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AIBU?

to be pissed off that losing weight is easy

55 replies

mercifulTehlu · 18/12/2015 12:15

when you have no choice? Not a stealth boast. I have, like many people, spent years and years of my life tinkering with my diet, trying to lose weight. Slogged away at different kinds of fitness regime. Lost weight sometimes but always put some back on. Fed up with my willpower being so crap.
Then 3 weeks ago I had a massive and excruciatingly painful attack of what turned out to be gallstones. 3 weeks on a strict low fat diet and the weight is falling off me. My clothes feel like tents. 3 weeks! That's all it has taken for me to be the slimmest I've been in years. And with virtually no exercise.
I don't know why it's making me so cross really. I know IABU really. It just seems ridiculous that we are all in thrall to the whims of the massively lucrative diet industry and spend our time beating ourselves up about it, when it's actually so simple. Why is it so hard to actually lose weight when you really want to? As soon as they whip my gallbladder out, I expect the weight will start going back on again .
I'm probably just stroppy because I'm thinking about all the Christmas food I'll have to watch everyone else eating.

OP posts:

Report

YeOldeTrout · 19/12/2015 17:58

This happened to my grandmother. A lifetime of grumbling about her weight, and in the last 5 yrs she struggled to keep weight on. Be careful what you wish for.

blobbityblob · 19/12/2015 17:50

I think I go through phases of eating low fat then go back to bad habits again. But this year's been the worst I've had healthwise so it might be the year I change for good. I'm about 3 stone overweight, which could be lost in maybe six months if I put my mind to it. What usually happens is I do well in january and february then maintain it for a few months. But by october I'm gaining again and end up back to square one after christmas. So yes it could well be the yoyo dieting causing mine, if it is gallstones. It's not too bad at the moment but there's always some pain. I think it does go down some when I get so nauseous all I can eat is rice and vegetables. It's the lack of energy I find really hard.

mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 16:35

Oh and walkinginmercury - apparently yo-yo dieting, overly fast weightloss, as well as fatty food, can cause gallstones!

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mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 16:33

blobbityblob and walkinginmercury, I seem to be able to prevent further attacks (so far!) through diet. I wouldn't want to do it long-term as it's bloody tedious and inconvenient, and I actually don't want to keep losing weight at this speed (never thought I'd say that ). But it's certainly worth it in the short term to avoid the pain.

OP posts:

donajimena · 19/12/2015 15:45

I could say the same about stopping smoking and drinking alcohol. I quit both at the same time.
After years and years of trying to stop both. Hypnotherapy, patches you name it I tried it.
I'm really annoyed that I didn't do it sooner
Something clicked this time and I have had no major health scare. I'm baffled.

walkinginmercury · 19/12/2015 15:37

Oh I'm so glad to read this! I'm only just recovering from a dreadful attack that seemed to come on mild and last 2 days.

It's really no surprise as I've basically spent the last 8 years bouncing between binging on the most fatty foods and starving on total food replacement diets.

blobbityblob · 19/12/2015 15:27

Thank you merciful I might start trying now.

mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 15:21

Only those that don't get the relationship between calories in and out

Maybe. If so, that still seems to be an awful lot of people.
In any case, the two things aren't mutually exclusive. I'm sure you can basically believe in 'calories in, calories out' but still be in thrall to the diet industry because you've failed so many times to actually stick to a calorie-controlled diet and are desperate to try something else, anything else, that might work.
Besides, most of the diets peddled by the diet industry Do work on the basis of calories in, calories out. They just choose different ways of reducing those calories.

Weight loss might be as simple on paper as 'calories in, calories out', but human beings are not simple, and there are all sorts of reasons why losing weight isn't easy (unless you have a huge and terrifying incentive).

OP posts:

pregnant woman standing on scales

Weight gain in pregnancy

Weight gain during pregnancy is one of life's certainties, but studies show that many women don't know how much weight they should be putting on – and could be putting themselves and their baby at risk

specialsubject · 19/12/2015 15:10

who is in thrall to the diet industry? Only those that don't get the relationship between calories in and out.

usual MN oversenstivity disclaimer for the small minority who are ill or taking medication and for whom it isn't that simple.

mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 15:00

Yy Spilose - exactly!

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mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 14:59

Anything as long as it's got virtually no fat in it! Some people seem to have other things which also set off an attack (apples for example) but mainly it's all about the fat.
Ideally, eat lean meat, non-oily fish and pulses, plus plenty of wholegrain and veg-based carbs and fruit.
Avoid at all costs butter, cheese (unless it's really low fat like Quark or low fat cottage cheese), fatty meat, pastry etc.
Oh and drinking lots of water helps, apparently.
Good luck - sorry to hear you're in the same boat!

OP posts:

Spilose · 19/12/2015 14:54

I know why you mean. In theory, losing weight is easy. It's the mental battle that is exhausting.

blobbityblob · 19/12/2015 14:51

Do you mind me asking, what can you eat on a gallstones diet? I think I have them, currently waiting for tests. Just wondering what I'm in for.

mercifulTehlu · 19/12/2015 12:59

Saukko - I have to do low fat because that is the only way (until surgery) to avoid a gallstones attack. Low carb high fat is not an option. The gallbladder's job is to help digest fat, so the only way of avoiding severe pain is to not give it any fat to digest.

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hmcReborn · 19/12/2015 09:17

I have had periods of being slim and periods of being fat - losing and regaining 3-4 stones several times throughout my life. I am currently slim (but constantly worried that it wont last)

I do get what you mean OP - losing weight is easy - when you are in the right mindset and ready to go for it. Its like turning on a switch in your brain and suddenly you can do it. The trigger can be anything - a health scare as in your case, or something as silly as a candid photo where you suddenly see with total clarity how hefty you've become. However losing weight can also be incredibly hard - I have had years of wanting to lose weight but never quite managing it until suddenly that switch in my brain occurred. Trouble was - I wasn't in control of turning on that switch, it would just happen one day

Saukko · 19/12/2015 09:10

Low-fat can be problematic - can lower your hormone levels and make you tired and irritable. Personally I go high-fat, high-protein, low carb but that's just because I like fat/protein foods more than carbs. And it stops the low-fat grumpiness. That said, if you're feeling good your diet is probably tailored to prevent those slumps.

And yeah :/ I hate to say it but I found losing weight really easy. Logged it all on My Fitness Pal, weighed portions properly, learned some valuable things about portion size, 20lbs off in 15 weeks.

mercifulTehlu · 18/12/2015 23:03

Jeez RB68 - that sounds horrendous! to all of you for your gallbladder-related horror stories. upaladderagain - commiserations on having had the pain without the weightloss! Although I'd swap my weightloss for a plate of lasagne right now (which just goes to show why I normally find it hard to lose weight ). Off to bed now, hungry as usual...

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upaladderagain · 18/12/2015 22:43

Damn. i had gallstones last year - pain worse than labour. But nothing I ate or didn't eat made any difference, so I'm really pissed off that both before and after having gallbladder removed I didn't lose so much as a pound.

RB68 · 18/12/2015 22:29

4.5 stone in 3 mths whilst also pregnant the pain was not of this earth - horrendous you have my empathy. 10 days after c section I had the gallbladder removed thank God - 2 female surgeons who literally kept me in hospital till there was space to operate although it meant for 5 days I didn't eat before tea time in case they could pop me on the end of surgery. DD was in SCBU so I used to go and see her and i was expressing too - not a time I remember with any pleasure!

WeeHelena · 18/12/2015 22:25

Just wanted to come back and say that since losing the weight and becoming single it motivated me to tone up as although I'd slimmed down it was weak muscle so I wanted to look/feel great for myself more than anything.

Only downside is my boobs are now beyond tiny and now just stretched marked sagginess. Can't have it all eh.

If you want it badly enough you can do it.

Pericombobulations · 18/12/2015 22:23

I've lost a stone and a half on the gallstones diet too, and am slightly terrified to say I'm due to have the op on Monday!

The pain for me was worse than childbirth, and thats coming from someone who begged for an epidural.

Goodluck to those waiting for their op's, may it be pain free for you all

Ipsos · 18/12/2015 22:20

I know what you mean. My digestive system's kind of packed up because of baby-related sleep deprivation, and I'm like a twig at the moment. Christmas lunch is going to be a strange affair.

Well done for having figured out the secret of slimming at least. Now you'll always know what to do if you want to get slimmer.

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Wolpertinger · 18/12/2015 22:15

I lost 2st on the gallstones diet

Mostly stayed off but never managed to lose more after they came out as frankly eating totally or near totally fat free is so fucking boring that only fear would make you do it.

FWIW I could eat normally pretty much straight away and just get some indigestion if I eat a really high dairy fat meal so gooseberry fool now comes with a Gaviscon chaser

taptonaria27 · 18/12/2015 22:13

Op I've not read all the threads but I lost weight like you before my op, however, I have kept it all off and lost a bit more in the 6 years since my surgery.

HelenaJustina · 18/12/2015 22:05

For me the fear didn't really go, I had a scan afterwards which showed my gallbladder was clear, though blood tests at the time showed something going on.

I agree that you just need the right motivation. I wasn't even nearly overweight before but I like the shape I am now so maintain it. For me, vanity is enough of a push!

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