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...

I can vouch for the overweight not wanting to eat in public, which is why I started eating in secret = vicious circle. I've been guilty of eating low fat crap in the past. Needless to say it didn't work...

do you know that its healthier to be fit and overwieght (not clinically obese) than slim and unfit?

Not really relevant but interesting I feel.

Less likely to get cancer if you exercise regularly and eat your 5 portions of fresh fruit and veg and are over your healthy BMI and if within healthy BMI and don't.

IMVHO emphasis should be on health not weight/looks etc. I'd like to blame the media but I'm afriad that women being hypercritical of other women is as much to blame.

I go to WW and they sell their own chocolate sweetie bars at the meeting.

They are quite expensive but what amuses me are the women that buy them at the meeting then sit and munch them there and then while the WW leader does her chat.

It's the ridiculous idea that somewhere out there is a pain-free magic cure to being fat that annoys me. I have a friend who I see once or twice a year and every single time I see her she has found some new book or product that I "simply must try". Over the 10 years I have known her she has got steadily more overweight. I have never been thin but am slightly lighter than I used to be and keep to a weight that I am happy with by sensible eating and occasional periods of cutting out all the really bad stuff.

I did find some fantastic low-fat muffins once that I would definitely recommend. They were packed full of sugar and honey and were possibly the tastiest thing I've ever eaten. And all for only twice the calories of a standard muffin!

Ooh KC I know much more about this than you

Thinking about "cutting calories" is the absolutely last thing you must ever do to lose weight . You must never, ever think of depriving yourself - you must think that everything you put in your body is good for you.

I find it so boring so silly.
I think people confuse healthy eating with dieting brand food, which of course are not the same thing at all.
If you eat three healthy meals a day you will be slim. That's it really.
I could probablt lose a couple of pounds- well, maybe half a stone- but I love wine and cheese, my two indulgencies, so I live with being a size 12 instead of a 10 and certainly do not moan about it!

I'm happy to be educated Anna - point in the direction of the research that says drinking wine aids weight loss - really I love to be informed.

I'm not suggesting that you cut calories - I'm saying that you cannot add wine to your diet and not put on weight (unless you up your exercise levels) - you need to compensate.

The caloreis in a glass of wine aren't any differnt to the calories in a slice of bread and butter (roughly) - you can't add a slice of bread and butter every day and think you won't put on weight over time.

as a non-drinker I don;t really care of course and before anyone tells me how healthy a glass of red wine is... a bunch of red grapes and an aspirin is even healthier!

I don't think a glass of wine a night will make you big, Kewcucumber.
I think with a sedentary lifestyle and sugary foods it will add to a problem, but on it's own,
no.

The point is - you need to think in terms of everything you put into your body doing you good.

Food is much, much more than calories (fuel). You need to ensure that you have put everything in your body every day that will make it function optimally. Hence the glass of wine, that helps you relax and enjoy your meal more, so that you feel happier and more satisfied by it (and therefore much less likely to overeat - or comfort eat).

I eat a croissant and drink wine every single day and I'm not fat. I never, ever count calories.

Right, so Tactful Things to say to competitive dieters:

• are you pregnant?
• but you have a pretty face
• you carry the weight SO well
• why do you eat so much?
• why don't you have an apple instead?
• eat less exercise more
• FFS it's a chocolate cupcake not a nuclear bomb

KC - the glass of wine is better, in a million ways, than the bunch of grapes and an aspirin...

I got a comment at work a few weeks ago from my skinny 19 years old colleague

"You never really eat at work do you? I'm surprised by that"

ergo - "you are a fat cow - how come you can go a morning without stuffing your fat gob?"

I was

EP - I have ahd the first 3 of those comments directed at me SO many times.

i read somewhere that you must eat the three main food groups

carbohydrates for energy
fruit and veg for vitamins
and fats for happiness

i like slimming world as it has taught me healthy eating and i think some days i eat way more than i used to but i eat the right stuff!

well it depends if you were eating rice cakes/wittering about whether to eat a mouthful od cheesecake/talking about calorie counting at the time. If not, you're entitled to push their face in .

LOL effie at "FFS it's a chocolate cupcake not a nuclear bomb"

NBo, I donp;t talk about food a lot.

I just think about it all the time

Then I eat too much, put 1837462837462837468 stone on and then cry.

Weight watchers bores are the worse, anyone I know who has been on weight watchers spends their whole time obsessing over points! Tis very tedious. I'm in the everything in moderation camp (in theory ), especially if it's good home made food.

well I eat food all the time but diet bores are the worst

tbh people who diet/ smoke themselves thin then pretend like they are naturally thin and it's a pita, oh look at my skinny arms, there's no meat on me, etc etc, are just as bad imo!

Which is the one that has 'sins'? You see that bothers me. Food isn't a sin. it's just food. Obsessional attitudes to food are self-defeating aren't they?