Did anyone lose over a 100 pounds and gain back 20 or more?

I'm only 7.5 weeks in but I'm more curious about the future (a year or more).  I'm interested in your perspective about gaining back weight.  What made it happen?  Did you get back on track?  If you don't mind sharing (I'm not looking to judge or cause you pain by my questions).

Thanks,

Jeff

Asking questions is not something that is bad. We all want to learn from others.

I am only three years out. I stopped losing when I started drinking booze again. 

I got back on track after I quit drinking. I lost weight. But then I started going to meetings. With one addiction goes for me another one comes back. I was eating stuff and justifying it. I was like I quit drinking so I should be able to eat this and that. 

No such luck. I started gaining. I now think I have my head wrapped tight now. 

Focusing on protein first then veggies or fruit. 

That is why it is so important to get good habits during the honeymoon period

Thanks for sharing :)  I want to learn how to stay on track and when slip ups will derail me.

This is me! I lost from 247 to 138 in about 10 months if I remember correctly. After the first year, all the wrong foods started creeping back into my diet, but I still couldn't eat much and I didn't feel hunger very often, so I was eating junk, but in moderation, so I maintained around 140 for about a year. However right around my 2nd year mark I started putting weight back on very quickly. I was able to eat more and I started feeling a lot of hunger, very often. Like, every 2 hours I found myself SO HUNGRY that I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO have something. And I was having junk, ALL THE TIME. My worst habits were sweet drinks, usually some kind of flavored iced coffee as many as 3-4 times a day, and snacking all night long after dinner, as well as once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I regained 20lb in 1 year this way!

However, I'm happy to be able to say I'm back on track and have lost almost all the regain. What really snapped me out of my bad habits was (TMI warning!) my husband telling me one day that my weight gain had made bedtime activities more difficult and less fun for him. Literally the next day I cold turkey returned to my early post-op diet of 3 meals a day, no snacks, as little carbs and as much protein as possible and no drinks that contain calories. I don't count calories as long as I follow these rules. I've had a few 'cheat days' (thanksgiving, christmas party with my friends) where I let myself eat w/e I wanted in small quantities and ONE small desert. I sometimes have difficulty following my diet plan during meals I eat with my husband because he's actually very underweight (110lb and 5'7"), so I try to find meals wear I can eat most of it and just skip the carbs or especially calorific items while still feeding him as many calories as possible, but some things are impossible to get around. In any case, I've done really well and re-lost about 16lb of my regain in the past 5 weeks.

I did notice that around week 4 I was really pushing myself and eating very, very few calories (500-700 cal) and I stalled and didn't lose at all for the entire week, but once I increased a bit (700-1000 cal) I started losing again, so this seems to be my 'sweet spot.' Also since returning to my diet, I've completely stopped feeling the intense hunger I used to experience every few hours, which I'm assuming was blood-sugar related, and the size of my stomach has shrunk, so I feel full with much less food than before. 

I'm not sure that hearing what you did from my husband would work for me (I'd hear it as criticism, not support): I'd be wondering what he was thinking during the time I was overweight.

Yeah, I can totally see how what he said makes him sound like a huge @$$hole, but he didn't mean to be cruel. My husband is Japanese and here telling someone that they've gotten fat recently is no different than telling them that their hair's gotten pretty long recently; it's not at all rude to mention, and it doesn't have the same connotations (you are a fat lazy slob! put down the cheeseburger!) that it does in the US. Also, he never knew me when I was really heavy, I'd already lost almost all the weight when we met, so gaining 20lb made me fatter than he's ever seen me, so it sticks out in his mind. 
If anyone else made comments about my weight I'd tell them to mind their own d@mn business, but coming from my husband it definitely hurt but was what I needed to hear.

OMG this post just made my day...You see, I'm currently on Optifast and my surgery is in 5 days.  When I started Optifast I was as 247.  I get asked all the time what my goal weight is and I always say between 150-160.  I always say this because I don't believe it's possible for me to get lower then that.  I still do believe that 150 is awesome but ideally 135-140 would be much better.  Now, seeing your post tells me IT IS POSSIBLE . 

THANK YOU!

ABSOLUTELY you can do it! I have never really exercised, so with exercise on top of following your eating plan, you'll likely lose more than me!

I started regaining about a year after sugery. I just fell back into old habits. I gained back about 45 lbs of the 110 I had lost. I have lost about 30 of that and trying to get back on track to continue losing but it is hard.

Hi Charity,

Thanks for sharing.  What specifically do you attribute the gain to?  Ate too much?  Wrong foods?  I'm trying to prepare myself for keeping on track when I get to my goal.  Tell more more :)  I'm excited that you are back on track!

Jeff