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.

Oh im no saint. Im now losing my Christmas weight gain. I do indulge on special occasions.

I think people also read about celebrities who have put on weight and then 3 months later have gone from a 16/18 to an 8.

I do agree that it has to be a lifestyle change and not just a quick fix but people just want quick results straightaway and not put the hard work in, which ties into our want it now society.

I used to get upset whenever I gained weight during weight loss but now I realise that my weight fluctuates from time to time.

Since I've stopped eating processed food, I've noticed that my mental health has improved. I'm feeling more relaxed, less anxious, less irritated so I'm wondering if my junk food intake had an effect on my mental health.

Helena it isn't that I don't believe the NHS or health professionals , I am a nurse , its just scientific research sometimes takes a little bit of time to trickle down through such a huge organisation

It is a hard slog though. I put on 5 stone when preg with my eldest. I joined sw after having my youngest (having lost a cpl of stone in the years between) and I lost 3 stone but no matter how strict I was (inc intensive exercise and tracking on mfp) I couldn’t lose anymore. Now I’ve put a stone or so on because it’s so demoralising to be working so so hard over a year or so and losing nothing. When I relaxed a bit the weight slowly crept on. It has been a slog and it’s depressing thinking I will have to be very very careful the rest of my life or the weight goes back on. I do have under active thyroid but level are stable. It’s not actually easy for everyone. As Katie Hopkins actually found out when she put on weight and tried to lose it for a show. She didn’t find it easy going despite judging people over the years.

Yes it can be as easy as eating less, but I agree that your mindset is important.

I lost loads of weight relatively easily by reducing the size of my lunch, reducing the size and frequency of snacking and logging it all in My Fitness Pal so i couldn't kid myself.

The minute I stopped bothering so much and slipped back into comfort eating, I put on over 2kg in 2 or 3 months. I was still logging in mfp, I just lost my determination.

I've managed to halt it and am getting back into better habits, but it would have been so easy to just get back into feeling shit about it and then making it worse with more comfort eating instead as a pp mentioned.

I think restrictive diets are such a con. No one is going to get far with all their favourite things 'banned'.

Everything in moderation I guess!

Also a lot is made of exercise for weight loss, but ime it has to go alongside a reduction in how much you're eating. Definitely good for your health, but I've read a lot of people on the weight loss boards listing all their loads of exercise and very little weight lost.

Also second the advice to not write off your efforts after a bad day/week. Just get back to your good habits and don't be down on yourself. Like I just was last year 🙈

It's a culture change, where everyone feels they should never be hungry. You can see it with the panicky parents of toddlers, giving them rice cakes/snacks as soon as a kid whinges a bit.

I am so grateful to my parents for providing 3 solid meals a day, but if we were hungry between meals they'd say:"'a bit of hunger won't hurt you, dinner is in an hour" or even "hungry? Good, then you'll enjoy your lunch even more" I just learned that being hungry for an hour or two does no harm.

But it might make you eat more at mealtime than you need. Whereas if you’d had a healthy snack like a piece of fruit you would feel fuller sooner.

Jaygee
But it might make you eat more at mealtime than you need. Whereas if you’d had a healthy snack like a piece of fruit you would feel fuller sooner.
ALL of the evidence points to the exact opposite.

Zero sugars and calories between meals allows the insulin system to stabilise and intake to controlled by the body.

Because we have to eat. We can’t just cut it out, like we can with booze and cigarettes.

I agree with this. My friends were talking about this recently, one made perfect sense when she explained the same, if its fags or beer, you can simply cut it out (bar the whole alcohol dependancy thing), you can't just cut food out altogether as everyone has to eat.

I think people also read about celebrities who have put on weight and then 3 months later have gone from a 16/18 to an 8.

I'm rather cynical of those celebs that do this though. They usually have a nutritionist on hand, a PT a number of times a week, a nanny to look after the baby whilst they go the gym for the fifth that time that week and the most grating ones for me are the ones that brag about how they only eat so much and feel so much healthier now and then it turns out months down the line that they had weight loss surgery. I mean that's cool too but don't give people unrealistic expectations.

Because life is dull on a diet. For every success story there are 50 failures. Slimming World and Weight Watchers wouldn't have been going so long otherwise. We live in a cold country too. Food is nice in winter as is booze!

We have also all been sold the story that thin is good and we should all aspire to be thin. Magazines/TV/Social Media/Men/Porn/Other women all tell us that we should not be fat.

@10thingsIhateAboutTheDailyMail

When we used to moan we were hungry before dinner our parents response would be, "good! You'll eat all your dinner then!"

Zero sugars and calories between meals allows the insulin system to stabilise and intake to controlled by the body.

Are you saying that even drinking a cup of tea or coffee between meals, if you have milk or sugar in it, will make you fat?

jaygee
Are you saying that even drinking a cup of tea or coffee between meals, if you have milk or sugar in it, will make you fat?
No.
I'm saying that zero calories for most hours of the day makes the insulin system work properly.

Zolabudder
Because life is dull on a diet.
Then do not diet.
Pick a way of eating that allows you to enjoy life while staying healthy.
It will involve saying no to stuff - that is called basic self preservation
but it need not involve dullness

I don't know why "people" can't.

But I do know why I can't.

I'm lazy and allergic to exercise and I like the wrong foods too much, and I have a terrible snack habit

Someone up thread has it spot on. Diets make you fat.
I really think that most fad diets mess with your metabolism, but more significantly mess with the mind.
I am 50 & have been the same weight since I was teenager. My mother was very overweight, my father is very overweight as is my brother.(so fat stock)
I have always watched my weight, If I have a day of over indulgence, the next day I eat less. I could so easily be big, but I don't want to be. I eat very well & eat what I fancy. I think my body is happy where it is & so I make sure my weight is stable.
Maybe this in itself isn't healthy, always keeping a mental note of what I have eaten, just keeping a half eye on how many calories I have consumed. I would rather do this than have to cut back and diet.
I weigh myself most days just checking that the pounds don't creep on unexpectedly.

the ones that brag about how they only eat so much and feel so much healthier now and then it turns out months down the line that they had weight loss surgery. I mean that's cool too but don't give people unrealistic expectations.

+1

I follow some plus size bloggers who have been shrinking and while I was happy for them, I was also a bit envious that I wasn't losing weight as quick as they were doing.

Then months later, they posted they had WLS.

Anybody who bases their weight management choices on the lies told by a "celeb" is a fool IMHO

Well, look, I mean, it's not many generations ago that being fat simply wasn't an option... And it still isn't, in many parts of the world.

Humans just didn't evolve to have access to the absurd range of ridiculously fattening foodstuffs that we had today. Resisting it takes a certain mental fortitude that many of our ancestors simply had no use for.

I would love to find a sustainable way of eating which doesn’t leave me feeling deprived. As it is I rarely eat crisps, cakes, biscuits, chips, chocolate and never have fruit juices or fizzy drinks. But I’m still about a stone heavier than I’d like.

jaygee
do you do MFP?
Use it to spot the gaps in your diet - protein shortage often leaves people hungry
and try to fill them

Jaygee, a stone heavier than you'd like.... lots of people are.

Are you actually overweight though?

About the no snacking leading to overeating....in our case it did not, but back in the 70s portions (and plates) were just much smaller.

It is as if everyone is used to bigger plates, bigger portions and more snacks.

I used the Fitbit app for a while to log my food. Most of the time I was in the green zone but I didn’t lose any weight.