Who Is Trying To Lose Weight Just By Counting Calories Alone? And Why?
Replies
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bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »I didn't really mean the laziness part as an insult, but more of a motivational thing.
You don't know too much about motivation, do you.
Only from when I was in the Army (1983 - 1989), and believe you me... it seemed to work very well there...
It was a disaster there. The Army significantly changed its initial training procedures in the early 90s because - hey, here's a surprise - it turns out humiliation and shaming really suck as motivational tools when dealing with volunteers who actually have a choice.
It doesn't work well with draftees, either, but the denial of choice tends to mask immediate problems.
So you are saying that they don't teach humility in the first couple weeks of boot camp anymore?
Not sure that is a good idea, as humility is a core virtue.
Humility and humiliation....not the same thing. Very very different.
^Exactly. Was just about to point that out.0 -
PrizePopple wrote: »LiftAllThePizzas wrote: »
How is that not what you're doing?PrizePopple wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »
I never called anyone lazy. If you actually read my post, I said "that just seems lazy to me", not "they seem lazy to me"
Why are you twisting my words?
Give me a break. You're splitting hairs and you know it.
Now go log your food, because it's lazy not to. Not calling you lazy, though.
Yes it is lazy not to always log my food. I eat the same things a lot of the time and know in my head how many calories it is.
And when I said "I am amazing", I only meant it as a strike back at you.
I know I am not amazing. I'm just an old guy trying to lose some weight and get healthier. And I think diet "AND" exercise is the best way to accomplish that for anyone. Not just because it is what I am doing, but because it would work for anyone who can physically do it.
And I see so many posts of people who have been struggling for months, and years, and decades, trying to do it with just calories. and it does seem like laziness to me. If a person is in good physical condition then weight control is not normally an issue. Once a person is over weight, the best thing is to use diet "AND" exercise to lose the weight and get back in shape. This gives a way better chance of maintaining a healthy weight and fitness level.
I didn't really mean the laziness part as an insult, but more of a motivational thing.
Oh good. More blanket statements about what you feel is best for all the peeples.
Did you not catch the .. Worry about yourself and no one else?
Seriously this is like talking to my children and kids at school ... You need to worry about you and not your neighbors.
Oh so you're moving on to white knighting for the OP. That's cool.
If you want to think that laughing at the absurdity of this conversation is white knighting, that's fine with me.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »were any of you even in the military?
Why? Because the only way to have any say in this discussion is if we have military experience/backgrounds? Or you just trying to figure out how to grasp at more straws?0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »I didn't really mean the laziness part as an insult, but more of a motivational thing.
You don't know too much about motivation, do you.
Only from when I was in the Army (1983 - 1989), and believe you me... it seemed to work very well there...
It was a disaster there. The Army significantly changed its initial training procedures in the early 90s because - hey, here's a surprise - it turns out humiliation and shaming really suck as motivational tools when dealing with volunteers who actually have a choice.
It doesn't work well with draftees, either, but the denial of choice tends to mask immediate problems.
So you are saying that they don't teach humility in the first couple weeks of boot camp anymore?
Not sure that is a good idea, as humility is a core virtue.
Based on your posts here, the lesson sure didn't stick.
So I guess the answer is no...they apparently didn't teach humility very well in the 80s.
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I think it cannot be overstated how important it is for someone to learn healthy eating habits, and I'm super confused why it would ever be considered a negative for a person to know how to manage their weight by eating within their calorie limit alone, without exercise?? What happens when you get set back by illness or injury and cannot burn those extra cals by exercise? For me, when I was exercising as a part of my weight loss, my appetite and hunger was very difficult to manage. A lot of times I would end up overeating and it was hard for me to lose consistently. I didn't want to fight that battle this time, and now I'm just counting cals. guess what. Still losing weight.
Like it has been said... everyone has their own journey. Everyone has different goals. Lets not be too hasty to judge the couch potatoes. I'd still rather be a skinny couch potato who isn't quite as fit as the fat girl I used to be who could run 5 miles a day. But that's just me.
edit for grammer
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mz_getskinny wrote: »Clearly OP is a troll...but I'll take the bait.
1. I spent the first 3 months on mfp strictly counting calories. I was 261 lbs. I was uncomfortable and huge and exercising was terrible and embarrassing. Have you ever exercised at 261 lbs? Anyway...that is where I lost my first 30 lbs.
2. Other than being huge and uncomfortable, I knew from past attempts that if I did too much, too fast, I would crash and burn. So I decided to get my eating in check, since ya know....weight loss happens in the kitchen.
3. The risk of injury is significantly increased when you're morbidly obese.
4. Oh yeah....when people like you (I would assume) laugh and yell demeaning insults when an overweight person is out walking or *gasp* trying to run? Yeah....those are fun times too.....
Those would be the top reasons why I stuck to strictly calorie counting for a while.
Do I exercise now? Every day. Do I judge people for losing weight and changing their lives the "lazy way"? Nope. I'll leave that to people like you.
So basically, I have lost 99 lbs total....62 since joining mfp and 30 of those lbs were lost being lazy. I'll take it
My story is just about like yours, except a little less weight than you. I was 225 pounds, and had people laughing at me as I was huffing and puffing and sweating trying to walk around my apartment complex.0 -
I tried exercising and I just hated it. I sweat and it makes my skin condition worse. And I just got no patience. I do eat base on calories to lose weight. No shame on that. Much easier for me and I'm making better choices in the food I eat. I'm happy most importantly
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PikaKnight wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »were any of you even in the military?
Why? Because the only way to have any say in this discussion is if we have military experience/backgrounds? Or you just trying to figure out how to grasp at more straws?
No. Just wanted to know if people who are telling me (someone that was actually in the military for 6 years) how the military works, were actually in the military, or just read something on the internet is all.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »mz_getskinny wrote: »Clearly OP is a troll...but I'll take the bait.
1. I spent the first 3 months on mfp strictly counting calories. I was 261 lbs. I was uncomfortable and huge and exercising was terrible and embarrassing. Have you ever exercised at 261 lbs? Anyway...that is where I lost my first 30 lbs.
2. Other than being huge and uncomfortable, I knew from past attempts that if I did too much, too fast, I would crash and burn. So I decided to get my eating in check, since ya know....weight loss happens in the kitchen.
3. The risk of injury is significantly increased when you're morbidly obese.
4. Oh yeah....when people like you (I would assume) laugh and yell demeaning insults when an overweight person is out walking or *gasp* trying to run? Yeah....those are fun times too.....
Those would be the top reasons why I stuck to strictly calorie counting for a while.
Do I exercise now? Every day. Do I judge people for losing weight and changing their lives the "lazy way"? Nope. I'll leave that to people like you.
So basically, I have lost 99 lbs total....62 since joining mfp and 30 of those lbs were lost being lazy. I'll take it
My story is just about like yours, except a little less weight than you. I was 225 pounds, and had people laughing at me as I was huffing and puffing and sweating trying to walk around my apartment complex.
Lol yeah probably not the same as my story at all...since I spent the first 3 months of my weight loss journey being lazy. And you just dove in head first. Clearly you're the winner here...congrats, dude. You're a solid human being.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Exercise is not a requirement for losing weight, but a calorie deficit is. Some people prefer exercise, others dont (or can't exercise), and that is all about personal preference and has nothing to do with laziness.
Your post comes across as judgmental toward those who choose not to exercise. The why has irrelevant unless you are asking yourself why you are not doing something.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »UltimateRBF wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
Why don't you worry about your own journey first. What other people do shouldn't be any concern of yours.
Because I am concerned, and I want to know why.
Your words are not coming across as concern.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »were any of you even in the military?
Nice try, but derailing your own thread doesn't work as well as derailing someone else's. Not happenin.
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bcalvanese wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Well, aren't you amazing?! Congrats on being so perfect from Day One of your weight loss journey!
Some of us mere mortals take things slowly, working on one thing (say, logging all we eat), and when that gets comfortable, adding another (weighing/measuring food) and when that feels good, adding another (exercise).
But you know, I guess because some people don't do it the way you do it, they're doing it wrong.
Damn right I'm amazing!
And I'll tell you why...
Because I'm a 57 year old man with COPD, minor heart issues, and blood clot issues, who has had major surgery for internal injuries from an auto accident when I was in my 30's, have had major surgery to have about a foot of my colon removed due to diverticulitis, and who couldn't even walk up 2 flights of stairs without getting winded 7 months ago.
Now, I can walk 3 miles at a zone 2/3 cardio pace, and ride my bike 10 miles at a zone 3/4 cardio pace without any trouble.
I think that is pretty freaking amazing.
Do you think I was able to do that by dieting alone?
No... I got my lazy butt up and started doing it, and yes... I am taking it slowly. my goal is 1 pound per week, and I have lost close to 35 pounds so far, and have absolutely no doubt that I will loose the other 40 pounds to reach my goal of 150 pounds within the next year. And by then I hope to be able to walk 5 miles or more, and ride my bike 20 miles or more.
I never said anyone was doing anything wrong. I merely asked the question of why do some people not include exercise in their weight loss.
Now you are talking about your own journey with some pretty intense medical issues, and the progress you describe is amazing. However, not everybody wants to exercise, and that's their business, not yours.
As for me, I exercise because it makes me feel so good and I enjoy every minute of it. However, I don't question anybody else about why they don't exercise because it's really none of my business.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Nope. You have it backwards. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Nope. You have it backwards. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym.
If a person maintains a good fitness level, then it would never get to the kitchen, so what came first, the chicken or the egg.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »I never said anyone was doing anything wrong. I merely asked the question of why do some people not include exercise in their weight loss.
No,no.... you never said they were doing anything wrong. You just called them lazy. That totally implies that you think they're doing something right. *eyeroll*
And you weren't "merely asking a question". You were judging.
I never called anyone lazy. If you actually read my post, I said "that just seems lazy to me", not "they seem lazy to me"
Why are you twisting my words?
Look, nobody is twisting your words. Come on now, your statement takes the back door in, for lack of a paper term, to saying people who don't exercise are lazy. That's called passive aggressive.
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bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Nope. You have it backwards. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym.
If a person maintains a good fitness level, then it would never get to the kitchen, so what came first, the chicken or the egg.
You can maintain a good "fitness level" (whatever that means to you), and still overeat and gain weight. It's extremely obvious.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »Ever hear the idiom "You can't out exercise a bad diet"? Ultimately weight loss or gain is determined by caloric intake. Exercise helps but it still comes back to calories. Reason you're losing is because walking is creating a caloric deficit.
Exercise IMO is the most important thing a person can do to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Good nutrition helps.
I think you got it backwards.
Nope. You have it backwards. Weight loss starts in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym.
If a person maintains a good fitness level, then it would never get to the kitchen, so what came first, the chicken or the egg.
Nope. You can exercise like crazy and eat too much and gain weight. I know, I gained 33 pounds while running and working out in the gym like crazy. I simply ate too much food.0 -
Lots of people have negative associations with exercise.
Many people have only ever exercised TO lose weight, and since they found it ineffective for that (which it is, without calorie-counting!), they learned to hate it.
Some people are too heavy to do what you'd call "exercise" or too ill.
Also, heavier people can lose a TON of weight without being hungry because their current TDEE is very high just due to their weight. It's only when they slide into some part of the overweight category that many start feeling any kind of actual HUNGER. 0 -
LiftAllThePizzas wrote: »PrizePopple wrote: »LiftAllThePizzas wrote: »
How is that not what you're doing?PrizePopple wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »
I never called anyone lazy. If you actually read my post, I said "that just seems lazy to me", not "they seem lazy to me"
Why are you twisting my words?
Give me a break. You're splitting hairs and you know it.
Now go log your food, because it's lazy not to. Not calling you lazy, though.
Yes it is lazy not to always log my food. I eat the same things a lot of the time and know in my head how many calories it is.
And when I said "I am amazing", I only meant it as a strike back at you.
I know I am not amazing. I'm just an old guy trying to lose some weight and get healthier. And I think diet "AND" exercise is the best way to accomplish that for anyone. Not just because it is what I am doing, but because it would work for anyone who can physically do it.
And I see so many posts of people who have been struggling for months, and years, and decades, trying to do it with just calories. and it does seem like laziness to me. If a person is in good physical condition then weight control is not normally an issue. Once a person is over weight, the best thing is to use diet "AND" exercise to lose the weight and get back in shape. This gives a way better chance of maintaining a healthy weight and fitness level.
I didn't really mean the laziness part as an insult, but more of a motivational thing.
Oh good. More blanket statements about what you feel is best for all the peeples.
Did you not catch the .. Worry about yourself and no one else?
Seriously this is like talking to my children and kids at school ... You need to worry about you and not your neighbors.
Oh so you're moving on to white knighting for the OP. That's cool.
If you want to think that laughing at the absurdity of this conversation is white knighting, that's fine with me.
Trying to call me out for telling the OP to worry about himself is more than "laughing at the absurdity of this conversation". I don't need hand slapping from you, thanks.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
I am not able to exercise other than walking (which I do). This sounds absolutely awful but it's the honest truth. Once you get to a certain size then your joints and knees and back are physically incapable of taking more strain without becoming seriously hurt.
Both my doctor and my nutritionist told me that
1. I absolutely should not exercise until I get around the 200 pound mark (other than walking)
2. Exercise increases your appetite
3. Weight loss is 90% what you eat and 10% exercise.
I think I will trust the two health care professionals whose care I am under before I will allow someone's judgement that I am just lazy to interfere with the way I chose to loose weight.
I am on a low sugar moderate carbohydrate diet and frankly I don't miss the carbs or the sugar. It's working great for me so far. I've learnt a whole lot about appropriate portion control, what sugars do to your body, the well researched corrected ratio of carbs to fats to proteins. Best part is after the initial detox from a very high carb and sugar (mainly from fruits) diet I don't have any cravings and virtually no hungry.
For the first time in years I feel more in control of my eating habits and I feel like I've found a way of eating which I can sustain.
I plan to add exercise when these things happen
A. I get to 200lb
B. I plateau
C. I feel like I need to.
In the meantime I will go for walks with my dog. Further each day. And take the stairs at work. And park further from the front door of where I am going. These are things that I can do and are physically safe for me to do at my current weight.
It's not actually laziness, it's quite insensitive of you to say that it is.0 -
MamaBirdBoss wrote: »Also, heavier people can lose a TON of weight without being hungry because their current TDEE is very high just due to their weight.
Body fat adds very little to TDEE. The difference is that fat metabolization is rate-limited and proportional to the amount of stored fat, so obese individuals can mobilize a LOT more energy from stored fat than non-obese people.
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Well I guess my running for forum president ain't happening.
But I would like to say that most of you have been way harsher to me than I was on any of you.
I still think it seems kind of lazy to not include increased activity (exercise) into a weight loss plan, and I don't think there is a doctor on earth that would disagree with that (unless the person had a medical reason).
So just sit on your butts, count your calories,struggle more than you have to, and become the same out of shape person that you were before, but with less weight.
I am going to lose my pound a week, and increase my fitness level enough to not have to really be concerned about my weight anymore, feel 1,000 percent better, and when I get really old, I won't need family members to wipe my butt, bathe me, and help me get from point A to point B because I sat on my lazy butt for all those years.
And my question is still... Why?
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bcalvanese wrote: »I still think it seems kind of lazy to not include increased activity (exercise) into a weight loss plan...
There we go again with the name calling. Sorry - "humility".So just sit on your butts...
A lot of people on this thread are WAY more active than you.
Seriously.
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bcalvanese wrote: »Well I guess my running for forum president ain't happening.
But I would like to say that most of you have been way harsher to me than I was on any of you.
I still think it seems kind of lazy to not include increased activity (exercise) into a weight loss plan, and I don't think there is a doctor on earth that would disagree with that (unless the person had a medical reason).
So just sit on your butts, count your calories,struggle more than you have to, and become the same out of shape person that you were before, but with less weight.
I am going to lose my pound a week, and increase my fitness level enough to not have to really be concerned about my weight anymore, feel 1,000 percent better, and when I get really old, I won't need family members to wipe my butt, bathe me, and help me get from point A to point B because I sat on my lazy butt for all those years.
And my question is still... Why?
You really are a complete prat.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Just wondering how people are trying to lose weight without exercising.
I can see if you have some type of issue where you absolutely cannot exercise, but anything other than that it just seems like laziness to me, and it would just seem like a life long battle of being hungry and thinking about food all the time.
Is it worth a lifetime of struggle?
You're still going to be a lump on a log, you're just going to be one that weighs less and feels crappy.
I am not a fitness nut either. I just walk every day, and ride my bike. Since I have been doing this, I can pretty much eat the same way I always have by making it up with walking and bike riding, and I feel so much better for it.
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I read these posts and just think to myself... why?
I am not able to exercise other than walking (which I do). This sounds absolutely awful but it's the honest truth. Once you get to a certain size then your joints and knees and back are physically incapable of taking more strain without becoming seriously hurt.
Both my doctor and my nutritionist told me that
1. I absolutely should not exercise until I get around the 200 pound mark (other than walking)
2. Exercise increases your appetite
3. Weight loss is 90% what you eat and 10% exercise.
I think I will trust the two health care professionals whose care I am under before I will allow someone's judgement that I am just lazy to interfere with the way I chose to loose weight.
I am on a low sugar moderate carbohydrate diet and frankly I don't miss the carbs or the sugar. It's working great for me so far. I've learnt a whole lot about appropriate portion control, what sugars do to your body, the well researched corrected ratio of carbs to fats to proteins. Best part is after the initial detox from a very high carb and sugar (mainly from fruits) diet I don't have any cravings and virtually no hungry.
For the first time in years I feel more in control of my eating habits and I feel like I've found a way of eating which I can sustain.
I plan to add exercise when these things happen
A. I get to 200lb
B. I plateau
C. I feel like I need to.
In the meantime I will go for walks with my dog. Further each day. And take the stairs at work. And park further from the front door of where I am going. These are things that I can do and are physically safe for me to do at my current weight.
It's not actually laziness, it's quite insensitive of you to say that it is.
Did you ask your doctor(s) about working out in water?
It would take most of the weight off of your joints, and you could get a great work out by using the resistance of the water.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Well I guess my running for forum president ain't happening.
But I would like to say that most of you have been way harsher to me than I was on any of you.
I still think it seems kind of lazy to not include increased activity (exercise) into a weight loss plan, and I don't think there is a doctor on earth that would disagree with that (unless the person had a medical reason).
So just sit on your butts, count your calories,struggle more than you have to, and become the same out of shape person that you were before, but with less weight.
I am going to lose my pound a week, and increase my fitness level enough to not have to really be concerned about my weight anymore, feel 1,000 percent better, and when I get really old, I won't need family members to wipe my butt, bathe me, and help me get from point A to point B because I sat on my lazy butt for all those years.
And my question is still... Why?
You're humiliating yourself with all of your humility
Edited for stupid0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »Well I guess my running for forum president ain't happening.
But I would like to say that most of you have been way harsher to me than I was on any of you.
I still think it seems kind of lazy to not include increased activity (exercise) into a weight loss plan, and I don't think there is a doctor on earth that would disagree with that (unless the person had a medical reason).
So just sit on your butts, count your calories,struggle more than you have to, and become the same out of shape person that you were before, but with less weight.
I am going to lose my pound a week, and increase my fitness level enough to not have to really be concerned about my weight anymore, feel 1,000 percent better, and when I get really old, I won't need family members to wipe my butt, bathe me, and help me get from point A to point B because I sat on my lazy butt for all those years.
And my question is still... Why?
Funnily enough, the majority of people who called you out on this thread are very active, many far more than you. You don't need to be personally affected by rudeness to recognise it in others.0 -
Oh my God, make it stop!!
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No one has to exercise to lose weight. It is well known that weight loss is 97% due to how many calories you're consuming. And there are a lot of people that need to lose weight first, before beginning any exercise program.
Yes exercise helps to burn those calories faster, and to basically get a person in shape. Toning, strength and cardio all do wonders for your health.0
This discussion has been closed.
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