This has been a good year of training. My fitness has improved and I am going into this summer in better shape than I have been in 10 years, which is a good thing. Well, I know there are areas where I need to do better, like sugar, simple carbs, and lunches out. I am hopeful that making these changes, along with the natural increase in physical activity that happens every summer will help with the weight loss. But I have lost and gained weight enough times to know obesity is a long term problem that never really goes away. You just get better control of it at times, and at other times, it gets control of you. I lost a lot of weight in high school and kept it off until I went off to college, when I gained a lot of weight. More recently, I lost a lot of weight 15 years ago and kept it off for 5 years, then gained a lot of it back after I had an injury that kept me away from the gym for a few months. For the last 10 years, weight loss and gain has been a bit seasonal, losing a bit of weight in the summer months, gaining it back in the winter. Part of my coming back to martial arts was to get back to the notion of staying in shape year round.
I think it is a combination of factors that go into why people (even those who have had bariatric surgery) can't lose significant body weight and keep it off permanently. My personal opinion is, if you are ever overweight at a young age, the chances are it will be an issue your whole life. At least if you live here in the US. One of the reasons why I hate to see kids as young as 8 or 9 who are already obese because I know that even if they manage to lose weight as teenagers, they will likely struggle to maintain that weight as they grow older..