Calories in, calories out

[unreasonableRus]

AIBU to think that if I shout loudly about calories in and calories out the overweight people will suddenly see the light and stop eating and get thin? I've been doing it for a while now, but it doesn't seem to be working.

If you are fat, eating less will solve the problem.
Put your hand up if you disagree.

I thought so.

Mumsnet at its best here

Yet people are being shouted down on another thread for pointing out that encouraging/allowing constant snacking in children isn't a good idea.

Although at a simplistic level "calories in/calories out" may be true in be real world it isn't quite that simple as that doesn't tackle why people are overeating or why they are eating the wrong things.

Personally I think that we focus too much on weight and not enough on health. I know some people who are a "normal" weight yet have an awful diet. That still isn't healthy but because they look ok then nobody would question it.

I get the point... Sort of. Yes a diet of sausage and chips with cake and ice cream isn't going to aid weight loss, even if you do have it with a diet coke, after midnight, when no one is looking, don't track it in the app etc.

Yes I successfully lost weight by tracking calories/ WW points and resisting temptation for a bag of crisps and pint of beer. BUT it was REALLY hard. The biggest problem is the temptation. Unless you've experienced it yourself its really hard to explain that food can be like an addictive drug. Try and give up cigarettes or alcohol and people 'get' its an addiction. But try and explain you just couldn't resist that sausage roll staring at you from greggs and because no one saw you and you had the wrapper it didn't count.... And you'll be laughed at.

Yes I'm fully aware of the science. I'm not stupid. Try getting my brain to hear that when I'm hungry though.

My daughter has been 'overweight' since she was a exclusively breastfed baby. She has been brought up on a relatively healthy diet, baby led weaning, predominantly veg and not really a snacker. She is now 6 and still overweight. She eats healthy meals (well I say 'eats' she's given them and barely eats these days) and we walk a lot as well as exercise at school and spending a couple of evenings a week at the local outdoor adventure play park.

As for myself. I was a normal weight as a child and tried diets as a young adult but was still a healthy weight. When I was pregnant with my eldest, however, I ended up gaining 5 stone becoming quite poorly and after she was born I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. I have struggled with my weight ever since. I follow the principles of slimming world but can only ever go so far and my body won't budge any further.

This is Just for those of you that were implying that the only way to be overweight was pure greed, not always the case!

Iona, I disagree. I barely eat survive on toast when I have depression get fat. On slimming world I eat large amounts and lose weight.

Bluntness I know you're trying to be cutesy so I'm only going to suggest you read about the hormone called INSULIN and how it causes weight gain ....

'Calories in, calories out' is a cop-out. It's the "explain like I'm 5" version of fat loss, which glosses over very real factors that ALSO affect how a body metabolises fuel.

It's usually trotted out by people who want to point to being overweight as a MORAL failure ("Well, if you could just EAT LESS, FATTY...") and ignores the deeper science -- your hormones, sleep, exercises and types of movement, body composition, and health (PCOS, Hashimotos/hypothyroid disorders, cortisol and insulin relationships) that are very real and DO affect fat loss, sometimes far more than just staying off the cake does.

So no, I don't think it's 'calories in, calories out' either. There's plenty of science that says there's much more to it than that.

vladimirs show me the science behind your claim.

I barely eat survive on toast when I have depression get fat. On slimming world I eat large amounts and lose weight
DustyMaiden, "eat less" was obviously meant in the context of energy, not cubic metres.

Well op your delivery is a "tad " preachy and I'm unsure why you have taken it upon yourself to educate people unless that's your job or something but you do have a point

I think people are a bit uneducated in what is actually in food and I include myself in that untill a few years ago ! Not because people are stupid but the way a lot of things are marketed eg : low fat / light yoghurt sounds a good choice and then you see there is 15g of sugar in it etc etc etc . I do think people see some diet plans as having a magic formula when it all boils down to consuming less calories than you need but I don't get mad at people for that I get mad at the way things like food / diet plans / gyms etc are all sold as like a magic answer

If you are fat, eating less will solve the problem.
Put your hand up if you disagree.

I thought so.

Steroids. Again.

A piece of toast with butter three times a day has considerably less Calories than the minimum of 1600 consumed on SW.

I'm OP, I name changed to be naughty. This is my sensible name.

The thing is, I know what to do. I know what calories are in food. I know how long you have to work on an exercise bike to work off one chocolate dugestive. I know that if you eat smaller portions of healthier food you will probably lose weight. I have known this for over thirty years. I have been told by HCPs.

I also know that the body has some incredibly sophisticated systems that can get out of whack. There are hormones which suppress appetite, hormones which stimulate it. Gut conditions which affect the absorption of nutrients. I have experienced cravings in pregnancy which were frankly bizarre. I haven't even touched on the emotional/psychological and social influences on eating.

It is frustrating when despite all that, we are judged for just being greedy and having no will power. The image of overweight people being lazy, having poor judgement, no self respect etc... That simply doesn't relate to the people I know.