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 work in a really physical job walk about 8 miles a day on my feet for eight hours. When i use my fitbit and put in the food its easy for me to be under target as i burn a lot of calories, so i have lost over 1 and a half stone. If i sat at a desk all day drove to work the small amount of calories i could eat would be really really difficult to maintain.

NameChanger im the same I had almost 4 stone to lose the 2nd time i had to lose weight and my loss was a pound and a half a month. Took me over 3 and a half years.

The first time i lost ten stone (7 stone of it in 7 months) and i got gallstones through losing weight too fast. I was told the fast weight loss caused this in my case. I had to live with this for ten months until they operated going back and forth to A and E , mixing paracetamol with Tramadol which didnt even touch the excrutiating pain (only morphine worked) i could not even eat solid food. This was Slimming World not a VLCD.

I HATE the diet industry for pushing FAST weight loss. Its bloody dangerous and believe me if you get ill they are nowhere to be seen.

Everyone knows exactly what to do if they want to lose weight - eat less, eat well, exercise. Cut out junk, etc etc.
We all know that, but some people struggle with will power and discipline and that’s where they fall down.

That should say wont lose weight not cant in the title.

I say this as someone who lost almost 3 stone last year and still more to go.

My health and fitness has improved and I feel good.

How? The hard way. Eat less and move more. You dont have to cut anything out. I still eat chocolate and pizza if I fancy it. Just less often and less of it.

And i shouldnt think anyone wants to increase their risk of gallstones with the NHS in the state its in.

It’s actually pretty hard to stay a healthy weight and needs constant discipline. This is because our world is full of food that’s cheaper and more easily available than ever before. Also, many people live routinely sedentary lives - means they need to eat very little in fact. but, they eat twice as much as they should AND exercise half as much as they should.
People don’t realise how much excercise you need to do to burn off a cream bun or glasss of wine. I see everyone getting fatter year by year. The saddest thing is - and this is literally over the last 5-10 years only - it’s now affecting young children too who always used to run around burning energy. Now they sit on their arses looking at phones and get ferried around like princes in 4x4s.
People need to take responsibie for their own bodies and lives. I’ve no doubt being fat makes people depressed and less likely to want to exercise and it becomes a vicious circle but the way childhood obesity is starting to also creep in is obscene but sadly getting normalised.

Typo in my post, 2 stone not 3 stone.

People should set goals. I found learning to run using C 2 5k helped me develop a good goal focussed habit and 2 years later I ran a marathon after never previously being a runner. Also lost my 10kg excess weight this way. For me it was about the excercise and goal setting which prompting the good habits for eating and drinking, rather than following a “Can’t eat this, Can’t eat that” diet which I truly believe are futile and lead to binges. You have to go about it the right way. You can eat “normally” and be thin, you don’t need to be “on a diet”.

I think we can't lose weight because we are addicted to sugar. I'm not giving up sugar myself certainly cutting back and I've cut down a lot of processed foods because I believe we are being lead down the garden path (lies to) regarding food and it's content but I think we are capable of having real and normal foods and not getting stuck in the cycle.

And I believe we can eat really well and not miss out and still lose weight. We are all just eating the wrong foods.

Found my people.

Just recovering from sickness bug, no food or drink whatsoever for three days, managed two grapes this evening and a sip of hot water. I feel like shit but I’ve lost half a stone. Not sure I can recommend it...

I think too when we say things like "I can't control what I eat", it makes it sound like we are held at gunpoint by our food, but we are not. Not really. Some foods are designed to make us want more yes, and we are supposed to have much less (or none) of these than we actually consume.
However a lot of it is all mindset. We can overcome the belief that we need certain foods. We just have to realise this and then want to. So if you don't want to by ready made junk then don't buy it and don't allow it in the house. Instead look online for ideas around healthy alternatives for foods and tastes you like. It's never about denying ourselves food it's more about making better choices. When we say "I have no control" and "I can't help it", we are just giving up our ability to make choices. We can make choices over food - the not good choices or the better choices. It's down to us what we do. We are not held at gunpoint by our food

I remember years ago being in a Supermarket with a friend who was very health aware and eating healthy as a lifestyle and he pointed out some treats that said they were fat free and sugar free, and "lite" and he was saying, can people not see the false advertising? It says there's no fat or no sugar but the carbs were through the roof. See we have to understand our foods. If we buy foods that are fat free or lite or whatever we have to know what we are eating. It took me years to really think about what he was trying to say but truly we get misled by advertising. We choose to believe what we read on the front but really we need to look at it more closely. There is no quick fix. Generally if you want a pastry, cream bun or crisps or something and it says fat free or lite then find it why. It's more likely listed the "fat" or "sugar" is listed under something else and there is no shortcut to buying these things. Yes we can make our own healthy version but we cannot just buy it and think we will be healthy.
Also "sugar" is now listed under so many other names these days. We have to read the full ingredients. I now look at foods and if it has lots of chemicals and a huge list of ingredients then I will not buy it. And if sugar is a main ingredient like in the first three ingredients then it's likely to be a food that will be a not be a great choice! So yeah I just wanted to add I think we need to look at what we are eating I say this because I spent a lot of my earlier years yo yo dieting and choosing low fat yogurts not realizing they were jam packed full of sugars to add a flavour. That is only one example but I won't eat low fat yoghurts now unless they truly have nothing added to them. Just my point of view.

Plenty of people mange to lose loads of weight.

Its' keeping it off long term that they generally fail on.

We can overcome the belief that we need alcohol We just have to realise this and then want to. So if you don't want to buy alcohol then don't buy it and don't allow it in the house. . It's never about denying ourselves it's more about making better choices. When we say "I have no control" and "I can't help it", we are just giving up our ability to make choices. We can make choices whether to drink or not. the not good choices or the better choices. It's down to us what we do. We are not held at gunpoint by alcohol

Just copied and pasted Fireflies post there and changed something to see if it flies.

Lack of motivation and lack of will power.

Most of the time, it's the inability to stick to a diet/lifestyle change or to an exercise regime. Many people want to lose the weight, but don't want to do the follow through.

I am guilty of finding every excuse under the sun not to exercise. I am thin, so not doing it for weight loss reasons, but because it's healthy regardless of what size you are. But it's the one area of my life which I battle with. I hate exercise, and it's difficult to motivate yourself to do something you don't enjoy.

Fair enough HelenaDove but I have lived it out many times with food and have learned it, and am now of the belief that i can make better choices and make changes. I have also learned that we have to want to do this ourselves, if we want to see any change.
That's the same for anything. If we have an addiction to alcohol then we need to seek help. That's the choice we get make, that's us wanting to do something about it. No one can make us give up alcohol. And if we continue to be around alcohol and have it in the house then as a choice that's a pretty poor one because of the addiction we have, as it's highly likely we won't stay away from it, in fact we will be drawn to it and we will continue to consume it. But when we realize we have a problem we get help and take steps to get out of the addiction (granted it's not easy nor straight forward, but it's something WE get to do).
It's why when I've wanted to lose weight I have gone to weight watchers and sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Mostly it worked when I wanted it to work. The decision came from me and I took steps to make it work - by changing my food habits, showing up to meetings, pushing myself to stick to a programme. When I didn't change my habits or I skipped the classes I wasn't as successful. For alcohol (the example you use) having that same control is actually the decision we make when we reach out and say, I have a problem and I need help. When we realize we have a problem and seek help that is the choice WE make.
We can't make anyone else do anything - like give up alcohol or the over consumption of food. It comes down to us, and us only (I don't mean we do it alone either) but I am saying we are not helpless or hopeless in the situation. That is what I mean. It's because for so long I too was thinking I can't help eating junk or overeating but actually I could, I just had to find the way to make the change and choose to stick to it. That's all I mean and thats why I say we are not held at gunpoint.
I guess you will have your own perspective HelenaDove, but that's my experience.

I actually think that diets are partly to blame- big bucks diets, with no mention of calories.Even my NHS nurse didn't mention them - given a five a day leaflet. If I didn't already know what a calorie was I wouldn't have a clue and still feel a bit confused about how they contribute to weight loss ie less carbs, low fat etc I've unconsciously watched them since my teens and I think that it was only when a normal weight , after being ill, that I ate normally without gaining weight. I do have a thyroid problem and think, looking back, that it may have been Hashimotos as I also lost a lot of weight for no reason later on (size 8, looked awful)
I agree with the comment re emotional eating, I eat when I'm tired or ill thinking it will make me feel better.
I also worry about vitamin deficiencies shown in blood tests so would never just not eat. I take PPIs for Barretts oesophagus, and know that these can cause deficiencies and the effect these deficiencies have on absorption of Levothyroxine; if my next endoscopy is worse, fortunately still a very low chance of cancer; no cells, 3 stages if there were. If it was worse. another endoscopy in April, the surgery would cause me to lose a lot of weight. Also have v high cholesterol and high blood pressure; plus probs with hip. So it is a balance. Would like to be a size 14 presently a 16/20 Size 12 before Levothyroxine.
I think in the back of my mind I'm worried about the Barretts but am also quite depressed. Struggling to keep up with things due to fatigue and have had a horrible time time relationship wise. Been unable to exercise due to injuries. Just a crap time but have rejoined an amateur orchestra and try to to keep in touch with the friends I have. Looking at starting free Tai Chi classes at the end of the month.

Helena is fast weight loss dangerous though ? I am currently reading The Blood Sugar Diet as I strongly suspect that I probably have insulin resistance . I think the idea of fast weight loss as a bad idea is debunked by the science , however when dealing with individual human beings there will always be exceptions to the rule unfortunately .

Another who agrees that I definitely do not NEED 2000 calories a day for my sedentary lifestyle , I think I probably hit around the 1,000 steps a day mark at the moment

Honestly? Because it's not important enough to do the hard work associated with it. Which doesn't mean they don't want it, they just don't want to do the work, and it is work. Especially if a lot to lose. 5 stone can appear a massive hurdle and a very long road.

We are in control of what we put in our mouths. We know what we should and shouldn't be eating,

If you've five stone to lose and lost two pounds a week, the way I'd look at it is my March you'd be two and a half stone lighter. If you do nothing, you will get to March and still be in the same situation. By the summer you'd be at your perfect weight and feeling great. Except if uou don't do it you'll spend another summer five stone over weight.

How much do you wish to eat more v how much do you wish to lose the weight. Right now you'd rather eat, so you do. So it's not important enough to you. Eating more is more important to you.

I found this book excellent on the psychology of why dieting to lose weight is so hard. In a nutshell it's the timescale problem i.e. what I eat today has very little effect in itself, it's all about long term habits. So the focus should be on how food makes you feel and remembering that poor quality food makes you feel

Say goodbye to overeating

Personally I've pretty much given up added-sugar foods like chocolate, biscuits, cake. I just had too weak willpower to have them in moderation and it took me a long time to realise how powerfully addictive they are. Making a single decision not to eat them takes way less willpower than all the day-to-day micro decisions on whether or not to pick up that biscuit or eat a chocolate. I feel way, way better for it. I do make the odd exception e.g. birthday cakes but even then I really have to make an effort to get back to normal.

Oops missing word

Poor quality food makes you feel bad. The book puts it much more powerfully than my message does!

I gave up sugar for 2 years, I didn't lose any weight at all. I don't think sugar has much to do with weight loss.