(Why) are people really disappointed to hear they can eat anything they want and still lose weight?
Options
Replies
-
It's incredibly easy to lose weight.
That's why people do it over and over and over.0 -
I don't think most folks are "disappointed" to learn that the scale will go down simply because one eats at a deficit. A bit skeptical, perhaps, but not really "disappointed".
0 -
Not to be a wet blanket, but until someone actually reaches goal weight and successful maintains the weight loss for 5-10 years, they're not really in a position to say that anything in particular "works".
Wet blanket or not, the GOAL of weight loss for most folks is, I presume, to MAINTAIN weight loss.
Valid point. And what's easiest for loss may not be easiest for maintaining.0 -
Lol yes indeed, a fallacious argument in that toasters don't toast toast, and toast doesn't toast toast, people with toasters toast toast.
Analogously, food doesn't make people fat, and people don't make people fat, people with food make people fat.
Food is the tool, but people are ultimately the cause (and the solution).
Perhaps you should further clarify that people with food make themselves fat
Unless people with food make other people fat somehow... (OMG that's how it happens, isn't it? It really wasn't my fault this whole time!
Starting a new thread...) 0 -
AlabasterVerve wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »<snip> Second, magical thinking and specifically the idea that if I do this weird radical thing I'll stop WANTING anything else, stop caring about food. To a lesser degree something like this seems to happen to people for whom low carb works...
Appetite suppression is actually a fairly well documented effect of both low carbohydrate diets and very low calorie energy restricted diets.
Yes, that's what I said. A lesser degree of this is what happens for those for whom low carb works.
(Is that really so unclear?)
I don't know but I read it as a lesser degree of magical thinking. And since MFP in general seems to take issue with low carb diets (not everyone but still a substantial portion of the posters here) I thought it couldn't hurt and might foster a little more tolerance.
I've always been pretty clear that I think low carb works for a subset of people and advise those interested to experiment (while noting that it's not necessary for most and doesn't help everyone).
My intent was more to acknowledge that low carb actually does actually have that effect (to a lesser degree and for some people--most people I've known who went low carb still see the appeal in the foods they used to eat, they just find their low carb diet to have enough indulgence that they don't miss it, until, in at least some cases, they do--not saying that happens to everyone, though).0 -
I'm getting ready to leave work... and I made it to the top of page 4 before realizing I wanted to soak in all the glory of the thread when I had time to read- so- till later.
Also- why did everyone flag the hell out of Heerspoons's post? that *kitten* was fcking funny as hell??
Also also
NEVER. EVER EVER. change MFP.
You make my world complete.0 -
EmmaFitzwilliam wrote: »
It's a balance, and the tipping point is different for everybody. Eat calorie dense foods in small portions. Eat nutritionally dense foods you like in larger portions. Move more. Celebrate the power you have to choose which things you will eat. Find trade-offs that work and do not leave you feeling cheated. Is a graham cracker with cream cheese as tasty as a piece of cheesecake? Of course not. But it's pretty darn tasty, and filling. For me, it's an acceptable day to day substitute. Will I choose the real cheesecake on occasion? You bet. And now I will share it, or walk more, or make healthier choices before and after, or some combination of the above.
Mind blown.0 -
Is the blanket still wet?0 -
I echo a lot of the observations here. I didn't believe myself that it can't be that easy to lose weight if I just counted. But I did, and got a huge wake up call to what is a serving size was. Half a pizza is 1,400.. Nachos are at minimum 2,600 calories how could that be! I then was reminded that there are a lot of lies out there in the media, the government because there objective is to give you choices when a lot of times your only choice is not to choose. I follow flexible eating which really should just be called responsible eating. Let the corporation spew all the junk you want.. if I have a financial ability (not everyone can) then I can make the choice.. it is more complicated because even your own body is a unique thing and no plan / number will suit you from the beginning. Again the responsibility is to know how much your body needs so you can take care of it.
It's an interesting point that if we all abandoned processed/convenience food what would our obesity levels be? We thrive on quick and convenient, and for your body that is not the way to go.
There is a darker side where you create an environment where your body actually craves food because you didn't know that the foods you where ingesting causes your body to get more hungrier. You still have to deal with the programmed desire for many to emotionally eat and the more rarer but real forms of metabolic dysfunctions that effect so many endocrine components that weight will not go down if you don't have a structured way or even the basic information or medical help to get you where you need.0 -
I echo a lot of the observations here. I didn't believe myself that it can't be that easy to lose weight if I just counted. But I did, and got a huge wake up call to what is a serving size was. Half a pizza is 1,400.. Nachos are at minimum 2,600 calories how could that be! I then was reminded that there are a lot of lies out there in the media, the government because there objective is to give you choices when a lot of times your only choice is not to choose. I follow flexible eating which really should just be called responsible eating. Let the corporation spew all the junk you want.. if I have a financial ability (not everyone can) then I can make the choice.. it is more complicated because even your own body is a unique thing and no plan / number will suit you from the beginning. Again the responsibility is to know how much your body needs so you can take care of it.
It's an interesting point that if we all abandoned processed/convenience food what would our obesity levels be? We thrive on quick and convenient, and for your body that is not the way to go.
There is a darker side where you create an environment where your body actually craves food because you didn't know that the foods you where ingesting causes your body to get more hungrier. You still have to deal with the programmed desire for many to emotionally eat and the more rarer but real forms of metabolic dysfunctions that effect so many endocrine components that weight will not go down if you don't have a structured way or even the basic information or medical help to get you where you need.
2600 calorie nachos?!? Where are those from?0 -
It's incredibly easy to lose weight.
That's why people do it over and over and over.
Or as in a country song:
I gave up cigarettes, haven't had to light one yet
It's been a year since I stopped
Same goes for alcohol, I don't touch the stuff at all
I used to drink till I dropped
But those were tough, this is easy and it feels so good to say
Forgetting you is not that hard to do
For I've done it a thousand times a day
I've done it a thousand times a day
_________
But having paid tribute to the point, I don't think the difficulty of maintenance means that losing weight is hard. It means caring enough to stay vigilant is hard, given all the possible pitfalls. I suspect it's easier if it feels less burdensome rather than more--that was my experience, although it wasn't enough to keep me from eventually backsliding.
However, that I knew how to lose weight and keep it off for a lengthy period of time I think made it ultimately easier to have confidence that I could do it.
Beyond that, there's evidence that being surrounded by people who aren't overweight or who are active or the like is helpful, and I suspect that's because it lowers the costs, makes it easier to just practice helpful habits without it seeming so burdensome. So one thing that's important for me going forward is making it as easy as possible. (But this is kind of off-topic, I suppose, from the OP.)0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
Not to be a wet blanket, but until someone actually reaches goal weight and successful maintains the weight loss for 5-10 years, they're not really in a position to say that anything in particular "works".
Wet blanket or not, the GOAL of weight loss for most folks is, I presume, to MAINTAIN weight loss.
Valid point. And what's easiest for loss may not be easiest for maintaining.
The most common source of food fights on MFP is one group of people who haven't succeeded at weight management pontificating at another group who haven't succeeded at weight management about the One True Path to weight loss salvation.
If there's one thing MFP has in abundance, it's irony. I mean, come on, even the title of this thread is a passive-aggressive shot at non-believers.
Meantime, my 10 year old is weighing out a serving of crackers on the kitchen scale. Yay for Team Super Dad! :drinker:
(Cue the "eating disorder in the making blah blah blah....")
0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »maillemaker wrote: »It's not helpful a lot of the time. Eating whatever they want is what got them fat, something has to change.
This is the correct answer.
You can't tell a fat person, "Hey, the way to lose weight is to eat whatever you want."
It's you can eat whatever you want that fits within your calories.
The wording is terrible. The emphasis needs to be on the calories. "Eat just enough to meet your calorie goals" is more representative, and carries a much different connotation.
And since we're talking about a culture where the most common single serving size for pizza is an entire large pizza, in practical terms that immediately leads to food restrictions.
0 -
rjmudlax13 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »For me, it was just so liberating and empowering to know that I could do it by myself.
Not to be a wet blanket, but until someone actually reaches goal weight and successful maintains the weight loss for 5-10 years, they're not really in a position to say that anything in particular "works".
That's kind of like saying an F1 racecar driver needs to win races for at least 10 years to prove that an internal combustion engine actually works.
No, it's like an F1 race car driver needing to actually win races before being in a position to tell other drivers what it takes to win races.
0 -
herrspoons wrote: »
Oh, that.
You get exasperated at everything, it doesn't even count anymore. :drinker: 0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I echo a lot of the observations here. I didn't ,,,
2600 calorie nachos?!? Where are those from?
It's a small pizza eatery I think it's meant to be shared between 4 people. (I used to eat half) but after piecing together the half of a hand of nachos added the cheese my portion it worked out to 300-400 calories also not including sour cream which I never eat, I obviously stopped eating lol.0 -
I don't think disappointed is the correct term...I just think people are inundated with diet and fitness marketing and they've been told that carbs are the devil or to cut fat or to not eat these 10 things or to eat 6 times per day or to not eat after 6, etc, etc, etc...
So, the notion that they can just eat food in reasonable quantities as to hit their calorie targets is completely foreign...and as with most foreign things, there's usually some skepticism.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I don't think disappointed is the correct term...I just think people are inundated with diet and fitness marketing and they've been told that carbs are the devil or to cut fat or to not eat these 10 things or to eat 6 times per day or to not eat after 6, etc, etc, etc...
So, the notion that they can just eat food in reasonable quantities as to hit their calorie targets is completely foreign...and as with most foreign things, there's usually some skepticism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdEQmpVIE4A 0 -
because it's not true. i've been eating anything i want for years and gaining rolls and stretch marks.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 388 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 918 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions