to think the diet industry is utterly evil?

[ICBINEG]

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.

I have a scale in the house and use it about once a week. If I have it on a pound, I will be careful with my portion size for a while and maybe not have ice cream.

Even if I let myself go didn't weigh myself, I would need a scale in the house to see DC's weight when I need to give them medicine.

Put on a pound, rather.

I haven't watched the programme, as I didn't know about it, but I did watch The Men Who made us Fat, and that programme left me in a state of shock for a few weeks. What I gathered from it was that you were better off eating full fat than "low fat" options and that coke and fizzy drinks were a big cause for obesity.

The diet industry is a great big sham. You don't need to eat low fat foods to lose weight. If you watched The men who made us fat, you'll know what kind of crap they put into those low fat options to bulk it up. People end up thinking they can have two helpings or three because its "low fat" and end up getting fatter, and the food companies get richer.

Stop eating processed food, stop buying ready meals, stop drinking fizzy drinks with every meal, bulk your dishes up with vegetables, stop eating low fat options and don't feel guilty when eating a cake or fast food once in a while. This has always worked for me.

I've watched the programme now, and found it very irritating. I don't agree with off the shelf, commercial diets or the dieting industry. But I thought some of the dieting company spokes people talked more sense than the presenter (e.g. the Slim Fast guy who said it's not just the products, but the people who determine their dieting success).

The programme spent a lot of time dwelling on the long-term failure of diets, but failed to state what people did when they came off a diet. (Can you seriously blame a diet company five years down the line for an individual's weight, when that person may only have used the diet for a few weeks?)

The analysis of the success of the health service intervention (GPs referring overweight patients to weight loss classes) was appalling. Peretti concluded that only 10 out of 1000 people had maintained their weight loss after 5 years, when 885 of the 1000 had not responded to the invitation in the first place! How could he make assumptions about the weight(loss) of the 885 non responders?

Several posters have mentioned the temptation and abundance of cheap, tasty, unhealthy food, and how something should be done about it. I don't think excessive intervention from the state is the answer. The answer lies with people learning/relearning to eat 'normally' and being able to navigate the vast array of available choices. It is entirely possible to eat a diet that is fairly healthy overall, and to also sometimes eat (and not feel the need to binge on) rubbishy treats. By not excluding them, and using willpower to resist them, you reduce their power.

I've not read the whole thread so apologies if I repeat anything other posters have said.

I've been overweight all my life, so was my mum, my gran etc. As a child, I was comforted with food, rewarded with food, encouraged to eat everything on my plate to the point of being uncomfortably full. As a result, I have no concept of portion control and I really struggle with willpower. I have tried WW a couple of times and, each time, have lost a stone or two very quickly, then got very bored and put it all back on, as there's no way I can count points on everything I put in my mouth for the rest of my life.

However, I joined SW a few months back and it's been a revelation, as their way is more focused on what foods you can fill up on, and making changes for life. I've lost a couple of stones so far and haven't felt like I've been depriving myself. I've learnt to fill up on their "free" foods; fruit, veg, pasta, rice, potatoes, eggs, lean meats and fish, but go easy on things like bread, cheese etc. I allow myself a treat every day, but pick something like a small milky bar or a freddo, as oppose to a kingsize mars bar like I would've picked before.

It's only small changes, as I've always eaten a relatively healthy diet, but I would eat large bars of chocolate, too much cheese, not cut fat off meat etc. and I'm slowly learning that these things make a difference.

Fortunately, my ds doesn't seem to have picked up on my attitude to food and that's how I would like it to stay. I'm not huge by any means, but was a size 18-20 at my biggest (down to a 14-16 now) and realised if I kept eating as I was, I was only going to get bigger and get all the health problems associated with that. I agree that faddy diets don't work and , ime, WW isn't a diet that is sustainable for life, but, for me, SW is working and is teaching me to eat healthily for life. I know I could've done this on my own, but I need that kick up the ass of going to a weekly meeting to spur me on!

Can you seriously blame a diet company five years down the line for an individual's weight, when that person may only have used the diet for a few weeks?

Yes I can. Because if the person hadn't been lied to or persuaded to try the quick fix instead of a the slow small change approach then at least they wouldn't have suffered the failed diet bonus weight.....

Offering the quick fix is causing people to gain weight. It is that simple. and the diet/food industry are to blame.

and have sight of what is in processed foods through proper labelling. So you know how much meat is in your sausage, should you choose to buy a sausage. And I think we have trashed the myth that fresh is expensive.
Firstly, the horse meat scandal has helped prove that food labelling may well not be worth the paper it's written on. And in terms of sausages, 85% meat doesn't necessarily mean pork! 85% pork doesn't necessarily mean meat. It is just as likely to mean connective tissue or any old gunk which was once attached to a pig! And that meat may be labelled British but can actually be from any number of countries of origin.
Secondly, the definition of 'fresh' is very dubious!
Fresh fruit and veg can be placed in warehouses with low oxygen levels and other gases added to prolong life. By months! Open a packet of bagged salad and inhale as you open. It's not filled with air! Fresh meat has often been imported. Travelled many miles in chillers or freezers. Meat is filled with water to bulk it out.
If you want REAL fresh produce, use a butcher, or an independent green grocer. And then come back and tell us its cheap!

I buy our meat from a local butcher and a local abbatoir...both work out cheaper than the supermarket, and both can tell me exactly what local farms supply their meat. We don't live near enough a local green grocer, unfortunately, so I can't comment on that....I do the best I can with the supermarket offerings.

I find that my grocery bills are better when I don't have the addition of convenience food.

Can you seriously blame a diet company five years down the line for an individual's weight, when that person may only have used the diet for a few weeks?

ICBINEG
Yes I can. Because if the person hadn't been lied to or persuaded to try the quick fix instead of a the slow small change approach then at least they wouldn't have suffered the failed diet bonus weight.....

What lies are you talking about? What, specifically, have diet companies promised? Do people really expect to go on a commercial diet for a few weeks or months and maintain life long weight loss thereafter, whether or not they stay on the diet? Nobody believes that, surely? As I said earlier, many dieters have a short term objective in mind, like fitting into an outfit for a specific occasion. I believe, and others have said, that a weight loss objective on its own, just to look better, is not going to be as significant or helpful as a longer term health and fitness based goal.

I'm fatter than I was five years ago and I've never signed up to any diet. I have had two children in that time.

Don't people get fatter as they get older anyway? Middle aged spread and all that. Blaming the diet company for the inevitable when you settle down and spend the evenings on the sofa with your partner seems a bit convenient.

I do Slimming World. When I reach my target (1.5 stone to go!) I can carry on going tks meetings and have full access to the online services etc, FOR FREEMAN FOREVER. They clearly have faith in their methods as a long-term plan.

to for free forever*. Gah.

noble people who have been on a diet are on average fatter than those that don't. Both groups get fatter a they get older...but people who have been conned into dieting are even more so.

But of course people who have been on a diet are fatter than those that don't, because those that don't go on diets generally don't go on diets because they aren't fat. Slim people don't go on diets!

What I mean is that I'm slim, so I haven't been on a diet. I don't put my slimness down to not having been on a diet, but vice versa.

TallulahBetty No, they are using slim members being there as advertising. Plus if you have gone whilst under your target you are more likely to keep going should you put the weight back on, so they get more money.

It is a long term plan, to make them money. If you wouldn't pay (because you are a healthy weight) the only way they can get you into the meetings to advertise to you is to let you in for free.

have been checking out slimming world....you have to do some maths but it looks like 25% of their members have maintained at least a 10% of body weight loss at 6 months. So that's 75% of people whose money they took who aren't more than 10% of their body weight lighter at 6 months....and of course the majority of them will be heavier than if they hadn't handed over the money.

"Slimming World?s modern and highly effective approach to weight loss is empowering and enabling. Our support ? online and in group ? is based on a deep understanding of how you feel and a passionate desire to help you achieve your personal weight loss goals ? and maintain them for life! "

Someone was asking where they were lying....can you spot it yet? They also bang on about it being 'easy'...which seems highly unlikely...

Although actually out of all the diet industry I actually think SW are one of the, if not good then at least less evil guys....

noblewtf? You take a RCT of fat people. Those who go on diets put on more weight after 5 years than those who didnt.

conclusion:- that dieting makes you fatter than not dieting.

Is that getting any clearer for you?

The same is true of slim people who diet and don't btw...

That's not what you said, icbineg, re the RCT, you said 'people who have been on a diet are on average fatter than those who don't'. Perhaps you should have been more precise in your original statement, if what you actually meant was 'in a trial of fat people, those that went on a diet ended up fatter than those that didn't'

Have you got a link to the trial, btw?

YY Hoarder. Plus you have to stay within 4 pounds of your target to get the meetings for free. Not always easy when you can easily gain that in water just before a period.
ICINBERG ive never known pain like it It was a nighmare. My Slimming World consultant knew how ill i was She knew what had caused it and i didnt even get one phone call from her to ask how i was NOT ONE PHONE CALL.
I went back to sw a couple of years ago and on another members first week back she had lost eleven pounds in one week Everyone was whooping and cheering and i was horrified. Because where are these diet consultants when/if you get ill because of it. I can tell you from experience .... NOWHERE TO BE SEEN!

Didn't you see the program noble? it was all based on famous trials back in the day that showed that people 'put on a diet' ended up gaining more than they lost....

It doesn't matter what weight you are...if you go on a diet then on average you will end up weighing more than if you hadn't.

Which is what I said...and is true.

dark that is really awful. Did you say something? I don't think I could have kept my silence....

surely no one in the world thinks 11 pounds a week is okay....

Im hoping to start WW tomorrow night but am willing to combine it with regular excercise. And im prepared for it to be a long term project. Im not expecting quick results.im 11 years older for a start.