To think low calorie diets don't work

[Ieatcake]

Otherwise weight watchers and slimming world wouldn't make much money. It seems to be a cycle of restrictive diet for a few weeks, some weight lost (maybe just mussels) then go back to normal eating and it all comes back and more.

I know for some it will work, but 90% seems to just be setting up for failure

So you admit they do work for some. Like all diets then.

Thanks for this thread.

Worked for me, lost nearly 2 stone in 6 months, that was along with upping excercise and didnt lose muscle.

I lost nearly 2st with Weightwatchers 4 years ago, stuck to the diet without ever going into the additional allowance for socialising, exercised and never lost more than 1lb a week.

I have put most of it back despite continuing to exercise and eat healthily. I have an underactive thyroid, which doesn’t help. I can’t face doing WW again, it was such a grind......

I agree low cal diets don’t work but slimming world isnt a low cal diet, that’s why I like it - if you do it properly it’s a lifestyle change and if you’re hungry you can always have more free food.
I hate calorie counting cause I’m always eating and wouldn’t like to not be able to have any food until the next day once I had reached my limit

I thought the weight watchers point system still related to calories though? As in, higher calorie foods are more points than low calorie... ?

I definitely lost my mussels due to calorie-counting.

There is no fancy science to weight loss, it’s as simple as burning more calories than you take in.
Being clever with your calories so you are getting more for your money so to speak, high protein to keep you feeling fuller longer.

I've never tried slim clubs as I hate daily cal counting.

I did 5:2 3 years ago. Lost 22lb.

Used exercise a lot and now 3 years later. I'm still pretty near my new weight. A few pounds over but that's my own fault for over eating in xmas hols and not fitting in exercise

Back on it next week as kids properly back in school.

I think confusing mussels and muscles has undermined any credibility op may have about diet and health.

Plus the rest of the post too

Hehe, I thought perhaps mussels were especially low in calories!
I've just lost 2 stone of post baby weight in the past four month all as a result of eating fewer calories and doing more exercise, of course it works it just about the willpower to keep going.

It works but is difficult to keep up forever. Who wants to live on minimal calories for the rest of their life?! I find the only way to do it and keep the weight off long term is to have a whole lifestyle change. Up the exercise, keep treats like alcohol/chocolate/takeaways etc for once a week, have smaller portions of carbs (but don’t cut carbs out completely as the body really needs them) and up the protein and veg. under eating can be really dangerous, just as over eating can be

Works for me.

Well all diets work for some people, no way of dieting works for everyone because well people are different.

Fewer calories, exercise and willpower and you know what the vast majority of people will lose weight. I have lost weight doing this after each of my pregnancies and kept it off until the next pregnancy.

What do you mean by work?

Any diet requires you to consume less calories than you burn to lose weight. However they dress this up that's what they do. If you consume less calories that you burn you will lose weight. The diet will work.

If you consume more than you burn the diet will stop working.

A diet is for life not just for christmas

I did low calorie-ing for well over a year lost over 4st and actually raised my muscle tone. But I did it as part of a whOle scale body change including excercise.

That was 2 years ago. Some of it I have put back on, some because I felt I went too far, some because I've eaten too much over Christmas. I know what needs to happen to sort it back out. I will not go back to where I was because I will choose not to

For goodness sake.

Araiwa

Unnecessarily judgemental comment.

Eat less do more.
Low calories will mean you lose weight.
My Dad however has lost 6st on slimming world and kept it off. It's lower in calories than he was eating before. Sounds a cliche but his attitude to food changed.
Anyway, yes yabu.

There was a documentary on tv a while ago where the founder of Weight Watchers admitted (on hidden camera) that dieting doesn't work. He said if it did work he'd be out of business because his business model relied on short term success followed by people failing to maintain their weight loss so they continue to attend.

I know so many people who have lost loads of weight on slimming world and kept it off.

Theres a saying about how making a change is easy, its continuing the change thats the hard part. I think the key is, if you are on a diet that is unsustainable long term then you are doomed to failure.

I agree OP. SW tells people that a curly wurly or a flump is better than half an avocado in terms of points. Most of the recipes are based around stuff with artificial sweeteners. Yes, some people say that they do SW but only eat unprocessed and no muller lights etc but then you are adapting the SW diet because if you actually followed it word for word, you would be eating a lot of processed junk.

Low cal will also change the number of calories that your body needs to sustain itself, meaning that you gain weight eating less food. The best example is the Biggest Loser contestants in the US. Nearly all of them have regained weight since the programme and some have gotten fatter. A lot of them have expressed dismay that their metabolism is now completely fucked.

It is not as simple as calories in vs calories out. 2000 calories of junk has a totally different effect on the body to 2000 calories of whole food.

Eating less calories helps you loose weight.

Eating a low calorie diet can affect your metabolism and makes it much easier to gain weight if you want to eat a normal diet in the future.

I think the key point here is "go back to normal eating": for too many people, 'normal eating' is overeating, and that's why the weight goes back on. But because many people don't recognise that their normal eating pattern is actually overeating, they then convince themselves that they've 'destroyed their metabolism' by doing a low-calorie diet and that diets don't work.

As plenty of PPs have said, there's no magic to dieting, it's just calories in < calories out. You can do it in a variety of different styles but the best one is one from which you learn how to maintain it long term and to recognise why you eat what you do, tackle patterns of mindless eating or bingeing and to learn what hunger actually feels like, as opposed to habit or boredom.

MN can be such a bitchy place for people with learning difficulties

They work for maybe a minority, but isn't ww still pushing the "you can eat anything you like, just in small portions". Things like pringles and high sugar foods are so addictive it's difficult to just eat 3 and feel satisfied and not eat any more.

That's not to say that some low calorie diets aren't crap, they are, and I'd put SW and WW in that category. They don't promote a particularly healthy lifestyle and are all about selling products.

I’m 5ft 9 and 9stone 3. I was that weight when I was 15 and I’m still now, at 53. I put on 2 stone when I was pregnant with DD and lost the weight within a month. I exercise more now I’m older as the weight can go on a bit. I haven’t counted a calorie in 20 years.
I eat healthy most of the time and stop when I’m full. Over Christmas I pretty much ate what I wanted and have now cut back and upped the swimming and brisk walking.
I totally agree about weight watchers/slimming world. An acquaintance who’s been going for years is still unfit and overweight.
In a nutshell I exercise and don’t eat crap. Works for me and probably most people tbh.