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The bounce back is very very real for most people. The first time people lose weight or manage to train hard to achieve a certain outcome, it tends to be a rather lifestyle intensive effort. They change far too much about themselves to be able to hold on to those habits that produced the outcome.
When they do take a second and hopefully more thought-out stab, they can make habits stick. Most people don't take this second stab though. They fail once and usually assume something is not for them.
My personal journey is a little strange.
I have two things that work in my favor:
When I am stressed, my appetite gets suppressed. I undereat. This is neither healthy nor desirable. But I tend to lose weight when I am stressed or life has me on the ropes. In those stretches my weight drops to 69-72 kgs. If I am fairly chill, my weight nudges up to a healthy 77-80 kgs. My body fat levels are between 18 and 20 percent. With a highest number of 23 percent in 2008. I've never been a low body fat guy. My coaching schedule and training don't really lend themselves to staying on a deficit or clean eating to manage low bodyfat levels. I've not had a bout of undereating since 2018. Weight has hovered neatly between 75 and 80 kgs for the last eight years. And my strength capacity has only gotten better since.
As cliched as it sounds, I've always enjoyed the process and capacities more than the outcomes. Part of it is I have to work stupidly hard to pack on muscle and strength. And I realized the strength is the more useful part. If the strength exists, the muscle and soft tissue to produce force exist. I am far more concerned with how my shoulders work and feel thanks to being able to do dips than how my pecs or delts look after being able to do dips. I've always wanted to be able to do the things strong people can do well. And never really pursued things for the sake of looking a certain way. I currently have my eyes on a one arm ring push-up by the end of 2027. And a pinch grip pull up. Being able to do these things guarantees certain outcomes: muscle, resilient joints, steady mid-section and a tolerance for operating in unfavorable positions. And that's what I dig.