To think that weight-loss diets don't actually work

[AKMD]

SILs and MIL are morbidly obese. They have been on weight loss diets for years, SILs since they were early teens, and are still hugely overweight.

A group of women in a certain department at work are morbidly obese. For the first year I was there I noticed that they always got x + chips from the canteen for lunch, then they all switched to WW ready meals to heat up in the microwave. Three years after the switch they are still morbidly obese.

DH decided to lose weight about 6 months ago and got those stupid milkshake meal replacements. All that happens is that he gets very hungry during the day and overeats when he gets home.

Back in the days when I was into women's magazines I was always when the celebrity being interviewed raved about x latest diet and how great it was, then went on to describe how they did 2 hours of yoga every morning, then went for a run, then worked out with their PT for an hour or so, followed by a massage. Who in the real world has the time or money to do that kind of exercise regime?

AIBU to think that most weight-loss diets don't actually work short-term, none of them work long-term and the only long-term solution for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is to eat a balanced diet and do regular exercise?

Thing is OP, you don't know what your in laws and colleagues are eating in secret :o

Oh, I do. When we first got married and moved in together DH developed terrible headaches for a few weeks. It turned out that they were his body?s reaction to a massive drop in his salt intake as I cook from scratch and don?t add salt to anything whereas he was used to processed food and salt being added during cooking. He also came home one day, saw what I was cooking and nearly cried because all he wanted was chips! There was also the incident when I found about 5 pizza boxes in the boot of the car where he had ?hidden? them so I didn?t know he was eating pizza Now he just eats far too much rubbish while he?s at work during the day but justifies it because he has one of the awful shakes for lunch and a healthy tea when he gets home. MIL and SILs are exactly the same.

Eating a balanced diet will not make you lose weight by itself, but combining it with an increase of physical movement will. The other thing I?ve noticed is that I?ve been going to the same gym for about 8 years and the regulars who were overweight when I joined are still overweight now. In the months before I got married I went swimming, rode my bike, ran and went to the gym every day but made no changes to my diet. I lost no weight whatsoever. When I was at university I ran every day and ate a very simple healthy diet because I couldn?t afford anything else. I went down about 3 dress sizes. The very un-scientific conclusion I draw from those observations is that neither diet nor exercise changes by themselves are enough to make people lose weight, it has to be a combination of both.

The point I was trying to make about the celebrity-endorsed diets was that I couldn?t understand why they were raving about the diet when the amount of exercise they were doing every day was surely going to keep them slim no matter what they ate (or not, if I follow my point above).

Diets don't work because they make you think about food more rather than less.

And because they make it too easy for people to blame the diet for 'not working' when they overeat.

Eat Less Exercise More.

Do you want to give me £5 a week?

I can't talk though I've just joined Slimming World online but mainly cos I wanted access to their recipes as there are some really nice low fat meals on there.

Jasper Carrot did a great sketch about this years ago, 'this hole here [points to face] is bigger than this hole here [points to arse]'...

I have done 100s of diets.

The only thing that works - 1. eat less 2. eat healthier 3. relax and minimise issues around weight and food 4. and throw in a few treats when you want to enjoy them. I think it takes a while to get the full 1,2,3 & 4, perhaps a few failed diets that didn't quite get there

Keep it real, but there will always be an element of artifice IMO in this because we are surrounded by lots of food we neither have to hunt or harvest, so we have to adjust to that in a different way.

ok, so I've lost 96lbs over 15-16 months. I think my relationship is very healthy. If I want something a bit 'naughty' (I hate that word but you know what I mean when I say that) & REALLY want it, I'll have it and deal with it & move on. No point in having it and then not enjoying it!

I've doing a 'mindful eating' type eating plan...eat when you're hungry, stop when you've had enough. It takes a bit of getting used to but on this basis you can almost eat what you want without worry or guilt.

About 2 months ago I joined a gym and immediately stopped losing weight...turns out I'm not eating enough. I need another 300 cals a day to make up for all the extra vigourous exercise so we've put in an extra very small meal that can be taken away if & when I decide to stop exercises quite to vigourously.

Not rocket science; eat less & move more but it doesn't mean it's easy. You have to be motivated and think about what you eat. You need to have a sensible idea of portion size & definately not eat processed food, it's such full of crap! Shakes are not the answer for long term weight loss. How do you work out what's good or bad if you don't change your diet and learn? And you can't go back to the old way of eating either.

you can not say diets do not work when you know your dp secret eats! if he was actually following the diet properly then he would see that it works.
A milkshake diet would be difficult to maintain as when he starts eating regular food he will be back in the same boat as his eating habits haven't changed. i have done weight watchers for 1.5 years and lost 1.5 stone in the first 4 months, i have managed to maintain that weight whilst still enjoying cakes, alcohol, chips etc as i have changed my eating habits and now know when enough is enough. i cannot say i will not gain weight in the future but i can say weight watchers works. it is not a magic way to lose weight, effort is required so i think the people you refer to have not put in enough effort. so yes i think YABU diets can work.

It won't work if you consider yourself on a temporary diet, after which you're going to go back to "normal".

I'm a SW devotee I've lost several stones and kept if off for a couple of years now, but it's not a temporary measure, this is how I eat now, I make sure I have two portions of fibre, two portions of low fat dairy, lots of fruit and veg, a smaller amount of protein, and a limited amount of higher fat/sugar treats.

It's essentially the "eat well plate" an dietician holds up as a health balanced diet, within a framework developed by SW and with support from a consultant and peer group.

Some of us need support, if you don't, I'm pleased for you, but I do need it and I'm happy to pay for it.

YANBU.
I know about half a dozen people who have done WW or SW and within a few years of losing LOADS of weight on it, they gained it all back, and more besides. There are loads of stats out there which show that most people who do diets have gained all the weight plus more back after 2-5 years.

The best diet I've been on can't be paid for unfortunately, nor is it really to be recommended. The Separation Diet, works a storm, 2.5 stone in oooh about 2 weeks, started it the day I left my husband, kept it off until around the time I moved in with current OH about a year & a half later , 2 and a half years on I'm back where I started weightwise

YANBU

I have been reading some amazingly interesting stuff about Base Metabolic Rates and TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and have come to the conclusion that starving oneself by eating below your BMR is so unhealthy and counterproductive as to be ridiculous.

I've been eating 2,000 calories per day (More when I was low carbing, which I have now stopped) and have lost 4.5 inches from my waist since 20th April.

Mental.

Go gluten free ladies. I have to do it for medical reasons and even though I am pregnant, I still feel slim and I'd like to think I am (size 10). I love cakes, but they don't love me (coeliac), so, I just go to a bakery, smell the lovely cake/bread and leave :(

If stuck to weight the majority if weight loss plans do work. It's the individual themselves that puts the weight back on, not the weight loss plan.

YANBU and YABU

Have obese in laws who have been on every diet in the book and are still obese.

But I joined WW, lost a stone then did my fitness pal and lost another stone and have kept it off for a year. Key thing is simply to mind what you eat and don't be a fucking gannet. Oh, and go for a long walk a couple of times a week.

And don't, I repeat, don't, eat the sort of portion appropriate for a six foot navvy if you are a five foot middle aged woman whose idea of exercise is walking to the fridge 30 times a day. like my MIL

YABU. They do work if the person sticks to the diet. It's all calories in and out. It's not the diet, it's the people using them.

I'm a believer in a healthy diet with a calorie deficiency and exercise.

littletrees - the head of the NHS weight loss clinic told me that 1 in a 1000 morbidly obese people will lose weight with only diet and exercise and keep it off permanently.

Good for her that she is one but its not common (note I'm talking about morbidly obese not just overweight)

Yes, kewcumber, when you get to odds like that you can't really just say "the method's fine it's just that people are doing it wrong". If it's so very hard to do right then you have to think that the method itself is flawed.

I have lost more weight than a normal whole family weigh. Have only kept it off recently (last year or two) with a lot of help from the NHS, some drugs, an illness, some exercise (this came after the weight loss) and I would still be considered very overweight by most of you.

But I'm healthy and my weight is stable and I eat healthily (hides hula hoop packet). On the downside I still have emotional issues around food and my ability to tell when I'm hungry just doesn't function at all.

Not that that's relevant to anyone!

Weight loss is possible. Seeing what you eat as a "diet" won't work as others have said. It has to be a permanent lifestyle change and accepting that you may feel a bit hungry at first as losing weight is different to just maintaining the same weight. You also have to get used to not eating uintil you are full but stopping before you are full and eating more slowly with more drinks.
Find exercise you enjoy as well.
Being strong minded and a bit obsessional also helps.

I have lost about 30 kilos since Oct last year. Now I do not bother to weigh myself so may have lost more. I don't care as I judge by my clothes. I did it by changing my lifestyle. I started exercising every day, running the dog, going to the gym, swimming and dancing. I have dropped from a size 20 to a 12 and look faaaabulous! .

It was something going bing in my mind. My ex left me and the kids and I could see myself heading towards mobid obesity and perhaps death? So I took control and just cut out unhealthy stuff, watched portions and ate a lot of veg and fruit.

I did not bother with any diet or club. They don't work in my opinion. What does work for me is my motivation; no matter how tired I am, I still go to the gym (luckily about 4 mins walk from my home). I also started Latin variety dancing and now do two classes a week and go to the dance parties on a Saturday and dance for about 4 or 5 hours straight! I am keen you see .

I now eat well as in lots of good stuff for my body. I have cake but not everyday.

Being fit and healthy is wonderful and as I adore clothes this is even more of a motivation.

So YANBU.

strawberry I have just deletes my fitness pal from my phone for this very reason.

Successfully lost weight in my twenties with WW, just completed my family and now, with SW, back to 9 st 9 lbs. Would like to lose a few more but happy really - decided to maintain with mfp but found myself adding in slices of carrot cake from costa and obsessively tweaking everything else. Big problem, I know this signals weight gain.

The two things I think make it hard are that you have to eat - as they say, other addicts must avoid their addiction while overeaters can't. And naturally thin people don't think about food all that much while you have to think about it a lot when you diet.

"head of the NHS weight loss clinic told me that 1 in a 1000 morbidly obese people will lose weight with only diet and exercise and keep it off permanently."

If true, do you think that is the fault of the diet or perhaps due to character defects, genes, and environment that led to those people being morbidly obese in the first place?

YANBU and you've hit a nerve for me... When I was nine a girl in my class pointed out to me (very helpfully) that I'd got 'fat legs'. Looking back at photos of myself I can see that I was skinny. But I went on my first diet - lost weight, started eating normally again, and regained the weight and a tiny bit extra. I've repeated this cycle ever since, with the result that I'm now slightly overweight despite having spent most of my life either on a diet or on a 'post diet binge'. It's so unhealthy, I know it, but it seems to be considered perfectly normal behaviour. I've just recently been forming a resolution to stop dieting and start eating healthily concentrating on nutrition not weight loss, and being more active in ways that I enjoy and not to take a blind bit of notice of the scales. I resent how much money I've spent on diet books, weightwatchers membership (got to gold twice...which speaks for itself! ). The diet industry is an industry, not a charity and they want us to keep spending money.