Are there any excuses?

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asviles
asviles Posts: 56 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Knowing what you know now, by cruising these forums and trying CICO for yourself, In the end, are there any excuses you will accept for someone who WANTS to lose weight, but just "can't"?

I've pretty much read them all on these forums from thyroid to injury, and for every excuse made I see about 10 responses of people who suffered the same or worse circumstance and still made it work.

That being said, let's lay it all out here. What's your excuse?

Mine have been in the past, depression, ignorance, bum ankle, sugar addiction, impoverished, asthma, history of obesity in my family, too much work, too much stress, just had a kid, just got married, it's the holidays, blah blah blah blah blaaaahhhhhh.

The only one I really accept about my past now is ignorance. I didn't realize how much I was eating and how poorly I was eating until I started plugging in my meals to MFP.

Even now in the holiday season I see myself slacking, forgetting to add, or giving in to the office snacks that seem to flow like Immortal Technique into the break room, but I know I'm struggling and I know how to fix it, and I'll be back on track come January. 45 pounds down, 45 to go!
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Replies

  • MarvinsAMartian
    MarvinsAMartian Posts: 236 Member
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    I can agree with ignorance. I've had countless talks with people who swear by this reason or that, that they can't lose/gain weight/muscle. In a lot of these interactions I find trying to help such a person is what 'can't' be done because they refuse to help themselves. It's like they're using that energy explaining why they can't do something instead of figuring out ways to overcome it.

    Having people ask me for advice then explain it away like "oh well that would never work for me," doesn't offend me because its not me, but their own ignorance that's hindering them - I know this because I've been that person before.

    Just my thoughts.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    There was no excuse for me being overweight, I was just lazy and ate too much!

    Fast forward 5 years since I started MFP, at maintenance for 4 of those - I got off my behind, moved more and ate a little less. If I can, anyone can :smiley:

    Ditto this, on both sentences!
  • Thehardmakesitworthit
    Thehardmakesitworthit Posts: 838 Member
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    Never one to judge others' journey...the beginning or the end... but I can say for myself it was sheer ignorant denial...and frankly, being short-sighted about what I was doing to my body's expiration date. Waiting until I was 52 years old to get strong really pisses me off. If I can impart any opinion to other people it is that regret is a heavy burden.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited December 2017
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    I may not have expressed myself correctly (my brain is overworked these days), but I believe any reason not to lose weight is a valid reason, from "I'm going through a lot and it's extremely hard for me to manage weight right now" all the way to "food tastes good and I want to eat a lot of it". I myself make the choice to not lose or even gain sometimes because hedonic pleasures win on the priorities scale and I don't think any less of myself for it. It's just important that people know exactly what is going on in their heads because I believe it's entirely possible for someone to lie to themselves, which hinders a lot of potential progress. It may feel better not to feel "responsible", but feeling powerless when you aren't or like something is permanent when it isn't doesn't feel all that much better.

    I tend to agree with you (to a point, more on that later in the post). I had a medical crisis this past spring and knowingly stress ate my way through it, putting weight management on the back burner on purpose.

    The thing is that for people like us who are fully aware of the process, we are making conscientious choices.

    I cannot say the same for my past self. A lot of the choices I made surrounding food were made out of ignorance of the process of weight management, an overload of media/dieting industry input on how I should/should not be eating, and a lack of willingness to accept responsibility for my own role in my weight.

    There are a LOT of people with issues involving any of those factors who can't mindfully practice conscientious decision making regarding deciding to not prioritize weight management in the same meaningful way you speak of in your original post can.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited December 2017
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    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Not so much excuses, but there can be many reasons why someone chooses not to make focusing on their weight a priority.

    And make no mistake about that. For the whole thing to work, it has to be a priority in some measure.

    It's not for me to judge the validity of anyone's reasons for it being or not being a priority at any given moment in their lives. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

    It becomes my business only if and when they come whining on the forums about it.

    Yep when people start opening their mouths telling others their business and verbalizing their "reasons" they should not be surprised/butthurt if others view them as excuses. Either on forums or in "real life".
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    The critical aspect is how you deal with ignorance. Do you learn, adapt, change, and overcome? If not, why not?

    Not that I care - everyone is free to live their life as they see fit as long as they don't harm others.
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,568 Member
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    asviles wrote: »
    Knowing what you know now, by cruising these forums and trying CICO for yourself, In the end, are there any excuses you will accept for someone who WANTS to lose weight, but just "can't"?

    As phrased, no.

    For me, the key word in that question is the one you've highlighted with quotes, which I think shows that it's your quibble as well. 'Eat less, move more' works for everyone. There is no one who "can't" lose weight.

    However, as others have stated, I'm perfectly willing to accept others' explanations for why they have failed to lose weight. Valid reasons might be that they have other tasks that take priority over exercise and/or meal preparation, or that they've been injured or ill, or that high-calorie foods are especially difficult to avoid.

    Reasons that I would not accept as valid for why someone has failed to lose weight would include woo-y stuff like being on vacation and forgetting to bring their ACV. The ACV was not helping you lose weight in the first place. Its absence, therefore, is not the reason you're not losing weight.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    I have the eating part figured out so my excuses are Scotch, wine and beer. If I run 25 miles a week I can overcome my excuses.

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