To think that people who say diets don’t work aren’t really trying

[amijumping]

I’ve lost a stone since having A baby got another stone to loose. It’s Been fucking hard I felt hungry for my usual snacks and rubbish for ages and still do but I’ve had to really get the willpower out to actually loose some weight. At first I tried to just easy a hit healthier but soon realised it wasn’t working as I wasn’t actually reducing my calories. Science states time and a time again it’s calories in vs calories out I’ve managed too lose weight slowly and sensibly by tracking everything that passes my mouth it’s hard it’s boring sometimes not fun but it’s the only way it’s worked. Otherwise I’ll think I’m being healthy and low calorie but things seriously add up that extra bit of mayonnaise extra slice of toast eyeballing butter in mash for example all adds up. Surely if people have been actively eating less calories than they need they would loose weight

I think if you have to recommend women count every single calorie and never have so much as a cup of tea without measuring the milk, you aren't recommending a diet - you are recommending obsessive behaviour that restricts and takes over a person's life. I know on MN, loads of people think it's normal to track every mouthful day in day out and to cut calories to dangerously low levels as a matter of course but it's not a healthy, sustainable, normal way to eat.

Diets slow the metabolism and do a lot of mental and emotional damage. Yo-yo dieting has adverse health outcomes. Diet culture is harmful to all of us. And living a life where you fear a glug of olive oil on your salad and catastrophise about the hundreds of hidden calories you worry about eating if you stray from your rigid tracking is a terrible example to set to children, especially girls.

You need to know what you are consuming in order to know you are in a calorie deficit if that’s what you are aiming for. I do track what I eat, but I don’t advocate restricting calories to dangerously low levels. I used to eat 1200 calories a day. I now eat 2500 and yes I do track my food because I’m eating for a specific goal.

My point is that lots of people have no idea what they are eating and vastly underestimate. This is why they aren’t losing weight when they think they should and give up saying that they have tried every diet under the sun but nothing has worked.

I was very overweight 20 years ago and had a light bulb moment. I realised that me being fat or thin was in my own hands and nobody else's. A lot of mental things started shifting and I lost 4.5 stone. I developed lots of habits and learned to endure hunger and put boundaries around when I could have treats.

At the same time, I also developed a taste for fruit, veg and water and learned how to make healthy swaps. I started treating myself as someone I really wanted to invest in and used a lot visualisation and psychological warfare against my food addiction. That's what it is. For a long time it was a constant battle between my cravings, my feelings and my control over what I was putting in my mouth.

Was it a simple case of calories in/calories out? Very much, except it was like I had to complete an assault course several times a day to keep the calories out. It was a very complex, challenging and at times overpowering battle but after a while, everything became normal and the sense of the fight gradually became peaceful. I didn't eat treats during the week and that was that. I stopped eating when I felt full and that was that. I enjoyed salads and chopped fruit and generally started living like a thin person, because that's what I was.

I was a size 8 and spent my twenties living for the weekend, going clubbing in little dresses and loving fashion and beauty. It brought me a lot of shallow, superficial joy and I'm so glad I pushed through.

I kept the weight off for ten years, then got pregnant 3 times over the next decade, getting back down to a size 8 between each baby. I'm now finished my family and am back down to my size 8s.

In theory, yes, it absolutely IS as simple as calories in/calories out. However, the brain is a very powerful machine, deeply tied to the emotions, and food carries huge psychological capital for people who can't stop eating.

I didn't say we were supposed to make ourselves ill by overeating. I said that we are 'programmed' to seek out high calorie food because our forebears needed to survive food scarcity. Of course that urge is stronger in some people than others. Just like the drive to have babies is stronger in some than others. That's why not everyone is fat.

I lost 5 stone through diet and exercise and have kept it off for 2 years now. It’s really difficult and takes alot of willpower every day.

Actually I think this is true, ive heard it on lots of weightloss/self help articles/books? Its the animal (survival) instinct in our human make up.

Look up Insulin Resistance. Dieting is not always that straightforward.

Wow what a nasty bunch on here. I lost just over 2 stone by using Nutracheck. It was the first time ever I needed to diet and found my portions were on the same scale as a male manual worker.

I’m on MJ and lost 4 stone, it’s taken well over a year. I’ve also started SW to try and kick start me. I stick to it and eat below my calories and I still only lose 1/2 or so a week. Yes if I went on a starvation diet I’d lose more but who can live like that

That’s a lot of people

What do you mean? You lose 1 or 2, or half a pound or kilo? Sorry, just couldn't make that out.

And when you've had a couple more kids, wrangles bolshy teens and are menopausal...

Yeah I know, I just re read and realised it made zero sense 😂

half a pound a week :)

Ah yes, thought so! Have to say that when I was breastfeeding, my weight loss was very slow...sometimes 100g a week. It does all add up though but it's very disappointing at the time. I always thought that the number going down is going in the right direction! 😀

What kind of diet are you referring to? Low and very low calorie diets may work in the short term with maximum weight loss at 6 months but time and time again, the research has shown that by 12 month almost every one will be back at baseline weight or higher. Read up on the weight set point theory - every body has a weight set point which is determined in utero. You cannot change this without some serious manipulation either through surgery or the new weight loss medications. Your body will always try to bring you back to your set point - usually when you go below it. It’s not as effective at bringing you back to it if you gain too much.

the one time I lost a lot of weight I was eating a lot of calories and lifting weights. It’s not as simple as lower calories and exercise, it is for some people, not all.

I can believe this. I am maintaining a 7 stone loss and sometimes I think is this how people of this size actually eat because quite frankly it’s not very bloody much but maybe you’re right they didn’t have a weight problem for the majority of their life and had to lose so much weight so their body isn’t trying to eat itself back to being very obese.
I wish WLI were around years ago (as readily available as they are now) it would have made such a difference to my life.

Are you naturally slim @amijumping? For me losing weight hasn’t really been an issue- it’s keeping it off! I don’t have an unhealthy lifestyle but as you say - every little thing adds up!

I lost weight in my late 30s by reducing my calories to 1800 a day.

Now mid 40s and I put around half of the weight I lost in my 30s back on. Went back to dieting but nothing was shifting on 1800 so dropped to 1300 and have lost almost 2 stone.

I am much more active now than I was back then. I train and teach martial arts 4 times a week, go to the gym, run etc so I presume as I've gotten older my body just naturally burns fewer calories so to lose weight I had to drop the calories further.

I do weigh everything I eat, even down to the butter on my toast. But I've enjoyed the challenge and have focused on finding healthier choices. I still have dinners out or alcohol if I want it but find more often now I choose healthier choices because I want to.

Just dont send an Eton Mess my way, I will lose all semblance of control 🤣

Look, broadly speaking you're right. It's energy consumed vs energy used. But there is a lot of nuance. Do some people just over eat and make bad choices.....of course. Do some dieters actually not understand what they're eating and fall foul of hidden calories......probably. But genetics plays a part, medical conditions play a part, even medication people are on play a part. Ever taken steroids, I ballooned on them and yet ate very little as they made me so sick!

I really struggle. I can’t exercise (I’m disabled) and I’m on medications plural that have weight gain as a side effect.

So technically they’re not incorrect. They said people need to eat less calories which is basically what you just said

Yeah… and even half a pound a week adds up if you keep going, it’s just not easy for some people to lose weight though even when they do try x

You are right and it's not about fad diets or doing mad stuff. I'm an adult and I take accountability for what I eat and drink. I didn't for a while and I gained 2 stone. I've lost it and then some by calorie counting, cutting down on the crap and doing strength training. There are so many amazing low calorie recipes out there.
I didn't have a clue what I was doing at the start so I've taken it bit by bit and built it up slowly.
My wee mantra I tell myself is I can make changes or I can make excuses.

There are many physical, mental and emotional factors to being overweight and obesity. Especially if it’s a lifelong struggle rather than just losing some extra that has been gained in baby or holiday weight. It’s simply not always a matter of try hard and succeed.

Your post is really short sighted and actually rather smug.

It isn’t that simple but there is an element of truth in what the OP is saying. It is so easy to underestimate the calorie intake of a day, especially once you begin cooking.

I used to inwardly sniff at people women who were bothered by calories. God only knows what I was thinking! But I began using a tracking app (My Net Diary) earlier this year and it has been so revealing. Looking back I was regularly eating 2500 calories, often more with a ‘treat’ here and there on a daily basis. I now go through spates of measuring everything I eat on a digital scale and can often keep it down to 1600-1700. My maintenance level is 2100.

I haven’t lost weight at the moment but I have lost size and certain clothes now fit comfortably that were becoming too tight last year.