I have heard a lot of statistics about regaining weight. For example, one study claims that 80-85% of people who lose a significant amount of weight regain it. It is a common story. In fact, many people gain more weight than they lost. I can attest to that. So why are the odds so bad?
There are many theories. Personally, I remember a specific moment. I had lost 75lbs. Then I got sick. I had strep throat. I probably lost a bunch of weight that week, but I never really got back into living healthy again. I slowly started exercising again, but I never returned to the level prior to my illness. I started doing stupid things like baking cookies...for the kids!!! At first, I did not over-indulge.
Gradually I started to let other things interfere with my exercise. Then, I started snacking at night. Eventually, the exercise went out the door and the healthy eating dissappeared. This took about 9 months.
The weight started piling on as I slipped back into old habits...sometimes with a vengence. I kept telling myself that I would get back on track soon. Soon ended up three years later and 115 lbs. heavier.
What is so frustrating is that when I was living healthy, I felt great and had no desire to return to my previous eating habits. Even when I allowed myself to indulge a little, the food never tasted as good as I remembered. Now, I am happy and content with my eating and exercise. In fact, my wife bought me a couple of my favorite Easter candies, but I have had no interest in eating them. They are sitting on my shelf above my computer collecting dust.
So what happened in my brain that led me down that path? What can I do to prevent it in the future? I know...eat healthy and exercise. I did that last time. Maybe the accountability that I have set up for myself by this blog will help. But then again, what started me thinking down this path was the amount of weight-loss blogs I have seen which have been inactive for a year or more.
If anyone has some words of wisdom, please share them.
Living Fit Is My #1 Job
4 comments:
The main reason that people regain weight is that most of their emotional issues are never resolved, bad habits die hard, and it takes a lot of fucking motivation to maintain a diet of healthy living.
All it takes is some mindless food binges and any fat person (like me) can gain ten or twenty pounds very easily. Then it takes months to lose that weight. Easier to just give up.
So don't fall off the wagon. Get back on fast if you do.
Half man,
Five years ago I went from 325 to 268. I regained all my weight and more and by Sept. 2004 I was up well beyond 360 lbs. I don't the exact weight because the truck scale quit working at 360. I recieved a call from a jerk who left a message fat ass, fat ass and it really ticked me off. I was in staples, and noticed the Dr. PHil CD's the ultimate weight loss solution. I said to myself yeah right, but something inside me said give it try. I did, and through a lot of heart ache, I now weight 248 lbs. I tell you this because I believe things are going to work out for you also.
Jeff Rhodes
Diets never work because they never address the reasons for overeating in the first place. Once people stop, they revert to the original patterns. Whether these patterns are habit, emotional, to do with addiction, allergies or psychology, if they are never addressed the weight won't stay off.
It has to be a sustainable lifestyle change. My wife and I decided that what we wanted was to be healthier so that we could spend more quality time together a we get older. The weightloss (currently 100lbs for me and about 85lbs for my wife) has been a side-effect of eating healthily.
I appreciate the comments. I believe motivation is a key factor. I am trying hard to keep fitness as my motivation, but I can not help but gauge my progress by the scale.
I do see the other benefits: Smaller clothes, more energy, able to physically do more things.
I have been trying to find the root cause of my overeating. I know that my bad eating habits developed as a child. I am also compulsive. While I have reigned in this behavior in most areas of my life, my eating habits have been the most difficult for me. Yet, I knew this the last time around so I guess I will keep looking for another root cause to address.
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