So if nearly all of us are going to put the weight back on again, is there any point in trying to lose it in the first place?

[Fingalswave]

Caught brief glimpses of TV progs on this subject recently. Apparently, only 20% of dieters succeed in maintaining their weight loss? If this is true, why are we encouraged by doctors to try and reduce our weight? Does anyone have any links to the science pls?

And as I was going to start trying to lose weight in Lent, is there any point?

Thank you Pickachew

I saw a biggest loser type programme the other day, where people were competong against each other to see who could hold the heaviest weights for the longest time. Now we are talking about seriously obese people, holding very heavy weights. Surely that is putting way too much pressure on their hearts and their joints. Is it really safe for people who are so overweight to go from doing very little exercise to extreme amounts in such a short period of time. I can't help thinking these programmes are a heart attack waiting to happen. I hope that I am wrong and that doctors have guaranteed the safety of those people taking part.

Yes, interesting article. I believe there's stuff we haven't figured out yet-maybe to do with hormones, maybe to do with gut bacteria.

What I still don't get is this: are people who have lost lots of weight more prone to regaining it than people who have always maintained their weight? If so, why?

I believe it's more likely.

I would suspect that to get overweight to that extent they may have some serious issues around food which simply are not addressed with diet alone...so when the diet stops, they are less well-equipped to maintain a moderate, healthy approach - it's all or nothing.

I'm going to do a slightly twattish thing now and use myself as an example.

I'm about 2.5 stone overweight, which was put on fairly slowly over the last decade, but am currently consistently losing 1-3lb a week. I've cut down takeaways (still have one a week - but a much smaller one!), upped my portions of vegetables which naturally reduces portion size of the rest of the meal and began going for walks in my lunch hour and generally taking more opportunities to be active. So, with a few tweaks, it isn't a world away from what I was doing before. I believe that provided I keep an eye on things I could eat this way indefinitely.

Now take someone who was previously eating 3,500 - 4,000 calories a day. They've got a lot to lose so want to see bigger losses. Rather than tweaked, their diet is totally overhauled - down to 800 cals a day, when realistically at their size they could comfortably afford to eat twice or even three times that amount and would still be losing weight. They're in the gym two hours a day religiously, maybe with a pt who is pushing them hard. They know, on paper, what caused them to put the weight on - but at the end of it, they still have no idea what a healthy, sustainable diet looks like - because for most people, what they are doing when dieting is not sustainable.

I thought it was something to do with how fat cells don't multiply when you put on weight, your existing cells just get bigger. So when you lose weight, your cells have a sort of memory of being bigger and strive to return to that state.

Otoh, that might be total bollocks. I've read so much pseudo science over the years about diets that I no longer have a clue what is true anymore.

I miss the olden days of my mum telling me to just eat 1200 calories per day and it didn't matter if they consisted of mars bars and a vitamin pill

Yeah I must admit I no longer know what to believe w.r.t. Weightloss.

Never thought about fat cells getting bigger though, quite a mind boggling concept!

My mother just ate cabbage soup for a few days when she got half a stone above her ideal weight.

Fingalswave I used Paul Mackenna's I Can Make You Thin Book,CDs . the title is silly IMO I just wanted to slim down, which I did! There are more recent ones. Google him !

Thanks Ppeat will do!

Sounds like you have some good strategies there Clashcityrocker

Aderyn I think the best way is just to go by experience. Those crash diets can't work because they're not for life. IMO and E it's best to never allow yourself to go over a certain weight. Like the cabbage soup diet!

At the moment I am trying to eat low carb, high fat. It makes sense to me that carbs should come from vegetables, not bread and cake. I also see the sense in eating healthy fat, because it fills you up and full fat products don't contain so much sugar.
I do believe that sugar is bad - it would be fine if we just ate the sugar that occurs naturally in food but I think our bodies are not designed to cope well with all the extra sugar which is added.
I am not doing too well at the moment though - keep cheating. But when I have managed the lchf way of eating, I did feel better for it, less bloated and acidy. It is hard though, because I absolutely adore sugary crap!

Interesting thread, going to look yo this programme!

Yes you know what your body is happy with. I follow my blood type which explains why some of us do well on the paleo or the Atkins and others do better on a demi veggie diet. I eat low sugar, plenty of veg, and good seasonal organic fruit (only on an empty stomach though) That stops painful joints.

Dh lost masses of weight on the Atkins , I got ill!

I lost four stone when I was about 22 and am still the same weight now (8.5 stone and probably a bit underweight) at 47. However, I have been a recovering alcoholic for many years. I don't like the term "addictive personality " but suspect that I have one.

Looking around our works canteen at lunch time, the slim people work at it every day looking at their lunch boxes or food choices, should they pack it in because it is a daily routine that they feel they have to do?

measles The best way to stay slim see Paul Mackenna, IME is to eat when you are HUNGRY, and stop when you're FULL. You eat nourishing food (not crap) mindfully , slowly, enjoying the flavours. Not standing up throwing the food down your neck.

So you don't go hungry, dh does that all the time and he is obese , he thinks skipping meals helps but it does the opposite, because he gets so hungry he eats any old rubbish too fast.

The last thing I read about the hypnotist ppeatfruit was that he kept going by putting stuff up his nose or alcohol down his throat, now the first is calorie free but the second???

I am similar to Lobster - I lost 4 stone when I was 21 and I'm 32 now and haven't put it back on, have actually gradually lost another stone since then over the years, giving me a BMI of just under 20. I'd only put the weight on over the space of a year or two so hadn't always been that size.

However, I also have a very addictive personality and find that my life does somewhat revolve around food and exercise, mostly because I'm so terrified paranoid about gaining weight. I would go up by another stone if it meant that I could have a healthier relationship with food. On the plus side, I eat a very healthy diet and get a lot of exercise, but I'm sure the stress that following my 'regime' entails outweighs the benefit!

Sadly, the one way of eating that I found really improved my relationship with food was low carb, high fat, but after just a month of it a cholesterol check up showed that my cholesterol was up from 5.4mmol to 8.9mmol, so it clearly doesn't agree with me.

Well ,if it's true measles he doesn't take his own advice. Silly man.

BlueSofa I really don't know if there IS a totally healthy relationship with food though, so many of us have listened to our parents using food as a 'treat' and being on diets all the time or whatever. That's without the powerful influence of advertising.

I mean when we lived in caves we must've got fairly desperate in the winter when the tree fruit ran out and the animals hibernated!

There are probably a lot of factors why people gain the weight back. There's the fact that metabolism slows, or they go back to eating "crap" when the diet ends.

I also think unrealistic goals play a big part. For someone whose 15 or 16 stone and has been for sometime, going down to 9 stone and maintaining that will be next to impossible. It will require far too much willpower and constantly stressing over food and exercise. However, getting down to 11 or 12 stone and maintaining that through healthy food and exercise would be far easier. But 11 or 12 stone isn't "slim" (even if its healthy) so most dieters aren't satisfied with that.

My mum lost a lot of weight (went from size 20 to size 12 in two years). She did it by low carbing and going to the gym.

7 years later and she is now a size 14 but has been for years. She still eats cakes and chocolate but overall eats a lot less and moves more.

It can be done but you do have to change your habits.

I'm currently trying to lose weight I put on with my meds. I've lost 2 kg in 6 weeks (so slowly) so far and aim to lose another 4. I've just tweeked my diet and upped my exercise. All things that I can easily maintain forever.

People put it back on because they "diet" not change their diet.

If you change what you do temporarily you'll only get temporary results. You need to start small and make slight edge decisions. Build small healthy habits that compound over time.

The key here is to realise that the things you need to do are easy, but they are easy not to do also. By doing the easy things over and over you will change your life and health for ever.

I lost 7 stone over the space of 3 years, have maintained the loss of over a year now BUT I have made some pretty big lifestyle changes in order to achieve it. I didn't crash diet or do anything extreme I followed SW principles but happily took a slow and steady approach. I also exercise a lot (run around 20 miles a week) which helps keep the weight off in more ways than one (I now reach for running shoes now chocolate when stressed!)

Yes doing it slowly is the best way Sirzy Congratulations

Well done Sirzy it is about changing your lifestyle isn`t it.

thefitfatty " when the diet ends??" it never ends, you spend the rest of your life watching what you eat and exercising/moving more. Otherwise it creeps on again unfortunately.