Anybody Balloon UP Before HItting Goal?

I am doing some informal research and would like to talk to anyone who hit their goal weight within 18 months but before they got there gained 10 - 30lbs (or more actually).

I have some ideas about how our metabolisms behave when we've been on a long term weight slide and I also recognize the pattern of those of us that are close and how the weight loss rate and our resting metabolic rate tend to go way down. I have a few questions like:

1) How much weight did you gain after you hit your lowest point before gaining and then proceed to your goal? and what was your low before the gain?

2) Was it a one time incident or did you yo-yo your way to goal?

3) After your gain did your weight loss rate pick up? and was it smooth sailing all the way to goal?

4) Have you maintained your loss?

5) Were you able to stop at goal or did you sail right past it?

I had a thought yesterday that when we gain weight and try to lose it seems to be a step pattern we gain 20 lbs lose 10 and then that 10lb net gain becomes our new normal then we creep up, lose a little step up and next thing we know we are 300+lbs. I wonder if the opposite works. If we work our way down to say within 10 lbs of our goal and weight loss slows, then we put on 10+ lbs and then go back to losing if the reverse momentum carries us through the slow part. 

Don't anyone worry I have not intention of trying this or experimenting with it, but I think it is an interesting concept that might be worth digging into a bit and would really be revolutionary if we find this pattern to be prevalent.

Let's Hear IT!