To think that people who say diets don’t work aren’t really trying

I ate 1k calories a day, carefully weighed out and portioned and I kept it up for 4 months. I gained a pound. My TDEE is supposed to be around 2.5k.

I have several health conditions as well as severe hypothyroidism that isn't responding to treatment (TSH of 25 despite taking more than a full replacement dose of thyroxine).

It's not as simple as just calories. Burning fat requires certain conditions and requirements and it's possible to have your body messed up enough that it's not able to enter that fat burning process. All that happened for me is I was permanently exhausted, had awful skin and hair, and lost huge amounts of muscle and strength.

My late OH had a terminal lung condition. He had a TDEE of 1.8k and was rapidly losing weight eating 4k calories a day.

He'd often cook dinner and serve up two thirds for himself and a third for me, then eat the half of my dinner I didn't eat after polishing his off, along with constant snacking and lots of sugary tea.

Well 50% of posters agree with you.

I could eat whatever I wanted up until about 42 ish. I was around size 8-10.
Even eating healthily doesn’t work for me anymore, I now do intermittent fasting and eating pulses, lentils, vegetables, around 1,000 cals, maybe 1,500 to lose anything and it’s bloody hard and very boring! No crisps, choc, cake, wine, breads, potatoes most of the time. Wall Pilates, my bike and walking for exercise. I would’ve agreed with you ten years ago, but not now.

I think genetics plays a part. I hated being 12.5 stone and have dieted to get to 10.5. Have slipped a bit and put on 3lbs in 2 weeks. I am either severely hungry or I put on weight, there’s nothing in between. But my partner would just cut back a bit and barely get hungry to lose.Sickening!

Gotta love goady posts like this. I assume OP is in her 20’s/early 30’s.

Let’s wait until you have chronic health conditions or have hit menopause. (And this is me who was a fit size 8 and didn’t even have to try hard to lose weight until about 42. ).

If only people just tried hard enough 🙄. And all people with mental health issues like depression, they just need to think happy 🤣

Diets work but it’s the maintenance that people struggle with. We tend to be goal oriented: I want to lose X pounds by Y’s wedding/my summer holiday/to fit in this dress. If one get to that goal great. They then increase their calories and think they can have that second piece of toast or slice of cake or bigger portions in general as they are no longer in a diet. They stop tracking. Then the weight creeps back on.
Permanent changes to eating habits is what’s needed and that’s very very difficult.

The set-point theory is held by a number of 'scientists', but not supported universally. Specifically, data from randomized controlled pharmacological weight loss trials question the existence of a set-point theory - and there's many factors involved that make the set-point theory simplistic (at best).

So why is such a large percentage of the UK population over weight if it’s soooo simple? Do tell us…..

People can fail at diets for many reasons, one of them being anxiety as feeling hungry can cause anxiety to soar and one of the only ways to calm down is to eat something.

I’m not overweight at all ( normal BMI) but I’d like to loose 5-6lbs as I think clothes would look more streamlined, however I’m finding it extremely difficult as every time I deprive myself of food my anxiety sky rockets so I end up eating to calm down

Well if you’re a shortarse like me, you need to eat around 1100-1200 cals a day to loose weight. It’s fine for a week or two then it becomes bloody miserable.
My husband is bigger/taller than me and can loose weight on around 1800 cals a day.
He has 600-700 extra cals a day to play with. Thats snacks, mayo, a beer or two.

Guess which one of us finds it easier to stick to a calorie controlled diet.

I'm post menopausal and have lost weight in recent years and kept it off, it was no harder than when I was young. I need to lose a bit more and know that I can do it quite easily. As OP says, it's just a matter of eating less.

However, I don't believe in "diets". I still eat the same food as I always have, just less of it.

Were you slim prior to pregnancy OP? If so I’m guessing you don’t have to try too hard to get back to pre pregnancy weight than say someone who easily piles on the pounds and yes your post is goady

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Better to be silent & thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.

But you and OP have both said to lose weight you need to eat less lol. There’s no crime in that it’s facts

Not just will power, either. Some of us could be super slim/eat "perfectly" and skip to the gym daily-and then something happens, and we pile on weight.
The woman who had operation after operation for a few different things, and couldn't exercise, and even with a diet has piled on 40kg.
The main who had a brain tumour who has piled on 5 stone since I saw him 2 years ago.
The woman who has had cancer, and is still on a lot of medication.
The aerobics instructor, who has put on 2 stone since menopause, despite being able to eat well (as in, she has enough money and knowledge to cook and eat well) and teaching/training every day.
That's just some of the many people who have perfect "will power" and know what they should be eating. It doesn't even mention the fact that it's harder to eat well these days-so many UPFs available, and it can be difficult and expensive to eat as people might like to.

But that is absolutely the point. We can all make excuses.

Well yes, but currently there's no bigger crime than to say 'want to lose weight? Eat less'...

I agree OP. It’s so hard to get yourself into the right headspace and it is so hard to stick to it but it really is as simple as calories in/calories out and stick to it, even when you don’t want to.

People will tie themselves in knots trying to explain how diets don’t work for them and how if they eat too little they don’t lose but it’s just not true.

I’m having a fairly successful time losing weight at the moment. Very slowly but very sustainably and I know that if I fall off the wagon I really will struggle to get back to it.

No, like all bad habits, change has to be a lifelong lifestyle adjustment to keep the momentum going.

Once you fall off the wagon, it's hard to get back on.

Op is saying people need to eat less calories to loose weight, you say she is incorrect because some people have to eat a lot less than others to lose weight… so they have to eat less calories which is what Op said.

I think people don’t realise how little they have to eat and how much hunger they will have to push past to lose the weight. It’s a hard thing to accept.

I agree this is the crux of the issue. Losing weight, or simply maintaining a low-ish weight, is really hard. And for most people it involves feeling very hungry a lot of the time.

And I think this is the issue we’re now seeing with the weight loss injections. People are managing to lose weight as their hunger signals are turned off, or drastically reduced. But when they come off the drugs the weight is going back on as they simply haven’t accepted that they need to spend a lot of time feeling hungry to maintain their new weight.

Sure but it’s selfish, it’s about you, your health and/or vanity. Great but by choosing to spend time and energy on this, you’re choosing not to spend it on other things that might be more beneficial to the world
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And nobody needs to hear about it. It would be like me starting a thread saying well why doesn’t everyone run marathons, it just takes training and dedication and willpower l, all true and marvellous for your health too but it’s a personal hobby. If I want to have that type of rant I’d do it with fellow runners.

Also dieting may be great for your health (or it may not, the evidence is out) but often it precludes other important habits which the evidence supports eg family meals eating the same as your children most days, eating food you enjoy which we know will improve nutrient absorption, many dieters are not competent eaters and don’t raise children who are competent eaters and yet competent eating is more important for long term health than weight.

It’s like saying a drug addict can just stop taking drugs. Some can, but for the majority, a whole package of support is required.
YABU.

Interestingly the anxiety that came with the old peri-meno meant I lost 2 stone without even trying. I have no appetite for food any more. I can only bear to eat once a day and when that isn't a lot because I get full up so quickly. It's not a given that women suddenly get fat when they hit their 40s!