months and everyday I have to remind myself not to overeat and to exercise!

 Congratulations on your success Margie!

I wouldn't go around telling people about it. But it does count for you. Because once you've lost it, you know you have the willpower to do it again. If you did it once, you know you can do it. So that's kind of a self confidence booster, I think.

Hmmm

i'm more or less in that situation

i lost 30 lbs

gained back 20 lbs

and now when people ask me why i'm dieting i pretty much say;

i used to weigh abt ten pounds more, but i dropped down to a healthy weight, but the lbs creeped up on me so i gained a lot of it back.

It not only 'means nothing' if you gain it back but it's potentially quite unhealthy to yo-yo diet.  More unhealthy than being overweight, I've heard.

Better than losing and regaining 30lbs, therefore would be to lose 20lbs but keep it off.

I would think it would be akin to someone's quitting smoking but then starting up again.  Nothing was accomplished unless one takes solace in knowing that he/she can, indeed, lose weight if he/she tries hard enough.  But I, also, think that it could be really depressing to work so hard to lose weight, but then gain it back.  It would all depend, I suppose, on the mind-set of the individual.  I myself wouldn't tell anyone that I had lost that much weight if I gained it back, though.

From a health perspective, it is usually worse to lose weight then put it back on again than to just stay the same weight.  (The exception would be someone who lost fat then carefully gained muscle mass, but I don't think that's what we're talking about here.)

From a motivational perspective, the person would need to figure out why they regained the weight and work out a plan to prevent it from happening again.  Did they lose the weight too fast in the first place?  If so, plan to lose slower.  Was there a stress or trauma in their lives that made them turn to food?  If so, they need to work out other coping strategies.  Did the weight just slowly creep back on over a few years of not really paying attention?  If so, they need to plan to weigh regularly to prevent that happening again.

Statistically, most people that lose weight WILL gain it back within a year. That's just science. It's hard to change your life for good and maintain it. Maintenance is just as much of a struggle as losing weight.

As for that being said, my mom lost 150 pounds and gained it all back. She will only mention she lost the weight to others when she firmly mentions after it that she needs to get back on track and lose weight again. She knows how it's done.

If I took credit for all the weight that I've lost and gained over my lifetime, I'd be WAY up in the numbers.

I don't think it's okay to preach how people should lose weight if you've lost it and gained it  back. That just means something you did went wrong, you must analyze it, and figure out a weight loss plan/maintenance plan that works for a lifetime.

Original Post by anglej:

Original Post by margie83:

I lost 11 lbs in 3 months and everyday I have to remind myself not to overeat and to exercise!

 Congratulations on your success Margie!

 Thanks anglej!

Another point is that almost everyone who eventually succeeds in maintaining a lower weight went through many "diets" or iterations of attempts to get to a lower weight before they found the program that "sticks".  So, even if it feels like "failure" when weight is regained, and, as GI-Janes says, may be unhealthy to lose and gain repeatedly, there is hope for all of us that we will find the path that works for us.  Things I learned from earlier attempts have certainly helped me this time, when I know I am going to succeed, even though I am less than halfway to goal.

Original Post by x17star17x: Maintenance is just as much of a struggle as losing weight.

I disagree with this. Sure long term maintenance is very difficult, but it's not as hard as loosing weight. Loosing 0 lbs is easier than loosing 40 lbs or even 1 pound.

And I disagree with you...

When you're losing weight you have a lot of motivational factors.... People compliment you on the change in your appearance, you can see the number on the scales getting smaller, your doctor smiles at the improvement in your health indicators... you feel like you're accomplishing something because of all this positive reinforcement. 

But get to a particular weight and that all disappears.  You have to find ways to feel great that the scales haven't changed.  You have to remind yourself constantly why you're still watching your portion-sizes and doing exercise.  You can't calorie-count all the time but you have to learn to trust your judgement.  People don't say 'You look great! Did you lose weight?' any more because you look the same as last time they saw you.  There are the constant battles to resist comfortable old habits that creep back in when you least expect it.  '

And the above is true for life.... Weight-loss might take six months, a year, even two years but 'life' (hopefully) is considerably longer.

it would definitely suck to gain it all back, and it would definitely put a dent in my morale. but I don't think it necessarily says that the weight loss meant nothing. I mean, the fact that you did it in the first place shows that you can do it, so you can do it again. and then you'll know what you have to do and what works for you personally. it can be tough to lose weight & try to maintain when it seems like you're the only one around you doing it (or at least doing it the RIGHT way).

of course it would be somewhat embarassing to gain it back, but I'd try to hide it as much as I could, and get back on track. it's unfortunately pretty easy to slip into old habits and not even realize it. I think if were to gain it all back, I wouldn't think of it as starting over, but as reevaluating & continuing to work hard on my weight loss.

Original Post by dkenworthy:

If I lost weight and then gained it back, I would try to figure out what went wrong.  Was my plan to restrictive and not sustainable? 

This is EXACTLY what I did. I lost 75lbs but gained back 15lbs over a month. I was very upset but I had to figure out what went wrong.. and how I could gain back so much weight in so little time. I now realize that I was eating way too little calories. I have since upped my calories to 1800 and I exercise around 4 times a week. I've been losing 1-2 pounds a week and my diet is SO much easier to live with, now!

If I lost my weight and then gained it back I would feel like quitting. D: But that's because it's 180+ to lose. XD

But...I don't know, if you lost then gained it back...You can't really say anything about it until you lose it again. Because it kind of...didn't work. *w*

There was a man on Oprah who went from 1000+ pounds to 198, and then back again. I don't know how he keeps going. x_x

I lost 87 lbs and ended up gaining back nearly 60.  I became extremely sick and that's how I gained it back.  But still, I am devastated that I have to begin all over again.  It wasn't hard to lose - took me under 8 months, but I have a feeling this time it could take longer.  My body's taken a beating this past year and a half, but I am determined to do this.

Life happens and the only thing we can do is roll with it.