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!

It's a myth that metabolism naturally slows as we age.

What actually happens is that we naturally lose muscle mass as we age.

At rest, muscle uses more energy (calories) to function than fat.

Therefore, as we age, we tend to lose muscle mass and our metabolism slows as a result of the loss of muscle tissue , not merely due to age.

So many people miss out this crucial point and just assume that the slowing of the metabolism is inevitable.

If we continue to exercise regularly as we age, especially via strength training, there is no reason to lose muscle mass and hence experience the corresponding drop in metabolic rate.

It is true that we need LESS than 2000 calories a day to function - I stick to 1500 if I can.

But it is very very hard to diet especially if you are used to eating a certain way. Food can be an addiction.

For example my problem is binge eating which started when I was on a type of medication that is well known for making people extra hungry and gaining weight.

NOw I'm off that medication but the bad habits have continued - I see a Dietician regularly to help me stop binge eating.
The difference is now that I'm bingeing on fruit n veg instead of junk food; but I need to stop bingeing because it's expensive and even too much fruit n veg is unnecessary calories.

I agree that weight lifting is good for weight loss because you replace fat with muscle; and fat burning continues for up to 24 hrs after weight training. Of course cardio is good too, a combination of both is good.

I know statistically that i'm more likely to gain the weight back on but having lost so much and having changed my eating habits so dramatically I really hope that I will have the conviction to keep it off.

Duckworth
The metabolism does not slow down, but unless you actively keep going, bones lose mass and muscles shrink.
I'm working hard to avoid osteoporosis, stroke, diabetes, heart attach and alzheimers.
THAT is why I make the effort to ignore the food adverts.

Latara
It is true that we need LESS than 2000 calories a day to function
no, every different person needs a different amount.
DH is 6'1 and built like a brick outhouse. He could never stay healthy on 1500 a day. His TDEE is around 2300

Talkin is right in terms of different people needing different calorie levels. I worked as a sailing instructor through university, when I was at my fitest, and we worked out that in an everage day, between exercise/keeping warm etc. I was using about 4000 calories. Whereas now i'm sitting on my ass all day behind a desk i'm probably closer to the 1500 mark.

TalkinPeace Couldn't agree more.

Can I also add the psycho-social benefits? More contact with peers, sense of purpose, better mental health?

If they are physically able, why anyone wouldn't want to continue to exercise into old age is beyond me...

Cravings are driven by the brain’s need for “reward” – not the body’s need for food.

People associate bad foods with rewards for themselves." Ive been good all day so I will just have one biscuit etc."

Talkin I am very aware that the 2000 calorie a day thing is irrelevant to most women thanks - you seem to think you are the only person around who understands all there is to know about weight loss but a tdee of 1500 equates to a woman about 5ft tall and about 7stone, doing no exercise at all - far from average stats I would say, and also still 300 calories more than 1200 being consumed by someone who exercises regularly.

Duckworth that's exactly right about muscle deterioration as we age being the reason why metabolism decreases, and resistance training is a great way to counteract this, but it's also true that long term calorie restriction also affects it. Not just because the body adjusts but because when we restrict food and lose weight, again we lose muscle, not just fat. When we regain weight however, we mostly regain fat as muscle is so much harder for the body to build back .

Absolutely pissing myself at "emotional issues aside"....

You know when people want to lose weight but can't? It is because of emotional issues.

Hardly anyone in the whole world is so stupid they don't know what they need to do to lose weight. The problem is finding the strength to actually do it! Because it means deprivation, or pain or going to sleep hungry. It means not using the means they have used for YEARS to mitigate unhappiness.

The cause of the obesity crisis is people replacing love with food....and having enough disposable cash to do so.

That's a good point Sleepwhenidie. I guess what I am advocating is making strength training a regular part of everyday life - 20 mins or so, at home, with some handweights on most days of the week will do more for your long term health than I think most people realise.

It doesn't have to be a massive performance of getting changed into gym kit or paying for expensive gym membership - I think a lot of people put psychological barriers in their own way.

I'm totally with you on the weight training Duck. I'd go so far to say that if it came down to a straight choice between that and cardio, weights would be the better choice by a sliver. Body weight though, is mainly dictated by diet, not exercise.

If every person who said they cannot lose weight

• marched on the spot with high knees for three minutes every time the kettle was on
• did a random assortment of arm raises with food tins every time they unpacked the shopping
• walked up and down the stairs as quick as they could carrying one thing at a time many times a day
• stopped using lifts in shopping centres
• parked way away from the door at the supermarket and the effing gym
• stood up while posting on mumsnet

they might just surprise themselves

yes or they might eat slightly more to replace the extra used calories!

brains aren't stupid enough to be fooled that easily. It's why exercise is not recognized as a successful method of weight loss.

If you exercise more then your body will demand more calories.

The only way to actually lose weight is to consume less than you expend. Exercise by itself doesn't do that....

This is my last post on the matter, but just to clarify my 1200 is for 4/5 days a week and 2000 at the weekend (sometimes creeps to Friday ) which averages at c.1500 cals. My 1200/1500 is net of any exercise done so I eat plenty.

I am healthy and eat lots of plenty of fruit & veg (mainly veg), fat and protein and my skin and hair are just fine

My exercise is usually a circuits class (cardio and strength), a run (cardio and fresh air) and a pilates class (strength), plus sometimes a swim.

talkin lots of the things you say about how we should eat and exercise is eminently sensible but you too show the zeal of a reformed smoker in the way you bang on about yours being the only way and implying that others who can't achieve it must be weak or stupid. You too are obsessed with it and seem caught up in the high of having lost weight and being 'in control'. I really hope it never comes back to bite you on the ass. Is it so impossible to understand that it's just not that straightforward for many, many people? What's it like being so perfect ?

IceBeing
Utterly true, but many of the people who 'cannot lose weight' do not realise that they are eating more than their TDEE and upping the TDEE will start to build muscle tone and start that virtuous circle.

Serviceplease
My 1200/1500 is net of any exercise done so I eat plenty
Aha, now all is clear.
Makes full sense.
My average - net of exercise - is rather lower than yours as I do not count back exercise calories (as I found I was kidding myself when I did WW)

SleepwhenIdie
What's it like being so perfect
Great actually

or more to the point, lots of ladies are good at the
"lean on shoulder, there there dear" stuff
I'm crap at that.
If you read the 5:2 threads I'm the one who kicks people in the backside.
and if they do not like it they ignore me
I don't care
but I do care if people say there is nothing they can do because its bilge

Well it is almost a truism that doing some exercise will benefit you....so I agree from that point of view...

I just hate when people make out that losing weight is easy. If you have been slim all your life then it probably is easy for you. If you have never been slim then it is probably extremely hard for you.

I spent about 15 years dieting and trying to lose weight with absolutely no success. Then last year I did it. Lost 4 stone and am slim (ish) for the first time in my adult life.

I wish I could tell you what made the difference...but I don't know...I only hope I can recapture the magic and lose the christmas accumulation and last stone of my lifetimes gain....

okay talking now I am slightly terrified to have signed into a diet thread with you on it!

No problem Talkinpeace .

It was sleep who was concerned I was going to collapse with my crap hair and skin unable to do a poo whilst obsessing over a calorie counting machine. Couldn't really be further from the truth on that one......

I never said there was nothing they can do, Talkin, just that it isn't necessarily as straightforward as it is for others, so your particular cookie cutter advice or 'kick up the backside' may not be the best way. I don't get why you can't accept that this may be the case.

IceBeing, I totally agree it is not easy. The maths of calories in < calories out = weight loss (although may not be healthy) is easy; putting into practice less so.

Good luck with keeping up the weight loss - It is 4 years since I lost 4 stone and I am very proud of myself to have kept it off and become a lifestyle way of living/being despite what sleep thinks

Ice, just out of curiosity, was there some other change in your life when you finally lost the weight? In work, relationship, family, home, a passion or hobby that you discovered?

Service, you are obviously very happy and feel great and healthy calorie counting, I'm sure you look beautiful - best of luck with it .

I'm in danger of getting smug poisoning from some posts here.
Your experience does not equal the same thing for everyone else. The reason some diets work for some people and not for others is, surprise, surprise, we are all different. Low carbing works brilliantly for some people (my husband, my sister), and does bugger all for others (me). Low fat for others, other regimes for others. Nearly every diet works amazingly for some people, but it's not a one size fits all proposition.
And merely mentioning your age, climbingthewalls, doesn't make it rude. The plain fact is that at 22 you have a very different setup to an awful lot of people.

I do think that if the OP has had to make a concerted effort to lose weight at 22, then it is possibly slightly misguided to be, effectively, preaching at a wide range of ages as to how easy it is to lose weight and maintain that loss.

You can only preach on the ability to maintain weight-loss once you've actually, you know, maintained it for any decent length of time.

However, getting older is not necessarily a guaranteed pitfall when it comes to weight loss, and I don't really understand why some people are basically saying that is is.

I spent my teens being slim as anything through eating healthily and naturally (thanks to my Mum). However when I moved away to university and was living as a dirt poor student I got into some terrible habits. My weight yo-yo'd right through my 20s and most of my 30s, with most of my time spent round the size 16 mark. At 5"10' I was abe to carry it reasonably well, but there was no denying I was solidly built.

However, it's been since having children that I managed to get my weight down and maintain it. I turned 40 last month and have been a size 10 for a year now, and hope/expect to maintain that, via nothing more or less than 'simply' eating less overall than I used to (5:2). I used to eat quite a bit more than I needed to, and so inevitably gained weight. Now I eat less than that. Still enough to enjoy life, and absolutely NO cutting out entire food groups, either.

Getting older (and yes, I realise I have a lot of getting older yet to do), having children, going through the menopause, etc, are not all necessarily downward spirals into weight gain. They're just not.

Menopause is not a new thing. A couple of generations ago, many post-menopausal women remained slim.