The way people think.

MrsSylvie

a few years ago i kinda thought dieting included given up lots of food choices and eating salads, low fat foods, etc.. other than diet programs, its what i saw most trying to do to lose weight. And than i signed up my hubby on mfp, who refused to eat diet foods (as he called it) and i watched him lose 32lbs in three months while eating pizza, burgers, cookies, his daily cheese puffs addiction, etc. and not doing any exercising.. it became clear that some portion control and most important keeping track & meeting only your daily calorie intake goal is a big part of losing weight and maintaining your weight later on too.

lemurcat12

I really haven't found nutritional information difficult to access or use and don't think a food scale is necessary. I've lost and maintained easily without a food scale.

I do like my food scale, but mainly because if I am going to log I find it more pleasurable not to have to estimate.

shrinkingletters

My coworkers think I don't enjoy sweet treats or anything with fat. If they knew that 40% of my macros is dedicated to fat...

shrinkingletters

Oh, they also think I work out like a maniac. Hahahahahahaha

lemurcat12

maidentl wrote: »

Many people think they are a special snowflake, too. My mother has watched me lose weight while eating "regular" food. But she'll tell me that she can't count calories because then she has to "starve" to lose anything.

Yeah, this is really common IME too.

Or people just have messed up ideas about what they should eat and think counting calories would be unpleasant. My mom thinks pork chops are a "fattening" food and generally buys into the low fat thing even now.

lpadancer

I had a sort of understanding of it all, but the numbers/mechanics of weight loss and what that actually looks like in the day to day were foreign to me. I think if I had known how fun the meal planning, weighing of food, graphing, etc. would be for my OCD-inclined mind, I'd have jumped on the train far sooner. I'm really in love with how capable we are in cultivating the body we want by better understanding the tools available to us.

It's difficult, I think, when a person has not lived with or been close to a person who has lost weight in a healthy/sustainable way. It's just hard to imagine the simplicity and concreteness of it. Coming from a family that includes lots of obese people, where weight management, nutrition, and fitness were never top of mind, I am just now developing the skills to think and talk about weight goals in in a constructive, empowered way. I wish I had been able to do this earlier in life.

To me, weight loss seemed like a unicorn rite of passage--something that happens to people when they are 'strong' and able to forsake their desires or something. I am super glad to have tried and stuck to a reasonable, home designed meal plan long enough to believe in the process. It's been really cool to learn more and branch out in my eating as I've embraced more aspects of a healthy lifestyle.

tomatoey

lemurcat12 wrote: »

I really haven't found nutritional information difficult to access or use

You haven't, but you're familiar with the whole shebang, and highly motivated to do it, etc.

So am I, and I still find it a pain to read some of the tiny print on those PDFs on my Android phone. Even when it's not, I'm motivated to find it, so taking that extra step isn't a big deal. But just that extra step might inhibit people who aren't motivated at all from bothering, whereas just glancing at the menu might bring it home that their 3pm coffee is like 1/4th of what their daily intake needs to be.

Some people might not care anyway, but I think there's some proportion of people for whom that would make a difference.

Also, often, nutritional info isn't available at restaurants, and staff don't know how to make reasonable guesses at it. I can, because I've been counting for years (and weighing, using measuring cups - so I'm pretty good about estimating volumes, after all that practice). But most people who don't do those things have a hard time with it.

We have way too many cognitive biases (eg underestimating portions) to make monitoring intake intuitive, and I think anything that removes barriers to a clear understanding of food values is worthwhile.

kgeyser

I think it has to do with misperceptions about weight gain/loss. People don't monitor their weight and gain weight over a period of time. They know that overeating is bad, but they don't realize how much they are over-eating, or forget about all the little extras that cause the calories to add up. They know regular activity is good, but they think they are more active than they are, or forget about how often they skip the gym. The pounds creep on, and they're surprised by how much they have gained.

Now comes the weight loss, and "desperate times call for desperate measures." And they have to be desperate measures - after all, they weren't eating that much and they got plenty of exercise when the weight was going on, so clearly drastic efforts must be made to get this weight off. They crash diet to get the weight off, then later end up in right where they started.

I know people make fun of "time limit" diets or exercise programs, but there is wisdom behind why programs like that are created. People respond well to schedules, time limits, and deadlines. It's tangible, so they can follow it. Think about the other tasks in our lives that are pretty much always going to be there - dishes or laundry - we usually think of them as a daily or weekly chore, or break them down even further so there is a clear beginning and end (breakfast dishes, washing one load per day). It's reassuring to be "done." I think this is why people will take drastic measures for weight loss, and why the cycle continues.

rybo

These message boards along with a few real life experiences with people have convinced me that western civilization has completely lost the basic human function of how to eat. It's quite a sad sign for the human race.

Venus_Red

rybo wrote: »

These message boards along with a few real life experiences with people have convinced me that western civilization has completely lost the basic human function of how to eat. It's quite a sad sign for the human race.

Do you really think that? Is that really what you encounter in your day-to-day life? I'm seriously asking (and removing the "internet forum" aspect)

PaulaWallaDingDong

rybo wrote: »

These message boards along with a few real life experiences with people have convinced me that western civilization has completely lost the basic human function of how to eat. It's quite a sad sign for the human race.

I sort of feel that way. It's like I'm onto some secret that nobody else knows about. They keep going after drugs and surgeries to treat the effects of their weight gain, but never really go after the weight aspect of it, or have been convinced that they "can't" lose, because they have a thyroid problem, or a bad back that stops them from being active. Have their doctors really not told them that if they get their diet under control, they can get their weight under control? Have they not googled the issue? If they did, did they just wind up on a bunch of bogus "calories don't count!" blogs and decided it's too complicated? I'm not judging. I was there. I just wish they realized how much easier life could be, but it's not my place to tell them.

AnnPT77

I agree that many people have little understanding of what constitutes a weight-loss/maintenance strategy that is sane & workable - as they're used hearing about lunatic "diets" for weight loss, magic formulas, etc. , and watching "Biggest Loser". Many have no concept of exercise's role - how few calories it really burns in practice (one of my relatives asked me if my recent weight loss, then about 30 pounds, was because of my rowing . . . which she knows I've been doing for more than a decade. Jeesh). Some of this may be willful ignorance.

But I think it's also a special case of a general inability for many folks to wrap their minds around others' very different lives. Because I'm a vegetarian, people used to ask me whether I cooked two meals for me and my late husband (a meat-eater & even a hunter). Um, no. They asked whether we worried that we might pull out that ol' hunting rifle and shoot each other sometime during an argument. Um, no. (Do they stab each other with their butcher knives??!?) I could go on & on. If they don't live something like it, they don't get it.

A significant fraction of people have no idea how to put themselves in someone else's shoes, metaphorically. I used to run a telephone help desk for computer users; it's hard to train staff people to understand what the caller does/doesn't know or has/hasn't done - most want to implicitly assume the other person knows all & only the stuff they themselves know, and will behave similarly. Uh-uh.

I think the "weight loss" bafflement is just another example of this general issue.

Venus_Red

I guess I just don't know that many people who are struggling with their weight. I know a lot of people who make it a part of their lives, I just don't know a lot who are lost about it.

tomatoey

withaflourish wrote: »

I guess I just don't know that many people who are struggling with their weight. I know a lot of people who make it a part of their lives, I just don't know a lot who are lost about it.

I know a lot of people (mostly married or long-term coupled, sedentary office types in their 30s-40s) who are 15 to 40 lbs over their comfort zone and what would have been an "average" size/body a couple of decades ago. They basically know what's involved, they're just not prepared to give up weekend consumption, restaurant dinners, takeout, or mid-day treats. Because they're also tired a lot of the time from working stupid hours, and they have long commutes, and they like those mid-day treats because they keep them conscious enough to do their officey jobs.

^^ not a criticism, that was me too, lol.

Venus_Red

I'm one of those people - but I'm the only one in my group who is in that situtation. Most everyone else we socialize with in this age group and social bracket are in a really awesome place. And hell, I'm not even THAT far off, so I'm wondering why there's this notion that EVERYONE seems to veer into this outerworld at some point.

Orphia

Mostly, the people "out there" I see dieting are those who've had to go on special diets due to diabetes and high blood pressure caused by obesity.

So it's no wonder that the rest of the people think dieting is complicated and dread it.

Hmm, I must make that a plan... post elsewhere more about how gaining caloric awareness is a skill for life.

Venus_Red

I suppose it's not all that unusual considering this is a forum especially for people who are focusing on weight loss. But it is narrow to suggest that "society" doesn't get it.

Protranser

In my RL, ive had colleagues give me a look or make a comment like "oh, you were doing so well! What happened?" when they see me drinking a 24 oz starbucks iced mocha, or if I'm eating chips and/or a burger with fries and/or anything that isn't plain raw vegetables with an un seasoned naked grilled chicken breast.

I have to explain cico to people, which usually gets met with "yeah, i know that, but..." and then the food demonizing begins. There is a lot of conflicting diet and nutritional information that is accepted and summarily rejected by many of the people I've encountered in life

Venus_Red

Protranser wrote: »

In my RL, ive had colleagues give me a look or make a comment like "oh, you were doing so well! What happened?" when they see me drinking a 24 oz starbucks iced mocha, or if I'm eating chips and/or a burger with fries and/or anything that isn't plain raw vegetables with an un seasoned naked grilled chicken breast.

I have to explain cico to people, which usually gets met with "yeah, i know that, but..." and then the food demonizing begins. There is a lot of conflicting diet and nutritional information that is accepted and summarily rejected by many of the people I've encountered in life

Why do you have to explain anything to anyone? Honestly... I don't understand firstly why you'd even be discussing your "diet" with anyone, but then certainly not justifying it to them afterward?

SLLRunner

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

First, I don't diet, I have a lifestyle change.
YES, the majority of people think there is a magic pill or something drastic has to go on for weight loss to occur.

Well said.