To get annoyed with people regarding diets?

[Arya2017]

I'm 5ft 10in and have struggled with my weight for the past few years. Ive never been overweight clinically but just much fatter than I was used to being and fatter than I wanted to be. I tried numerous diets but because I'm a fussy eater and notorious salad dodger I could never stick to them. At my heaviest I was 12 stone. Past few years I've hovered around the 11st 7lbs mark.

Anyway I eventually got sick of looking for a magic cure (Atkins, akai berrys, 5:2 etc etc) and decided to go back to good old fashioned calories in vs calories out - basically eating less and exercising more. A few months of this and I was down to 10st 11lbs. The rest wouldn't shift so I started macro counting too (limiting fat, protein and carbs in recommended amounts). I'm now down to 10st 5lbs. My goal weight is 10st.

In addition to this, I've drastically reduced my alcohol intake which has obviously had a number of benefits (including increased weight loss!)

Anyway, point of the thread, when I see people now they comment on my change in appearance and ask how I've done it. I explain the above only to be told "oh I couldn't be arsed with all that, why not just go on slimming work?" Or "so you're starving yourself?". These people then continue to constantly moan about being fat and comment on how "lucky" I am to have lost mine "so easily". It's not easy! It's fucking hard! I was bordering on being an alcoholic so the alcohol reduction alone has been torture. Everyone wants a magic cure and when they can't be arsed to put the effort in, they say those that have have basically been lucky.

AIBU to think more education (starting at school level) needs to be implemented so that people don't grow up thinking unlimited amounts of pasta for example will help you lose weight? Then maybe people will realise there is no magic cure - it takes hard work.

I think a lot of people dont realise how much they eat or how many calories in stuff ie 1 biscuit can be 70 cal (hob nobs) Surprised someone found a BMI chart saying at 5.10in you can be 9 st, that would give you a BMI of 18 which is considered underweight, I am 5.2 in 9 stone BMI 25, and size 10, dont go below 10 stone, you will be too thin.I suffer from IBS and diverticulutous, dont eat unhealthily, my IBS was caused when I was bullied at work. of course there ARE unhealthy foods, with very high sugar,fat or proceeced.

You've never been overweight, so frankly, you've got no bloody idea what you're talking about, so stop the sanctimonious preaching.

However, good luck with dealing with your issues around alcohol.

Don't be so fucking rude AnnieAnoniMouse. You know the BMI calculator is grossly flawed, don't you?

I am 5ft 10 and overweight at 11st. I know this as I have fat which is out of proportion to my frame, my cholesterol is high and I was 9st 2/3 for years and years until I started living less healthily. My family are all tall and very, very slim.

There is no accurate objective measurement of 'overweight'.

I have come to the disappointing realization that some people have no logical or critical thinking skills at all. There is nothing the educational system can do about that.

Amazed that nyone still used BMI.
Best advice I was given was to measure waist size, waist should be no more than half your height.
Easy to measure (keep a tape measure in the bathroom)and corresponds better with dresses getting too tight etc.
I found cutting out alcohol was the only thing that worked for me - and it did work pretty fast ( never been into sugary foods) but am too embarrassed to tell people that as they assume I must be an alcoholic.

No food is unhealthy. You need the common sense to eat the right mix in the right portions.

Commercial smoothies, cereal bars, low fat versions of things and fizzy drinks are unhealthy but are crap, not food.

Special subject - the bleeding obvious....

See I find counting macros helps signicantly. I do it on MFP and they calculate them for you. Before I started this I never realised how low in fibre my diet was. No wonder I was always constipated. And protein levels were pretty much non existent - I basically lived on fat and carbs.

Now, yes I can have that snickers bar I'm craving, or even the Big Mac but my fat intake for that day will be at its limit and therefore, I need to adjust the rest of my intake to accommodate it. Honestly it's invaluable.

Everyone wants to find the 'magic pill' diet - the one you dont have to stop eating the crap that made you fat in the first place, where you can eat the quantities of said crap that made you fat - whilst also making no changes to their levels of exercise and drinking.

Every single person who weighs more than then want to (currently including myself in this) knows exactly what they need to do, but dont want to. So many are looking for the magic option. The one that won't feel hard work. The one where they don't have to face the fact they are chunkier than they want because of their own lifestyle choices.

I'm not overweight right now, but I'm back on MFP tomorrow after realising today I need to lose at least an inch off my waist or buy new shorts before my summer holiday in July. I've decided I'm not buying new shorts, an inch in just over a month is perfectly possible, but not if I still want to eat chocolate while sitting on the sofa watching crap on TV. I need to eat less crap and/or move more. (Or if I want that crap like chocolate in the evenings, I need to have eaten less overall in the day earlier)

Some people don't want to hear it. Tell them a daily drink of unicorn tears have cut the weight right off, that's what they want to hear...

Cutting our alcohol is a killer if you are a drinker. Well done for that.

I posted a picture of my lunch to Facebook today and was met with "is that going to fill you up?" And "that portion is tiny!"

I'm loosely following slimming world principles and had made a pasta salad with lots of veggies in it. It was more than enough to fill me up without bloating me out. The problem people have with slimming world is they want permission to carry on eating as they were before and still lose weight, you can't do that. Look at online slimming world groups and you'll see people being cheered on for finding "shortcuts" to eating crap. They will load their plates with "free" food and no speed food (which is your veggies and fruit) and wonder why they're not losing weight.

I hate sanctimonious skinny people. They make me want to force feed them deep fried keeeeeenwwaaaahh with a side helping of cream cakes.

Low carb has worked for me. Not stupid low carb where you eat a ton of bacon and steak washed down with cream.

I eat lots of low carb veg, fish, eggs, cheese and good fats. I don't eat any refined carbs or sugar or alcohol. I've dropped two stone since my sons birth and am now 10 stone 5 with a few pounds left to go.

The problem i have with slimming world and the like is that it charges ££££ for disguising common sense attitudes to food as some sort of magic formula
Also it is in SW's interest for their clients to lose weight as slowly as possible so that they keep paying for longer.

Another thing that SW does is have leaders who don't understand anything about nutritional matters but they just keep on repeating the same old mantra of free foods, healthy A, healthy B and 15 syns.

Some SW leaders actually tell clients that they need to make sure that they always eat their syns otherwise they won'the lose weight.

I think that they say this to ensure that people take as long as possible to lose the weight.

YANBU. At the end of the day it all boils down to CICO.

Calories in calories out doesn't tackle the underlying issues though does it. IF it really was that simple then nobody would be overweight.

Op
Well done
I think this guys in Facebook talks loads of sense
https://m.facebook.com/JamesSmithTraining/?locale2=en_GB

It really is as simple as CICO. I'm often asked "how do you stay so slim?!" but it's a bit rude to reply "by not overeating" so I just smile. As a slim shorty I know that I'll only burn 1300 - 1500 calories a day without exercise so I couldn't eat what the OP eats without putting on weight. But I don't count calories or use an app; I eat when I'm hungry and try to eat a reasonable diet (including cake and wine).

Calories in calories out doesn't tackle the underlying issues though does it. IF it really was that simple then nobody would be overweight.
Not everyone has underlying issues, Sirzy. A lot of people are overweight because they have no clue about their TDEE, they don't even know that they should know it. A lot of people have no clue about how many calories any food item has (demonstrated numerous times by those tv programmes where people in the street were asked to guess the calorific values of foods on plates). A lot of people are overweight because they are not willing to put anything in their mouth that's not deep fried or fast food because they "don't like vegetables". A lot of people are overweight because they don't realise that your stomach stretches and that you don't need to eat until you are bursting every single time you eat.

Not disputing any of that Iona but proclaiming "calories in calories out" or the other old favourite "eat less move more" doesn't help with any of that either!

Sadly some people are very quick to try to preach to people how they should be eating, or why their way is the only way to lose weight and that does nothing to help most people.

It does just come down to CICO I'm afraid. I use intermittent fasting (a variation on 5:2, there are many), but it's just a way of limiting calories consumed. Nothing more than that.

have you not just cracked an addiction to food and drink?

You are brilliant!

I think this whole slimming world dieting thing is a total con!

Like you when I wanted to lose weight I stopped drinking in the week and bought more fruit instead of chocolate.

Sounds like you've got the right attitude now OP re: choc / big Mac as a treat, not every day.

Well DONE

Thanks for the replies.

Also I don't have underlying food issues (as I said, I've never been 'clinically' overweight. I just didn't understand nutrition and believed all the bullshit about "if you eat after 7pm you put weight on" and "if you just cut out bread you'll lose weight" and then the slimming world bullshit "pasta is unlimmited! Knock yourself out!"

I bought a Fitbit and the truth was, I was only burning around 1600 calories a day and taking in either the same or more. My usual diet was a packet of crisps for breakfast, a pot noodle for lunch and usually some breaded meat of some kind with chips and beans for tea. Fat levels were off the scale.

When I started slimming world I'd eat weetabix for breakfast, shit loads of noodles for lunch and spaghetti bolognese for tea. Carb levels off the scale and still too many calories with no protein!

i don't have food issues, I just didn't understand nutrition (neither do most slimming world leaders!)

It really is about CICO

But it isn't cico as you've just shown. 1600 carb calories is not 1600 sugar calories or 1600 protein calories.