to think that if you want to lose weight you need to stop eating all the time?

[OrmIrian]

There are some women in my office who are always talking about losing weight. Always. And at the same time they never seem to stop snacking. But it?s all low-fat, low-cal snacks, branded stuff like Weight watchers, Go-Ahead and their ilk. Never an apple. Or some carrots. Or anything that is actively good for you, just stuff that isn?t fattening. And then lunch will be more low-fat over-priced crap. Or a lettuce leaf with reduced fat cottage cheese. And then ten mins later a low-fat yoghurt. Are they really really that hungry that they need to stoke the fires all the time? Any if so why not just eat a normal meal with more calories and taste and then STOP SNACKING?

Or alternatively walk to work sometimes .

It's OK I am being sooo unreasonable even I want to tell myself off but for some reason it winds me up...

plus, if you are eating constantly you are burning the food you have eaten rather than the fat you have in reserve.

If you are constantly topping up with carbs then those carbs will burn first and only when there is nothing left will the body turn to the reserves it has.

OrmIrian - the very first thing anyone who wants to lose weight needs to do is to stop buying "diet" food .

Three proper, nutritious, tasty meals a day, of which at least two contain a full helping of lean protein, and of course incorporating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, as well as a decent portion of carbohydrate at each meal and a spoonful (or equivalent) of olive oil or butter is the route to a slim and healthy body. NO SNACKS of course, you are quite right.

Agree with Wannabe - far better to snack on fruit, veg or nuts rather than low fat packaged crap.

I make a point of not buying any low fat stuff. I just have the normal stuff but I don't go mad with it as I'm trying to lose weight. I think its better and more sustainable as a lifestyle in the long run. If I'm going to have a treat, I'd rather have one proper cake or ice cream, than three or four crappy low fat things!

oh and dieting in offices can be sooo competitive. They are gaining immense pleasure from comparing their mouldy bits of carbboard and swapping tips on calorie counting.

I understand staff rooms are even worse for this kind of thing

As DH once said to one of his 'I hardly eat a thing' fatties, 'you didn't see many obese people walking out of Belsen did you?'

also it's a bit like marterdom, this eating low fat stuff.

Because let's face it it's all ghastly tasteless shite. In fact that's usually why it contains so much sugar - to conceal just how horrible it really is.

snacks are fine

with sense

i'm always like;y to raid cupboards at 6 before cdinner, so a piece of fruit as a snack stops me doint that (and helped me lose 3 stone a few years back which stayed off until ds4, who is only 9 weeks)

you have to learn your trigger points and what catches yu out... if the smell from the bakery drags you in, eat a banana as you wander past

And never, ever follow a diet that limits ir asks you to weigh your fruit and veg intake- these things are your friends!

oh I agree wholeheartedly with the OP

our office fridge is full, FULL!, of tons of crap

they eat a lettuce leaf and then raid the choc box later

then say to me "oooooh, why are you so thin?" when they see me eating a NORMAL lunch and get all huffy

and then they say "oooooooh I am going on hol in 2 weeks I am having a smoothie for lunch". Which contains about 300 cals, doesn't fill them up so they have a Mars Bar

and then moan at me

anyway, I am snacking constantly because I am pg and it;s the only way to stop myself throwing up. Haven't put on any weight yet

maybe you could ask them if they are preggers? Always goes down well I find

Agree with OP

It's exactly the same where I work

Weight-watchers crap everywhere

Think that was what I meant peachy, with my pot of cherry toms helping me avoid the lure of the vend which btw contains some go ahead snacks.

They snack on diet -type-snacks all day and gobble a family-sized pizza by themselves when they get home.

Because these women are always dieting and always talking about it they are always thinking about food and giving in to cravings. I really think that CBT would be a solution for many of them to help them stop obsessing about food in such an unhealthy way.

Now I just need to turn that into a best selling diet book

It was recently brought to my attention on mn that some v overweight people don't eat in public for fear of judgemental looks and comments. Do you think that by being seen to eat branded low fat snacks they are in some way trying to justify their eating to those who judge them? As if to say, Yes I'm stuffing my face, but it is weightwatchers, so it's ok.

You're right about having an apple or a carrot though. And diet bores should really have their mouths clamped shut (2 birds, 1 stone....)

Agree with Effie and WannaBe - it's competitive martyrdom.

There's no one definitive weight loss plan that works for everyone, maybe the whining expressing themselves helps them? Bloody boring for everyone else though. The OP didn't even say if they're overweight or not, which is irrelevant imo because being a first class food dullard is a lifestyle choice for anyone from a size 6 to er, me.

Are these women seriously medically obese or are they just a bit chubby?

Fairymum - you don't need to to "gobble family sized pizza" to be overweight. One glass of wine a day will do it over a sustained period.

WT - bores generally should have their mouths clamped shut. The worst are the ones who've never been more than a size 12 in their life wittering on about their diet.

I think most people buy diet food because it seems the "easy" way to lose weight.

Everyone wants a quick fix - just look at ost of the weight loss threads on here - "I need to lose 2 stone in 7.5 minutes", "Must lose a stone today, anyone care to join me" etc. Its reflective of our lifestyle on the whole sadly.

The worst diet bores I know are actually very slim. Must be some sort of competitive martyrdom.

X posted there Upwind!

The women where I work are not overweight, not seriously so, anyway

But all INSIST on doing WW etc. Work a 12 hr shift and have only a crappy WW microwave meal for lunch. Then wonder why they're "starving" and give in to the chocolate come 6pm

KC - if you see a nutritionist in Paris because you want to lose weight, they always insist that you have a glass of wine (or even two) with dinner.

Oh God yes.

"I'm so fat - look at my blubber!" they squeak as they pinch a millimeter of skin from their tummies.

"Oh but you hide it well," says I. "Have you thought of Lighterlife?"

I find I am not a target for validation for these people. They don't make the same mistake twice. Telling people they have a pretty face has the same effect.

[evil]

You are not overweight until you can pinch an inch from your scalp in my deluded opinion.

Most of them are a healthy weight to my eyes, perhaps a little on the heavy side but nothing to terrible.

Anna - fine but you need to cut the equivalent calories in food.

No evidence wine helps you lose weight btw though there is some that coffee does act as an appetite suppressant.