They don't call it yoyo 'cause it's fun.
GreatLakeGirl
Posts: 11 Member
So I was thinking about Phil Staples. He is the man in the documentary I watched the other night called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". He weighed over 400 lbs, and with the help of juicing lost 200 lbs. I wondered how he was doing so I goggled him and of course, he gained all the weight back. He had a variety of reasons for it: a failed marriage, depression and loneliness. And I thought of my own failures in keeping lost weight off and the reasons I have: menopause, too much sitting due to a job change, winter happened! And then it occurred to me that there is always a reason why we gain the weight back and unless we have a perfect future where no one dies, marriages never end, jobs are never lost and winter does not happen, does that mean it is inevitable that I will gain this weight back? That is when I got to the real reason I gained the weight back. I stopped trying. I always stopped trying. Why did I stop trying? Was it not important anymore? Was it not as important as other things? No, I stopped trying because I was tired of the effort it took. And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
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It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here0 -
To just to add to what the previous commenter said, it should be a lifestyle change and I think that's the reason why Phil gained weight back. He was doing juice fasts to lose weight and while that might work, it is not sustainable long term. We unfortunately have to put in the work to change our lives or it won't take. :-(0
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You are putting 2 and 2 together... I realized that I just settled and would forget that I should come first in my own life. I realized that for most that gain weight back, its because we think the stress of being on a weight loss journey is more stress than just not trying in the first place. I have learned that changing the way I eat, and think about food is very emotional. Its messy but it gets to the root of why we do what we do. I have decided that now, the way I eat makes me feel powerful, when before it just made me either sick to my stomach (from over-eating) or tired. I started out with a journal and put why I wanted to lose weight...the real inner reason.. The stresses of why I couldn't stick with a plan...all down on black and white, and then I gave it to my therapist to shred. It will not define me. Good luck and if you wish ta add me you can. You can do this!0
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Janetellen2015 wrote: »So I was thinking about Phil Staples. He is the man in the documentary I watched the other night called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". He weighed over 400 lbs, and with the help of juicing lost 200 lbs. I wondered how he was doing so I goggled him and of course, he gained all the weight back. He had a variety of reasons for it: a failed marriage, depression and loneliness. And I thought of my own failures in keeping lost weight off and the reasons I have: menopause, too much sitting due to a job change, winter happened! And then it occurred to me that there is always a reason why we gain the weight back and unless we have a perfect future where no one dies, marriages never end, jobs are never lost and winter does not happen, does that mean it is inevitable that I will gain this weight back? That is when I got to the real reason I gained the weight back. I stopped trying. I always stopped trying. Why did I stop trying? Was it not important anymore? Was it not as important as other things? No, I stopped trying because I was tired of the effort it took. And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
I think that's a wonderful epiphany to share and was pivotal to me as well. While I viewed it as lifelong work, I coupled that with the need for it to be enjoyable. Like the best job in the world!
And forgiveness, accepting that it's not always perfect is important too.
All the best OP.0 -
Well, I'm in a program that stresses one day at a time. If you told me I'd have to do this for the rest of my life I'd tell you to get screwed. However, I can do this today. If I go against what I believe is right for me and binge or over do anything else in my life. That too is alright. I just need to come back and continue to trudge towards what I know in my heart is the right thing to do. There is no need for remorse or guilt. I just need to continue moving/crawling/stumbling/falling forward. However, haltingly that maybe, I am still trying to improve towards what I know in the core of my soul is the right thing to do. Hang tough. Please know that even though it usually feels like you are alone you are not.0
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I have always struggled with this too. My weight has gone up and down for years and in the past I usually managed to lose it effortlessly (money was tight or where I lived meant lots of walking) but for the last few years its only been going UP effortlessly lol and I haven't been able to do anything about it because its all been too hard.Janetellen2015 wrote: »And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
However! I've spent a lot of time working on my mindset. The language I use is very important. Is losing weight a chore? Or is it looking after myself? Is a morning walk a chore? or is it a stroll that's good for my body mind and soul? I don't call it my morning walk any more, I call it my constitutional. There's no magic pill or trick for weightloss but getting myself into the right mindset is sooooo important. And learning tricks and strategies to help me deal with the curve balls that life throws up, so that I don't go running to the pantry or the fridge.
So basically I'm trying to put the effort into looking after myself, rather than losing weight. I'm finding it very helpful, just looking at it from a different angle.
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Thank you everyone for your responses! The thing I am doing different this time is MFP. Before, I was on my own after I lost weight and I am hoping that having support from this community will make a difference.0
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Janetellen2015 wrote: »So I was thinking about Phil Staples. He is the man in the documentary I watched the other night called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". He weighed over 400 lbs, and with the help of juicing lost 200 lbs. I wondered how he was doing so I goggled him and of course, he gained all the weight back. He had a variety of reasons for it: a failed marriage, depression and loneliness. And I thought of my own failures in keeping lost weight off and the reasons I have: menopause, too much sitting due to a job change, winter happened! And then it occurred to me that there is always a reason why we gain the weight back and unless we have a perfect future where no one dies, marriages never end, jobs are never lost and winter does not happen, does that mean it is inevitable that I will gain this weight back? That is when I got to the real reason I gained the weight back. I stopped trying. I always stopped trying. Why did I stop trying? Was it not important anymore? Was it not as important as other things? No, I stopped trying because I was tired of the effort it took. And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
I would suggest he yo-yoed because of the 'help of juicing' amongst other factors
Because that's a short-term strategy if ever I've seen one
Also the concept of having a goal that is a finite date just simply doesn't work .. your goal has to be maintenance so it just doesn't end
it will always be 'an effort' but the 'effort' just becomes a natural part of life tbh ...0 -
It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.0 -
It will always take effort to keep the weight off but its worth it to feel better/healthier and have more energy
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Janetellen2015 wrote: »So I was thinking about Phil Staples. He is the man in the documentary I watched the other night called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". He weighed over 400 lbs, and with the help of juicing lost 200 lbs. I wondered how he was doing so I goggled him and of course, he gained all the weight back. He had a variety of reasons for it: a failed marriage, depression and loneliness. And I thought of my own failures in keeping lost weight off and the reasons I have: menopause, too much sitting due to a job change, winter happened! And then it occurred to me that there is always a reason why we gain the weight back and unless we have a perfect future where no one dies, marriages never end, jobs are never lost and winter does not happen, does that mean it is inevitable that I will gain this weight back? That is when I got to the real reason I gained the weight back. I stopped trying. I always stopped trying. Why did I stop trying? Was it not important anymore? Was it not as important as other things? No, I stopped trying because I was tired of the effort it took. And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
And excellent first post.
LIke you i yo yo'd for most of my life until now. Last time i started, i was fed up with yo yoing so i determiend that this time i would not do it. So i took on the lessons i'd learned from previous attempts. I decided to take stock of what caused my failures, to create a plan and develop it to help ensure i don't fail again.
So far so good. 20 months after starting. Which is much much longer than ever before and I am convinced I will not fail again. I am determined never to be fat again. There are of course things that could trigger a depression again which makes it hard to eat well and not over eat but handling problems and avoiding depression is one of the keys to my strategy. And so far I have managed pretty well considering depression has been on my plate off and on since i was a teenager.
Another one i will mention since it touches on something you have said. I never find losing weight hard work. I enjoy losing weight. And i do not force myself to do anything i don't feel like doing. In previous efforst when i relied on exericse (a lot of exercise) to lose weight, it didn't seem like work. I enjoyed it. It was fun. But when depression takes over, or tiredness or loss of motvation, then it would seem like work if i forced msyelf to do it. And i don't know how long i could force myself to do it anyway. I'm not that strong.
No to my way of looking at it, losing weight and keeping it off does not mean hard work. It means working out an enjoyable to way to eat and live. In the long run it is good to find some type of activity you enjoy and can do regularly to increase your fitness to a healthy level but you absolutely do not have to be as fit as a professional athlete. You just need to be fit enough to considered healthy. That is why the experts have always recommended moderate exercise.
Anyway i reckon you have to come up with a plan to help you reduce the likelihood that set backs in life will cause a return to bad eating habits and so on. My key strategy for dealing with psychological difficulties is to go and get psychological help asap from a professional. It usually takes a week or two for me to get htere but that is much better htan months as it was in the past by which time i would be sunk in very deep gloom, stress or whatever. Now i go as soon as i can. And i recover incredibly quickly. But i am lucky in that i have people i've been seeing regularly off and on for a while now. My gp and my psychologist and if i get stuck there's even a councillor at hte local community centre i can talk to on the phone or in person. And hten there's lifeline. All these things are part of my strategy to keep me from getting fat again becuase i hate being fat.
But that's only two of the strings to my bow. I have more.
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Janetellen2015 wrote: »Thank you everyone for your responses! The thing I am doing different this time is MFP. Before, I was on my own after I lost weight and I am hoping that having support from this community will make a difference.
It is good to be part of a support group but in itself that may not be enough especially if you don't use it. I have a lot of frriends here and a great many of them have quit mfp. People fall of this mfp wagon all the time. I"m sorry to be the bearer of bad news there but you will need to do more than just be here.
And as far as i'm concerned counting calories is terribly tedious and yes it is hardwork though i udnerstand not so hard iwth the app. I have counted calories but mostly just keep a food diary becuase its quicker easier and also easier to check back on and get hte big picture.
That said, if you've never counted calories, it is a good thing to do for a while. Use the support group side of mfp. do updates and check up on your friends and keep encouraging each other and engaging with each other. That's how the support thing works. Its been good for me.0 -
It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.0 -
Though my lifestyle has changed over the past 3 years and I've developed good habits. Maintaining, losing or building muscle will ALWAYS be work. Some days enjoyable work some days tedious work but work with a goal. I embrace it and know I will always have to make an effort to control my weight.0
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It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.0 -
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.0 -
I have been reading a lot of books to inform me about menopause and stress and 'mindfulness' comes up quite often. For me, if I have more awareness in terms of what I eat and how it impacts on my health, the more likely I am to stay on track.
I have lost about a stone just from trying to eat less processed and sugary foods. I am now at the stage where I need to maintain and not lose any more but this is always where it is tempting to slip into old habits to make up the calories. I am viewing this as a life time plan but feel I need the support to stay mindful about diet and exercise. MFP seems to be a valuable tool to aid self awareness.
That said, old habits are deeply engrained and it would be unrealistic for me to be 100 percent healthy. I just logged raw nuts for a snack but had some posh crisps instead. I will have to change that. Writing it down will hopefully encourage a better choice next time.
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Janetellen2015 wrote: »That is when I got to the real reason I gained the weight back. I stopped trying. I always stopped trying. Why did I stop trying? Was it not important anymore? Was it not as important as other things? No, I stopped trying because I was tired of the effort it took. And that is when I realized that losing weight and keeping weight off will always be effort. It will always be work for me.
While I understand the people that are saying it's as easy as making a lifestyle change, if that was "easy" we wouldn't all be here trying to lose weight.
I think if you and I are to achieve PERMANENT success, it will come down to, yes, making lifestyle changes in slow easy increments and as we maintain adding new ones until we've done it so long that it's "just what I do". I honestly think that will be a bit harder than just making a new habit because I had been doing this long enough (several months) to have established a habit according to what scientists suggest but I gave it up when winter rolled around (Too cold to get outside and run, can't afford a gym, blah blah blah).
Before I make this sound too pessimistic, I have lost ALL of the twenty I regained and am definitely headed in the direction of my overall goal (I'm guessing I weighed around 285 at my heaviest..274 is the heaviest I know of for sure..I currently am somewhere in the neighborhood of 220...my scale isn't working and I need to get a new one..but my clothes keep getting loser so I know I'm losing..just not how much).
So yes, I don't think it will ever stop being an effort...but the longer I stay at it and see the benefits in the way I look and feel, the more encouragement I'm getting to keep making the effort..and I think you would find the same.
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I no longermind the fact that I have to log my food. I just want to live. I want to behealthy and feel good. I got tired of being the biggest person in the room anywhere I go, got tired of never having clothes fit, never knowing if you are going to fit in a seat. So for me the reasons to lose weight are what I cling to. I do not want to feel that way anymore! I have yo yo'd a little along these 495 days but slowly getting smaller and thatsok..0
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It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
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You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
0 -
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
0 -
goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
It all started when I went on vacation and we ate out every day for a week and I started running. I ended up gaining 2 pounds, and I've been pretty much up and down the same 2 pounds since (it's been 15 months and I have yet to reach my pre-vacation weight again).
0 -
goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?0 -
kittykarin wrote: »To just to add to what the previous commenter said, it should be a lifestyle change and I think that's the reason why Phil gained weight back. He was doing juice fasts to lose weight and while that might work, it is not sustainable long term. We unfortunately have to put in the work to change our lives or it won't take. :-(
Good point.
I had about killed myself by yo yoing weight for 40 years. I had to change my way of eating by finding foods that I liked and could stay full and satisfied on them and not gain weight which is at around 3000 calories in my case.
Food choices made the difference in gaining better health and living at a lower weight level.
0 -
90% of people will gain their weight back. That's pretty depessing. Mostly it's because they look at the process as temporary, rather than making a lifestyle change.
A book I am reading now, called Change or Die, addresses the issue where the majority of people who have heart attacks and are told by their doctors, they must change the way they were living. And they don't. Change, that is. And the doctors know they won't. So when they give that directive, it's not given with much of a positive attitude.
The bottom line is people have to make that decision - to change, for themselves. We hate it when others tell us what to do.
A long time ago, I nagged my mom to see a therapist. Finally I stopped. About a year later she said, I've been seeing this therapist who prescribed a mild antidepresant and I've found that I am not as upset when you (me) do things that are incomprehensible to me. She made the decision on her own and she got the help she needed. And I did not say, I told you to do that.
So, the bottom line is that change is absolutely possible and doesn't have to be a struggle, either personal or power.0 -
goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?
Would it matter if the scales show she is staying at the same weight? For a minute I thought maybe all her exercise meant more muscle and a higher metabolism, which was making her hungry. But if that were the case, she would be losing weight.
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goldthistime wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?
Would it matter if the scales show she is staying at the same weight? For a minute I thought maybe all her exercise meant more muscle and a higher metabolism, which was making her hungry. But if that were the case, she would be losing weight.
Yes. If she was weighing it then, and isn't now, she could have been actually allowing herself more food then. She says that some days she's keeping herself in a deficit now to make up for some of the 'dessert' foods she's eating and that she's going to bed hungry. and that she's exercising more. Food choices are a big deal, and some people find different foods more satiating. If dessert foods are making her more hungry, perhaps carbs don't satiate her, and she needs to eat very low carb and higher fat and protein. In order to find out if that works, she needs to weigh everything, keep a tight caloric log, and stick to the LCHF limit for an extended period of time. For people for whom LCHF works, they find it very satisfying once they get into ketosis. I'd have to defer to someone who does it well, like @kshama2001, if she sees this thread.0 -
goldthistime wrote: »goldthistime wrote: »
You shouldn't be needing to go to bed hungry. There are foods you should be eating that will help you with satiety. If carbs are leaving you hungry, increase your proteins and fats. They will leave you feeling satisfied longer. Eat them later in the day and you won't be going to bed hungry. Finding out what satisfies you is part of the journey. It's a long-term journey, and learning things along the way is part of the process.It doesn't have to be work. The best to make something less effort is to make it a habit. When we create habits we do them without thinking about it.
If you weigh your solid food and log it on a daily basis, it becomes easier and quicker. I've been doing this for a long time and it only takes a few minutes to weigh my food and enter it into my log. I don't really even think about it- it's just a part of my meal prep.
When you eat at a calorie deficit, you lose weight. If you are weighing and logging all of your solid food and measuring your caloric liquids, you know you are accurate with your calorie counting, and can stick to your calorie deficit. You will lose the weight; that's guaranteed.
Once you lose the weight, you move into maintenance, and you're already doing the work you'll need to do to maintain. It's no different, except that you eat at maintenance calorie goal, rather than at a deficit.
For more helpful information, read the first post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
Really wish it was that easy, to be honest. I've been on MFP for more than 2.5 years and frankly, it is going to take way more than that for my new habits to catch up with my 25 years of old habits (not counting when I was a little kid, I guess). There's much more to it than logging. Logging won't do me any good if my willpower keeps failing on donuts and cookies. Is exercising a habit? By now, yeah. Lifting weights still isn't because I hate it, but I really enjoy my hour of peace on the treadmill at the gym and I hate staying home and not doing anything now, but the food part will NEVER become a habit. Ok I tend to crave healthier foods than fast food now, but I'll still pick dessert over veggies every time at the buffet. And I'm still hungry. I'd lie to myself if I said I won't have gained any weight back in 5 years, because I don't know if I'll still have the willpower to go to bed hungry half the time in 5 years (I've been maintaining for over a year now).
But yeah, I think the juicing part was a big red flag. It has to be sustainable if you really hope to get anything from it.
You don't have to 'pick' one food over the other - that's half of the problem with making it hard work. Trying to find willpower to avoid certain foods is hard and you shouldn't be doing that.
I eat things like cookies, or ice cream, or a cupcake almost every day. And I am not exercising at this point.
That's the point. If you are weighing and logging, and eating the foods you LIKE, you are making them fit into your calorie deficit, you are enjoying what you eat, and still losing weight. That's not work, that's living.
It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
Regaining some weight doesn't mean you failed. It just means there is something to be learned, and something to change in the process. You make those changes, and lose the weight again, moving back into maintenance.
Well I've been at this for almost 3 years and I eat more protein than I should, tons of fiber, and plenty of fat, and I still go to bed hungry most nights, the only solution for me not to go hungry would be to eat more (but I don't want to gain) or just eat no sweets at all, and that's just not happening... But it WAS easier when I was 10 pounds from my goal (and my goal isn't aggressive at all either).
Bottom line again - it's not as easy for everyone.vivmom2014 wrote: »It might be easy for you, but it's not for everyone. Pretty much every day I spend more than 200 calories on sweets I'm regretting it later and go to bed hungry, except maybe one week a month. And that's eating at maintenance overall and pretty much burning 400 calories in exercise most days. Funny thing is that it was easier to eat 1700 calories a day when losing than 1800 now. I wasn't as hungry. Now that I've been maintaining, it's much harder, I'm hungrier, but I have to keep a deficit to make up for the days when I'm actually starving and eating more, or I will gain weight back.
So no, it's not a very fun way to live. Yes it's doable, just certainly not easy for everyone, hence why so many people regain the weight later. Your post is ok about the science part but doesn't take anything else into account - hunger, habits, hormones, circumstances etc.
If it was as easy as you make it sound, nobody would be fat, and nobody would gain the weight back.
I relate so much to this. For me, it's effort. I have a rebellious personality and I don't like LIMITS. Even if it's not true hunger, I don't like that I can't have it. So this takes a lot of unlearning for me. Waaah-waaah.
But effort = discipline. I don't think it will ever become habit to me. I love vegetables and seafood, but as long as there's chocolate cake in the world, and ice cream, and peanuts and potato chips and French bread, and Kerrygold butter - I will want them in unlimited amounts. I won't have them, but I pretty much think I'll always want them.
Yep. I'll always want all the cake and ice cream and bread. I can do moderation 95% of the time, but it doesn't stop me from wanting them.
Any guesses as to why it was easier when you were 10lbs from goal?
No idea. Heck I was able to use a bigger % of calories for treats than now too. Just sucks. Maybe because my workouts are more intense? Who knows. Sometimes I wonder if there are diminishing returns with exercise at which point you get too hungry for it to be worth it or something.
Do you weigh all of your food?
Would it matter if the scales show she is staying at the same weight? For a minute I thought maybe all her exercise meant more muscle and a higher metabolism, which was making her hungry. But if that were the case, she would be losing weight.
Yes. If she was weighing it then, and isn't now, she could have been actually allowing herself more food then. She says that some days she's keeping herself in a deficit now to make up for some of the 'dessert' foods she's eating and that she's going to bed hungry. and that she's exercising more. Food choices are a big deal, and some people find different foods more satiating. If dessert foods are making her more hungry, perhaps carbs don't satiate her, and she needs to eat very low carb and higher fat and protein. In order to find out if that works, she needs to weigh everything, keep a tight caloric log, and stick to the LCHF limit for an extended period of time. For people for whom LCHF works, they find it very satisfying once they get into ketosis. I'd have to defer to someone who does it well, like @kshama2001, if she sees this thread.
Not me! I just reduced carbs. Maybe you are thinking of @nvmomketo
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