... to tell you that diets don't work for everyone

[Wroxie]

Today is my 9 month anniversary of tracking every bite of food that's gone into my mouth, with the exception noted below:

My birthday (one day in which I had, as I remember, pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast, no lunch, and fish and chips + a couple of donuts for dinner).

And that's it. I don't drink alcohol. No takeaways. No restaurants. Nothing that I didn't weigh, portion, and track faithfully. Even when I bake or make something from a recipe, every ingredient is weighed and the calories per serving calculated. I skip breakfast during the week and have normal, healthy food and smallish portions for lunch and dinner.

I eat, on average, 1,100 calories per day. I have a desk job but I walk for 30 minutes to an hour nearly every day.

Before this, my diet was pretty bad - takeaways 3-4 times per week, pastries for breakfast, sandwich with crisps and chocolate at lunch, biscuits whenever I felt like it- probably more than 2,500 calories most days (I'm 5'3" so that is A LOT).

And now, nine months later, I have gone from 13 stone to 12.3 stone. That's a grand total of ten pounds lost on an extremely restricted diet- and it was all within the first two months.

Please don't give me diet advice - no, I'm not in 'starvation mode' (because that's a complete myth). No, I don't need to 'cut carbs'. Seriously, I do not want your advice. What I want is to point out that, the next time you're tempted to say something asinine like 'it's just about calories in vs calories out' or to dismiss or vilify or judge someone based on their weight, to realise that the human body is not a two-stroke lawnmower engine and weight, food, activity, hormones, age, genes, and a million other factors are at play. Losing weight isn't simple and even with all the willpower in the world - which I have demonstrated - it isn't always possible.

I'm not giving up. I have gotten used to eating this way and I actually feel like my blood sugar is more regulated (no 'sinking feeling' a few hours after eating a big lunch, for example) and I know that as I get older, it will be better to, at the very least, not get any fatter. That, at least, I can probably do. But nothing short of eating less than 1000 calories per day or surgery or medication are going to get me to a 'normal' BMI.

Did you ever manage significant weight loss before?

They did research on the Biggest Loser (tv show) and almost all contestants struggled to maintain their new low weight, like their bodies just did not accept it

I do a lot of fasting. Most days 18 hours, once a month a 36 hour fast.

I think the health benefits are unequivocal

When it comes to exercise, I am fine for endurance fasted. I can literally cycle all day if it’s just steady flats.
But if the ride is hilly and you need that extra power (and oxygen) I find it harder so I eat some carbs.

James cracknell and a crew of people recently did 5 consecutive days of 20 miles running on no food at all.
Again, they did it no problem using their fat reserves but power is an issue. You aren’t gonna get a PB on fat alone.

I believe the Tour de France teams all now do their training fat burning, but fuel on glucose for the races

OP I totally get what you are trying to say and the judgement is infuriating. It's like people don't think overweight people can read the same advice as them so they have to r-e-p-e-a-t v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y....

I also find it very sad that most people seem to feel that being skinny is somehow a virtue or the ultimate goal in life 🤷‍♀️

Well done on making the healthy changes you've made so far 🙌

And yes to this op!!

weaselly sweetie-pie accommodating language

🙄

@Wroxie I know you said you weren't coming back, but I'm curious as to whether you've been a yo-yo dieter all your life?

I remember reading about medical followup on the Biggest Loser contestants earlier this year, and there were some quite interesting comments on how the sudden and extreme weight loss had damaged some of their metabolisms, and their bodies expected a different amount of calories to people of an equivalent age/weight/sex because of it. Whilst I am generally of the calories in, calories out school of thought, I do wonder if crash dieting does leave behind more damage than people realise.

I just want to say that i saw real results on fast 800. Slimming world, noom, keto (i can and did eat 3k calories a day on it). Diets do work if you find the right one and a high protein 800 cal a day for 3 months is fine.

Again, they did it no problem using their fat reserves but power is an issue. You aren’t gonna get a PB on fat alone.

No, you wouldn't. But MAF training can improve your 'easy' speed that utilises the fat. So it is faster than the rest. The idea is in races you do have some glycogen reserve/ gels available but go at your comparatively fast easy speed burning body fat reserves for a large proportion of the race then power ahead at the critical point.

Correction: Slimming world, noom, keto (i can and did eat 3k calories a day on it) did not work FOR ME.

I really don't believe you could eat 1100cal for a year and not lose more, sorry.

I also find it very sad that most people seem to feel that being skinny is somehow a virtue or the ultimate goal in life 🤷‍♀️

SOboredofcleaning, no, not really. However, I am interested in health and fitness. The resulting appearance is a bonus, though.

I came out of cancer treatment overweight, bald with a bad back and limited flexibility. They were asking if I wanted a breast reconstruction. I sort of thought, ' What's the point?' It wouldn't have made me look particularly good and it wouldn't have made me feel better. I knew what would, though. Losing excess fat and being fit. So that's what I chose. I'm pleased I made the decision. I look better even with one boob and I certainly feel better. I can actually move more easily. I have more energy.

@rainkeepsfallingdown

It’s set point theory you are referring to

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_point_theory_(body_weight)

Now I am interested in sports science and fitness. I find it quite empowering to think a bit more like an athlete. So, yes, my posts do reflect that. However, I think the athletic world does possess quite a bit of good information regarding the topic of fat loss, muscle building, strength and fitness.

I also find it very sad that most people seem to feel that being skinny is somehow a virtue or the ultimate goal in life

I also don’t do what I do for vanity.
Every corner of my family has cancer all over it.
I happen to believe the evidence that a lot of cancer is lifestyle related and because I clearly and blatantly don’t have good genes when it comes to cancer, I can chose to pay attention or not! 😏

Obviously I am ‘skinny’ because of this, but that’s not what motivates me to keep going. I’m past the vanity stage. The health benefits are immediate as well as long-term. I’m energetic, bright eyed and feel good.

I’m just healthy 🤷‍♀️

It’s not meant to offend anyone, it’s a choice I’ve made that works for me and I see no problem in aiming to be healthy

I used to maintain on 1150 calories and gain at anything more (like you I weighed everything). I’m 3” taller than you and much less sedentary so not at all surprised that you maintain at that calorie intake.
Diets do work but you need to eat less than your maintenance calories.

The dedication you’ve shown is very impressive op, I agree with you that’s it’s more complex than calories in vs calories out, as long as all your hormones, thyroid are normal, It’s time to try something in addition to food control. It would help if you built more muscle mass, fat produces oestrogen which can muck up our hormone balance, muscle will use more calories.
Don’t go hell for leather, you may lose motivation, build up slowly, take your walks a bit faster, so you’re slightly out of breath, then push to further and faster, starting a couch to 5k possibly when you feel ready, running is an excellent way to burn fat. Any kind of resistance exercise will help, if hiit type classes aren’t your scene, some pilates or dance fitness or ballet barre would build up the big muscles = more fat burn.
I think if you find something you enjoy you’ll want to stick to it, there’s a lot of classes online now to try.
I say this as a fitness professional, so no armchair expert
(I also have to work hard to lose weight, I’ve been obese )

I also find it very sad that most people seem to feel that being skinny is somehow a virtue or the ultimate goal in life

I find this comment irritating. Unlike you I can't speak for most people, but there is a happy medium between overweight and skinny.

Exactly soschreibfaul. If fat is the worst thing something can think of being, they're very shallow.

Ooops. It wasn't your comment. Quite the opposite. My opinion stands however.

If fat is the worst thing something can think of being, they're very shallow

Not the worst thing, no. But I don't think many people actually want to be fat.

Possibly not, but greedy, selfish, unambitious, lazy all spring to mind. I'd much rather be fat than any of those.

I've been all of those things from time to time including fat! The good thing is all are reversible IME.

Possibly so. I know some slimsters who have all 4 of the other faults irredeemably.

Rather them than me!

I also find it very sad that most people seem to feel that being skinny is somehow a virtue or the ultimate goal in life

I don't think most people do. I think that most people would like to have a fit body. Otherwise people would just be not eating, rather than going to gyms (or having the perpetual intention of going to one) Taking care of your own health is an admirable goal, isn't it?

I know some slimsters who have all 4 of the other faults irredeemably.

Oh dear, I better keep a check on myself then now I've slimmed down!

I honestly think one of the hardest things about dieting these days is paralysing indecision. So many ideas/theories and everyone saying that their way is the best way.

Just on this thread I've decided to do the Harcombe Diet, then wondered if it should be Fast 800, then ...

(Fat for most of my adult life, know that it's more about the head than the stomach for me. Just wish I could find the magic bullet.)

The best way for you is the way that works for you. Make a list of the diets you'd like to try, and add to it as you discover more diets. Give them each 3 months of rigorous dedication. Work your way down the list. At some point, and probably quite quickly, you'll find something that works.

The magic bullet is progress. Once you find the right diet for you, you will feel better, be healthier, and start losing weight. You won't want to give up.