To wonder why people can't lose weight?

[Wishiwasholsk]

Medical conditions aside.

We moan about being fat but it's never enough to really change.

I'm 5 stone overweight and already the NYE goal is gone.

I think humans are pre programmed to eat sugary/fatty foods in abundance if they are available in order to protect us in case of famine. However, modern life means for the vast majority of us, food is always in abundance and there's no famine.

Food is everywhere in portions that are too large for most people.

It's a lot easier to find a pasty, sandwich with loads of mayonnaise and white bread or beige and chips when out and about than it is to find something healthier like soup and a small roll, salady stuff that isn't covered in mayonnaise or lean meat and salad kebab type thing.

To wonder why people can't lose weight?

because we are biologically programmed to lay down fat. It is an extremely powerful survival instinct in some people, to survive a famine that never comes.

I had various issues. I’d start the day with the best intentions, then eat toast for breakfast and feel starving later in the day. Two things have helped me. Slimming world - the concept of introducing fruit and veg with every meal to fill me up, being realistic about how much junk I can eat. I lost 3stone in 8 months! I gained a stone back though when I was ill and low in mood. Then at Christmas I read The No S diet - No snacks, no sweets, no seconds - except on ‘S’ days, Saturdays, Sundays and two exceptions a month. Stopping snacking and having loads of sugar in the week has been eye opening. I never realised how much I grazed in between meals and how much I use food to make me feel better. I’ve also surprised myself by going between meals for longer than I thought I could. I am enjoying my S days a lot!
I know this last stone will be slow to shift using this method but I feel I can carry on doing this, have less guilt about enjoying the tasty food when do have it because I exert control the rest of the week.

I think one of the main reasons is because people try to change how they eat.
They go from eating chips and ice cream to eating carrot sticks and cucumber for snacks.
It is unsustainable.
You don't have to change the type of food just the volume.
If you ate half the amount that you currently eat of everything except veg you will lose weight and it is much more likely to be long lasting.

Sugar is definitely a problem, and I also mean in the form of carbs.

My problem is I can be careful and eat well all week, and can undo all that good work in an hour on a Saturday night It's really hard to re educate your body to eat what it should rather than the quick fixes your mind tells you that you want.

I've been very slim and I'm currently fat. Can't say I'm happy either way as I'm always neurotic about food, just can't escape it. Meticulously calorie counting with a fuckton of exercise. Over eating planning on eating, feeling guilty and eating more. Never had a normal relationship with food. I'd really like to know what it's like to have a normal happy relationship with food. It's my crutch, some people drink, shop ect.

I have actually started successfully losing weight. I have not cut anything out and I am just doing more cooking from scratch, drinking more water and walking a lot more. It’s slow but the pounds are coming off.

Because a lot of us are at a stage of life where it's more rewarding to be have a take-away than fit in a size LBD.

That nothing tastes as good as skinny feels thing is bollocks when you spend your Saturday nights in your jimjams at home with the kids.

You have to change your lifestyle permanently to stop the cycle and it’s realy hard to stop habits of a lifetime!

To quote against Kate Moss

Because many foods gives much morre regular pleasure than being skinny feels.

I am weighing up the risks of diabetes and cancer with the risks of early death from bronchiectasis .

I got myself down to a BMI of 18 in my early 20s, but I kept getting severe chest infections that interfered with my life.

I found that I was healthier at a higher BMI. However, I have had some recent issues with chest infections and I am wary about trying to lose weight in the context of that.

I got my weight down after I had my daughter 5 years ago, but my weight has crept up to a BMI of about 30. For various reasons, it has been difficult to exercise- I have had repeated bouts of pneumonia and don't want to exercise soon after being ill, because it can lead to set backs. I also had ankle and foot problems that affected my ability to run around with the children, unfortunately.

My respiratory physician says that at BMI 30 I am the perfect weight (and this is true from the point of view of avoiding serious infections) But I would like to be thinner and fitter.

I think I need to build up some muscle first off as upper body muscle will really help with weathering the chest infections.

But for the time being I am recovering from flu, so just concentrating on resting and taking antibiotics to prevent a secondary infection.

Because they give up too easily and are too hard on themselves. It’s what you’re do OP!

It’s less than two weeks since NY, it’s very early days. Don’t think “I’ve messed up, it’s the end”. Think “I’ve not had a great day today but tomorrow’s a new day, I’m back on it”

Just one day at a time, eat less, move about more, you WILL lose weight.

I think diets are what make people fat

I put on 4 stone during pregnancy, I ate all the time. Heartburn could only be kept at bay by eating!

But after the birth, I lost it again.

I eat anything I like, try to be reasonably "healthy" but nothing is "banned", if I fancy pizza and wine, I have it. Maybe just 3 slices instead of 5 though

But essentially, I think going on "diets"'makes people obsess about what they can't have. Whereas if you just have some bloody pizza when you fancy it, and enjoy it, you can then forget about food.

Any Doctor that says a BMI of 30 is perfect weight needs reporting.

Poor mental health? That's my excuse anyway.

I comfort eat because I feel shit and then I feel shit because I eat junk all the time. I can't seem to stop the vicious circle.

I try and fail at eating healthy and exercising. I do well for about a month and lose about a stone then just creep back into old habits.

Prior to having Dd I lost 4 stone over 2 years and kept it off for 2 years. Ended up with PND and had loads of crap stuff happen to me and now I'm about 4 stone overweight again!

I hate myself and what I've done to my body and people banging on about how disgusting and lazy us fatties are just makes me feel worse. We are talked about like we're a different species. A gross group of subhuman who don't deserve to be loved or even liked.

There was a programme on R4 today where a GP was saying that cortisol, the stress hormone, affects our metabolism and makes us more likely to gain weight.

He found that patients' attempts to lose weight were more successful when they did 5 minutes of meditation in the morning and 15 minutes of relaxation exercises at night.

Since my DH got the snip I've been off all hormonal contraception and lost 3 and a half stone since September 2017.
Not saying contraception causes weight problems but it did for me.

I'm another one who votes for mindset, it's not enough to just say you want to loose weight, you've got to be very focused, determined and disciplined.Unless your head is in the right place you won't succeed, it has to be your priority and you've got to be willing to keep going, if you have a bad day it can't become a bad week, you've got to get back on it.

If you have no support or encouragement from anyone it's even harder and if you have overweight friends and family who encourage you to eat and drink excessively then the odds are stacked against you.

It's an awful thing to experience being fat because it brings so much misery and self loathing.Losing weight can literally change your life and I take my hat off to anyone whose achieved their weight loss goals.

I don't see the need to wonder, really. I can't lose weight because of the types of food I love. & Although I exercise, I don't exercise enough. The only time I shift enough is when I think weight getting out of hand or a holiday is in the offing. I can suddenly motivate myself then.

When I'm back home food isn't pushed to prominence so I seem to forget about it. In UK it's wall to wall food programmes, on cover of magazines, healthier versions of foods are ridiculously expensive.

& I don't want a joyless diet missing out the foods I love unless it's going to make me live healthily and reasonably able bodied beyond age 100+

Food is a complicated subject. I've a friend who's never overweight as she just sees food as fuel. I'm a size 14-16 and deep down don't want to ever be smaller than a 12-14 as at my age I don't want a haggard face and a stunning body

I think cutting out sugar and minimising white carbs is a good thing. I've managed carb reduction before but felt I couldn't manage sugar reduction, it's a minefield as sugar is in everything. I probably needed a definitive list of what and what not to eat re that aspect

No, it is a bronchiectasis thing. At a BMI of 18 there is about an 8% chance per year of dying, at a BMI of 30 the risk of early death almost vanishes

link here

I tried to upload the graph but I struggled on this system.

So for me personally there is a genuine health benefit of being around BMI 29/30.

I have to weigh this against other risks to my health of course, as I said.

because food is so closely linked to emotions
because there is so much screwed up crap on self image and body image
because there is so much pressure to be a certain way and look a certain way
because its time to stop looking at a plate and seeing calories and instead see a plate with balance on it.carbs fats veg fruit don't see the nuber see the item.the goodness the balance.things started to get totally messed up when the time of diets and calories cutting,atkinds,low fat,low colestoral,low sugar etc etc became a huge industry. we lost what food is.
because life can be cruel and so can the shaming

I just snack all the time and reach for quick stuff - usually toast, sandwiches, cereal etc. I'm really busy and just don't seem to have time to plan healthy meals. I do quite a lot of exercise walking my dogs ( 2.5 hours today ) but it obviously isn't enough. I'm also menopausal, mildly depressed and work shifts which doesn't help. I just crave carbs after a nightshift and feel constantly exhausted.

Night shifts also affect cortisol patterns which can affect weight gain, as I suspect you know.