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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think the diet industry is utterly evil?

385 replies

ICBINEG · 11/08/2013 13:16

been watching 'The men that made us thin' and am simply overwhelmed.

So diets don't work....most people end up heavier than if they had not dieted at all...one guy was like "well duh! if they worked we would lose our customers"....another wrote a book aimed at teenage girls including the advice to " buy scales and keep them secret from your parents"

The constant stream of adverts aimed at middle aged women are seen by children who by age 6-7 have self-esteem issues and can quote the number of calories in most foods...

My evil-ometer is broken.

OP posts:
mercury7 · 14/08/2013 01:32

Ok, perhaps I can re phrase...if a person gains body fat it is clearly due to some combination of food intake, activity level and metabolism/genotype.

Clearly getting fat is easily done these days...otherwise there wouldnt be so many people who are fat?

Angelfootprints · 14/08/2013 01:34

I don't think WW is evil at all!

I love the fact I can still eat foods I like and eat at restaurants but instead in a far more controlled way that makes me think rather than mindlessly eat.

I have never felt pressured to buy their products.

I have put on a lot of weight and it was due to my pregnancy (it really was,) and now I must lose it. It is overwhelming and daunting.

I do feel a bit cross I have to go to this effort now due to something not my doing, but it isn't anyone's fault its just something unfortunate. Though it is my fault for not losing the weight sooner. I have being putting my head in the sand.

There are plenty of slim people who live in the same world as me so I don't think it is societies fault or we would all be fat.

mercury7 · 14/08/2013 01:40

no wait!!
I am watching this:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b038p1pm/hd/Horizon_20132014_Monitor_Me/

maybe self monitoring will be the solution? :o

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 01:47

Angel i am starting WW tonight ....hopefully.

Angelfootprints · 14/08/2013 01:52

Oh, well we can do it together!

I did for my wedding a few years ago and lost quite a bit.

I got some really good recipes from them too- the roast potatoes recipe is wonderful. We still use it all the time.

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 02:00

The problem im going to have with their recipes is being able to afford all the ingredients.

Angelfootprints · 14/08/2013 02:20

They aren't overly expensive to be honest depending on what you pick- really you can eat what you like but in smaller quantities and tweaks (such as spray oil and not frying oil etc.)

MrsMook · 14/08/2013 06:53

Something posted upthread reminds me of my old termtime niggle...

At the same time and venue of our Brownie meeting is WW. There is limited parking at the front of the venue. Plenty of parking is avaliable at the rear of the venue, but being on a hill, there's 2 staircases worth of steps between. Generally I'll walk, but sometimes I'll drive because I'm struggling with Brownie kit or in two phases in the last couple of years been pg and been unable to manage the steps because of SPD. Can the Brownie Leaders get anywhere near the venue? The WW leaders with kit are fine, we know which cars those are, but for those people going to lose weight, I do wonder what the sucess rate is for those who must park as close as possible and won't use the main car park and do a little walking...

EagleRiderDirk · 14/08/2013 08:37

mrsmook we quite often can't get into one of the local carparks because its filled with people who are going rambling. why drive to rambling?

I've only ever done two diets per set, GI and 5:2 (though I briefly touched on ww but felt it wasn't for me). GI did me really well, but I fell off the wagon by not continuing to follow it following a nasty accident (which screwed my arm so badly I couldn't really prep food so relied on things you can throw in the oven and junk). every now and then I dip back into GI habits because they're good, but I cannot stick to it. 5:2 is phenomenal for me, and quite a few others on here. its teaching me to have a healthy relationship with food and that treats aren't bad but they should be just that, treats. I have the best relationship I ever had with food and alcohol and I just hope I can stick to this long term. it's likely I will though as its helping my pernicious anaemia and nothing else I've tried has ever done that.

fascicle · 14/08/2013 11:10

ICBINEG
fascicle isn't being able to stick with diet plan an extremely key part of any diet?

I mean the drop out rate is important! You can't ignore the people that started your diet and couldn't keep it up and only measure the success of those that did?

I think it's reasonable and logical to assume that when a company describes their product or system as 'highly effective', that it means highly effective when used as directed. Those undertaking a diet will have different motivations/levels of motivation and will apply themselves in varying degrees to the diet. If some people try less hard than others, can you really say that's a reflection of the diet rather than a reflection of an individual's effort?

That's not to say that some diets aren't ludicrous, unhealthy, difficult to use etc. Actually, the point you are making is, for me, part and parcel of what's wrong with a lot of conventional diets - people having to 'stick with a diet plan', people ditching their diet 'who couldn't keep it up'.

Losing weight/getting fit shouldn't, and doesn't have to be, that hard. Not if you sort out the psychology as well as the physiology. I think the reason why dieting is so difficult for many people, is that they change their eating habits, often temporarily, often drastically, in a way that's not sustainable, without changing the way they think about food and eating.

It is possible to learn to eat healthily, including snacking inbetween meals if you want to; to enjoy food but not be obsessed with it, and to maintain a healthy weight. To do so usually involves eradicating some old habits and creating some new ones which might take time and effort (but not as much as proper dieting).

WorraLiberty · 14/08/2013 11:39

Is anyone else on this thread getting a dodgy advert on the right hand side of the page (under discussions of the day) after posting on this thread?

It's apparently a 'Weight loss product that terrifies doctors'?

Obviously a scam. I've started a thread in Site Stuff but not sure if it's just me?

ICBINEG · 14/08/2013 11:49

I think it is random worra but I do think MN should be a bit more careful about the adds they run in general....

OP posts:
ICBINEG · 14/08/2013 11:55

fas i think we are broadly on the same page now...

I am simple saying that a starve yourself diet is ineffective because noone sticks to it....that it makes no difference how effective it would be if you did...because you can't.

I think diets should publish three things...the weight loss of those properly engaging...the weight loss of those participating (paying money in the case of SW WW etc.) and the drop out rate.

Then you will be able to see how good it is for the people that follow it, how bad it is for the people who don't and what your chances of keeping it up are.

Then you can assess if it is for you or not.

So random berry extract pills will have a high keeping up rate but feck all effectiveness for people taking them....where as SW will have a reasonable effectiveness rating but a bit of shocking drop out rate.

OP posts:
mercury7 · 14/08/2013 11:59

I have never been on a diet, if I want to shed some fat I either reduce my food intake or increase my exercise level.
Then I keep it that way.

WorraLiberty · 14/08/2013 12:00

Ahh right thanks.

It seems a few people are seeing the ad

ICBINEG · 14/08/2013 12:15

yup it will be on random cycle...Ill probably get it soon enough...

OP posts:
Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 21:26

Well i started WW this evening and i weigh more than i thought 16 stone 8 pounds. I just cant afford to buy deluxe starter packs and loads of paraphernalia but i did buy a pro points calculator and am struggling with it i worked out ribena immunity support is 0 points but i tried to work out a mullerlight yoghurt and because the ingredients are based on 100 grams and the portion is 165 grams i just cant make the adjustment in my head to work out the differences in carbs protein etc. My mathematical ability just isnt up to it It shouudnt have to be this hard surely.

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 21:47

Looked at some old kitchen scales i have Cant make head nor tail of it Its in ouncses and pounds I need it in grams. Confused

Ilovemyself · 14/08/2013 21:52

noblegiraffe. The reason that SW do not have excercise in class is because they encourage you to make excercise an every day part of your life.

Saggyoldclothcat. I suggest you misunderstood what was being taught at SW. Yes you can eat as much as you like, but you still need to use common sense. If you eat to the point that you feel ill you have eaten too much.

I used to be a SW consultant and it is not really a diet. It is a lifestyle choice and a change to eating healthily and doing regular excercise. And that doesn't mean joining a gym. It is simply doing things like using the stairs or taking the dog for an extra 10 minutes on its walk.

I know that the plan works and SW show their commitment by allowing people to continue to go FOC when they are at target.

I am no longer a consultant, but I still go to group as it helps me stay focused.

So I would say a fad diet, or ones that make you buy their own products are never going to work long term. But if you can change your bad habits, you will lose weight.

Ilovemyself · 14/08/2013 21:53

Oh, and I forgot to add. If you are starving yourself it will never work long term

Angelfootprints · 14/08/2013 23:08

Darkesteyes can you download the WW app for your phone or ipad if you have one? It is free and really easy to work out points.

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 23:29

Ive got a tablet which Dh bought me He said he will try but is as much in the dark as i am. it My smartphone is a cheap one Its not up to this
Ive never used an app or downloaded one before in my life. What about ppl who dont have all this technology because they cant afford it What are they suppossed to do.
I stand by the comment that it should NOT be this hard or involve all this faffing about.

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 23:33

Good god i only want to lose some weight not get a bloody computer degree Confused Angry

Angelfootprints · 14/08/2013 23:34

I first did WW before the apps were out and used a WW calculator with a book a picked up off ebay. Personally I found it quite straight forward. Just a little tedious at times.

If you can give a few minutes to the app it will be worth it.

Even if you were on a standard counting diet you would still need to work out weights and amounts of calories in everything anyway.

Darkesteyes · 14/08/2013 23:57

Its because i didnt have to do it with SW It was just filling up on free foods Ask me to knock up an article for a womens campaigning website and i can do a bloody good article in less than 20 mins.
But anything involving maths i get very confused Was unable to do GCSE Maths at school so had to do C and G Numaracy instead. Its just not my strong point at all. Would help immensely if food labelling was for a 165g portion if that is what is contained within the carton instead of 100g which is what is written on the carton leaving me to have to work out several different figures for the protein carbs etc before i even start inputting it into the pro points calculator.