# Has anyone lost weight and kept it off? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323 "2003-07-27T22:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/21 "2003-07-28T19:40:42Z")
Another WW here. When I weigh in for August, I will be celebrating 6 years at goal weight. I run about 30 miles a week, which really helps to keep the weight off. I also make sure I still keep a food diary. If I don’t have to write it down, I’ll “forget” I’ve eaten it. I still need to keep tabs on the amount of food I’m eating, otherwise (even after 6 years) it’s still possible to revert to old habits. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/22 "2003-07-28T20:53:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scout1222 \* > \*\*Another WW here. When I weigh in for August, I will be celebrating 6 years at goal weight. > > I run about 30 miles a week, which really helps to keep the weight off. I also make sure I still keep a food diary. If I don’t have to write it down, I’ll “forget” I’ve eaten it. I still need to keep tabs on the amount of food I’m eating, otherwise (even after 6 years) it’s still possible to revert to old habits. \*\* interesting. I’m starting to see that 5+ hours of moderate intensity exercise a week is key to maintaining weight loss. I’m not really having any problems getting 5+ hours in a week (i bike about 45 mins a day 5 days a week plus I weight train). Do you know how fast you run? how much do you weigh and how much weight did you lose? ---
**Author:** ![Bookish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@Bookish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookish)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/23 "2003-07-28T21:10:12Z")
I just have to chime in here about Atkins. For anyone serious about losing weight, keeping it off, and being much healthier, you are doing yourself an injustice if you don’t buy and read the new Atkins Diet Revolution. I’m in my 40s, and have been doing the diet yo-yo for most of my life. I did WW, Jenny Craig, the cabbage soup diet (yuck!), calorie counting, fat gram counting, you name it. The number one reason I failed all of those diets was because I was starving to death. I don’t care how many plates of carrot sticks I ate, I was always hungry, unsatisfied, and frustrated. Oh, I lost weight, but it always piled back on. The last couple of years I’ve been feeling tired, grumpy, foggy, was having a lot of headaches, and thought it was just part of the aging process. I learned to accept my weight and not worry too much about it. Then I got a physical, complete with lab work, and got a good scare. My glucose levels were so high that my doctor practically crawled through the phone lines when she called to tell me I had to start some medication to lower it and lose some weight. And my triglycerides were through the roof. Borderline diabetic, heading for a heart attack, and not even 50 yet. My mother told me about Atkins, so I got the book, read it, and started the plan. I have lost 30 pounds, am still losing (my goal is to lose 75 pounds), and I am in hog heaven as far as food goes. I will never go back to a low-fat diet. I feel great, I look better, and my glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides are all within normal limits, without medication of any kind. Even my doctor, who was extremely skeptical, is convinced. There are a lot of misconceptions about this wonderful eating plan, but lately, as more and more researchers have looked into the controlled carbohydrate diets, the research is bearing out that this is very successful and very healthy. Not only that, the food is great. Last night I had chicken sauteed in olive oil with shallots, garlic, melted cheese, salad with avocado, tomatoes, parmesan cheese and ranch dressing, and tonight I’m having filet mignon in a red wine sauce and roasted asparagus dripping in real butter. Compare that to handful of carrot sticks and a Slim Fast shake. Which would you choose? ---
**Author:** ![GilbertZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b19c9b/32.png) [@GilbertZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilbertZ)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/24 "2003-07-28T21:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*ghrelin is another hormone scientists are looking at. The more weight you lose the more ghrelin you produce. Ghrelin controls appetite & metabolism. Im sure there are alot of other hormones that go into action when people lose weight. \*\* I agree on all counts. It probably is far from simply being about leptin. There are lots of interconnected pieces to the puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/25 "2003-07-28T21:33:02Z")
I have weighed 250-260 lb, I’m a big bloke and carried it ok, never looked fat… After changing my job from a sedentary one to an extremely physical one I probably weigh about 180-190lb (I haven’t weighed myself for ages). If anything, I’m underweight… Not recommending it, but also used to have Ecstasy fuelled weekends (It was originally developed as an appetite suppressant) which meant two days without eating… Probably not very helpful to you, but you did ask… My own tuppenceworth… A diet isn’t something you go on… It’s what you eat. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/26 "2003-07-29T10:28:06Z")
Yeah, I have to an extent. In January of 2000 I weighed somewhere around 270-275(42" waist). Over the next eight months between dieting and frequent exercise I lost enough weight to drop down to somewhere like 220 pounds(35" waist). This wasn’t permanent- I settled out at about 228-230 (36" waist) However, when I quit work last summer and went back to grad school, the subsequent disruption/destruction of my workout schedule and the stress-caused eating has made me go back to about 240(38" waist). So yeah, I guess relative to where I was before, I’m still two pants sizes down and 30 lbs lighter, but I had kept myself around 225-230 for 2 years prior to my recent 15-20 lb weight gain. So when I get back to the States in a few weeks, I’m going to seriously start the workout/eating routine again, with priority over anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/27 "2003-07-29T12:18:37Z")
I can’t tell you exactly how much I’ve lost since I was never one to really care how much I weighed. I know I was in the 215-220 range, and for someone that’s 6’2" you could never really tell. Then I got a pool pass 2.5 years ago, I used to swim in high school, and figured I needed something to do with my time. I also gave up drinking a lot of beer. I used to drink 1-2 a night, mostly because I stopped drinking any kind of soda. I lost about 15 pounds in the first few months, then it just stopped. I wasn’t really worried though because I had lost the weight. I’m now down to something like 180-185. I only swim twice a week, though I do more if I’m training for a meet, I still drink beer, though not every day, or every week, and eat lots of carbs. I don’t think that one needs huge lifestyle changes, mine has been minor, less beer and swimming. I also don’t worry about a few pounds here and there, I hear it every day, “I’ve gained 5 pounds”, BFD, you gain/lose weight all the time like that. Also whatever exercise you do find some sort of goal. If you run, do some races, even the mile races, I swim at meets, it gives you something to train for instead of just having to get up and run or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/28 "2003-07-29T16:47:51Z")
I lost 110 pounds between October 2001 and January 2003 and have kept it off. I’ve sort of stabilized at my present weight and tend to fluctuate in a 10 pound range above and below it over the course of a couple of weeks. I walk 30 minutes a day on a treadmill and try to restrict calorie intake to “not so much.” I would like to drop another 25 pounds but haven’t been particularly motivated to do the more strict calorie restriction that would be needed to drop more weight. If you want to maintain your weight the simple answer is to burn off roughly the same number of calories you take in. If you exercise you can eat more and still maintain your weight. Of course there’s more to it than that, restricting fat calories and the like, but in a nutshell keep what goes in equal to what’s expended and you’ll keep the weight off. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/29 "2003-07-29T18:23:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*interesting. I’m starting to see that 5+ hours of moderate intensity exercise a week is key to maintaining weight loss. I’m not really having any problems getting 5+ hours in a week (i bike about 45 mins a day 5 days a week plus I weight train). > > Do you know how fast you run? how much do you weigh and how much weight did you lose? \*\* Since scout hasn’t had a chance to get back to you yet, I’ll tell you what I’ve found. Speaking only for running, since that’s what I do, I found that moderate exercise (about 3 miles a day) helped me reach the first stage of weight loss. You know how it goes…make some diet changes, exercise a little, and you’ll lose quite a bit at first, then sort of hit a ‘wall’. Once I got my milage up to around 30 a week, then I started noticing the pounds dropping off again. But it required that I keep that level of effort up. If I didn’t, I’d pick up that 5 or 10lbs again within a couple of weeks. If you don’t like running, or are not training for something, then it’s difficult to keep that milage up. But it’s well worth it…just have to dedicate yourself to it. And you don’t have to run it fast…I’m no olympic contender by any means. But you do have to run hard (in my opinion). I worked with a guy that bosted that he ran 7 miles a day. But he was very pot bellies. So either he was eating a ton of crap, or he was running it to slow. You should be dripping with sweat and tired as hell after you’re done. Again, just my opinion, and what I’ve found. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/30 "2003-07-29T19:46:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atrael \* > \*\*Since scout hasn’t had a chance to get back to you yet, I’ll tell you what I’ve found. > Speaking only for running, since that’s what I do, I found that moderate exercise (about 3 miles a day) helped me reach the first stage of weight loss. You know how it goes…make some diet changes, exercise a little, and you’ll lose quite a bit at first, then sort of hit a ‘wall’. Once I got my milage up to around 30 a week, then I started noticing the pounds dropping off again. But it required that I keep that level of effort up. If I didn’t, I’d pick up that 5 or 10lbs again within a couple of weeks. If you don’t like running, or are not training for something, then it’s difficult to keep that milage up. But it’s well worth it…just have to dedicate yourself to it. And you don’t have to run it fast…I’m no olympic contender by any means. But you do have to run hard (in my opinion). I worked with a guy that bosted that he ran 7 miles a day. But he was very pot bellies. So either he was eating a ton of crap, or he was running it to slow. You should be dripping with sweat and tired as hell after you’re done. Again, just my opinion, and what I’ve found. \*\* Hmm. i’m assuming you run something like 6 mph? that is 5 hours of running a week. I’d like to run but my calves are in bad shape. I will have to stick to biking i guess. There is a feeling of accomplishment to running because it is probably the hardest, most stamina building exercise out there. I’ve lost about 15 lbs so far on just a non restrictive low(er) fat diet and more exercise. I don’t know if/when i will hit a plateau though. From what i’ve seen alot of people hit a plateau when their bodyfat gets down to about 15% or so. Which is understandable, anything lower than that and a person could barely survive a week w/o food. ---
**Author:** ![kputt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@kputt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kputt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/31 "2003-07-30T12:38:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*If so, how did you do it? I want to lose about 25 lbs and keep it off but even though 99% of people lose weight at one time or another in their life, only about 3% keep it off. So if you did do it how did you do it? Not including bariatric surgery. > > I know my brother lost about 30 lbs 8 years ago & kept it off. However he does cardio about 6-7 hours a week and 70% of his diet is low fat like chicken breasts & Rice a roni. > > Lifestyle changes wouldn’t be bad for me and i could probably uphold them. I could do 4-5 hours of cardio a week, weight train another 1-2 hours a week, eat a low fat diet (most of the time), keep a food journal guaging caloric intake, go on a stricter diet whenever i went up more than 5 pounds, join an internet support group, take legal drugs for weight loss. I assume that might up the failure rate from 95% to maybe 50% which is better but not perfect. what else? \*\* First thing first, don’t go on a diet or take any pills or diet shakes. You will lose wieght, but after you are done with them, you will gain it back. Also, if you are starting to stress out over eating a lot of junk food, make a weekend where you just gorge yourself and then get back to normal eating and exercise the next week. I started obsessing and then I gained all my weight plus more afterwards. So, taking a weekend every month or so or whenever you feel like you are going to crash and burn, to gorge yourself should trick your mind and you should be able to start all over again. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/32 "2003-07-30T14:47:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*From what i’ve seen alot of people hit a plateau when their bodyfat gets down to about 15% or so. Which is understandable, anything lower than that and a person could barely survive a week w/o food. \*\* Where on earth did you hear _that_? A pound of fat contains 3500 calories, which is enough for pretty much anyone to lie in bed all day, and for most of us to do office work. So 7 pounds of fat will keep you going for a week. If you weigh less than 46 pounds, you’re in trouble, but I don’t think that anyone here has anything to worry about. Many men live and work with 7-10% bodyfat year round. Your source is misinformed. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/33 "2003-07-30T15:20:27Z")
I don’t know ultrafilter, you’re a lifter, so both your body fat, and the people that you’re around’s body fat is probably much lower than your “average” desk jockey. Mine is probably hovering around 17% or so now. I think unless you add a good weight training program, it will take a lot more effort to get the percentage down with just running. But you know far far more about that than I do. I’m just saying that eyeballing the people that I work around, and knowing where I hit mine, I think that 15% is a reasonable level. Keep in mind that we may be talking about two different things. What I’m refering to isn’t the “stopping” point, where you really can’t get down any more, but more like the point where in weight loss, we all seem to pause for a while, and it takes an outpouring of effort, either in more diet restrictions, or more exercise, to get past it. Oh, and \*\*The Calculus of Logic \*\*- I’ve slowed down a bit the past couple of months due to a hell of a lot of travel, but I run a 4 mile day at a 9 minute per mile pace, a 2 mile day at a 8:30 per mile pace, and my long day of 7 miles at about a 9:45-10:00 minute pace. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/34 "2003-07-30T15:39:15Z")
I was addressing TCoL’s claim that having less than 15% bodyfat was dangerous. I can’t speak to what’s reasonable–everybody has to decide for him or herself what to shoot for. As far as getting it down, diet’s the only thing that really matters. Exercising to lose fat is a waste of time if your diet sucks. When I get some time, I’ll post some articles on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/35 "2003-07-30T15:53:38Z")
My brother lost 117 pounds almost twenty years ago, and has kept it off ever since. He replaced one habit (sitting on the couch eating) with another (running). He is preparing for his second Iron Man triathlon, and has done dozens of marathons. Don’t know what you should do, but that’s what he did. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/36 "2003-07-30T16:41:42Z")
I lost 20 pounds by setting a fitness goal. I chose a race I had always wanted to run and signed up before I could talk myself out of it. When I began training, I noticed my body was more efficient if I ate healthier, so I began slowly changing my eating habits. And I started drinking lots of water, too, because drinking soda made me dehydrated before training sessions. I was training outside in the middle of a St. Louis summer. It gets up in the 90’s and is really humid here, so you need all the water you can get. Focusing on the race, as opposed to focusing on weight loss, is what helped me most. The healthy eating followed just because it makes training more comfortable. One suggestion, though, and I know you’ve heard it before ('cause I see it posted several times on the boards). When you begin eating healthier, go slowly. Not only will you more likely stick with it if you make small changes, but you will also experience less intestinal discomfort. If you’re body is used to, say, McDonald’s, and all of a sudden you begin cramming in fiber in place of that, it’s not going to feel good. At all. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/37 "2003-07-30T16:52:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*I was addressing TCoL’s claim that having less than 15% bodyfat was dangerous. I can’t speak to what’s reasonable–everybody has to decide for him or herself what to shoot for. > > As far as getting it down, diet’s the only thing that really matters. Exercising to lose fat is a waste of time if your diet sucks. > > When I get some time, I’ll post some articles on the matter. \*\* i never said it was dangerous just that the people i know have had problems getting thinner when they reach a bf level in the low teens. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/38 "2003-07-30T17:04:58Z")
You specifically said that having bodyfat levels below 15% meant that a person couldn’t survive a week without food. I addressed that claim. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/39 "2003-07-30T17:38:40Z")
I wasn’t morbidly obese by any means, but I reached about 210 when I was in my mid-20s (I’m 6’ and wasn’t exercising at all at the time). Not happy with how I looked, I started exercising–20 minute stairmaster followed by weight training. I also started watching what I ate, paying attention mostly to fat and calorie content of the foods I bought. I lost about 2 lb/week and plateaued in the low 190s. I then replaced the stairmaster with treadmill and dropped even more weight. I’m around 183 right now (my weight varies between about 182 and 188) and at 13% body fat according to the little hand-grip thingy I did last week (I know that’s not exactly the most accurate method, but I’d say it’s a good number). I don’t run as much, due to a bad knee that I hope to eventually get over ( I use the elliptical traininer instead). I work out at the gym about 4-5 times per week–weight training followed by cardio. I also hike and bike. I’m 33 now and have been exercising for about 7.5 years. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323/40 "2003-07-30T17:45:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*You specifically said that having bodyfat levels below 15% meant that a person couldn’t survive a week without food. I addressed that claim. \*\* i based that statement largely on this webpage [http://www.vicfit.com.au/fitness/Content/Pub/ContentDetail.asp?lngContentID=20](http://www.vicfit.com.au/fitness/Content/Pub/ContentDetail.asp?lngContentID=20) The average human body has enough fat storage to keep us alive for 10-12 days without food. since the average human body has a higher bf% than 15% i extrapolated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-lost-weight-and-kept-it-off/191323.md?page=3)