Losing weight is like stopping smoking.....

[stripeyreds0cks]

You know what you need to do and why you need to do it but until you're ready and in the right frame of mind, you just can't do it.
I said this to dh last night and he disagrees. He hasn't ever had to do either though

Possible but very, very hard and easy to relapse?

Don't know, as I've never smoked. But for me, to lose weight, I just need to want it more than I want the cake (and to keep on wanting it for a few weeks)!
I imagine that it is much harder for people who are using food as a crutch to deal with trauma though, or who have mental health issues etc.

Far too many variables.

I stopped smoking after 20 years really easily.

I have binge eating disorder so losing weight is a differing game altogether.

It was for me, OP.

I suppose it depends why people are doing it.

Lack of knowledge understanding or nutrition, role of hormones in weight gain/loss - people don't know or understand why they are gaining weight or how to change it.

Liking the food - don't really care as they'd rather eat the cake, eat the cheese, drink the beer until they decide not to anymore.

Emotional trauma - needs more than will power alone.

I've never smoked, and while I agree about having to be in the zone to lose weight, it's surely very different in that we are not aiming to quit food, like a smoker or alcoholic can give up completely because moderation is so hard. We can't avoid occasions when we'd ususlly eat, in fact we'll still be thinking about food- and possibly arranging food for others- several times a day for ever. No one expects an alcoholic going sober to host a daily drinks party.

What does he disagree with? I don't really think stopping smoking and weight loss is completely comparable.

Certainly with changing any habit there needs to be a mindset shift. I've never smoked so I've not had the experience of giving it up.

But with smoking, I think needs less frame of mind work to quit. There's all sorts of support available, and I get it's not as simple as 'you can just not buy fags' but well it helps doesn't it? If you don't have them, or the means to get them you can't smoke whether you're in the right frame of mind or not in that moment.

Whereas you can't not have food around - sure you avoid having crisps and chocolate in...unless others are having it for lunch. But that doesn't stop terrible portion control, or making the wrong choices for dinner.

Essentially, I feel with smoking it doesn't constantly require the right frame of mind, that you can put things in place to mitigate the times you lack willpower. That you can 'lapse' - that after you have one cigarette, you can quit straight after and that's that. Having 1 a week is better than 1 every 2 hours.

Whereas dieting, it feels like you have to constantly maintain the right mindset, you constantly have to choose one thing over another you might want more. You have to constantly deny every opportunity, and a lapse isn't just an end of a streak but actually sets you back, maybe not to the start but you have work to mitigate the damage, or repeat back through the progress you made, depending how you 'badly' you lapsed.

It surely depends on the person? I have lost 2 stone since last summer and haven’t found it too difficult, but cannot stop smoking even though I really want to and know how unhealthy it is. Food is just food and I find it easy to not eat junk food etc. even if it’s in the house, but I’m incapable of not buying cigarettes - if I try not smoking I literally cry and I’m not that heavy a smoker. In fact the more I think about quitting the more I want to smoke, I guess some people might feel like that about food.

Hmmm. I see your point, but nobody needs to smoke. If someone stops smoking they never need to smoke again. But everybody needs to eat. You can't just stop eating/'give up' eating.

I gave up smoking once. I literally just stopped. Had one and thought, "I'm not doing this again," and didn't.

I had another one about 17 years later (the first since quitting). I'm finding it really difficult to give up now.

Changing my diet and losing weight was far easier! But then I knew what I was doing wrong there and just made appropriate changes. I lost 2 stone about 5 years ago, kept it off and have just started on the final one. I don't crave anything and haven't been tempted once to eat crap.

I guess it just proves that everyone is different 🤷🏻‍♀️

I found giving up smoking was easier than losing weight.