Has anyone here lost 15 more pounds or more and kept the weight off? My New Years resolution was to lose 15+ pounds which I did by the end of February. But now I’ve gained it almost all back thru snacking and seconds at meals. I’d appreciate any advice from people that have managed to lose weight and keep it off.
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Congrats on the weight loss. I’ll be following. How did you lose 15 so quickly?
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Losing weight quickly often means gaining it back quickly.
The people I know who’ve lost weight and successfully kept it off all had the same things in common:
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Complete lifestyle change. They changed their eating habits and stuck to the change AND/OR they got a lot more active and stuck with the higher level of activity.
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The weight loss took almost as long as the initial weight gain. If they gained that 15+ pounds over the course of a few years - they lost the weight over a longer interval as well - locking in those changes long term.
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Not dieting has been the key for me. Small life style changes that are sustainable for the long haul is how I’ve manage to keep me weight off.
I jokingly call what I do the cheaters diet. I eat very clean and healthy 5 days/week and then eat what I want the other two. I don’t worry about it on holidays or vacations and just get back on track the next meal. I also exercise every day.
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I’ve lost about 25-30 lbs over the past few years. I stopped snacking, and have a boring but tasty diet. Fruits, salads, whole grain breads, rarely eat red meat, though do drink wine. It was slow, but steady. If I eat more because of meals out etc., I just am mindful to get back to my usual meals within a couple days. I enjoy what I eat and feel better than I had in years. I also walk a lot and do light, weight-bearing exercise daily.
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Agree with @beebee3 . I lost quite a bit of weight (20 lbs) about 5 years ago and have kept it off… I really needed to change my relationship with food. I ate mostly healthy food, but too much of it.
To “re-set”, I had two protein shakes a day and one healthy regular meal. This made meal planning and prep simple and limited the food that was around. I lost about 1 lb every 10 days, so not fast!. I did that for 2 months, then kept eating healthy food. Lots of salads. Veggies for snacks. I still often have a shake for dinner.
But during that time, I completely got away from bread, sweets, larger portions, etc. It was sort of “whole 30” ish eating. Mostly centered around healthy choices. The “trick” was breaking from my old routine and then keeping the focus on health. It is harder if you are feeding others, btw.
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MyFitnessPal dot com
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Sounds like you answered your own question – limit snacking and having seconds.
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The weight # is really almost meaningless, but society keeps focusing on it. Know your lean body mass versus fat %, that’s meaningful.
Eat lean protein and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
And build muscle and increase your cardio.
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Is there age specific advice, over 50 or 60? Finding change difficult with various aches and pains, too.
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We’re losing muscle as the years roll by and to put it crudely, it sucks. And ignoring this fact is not good for “your” (all old people, and that includes me) health.
I don’t know your aches and pains, but I’d consult your doctor and good training professional in your area.
But if someone wants to improve their body composition (i.e., shred fat), it all begins in the legs. The legs support the rest of your body. The number 1 exercise for you legs is the squat. Squat, squat and squat.
If you can’t squat, then…
Also, many, many years ago, I read a book called “Becoming a Supple Leopard.” Essentially, it’s all about flexibility, mobility, posture, movement science, protecting/keeping neutral a spine, fixing soft/joint tissue ailments, etc.
Why is this important? As we age, joints become stiff and less flexible. I spend 10-20 minutes almost daily with resistance bands and a roller trying to get my body to be more flexible.
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I lost about 20lb (over about a year) in my mid 50s. For the past 5 years I’ve usually been within 5 lb of that 118lb low point. It’s probably not the answer youwant to hear… but as others have stated, it required long term change of exercise and eating habits.
It all started with a 2017 couch-2-5k walk/run class, which turned into a running hobby (details in a CC thread), a few hundred miles per year. At first it seemed too much to change my eating patterns too. But after about 4 months I started to eat smarter too. A few months later I started to track food and exercise (running, walking, biking, exercise videos) with the MyNetDiary app. I still use the app because nutritional breakdown (not just calorie count) interests me. (Long term food log would drive most people nuts, but I like numbers and analysis)
Full disclosure - I have not kept a steady weight. And vacations definitely impact the progress. Just trying to avoid continuous creep-back of pounds.
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I had to disengage from DH’s eating habits and go back to eating only what my body needed and when. For example, I almost never ate breakfast before I met DH as I am never hungry in the morning. He has to eat breakfast and, over the years, I succumbed to whatever he was having. It was a meal I absolutely did not need. Once I disengaged from feeling like we always had to have the same thing/eat the same way, I was able to focus on two meals a day, snacks=nuts, low sugar/carb aware, little meat or diary. I’d say we’re now on the (loosely) vegan side of pescatarian. We try to eat fresh, whole foods with a heavy emphasis on vegetables, nuts, and seafood. DH also eats fruit, I eat very little. We do enjoy cocktails on weekends. We don’t count calories. We weigh ourselves on Wednesdays. It’s been a slow and steady effort. Over a year’s time, at the start of the pandemic, I lost 25+ lbs. After my hip replacement in January, I became much more active and lost those final ten pounds for a total of about 35 lbs. I’m now back to my college/wedding weight and keep telling myself that “nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”
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It sounds like you know how to lose the weight, but the problem is sustaining the weight loss. Yeah, snacking is the devil, that definitely will do you in!
I’ve been experimenting with healthy keto. Lost four pounds in two days without being very hungry, but I’m going on vacation tomorrow (so good luck with that, but will try it again when vacation is over). Interesting, though, when I’m eating high protein, I’m not very interested in snacking and sugar, which is likely my downfall. I guess everything is having healthy habits that you can stick with. Snacking, seconds, sport eating, eating when you’re bored or really not hungry will probably put that weight back on. I think you just need to find a way to change your habits into something healthy and sustainable.
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I’m always in the cupboard or fridge. I eat a lot of fruit - but late at night isn’t good but I get hungry.
I’m a terrible sleeper too - maybe 5 hours a night - I think that’s not good.
And i’m on the road - so I eat out a lot. I try to eat healthy - but I still eat out.
I’d love to lose ten pounds - but i’ve been trying for years and I can’t do the stop eating at 9P - no matter how hard I try.
I wish I could muster the power to do so.
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This is me. I have a host of old injuries/surgeries from my go big or go home days. I walk 4-5 miles/day, every day, or get on my rower or cross country ski machine if the weather is bad. I do core work and body weight only stuff daily because I can’t lift because of shoulder and back stuff. I’ve needed to modify a lot of movements. But, there is always exercises that can be modified.
Key to weight maintenance for me is food though. I eat a Mediterranean diet with whole grains most of the time. If I need to snack, it’s fruit and veggies. I had to stop buying chips.
Nothing though is totally “off limits”. I find that psychologically that backfires for me if I eliminate something completely.
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Well…less snack and no seconds. Snack maybe things like veggies, not things like chips?
I am a fan of diets like weight watchers where you actually can eat just about anything, but you need to balance what you eat.
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I am doing a program of life style change through Blue Cross called Wondr (not a misspelling), lots of employers have it as a benefit but free to be through them. Fantastic. Eat what you want but time it out. Yes they eventually want you to eat healthy. It’s video’s on anything to how to eat, what to eat, how to make it, but goes into sleep, stress, relationships, excersie with videos, etc etc.
But some quick simple, simple tips.
Eat over 25 minutes. Set a timer to eat for 10 min then stop for 5. Then resume if still hungry but stop when comfortably full. Your brain takes 20 minutes to catch up to your stomach. This one thing alone has been a game changer. I don’t use their timer but just the first few times since I am normally a super fast eater. You eat less food and not feel hungry.
Divide your food into quarters. Take that hamburger and divide it. Another game changer. Combine with the above. I eat less but remain full longer. Stop when full. Combine with a salad and you might be taking home or not eating it all
Combine with drink a glass of water upon waking and before each meal and with each meal. Most people think they are hungry upon waking. They are usually just dehydrated. I don’t eat breakfast till much later now. Pushing it off a bit burns more fat.
3 week sugar reset. Try not to have any. Very hard to do but after doing this in October I don’t have cravings anymore. I was an ice cream aholic… Lol. I don’t add sugar and mostly (except for this week) stay away from it.
Limit alcohol.
Excercise… I do treadmill, weights, walking, etc on a regular basis now. Basic abdomen, push-ups etc. Start slow and build up.
I have gotten comments almost daily from people I haven’t seen in months to years. That fact alone is enough to keep me going.
Slip ups, sure but I just restart the next day. I don’t beat myself up when it happens. Weight yourself daily. Log it. Measure your stomach and hips (look how to do properly) at the start then like monthly.
As stated have to eat right.
My ldl cholesterol is low for the first time in my life. Hdl is in great range.
Plus over all I feel better and less issues body wise. But it’s not a diet. That is the key.
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@badgolfer sorry I’m not familiar…but are you an adult or a student? Male or female? Does the 15 pounds get you to a healthy weight - or are you carrying much more extra weight than 15?
As with any QUICK weight loss (through extreme dieting, a sudden illness, extreme training) that is under extreme conditions of probably eating very little (severe reduction of calories) as soon as you start eating a normal calorie consumption you’re going to gain it back. That’s why “diets” don’t sustain!
And you KNOW why - snacking and seconds. I would suggest a food tracker. Do it for a month. Look at how much you’re eating (calories) and the composition of your food (fiber, fat, salt, etc.) Learn where you’re at. From there, make small changes that you can live with for the long haul. Eating 10% less. A vegetable at every meal. Use smaller plates. Limit dessert.
I personally don’t believe (unless you want to) cutting out any one thing - like some people eat no bread products. Life is too short! But I limit my bread to GREAT quality, whole grain breads and not 2 thick slices at a time!
Food Tracker
Small changes
Daily exercise activity. (what are you doing in terms of exercise now???)
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There should typically not be a difference between being “on” and “off” a diet. Agree with those who said it’s a lifestyle choice.
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