Regarding dieting

[Climbingthewalls12]

Just watching that Channel 4 program about people who used to be fat, then thin then fat again and its got me thinking.

AIBU tonot see how people can claiming dieting and exercise don't work and to say that of course they bloody do if you stick to it and do it properly. As someone who has previously lost a great deal of weight this way it really grates on me that people use it as an excuse.

I know there can be medical issues but the general reality is that people don't do it properly!

I agree that anything labelled the Anything "Diet" is going to be a load of old shit.

It's reasonably tough to wade through all the dross and figure out what you have to do to lose weight if you've never had to do it before (as I did after I had my first child).

The principles are fairly easy though (for people without a physical disability or other factor that prevents them from working out):

• Do exercise to the point of sweating and breathlessness at least every other day. (Difficult when you work full-time and have a family, but usually not impossible if you're bloody-minded enough about it.)
• Drink a bit more water if you normally have none.
• Get rid of certain foods which will pile on the pounds but won't fill you up or make you feel even fleetingly satisfied- crisps and McDonalds and that sort of thing.
• Be sensible overall. Eat when you're hungry but never to the point of feeling ill, and don't buy snacks so you're not tempted.

I think the anti-sugar thing is likely to prove to be another passing fad. I adore chocs of all descriptions. It didn't make me fat, though, and I still have choccies every day.

The other thing that works for me is to not have scales in the house. When I have them, I'm never off the bloody things, and it makes me a bit obsessive.

And my post to Art was sarcastic btw - why so smug and again, judgemental? Just because something works for you, doesn't mean it will work for everyone.

Excuses, excuses, excuses !!

Some people just don't want to lose weight.

Stop eating and see if you lose weight.

Its all about the food, its not rocket science. Eat the right foods in small amounts the weight will drop off.

I don't have an issue with people being overwieght/underweight/healthy weight as that is entirely their choice and IMO people of all weights can look amazing. My issue is those who claim that they want to lost weight but that they can't when the truth is that they CAN, all it takes is commitment and hard work, it isn't easy don't think anyone says it is but it really grates when people say "oh your so lucky to lose all that weight" no i'm not lucky, I worked my ass off.

I'm sorry, but OP you are 22. Come back in 10 years and see how you feel then.

When I was 22 I didn't eat wall to wall crap, but I wasn't super healthy either. I was the same size as I am now pretty much, but it was much easier to maintain. If I gained weight, I'd just do a bit more running or lay off chocolate for a week and it would be gone. I'm 32 now, active (gym 3 times a week), watch what I eat etc. and have to be constantly vigilant to remain the same size. If I overindulge a bit, it takes months to get that weight off again. Same with DH. He's always been effortlessly slim (and his parents are slim. His mother's very careful about portion sizes/what she eats) and then he hit 30 and it suddenly became a bit more effortfull.

On the grandparents thing, both my grandmothers were overweight (not majorly so, but still overweight. For one it was totally down to her sweet tooth, my mother is the same) and my one grandmother in law is/was overweight.

FFS STOP picking up on my age, honestly people will find any fucking excuse! It might make it more difficult but it does NOT make it impossible.

how about I come back at 30 and show you i've kept the weight off, plenty of people do. No need to be so bloody rude.

Sleep - what? How's it good for me? I have stated that various family members don't snack and haven't been overweight. Everyone who I know that is overweight snacks a lot. Not fact, just what I see

Age is a big factor IMHO. I was alwasts slim - a size 10 (way back when a size 10 was very slim but that's a different thread). I hit my mid-30's and put on a stone and a half in a year. No lifestyle change. I think my metabolism just slowed down. I just have to eat less and do more now to keep my weight down.

But people do want to lose weight and then find they can't for whatever reason, I battled with my weight for 15 years before finally being in a position to gain control and it has been - and still is - bloody hard, eating and exercise is the easy part the mental side of it is awful but getting better slowly

OP when I was 22 I could have written your exact post! In fact, I could have written it at 30 a well, having kept the weight off for a good part of a decade and thinking a similar thing to you ... until I got pregnant with DC1 just before I turned 31 and now weigh the same as I did when I started the weight loss journey the first time. And of course I would love to lose the weight and the fact is I do try, but it is so much harder this time around, even by eating the same restricted foods and doing the exercise as the first time around. Fact is, my metabolism is so much slower now. It's frustrating, but true in my case

It works for you Art, that's great - really. No need to be so judgey about how everyone else is eating though, plenty of people manage their weight very well by regularly snacking. As I said, just because your way works for you, doesn't mean everyone else would be the same.

climbing - you are being over sensitive about the age thing, no one has been rude, they've just pointed out their experience with their own changing bodies, experience you haven't had yet, so with the greatest respect, can't comment on in the same way.

Please PLEASE come back in 10 years. You'll hang your head in shame. I can bet on it.

And it's not an excuse, it's a fact.

As I said, I'm the same size I was when I was 22. I can still wear the same clothes. But I can't eat a whole pizza while extremely hunger with no ill effects.

Some people are fat when they are young and lose as they get older. Puppy fat springs to mind, I had loads of it lol

Age is an issue, is anyone being rude to you?, I think we're relaying our life experiences.

I do think people are picking on the op rather.

You can lose weight at any age, although it may become harder. As you get older you need to do more exercise to help boost the metabolism.

I lost 4 stone at 37 and have pretty much kept it off (nearly 41 now). But I can only eat 1200 cals a day in the week and about 2,000 at the weekend and exercise 2-3 times a week.

Over Xmas I will have put some on, so will go to 1200 cals a day 7 days a week and up the exercise and it will shift.

Willpower IS what it takes but emotional issues and availability of high cal foods everywhere mean it is bloody hard. So many people make excuses not to exercise, but in reality it can be done anywhere, anytime (almost).

No one is being rude to the op.

Age is the issue in terms of being able to lose weight easily and keep it off easily.

We are not commenting on her youth per se, just that it is really really relevant when discussing this particular subject.

Op, are you saying that everyone who suffers from gradual weight increase over the years is a perpetual snacker who has no self control? That is just daft.

Middle aged spread has been around since long before the current obesity epidemic.

Yes, please come back at 30, but more relevantly come back at 50 and say the same.

At 48 your mother probably hasn't been through the menopause yet.

I don't disagree with what you're saying OP...but I don't understand what you're trying to gain from this rather evangelistic, judgey thread?

I have a mental image of you giving up smoking and then shouting "HA! HA! LOSERRRS!" as you walk past a smoking shed outside a pub.

You found your willpower, you stopped making excuses and you lost 4 stone.

Do you think everyone else will read this thread and immediately follow suit?

Mintyy

Agree, the menopause is a bitch to the waistline! sob

Regarding the age thing

Yes it can be harder to stay trim/lose weight when older...but it's not impossible so I'm not sure why people are asking that the OP comes back when she's 30+?

Age is hugely relevant. I was skinny at 21 too. A broken thyroid, two large babies and 18 years later and I have gained 2 stone that I am struggling to lose. And is age and hormones have nothing to do with it, why do scientists study the effects of the menopause? Here is a review article abstract that says hormones affect abdominal fat.

informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13697137.2012.707385

"Objective The aim of this review was to summarize the literature regarding the impact of the menopause transition on body weight and body composition.

Methods We conducted a search of the literature using Medline (Ovid, 1946–present) and PubMed (1966–2012) for English-language studies that included the following search terms: ‘menopause’, ‘midlife’, ‘hormone therapy’ or ‘estrogen’ combined with ‘obesity’, ‘body weight’ or ‘body composition’.

Results Whereas weight gain per se cannot be attributed to the menopause transition, the change in the hormonal milieu at menopause is associated with an increase in total body fat and an increase in abdominal fat. Weight excess at midlife is not only associated with a heightened risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, but also impacts adversely on health-related quality of life and sexual function. Animal and human studies indicate that this tendency towards central abdominal fat accumulation is ameliorated by estrogen therapy. Studies mostly indicate a reduction in overall fat mass with estrogen and estrogen–progestin therapy, improved insulin sensitivity and a lower rate of development of type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion The hormonal changes across the perimenopause substantially contribute to increased abdominal obesity which leads to additional physical and psychological morbidity. There is strong evidence that estrogen therapy may partly prevent this menopause-related change in body composition and the associated metabolic sequelae. However, further studies are required to identify the women most likely to gain metabolic benefit from menopausal hormone therapy in order to develop evidence-based clinical recommendations."

I wonder if anyone had fat Grandparents, I didnt.

My gran had a large stomach, as I do and my mother.

I lost weight in my 50's. Having said that, I am still bigger than I was in my 20's. I am still technically overweight, though I don't look it, and am fit and healthy, which was the aim. I do think I have to work harder at it now. I can vaguely remember both of my grandmothers becoming fat. I know for definite my Dad was, until he had a heart attack in his 50's ,and was told to lose weight. No one else in our family was fat though.
Personally, I have inherited my dad's build. If I eat too much and don't exercise I put on weight. I am one of those people who needs to exercise, my body responds well to it. It doesn't matter if I eat bread, pasta, low fat yoghurts or whatever, I can still control my weight as long as I control my portions and exercise.

Chipping's reference to my age is just one example of rudeness.

As for staying slim and eating a whole pizza Absy I have never been able to do that. I'm not naturally slim and have always had to work bloody hard to keep the weight off hence why I thought perhaps I was in a position to comment I had my DD and my weight piled on because I ate shit and lots of it. Its people like you who make me sure that i'll never hang my head in shame about my weight again.

And as for smoking, have never and will never

Not being evangelical, the thread was a direct response to that irritating program on channel 5 (wrongly put 4) last night.

it really grates on me that people use it as an excuse

Why? What difference does it make to you personally? (Genuine question).

Talkingpeace you can take your patronising tone and shove it tbh.

I have tried it. I'm talking with as much, if not more experience than you. So you can take your self appointed preachy tone elsewhere