Very Sceptical about LT :/

HappyNoodles

Gold Member
Hmm I'm sure I'm going to be hated for this, but I'm getting very sceptical about LT, having done it and lost 8stone at least I speak from experiance.
I put back on 5st within a year and always blamed myself for not sticking to a ridged strick diet afterwards but it seems anyone i speak to puts the weight or most of it back on?
My doc has said it's proven after 3years 90% of people will have regained all and possibly more than they lost :O
I'm sorry for this as I know it's hardly motivating but I'm just so dubious now.... any opinions?
Please don't have a go, just voicing my concerns?
xxx
 
Hi daisyhappy...glad you posted this to start the conversation going......I was concerned last week and posted asking for info on keeping weight off........it does seem that a lot of people regain their weight ....I have never done TFR before so would love info from experienced members who have kept the weight off.....I do wonder is the real reason behind so many regains the fact that people eventually return to old habits ......as the LT literature says obesity does not go away it goes into remission and needs to be carefully monitored......I for one know that when I reach my goal I will have to watch and count carefully and of course exercise and treat food as fuel / a medicine almost and monitor my dosage....in my opinion it will be necessary to change food from a drug type addiction to a carefully measured medicine ......sad I know but this is the metabolism I've been born with and it simply doesn't suit the current western diet...if it was another illness/disease I would have to do same .....but I've lost weight and regained many times before on ww so only time will tell...I do intend to keep a daily diary as I think I need a behaviour shift to ensure I don't start to slide ....... it is amazing how we can fool ourselves and hide the truth from ourselves...think of all the times we've avoided the camera or the full length mirror .....who are we hiding from..after all everyone else sees us in full view every day...... rant over...look forward to hearing what everyone else has to say
 
It's something i'm really concerned about too. I've already thought about everything I will have to do when I reach my goal weight to maintain. For me it's going to mean getting a bit obsessional about my weight which i'm sure isn't great but probably more healthy than going back to this weight again.

Alot of the long term success has got to be about education - knowing that this isn't a long term fix and that it's going to take hard work when we do get to our goal. But i'm hoping that having gone through this - and it's blimmin' hard work - that I really won't want to undo everything I have done. It will take a complete lifestyle change for me and that's scary and exciting.

Maybe some of it is that some people (certainly I do) think that life is going to be better slimmer and the reality is that all the other stresses and problems are still there when we get to that state. I don't know - i'm sure a psychologist would have a field day telling us!!
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one with these concerns, i've seen so many people with the very best intentions pile back on the pounds after coming off, i actually don't know anyone who kept it all off?!?
 
hey i get where u comin from as atleast wiv a low cal diet u already used to portion sizes an wot not 2 av. etc etc. but i think ppl 4get that even tho u get 2 target u still av 2 b careful, regardless of the diet.

u cant go crazy or eat wot u wnt coz u will b back 2 square 1. obviously wiv a tfr diet wen u do reintroduce food u could gain a lil bit which will b water. just keep stickin 2 a good meal/food plan an it will work out.

my mum did LL and lost 4 stone and when she went back 2 food she put on bout 3lb but she was sensible and lost it agen an she now followin her version of the protein diet. which is workin 4 her. she sed that even wen u get 2 target it isnt over coz u always gona wnt 2 cheat but u cnt if u wana stay slim. basically u always on a diet. :(

but as they say nothin tastes as good as bein thin feels!!!!

good luck ladies!!!
 
Hi Daisy
I understand what your saying and this maintenance is hard work. I don't think though that we can blame LT to be honest. The Dr is right that 90% put their weight back on but that is with any diet not just LT. I think LT gets people there quickly and I admit I always thought if somebody magically could get me to my goal weight I would stay there, but its not as easy as that. LT gave me a fast solution which was hard work, but now it's something for me to keep in control. There are people who have maintained on here for a while, bear in mind not lots but they show you it can be done. xxx
 
hi i have just read this post with an emotion of horror, i did lipotrim back 4 yrs ago wherei lost four stone within a 4 months so i immediately come off and went back to macci ds, chips etc an unhealthy diet , well i maintained the weight i was after my son was born untill 08 when my mother passed away i have now put on a huge amount and i weigh 149.9 believe it or not not my heaviest, so i started the lipotrim today, although my dr was quite reluctant to let me , as i have a comfort eatting problem and suffer with mental illness too, but i am desperate i really need to lose the weight i have four children, which i wanna see grow old, so reading this post has made me worry is it possible to retrain ya brain in such a little time bearing in mind my brain is practically impossible to train to do any thing :) i too wud be relieved to hear from someone who has managed to maintain there weight over years and i wish you guys all the luck
xx
 
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This is a heavy one! However, here's my two pen'th for what its worth. I suspect most of us have been losing and gaining weight for a long time - I've been at it for something like 55 years!! I think most of us know why we eat too much and misuse food so badly - it meets a need in us like no other. Of course, all that fat does something else, it shields us, we think, against 'all the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' all the hurts, losses, memories,unfairness and pain we have ever suffered - a far back as we can remember, and even further in our subconscious. So it serves a purpose for us - it keeps us from forming relationships that frighten us as well.So, when it comes to keeping the lost fat off we have to educate ourselves a bit whilst we are losing. For me to go from 18.7 to 11 stone is frightening to say the least - I shall be revealing myself - my real self - to the world at large - for the first time I can remember since a child. Yes, it exciting too - I bought clothes yesterday size18 that's a first. We dont have to put weight back on,but I think we need a lot of support and encouragement along the way. Like this web site for example - and we need to be really really honest with ourselves about who we are underneath all the fat. Most importantly of all we must learn to love and value ourselves for what we are.
 
Nicely put annes! Can definitely relate too.
 
I think that everyone on any TFR diet worries about keeping the weight off, but we have to use this time wisely. I think that by continuing to drink water, seeing food as fuel and not a comfort, and listening to our bodies, we can succeed! I also think that by refeeding for a longer period can help, as it will help each of us to find the correct balance of fuel to maintain our new weight. Over the years, I have done many different diets and lost lots of weight, only to slip back into my old ways, and avoid the scales as I knew I had gained! This time, I will still get weighed each week so I can stop a small gain becoming a huge one!

WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Clair x
 
hi guys, ok so here are my thoughts
I know two people who have lost weight and kept it off for 3 + years. I also know people who lost all and put all back on +, the difference between these people are that while on LT they changed their relationship with food and put in place other coping strategies for boredom stress etc.
There is no difference to putting weight back on after LT as there is to putting weight back on after WW or any other lo cal diet, we put back on because we eat more calories than our body can burn.
Looking after our health is really about our food intake and our exercise regime. It is no different to our weekly house cleaning routine etc because we know if we don't keep on top of it it gets out of hand and then too much to deal with.
The LT aftercare literature says this, once you have lost the weight people see you as a slim person, but you are not a slim person, you are a fat person who took control of their health and changed their bodies. In the same way an alcoholic is always an alcoholic, it is a life time situation and it is only us that can control it.

I hope it helps in some way, all I know is that it is possible and that I have been my own worst enemy with this.
 
Guys, guys, guys!

Yeah ok, this maintainence malarky really isnt easy but its not about coming off TFR and onto a 'diet'. Its about healthy eating and poriton control. Some of us will take time to grasp this and untill we do sure enough you may put some weight back on.

But you have to think about this: what do you want more? do you want to eat as much as you can and undo all the hardwork you did whilst on LT or do you want to be a success and keep the weight off?

I know for me, if i say that to myself when im down and feeling that i'm about to binge it perks me up. I look at old pictures of myself and think i am NEVER going back to that place.

I was unhappy, morbidly obese and i was a state. Now i am happy, overweight still, but happy.

So really it comes down to what you want more and overcoming the mental frame we had when we were big. This wont happen overnight - it may take months/years but when you finally realise it you will know.

Its not all about depriving ourselfs i guess its about retraining our way of thinking - something which unfortunatly being on TFR doesnt really teach us.

I hope this makes sense and wish you all well :)

Oh, and if you are sceptical hop on over to the maintainence part of this forum and check out Jan - she is a star and has maintained weight for well over 6months now. :)
 
I think that everyone on any TFR diet worries about keeping the weight off, but we have to use this time wisely. I think that by continuing to drink water, seeing food as fuel and not a comfort, and listening to our bodies, we can succeed! I also think that by refeeding for a longer period can help, as it will help each of us to find the correct balance of fuel to maintain our new weight. Over the years, I have done many different diets and lost lots of weight, only to slip back into my old ways, and avoid the scales as I knew I had gained! This time, I will still get weighed each week so I can stop a small gain becoming a huge one!

WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Clair x

saved me a lot of typing as i would have to go with this:)
 
As with any diet, if you go back to eating the way you did(even if you do refeed first) you WILL put weight back on!!
I have just started to realise i can NEVER go back to eating that way, in fact i have to get it into my head i can't eat the way alot of people do who don't put weight on.

I have accepted i will always struggle with my weight if i don't watch what i eat, the sooner most of us get our heads around that the happier we will be.

So it's not LT that doesn't work, it's us not educating ourselves!
Try a low cal diet after finishing tfr and teach yourself about portion sizes, calories and fats etc.

I wish it was as simple as do LT, do refeed and then happy days but it isn't, it's a diet not a miracle cure! And breath.........lol
 
All absolutely right. Think of LT (or any other diet come to that) as an opportunity. It can get us to a healthy weight. What we do then is up to us. My suggestion is to read as much as you can - not just about food but about the psychology of eating. Paul McKenna's book "I can make you thin" is, I think a useful starting point. He is very anti-diet and on many of his points I think he is right, but as he is someone who has never been morbidly obese I'm not sure he comes at it from the same angle as most of us would. Nevertheless he makes some really useful points (IMHO) and I am finding the CD and some of his techniques really useful in coping with refeeding and learning to deal with food again.

Like any addicts (which is what most of us are I'm sorry to say) we will never be "cured" but we have to try to change the way we think about food for ever. Ultimately we have to be 100% responsible for everything we eat and not blame diets, restaurants, friends, bad moods, traumas, metabolism etc etc. It's very tough but something we have to learn to live with for the rest of our lives.

I wonder if part of the problem is having a goal, reaching it and then assuming we've finished? That's not the finish - it's the beginning. And even if we fail, it's got to be worth trying.

Jon
xxx
 
I have to agree with Jon. No matter how anyone loses weight, this is only the starting point. We must then embark on a journey for the rest of our lives of healthy eating, portion control and managing the emotional triggers that make us overeat.
Too many make the mistake of binge dieting i.e. go on a mad diet, lose shedloads of weight, go back to old ways, put back on the weight and then some, go back on another diet and so it keeps going round in a circle.
Most people who carry too much weight are just prone to it. Too much weight is bad for our health. So we must manage it byr dieting and then trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
It is not easy to keep the weight off but we must endeavour!!!
 
So one of the major messages from this is that you can NEVER go back to eating how you used to! Makes perfect sense to me.
 
Well I can understand ur concerns, I have just started it well disciplined for the past week and hope that I will manage to keep it all off once i get off LT for good.
I worked with one of the biggest and most famous endocrinologist consultants in Ireland/Europe and he says that more than 90% people put back on all that they have lost and a lot of them, even more.
I guess this we'll probably have to be on a diet pretty much *forever* even after we are off LT.
LT pretty much just gives us a headstart in our dieting plans and the rest is pretty much up to us to keep a tight rein on if u know what I mean?Ah well, dont despair, we can all do it!
 
Everyone has a diet all the time. Every person just has to learn what diet is healthy for them.

Everyone has food all the time. Every person just has to learn what
food is healthy for them.

Keep it simple is one of my favourite mottos x
 
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