Because I am annoyed - What Is The Point?
Replies
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cerise_noir wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »One thing that annoys me, and it's not their fault is when people say "I eat back ALL of my fitbit calories and lose exactly at the rate i chose". My fitbit overestimates by quite a bit, if i ate back all of my exercise calories I'd be putting on weight pretty quickly.
Again, absolutely not having a go at these people. I'm just more annoyed that I can't eat them all back.
I hear you. I have the charge HR and anxiety that causes the hr to go haywire. Once, the anxiety was such a doozy that fit bit thought I went for a bike ride....at 3:30am. I tend to eat back up to 50%. Actually, I haven't got my fit bit linked to mfp anymore and just add purposeful exercise.
Replace your charge HR with a zip, one or alta ...any of the models that don't trace HR
Monitoring HR 24 hours a day is a paltry marketing gimmick not a more accurate TDEE estimate for everyone.0 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »One thing that annoys me, and it's not their fault is when people say "I eat back ALL of my fitbit calories and lose exactly at the rate i chose". My fitbit overestimates by quite a bit, if i ate back all of my exercise calories I'd be putting on weight pretty quickly.
Again, absolutely not having a go at these people. I'm just more annoyed that I can't eat them all back.
I hear you. I have the charge HR and anxiety that causes the hr to go haywire. Once, the anxiety was such a doozy that fit bit thought I went for a bike ride....at 3:30am. I tend to eat back up to 50%. Actually, I haven't got my fit bit linked to mfp anymore and just add purposeful exercise.
Replace your charge HR with a zip, one or alta ...any of the models that don't trace HR
Monitoring HR 24 hours a day is a paltry marketing gimmick not a more accurate TDEE estimate for everyone.
I upgraded from the zip to the Alta, i don't trust HR monitors either. When i first got my alta i wore the zip at the same and it gave me roughly 2000 extra steps at the end of the day. The zip picks up more movement than the Alta.
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I think it's all about the context. Easy? Probably not. Easier is what many people mean. It's more of a tip sharing than a brag. I'm sometimes guilty of this and I wasn't aware some people may misunderstand, but successful dieting is all about sustainability, and finding ways to make dieting more tolerable is a long, painful but rewarding process.
Sharing things that made the difference for me between impossibly hard and reasonably sustainable is in the same lane as people sharing low calorie ice cream brands. Something that made ice cream cravings easier to manage for them. 280 calories is still a chunk out of their calorie budget and they still need to regulate their foods and plan around them for this ice cream, but it's easier for them than having to plan around 1000 calories for the same amount of regular ice cream or having to eat portions that are unsatisfying to them.
I did not wake up one day with perfect habits, normal portions, a healthy appetite and a sudden love for exercise. It's a constant and continuous learning curve with lots of willpower (or lack thereof) involved, dotted with a few things that actually did become effortless after 2 years of hard work (like not impulse-eating things that I don't like). The most successful diet is the one easiest to follow for an individual compared to other dieting approaches (not to mindless eating), and I think this is what causes some misunderstanding when people do share their approach. There are parts that are actually easy for one person that may be hard for another, but each person has their own struggles which they may not always share.
If it was easy I wouldn't be taking long maintenance breaks as often or surpassing my maintenance on quite a few occasions, but it's easier for me to think of these as "controlled breaks" rather than feeling I'm spiraling out of control. On the surface it may sound like "dieting is kittens and unicorns", but it's just a mental approach that makes imminent loss of control easier to handle and makes it feel more like a choice. I'm in a constant search for ways to make dieting tolerable enough to last, and ways to remedy mistakes, plan for indulgent days, manage appetite and navigate social situations without driving myself crazy. I have learned quite a bit from some "dieting is kittens and unicorns" posts by trying out some of the things people found useful. Some did not work for me at all, and some became a staple in my dieting toolbox.
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cerise_noir wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »One thing that annoys me, and it's not their fault is when people say "I eat back ALL of my fitbit calories and lose exactly at the rate i chose". My fitbit overestimates by quite a bit, if i ate back all of my exercise calories I'd be putting on weight pretty quickly.
Again, absolutely not having a go at these people. I'm just more annoyed that I can't eat them all back.
I hear you. I have the charge HR and anxiety that causes the hr to go haywire. Once, the anxiety was such a doozy that fit bit thought I went for a bike ride....at 3:30am. I tend to eat back up to 50%. Actually, I haven't got my fit bit linked to mfp anymore and just add purposeful exercise.
This is why I have no interest in wrist read HR trackers. Chest strap only for me!1 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »"dieting is kittens and unicorns"
Oh dear. I've started reading "kittens" as a swear word and wondered what you were swearing about...3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »While we're having a whinge ;-)
I get sick of the threads that along the lines of "post something about the person above" in the general help forum. I don't see the point of these threads anyway and especially not if they are in the general feed, but, hey ho.
Are you sure it's not in the chitchat section? I've blocked it, so i don't see any of it anymore.
How do you block chitchat? Yes, these threads on the side are annoying.0 -
Losing weight is hard for me also. Not that this makes anything easier for you. But I do want you to know that there are others who lose weight at a snail's pace.1
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Losing weight isn't easy. Some choose to lose eating whatever they want as long as they take in less than they burn they lose.
Find what works for you and that you can stick to is my advice.
I lost at a snails pace but I did it MY way, eating what I wanted and not restricting my calories too much.
You do YOU and don't let how others tackle weight loss bother you.0 -
Some things are easy to do for some and not for others.
Yep. When I was in theater performing in plays, a lot of people said memorizing lines was the hardest thing around. Some of them even dropped out and stopped doing theater because of it. I found memorizing lines to be a breeze, but I didn't brag about it in front of them. I found projecting my voice so it was audible to the back row difficult but others found that it came quite naturally.
I'm with OP. Weight loss is damn hard and, in fact, has been the most challenging undertaking of my life. Seeing a bunch of Sally Sunshines skipping through MFP in their goody two shoes chirping about how easy and effortless it was makes me grumpy too.
I think a key to losing weight is to figure out how to make it easier on yourself. People simply can't sustain long term suffering when they have an alternative. You're far more likely to have long term success of you not only tolerate but enjoy life as you are losing weight.
For me, the turning point was being more organized and pre-planning my meals, and keeping in all the foods I eat for pleasure, just working them in to my goals when I needed. Changing a few habits surrounding food helped take something very hard and make it much easier.2 -
rankinsect wrote: »Some things are easy to do for some and not for others.
Yep. When I was in theater performing in plays, a lot of people said memorizing lines was the hardest thing around. Some of them even dropped out and stopped doing theater because of it. I found memorizing lines to be a breeze, but I didn't brag about it in front of them. I found projecting my voice so it was audible to the back row difficult but others found that it came quite naturally.
I'm with OP. Weight loss is damn hard and, in fact, has been the most challenging undertaking of my life. Seeing a bunch of Sally Sunshines skipping through MFP in their goody two shoes chirping about how easy and effortless it was makes me grumpy too.
I think a key to losing weight is to figure out how to make it easier on yourself. People simply can't sustain long term suffering when they have an alternative. You're far more likely to have long term success of you not only tolerate but enjoy life as you are losing weight.
This is true for me. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not anyway.
I have a pretty well-established exercise regiment, and I generally really enjoy it and being active. I've been struggling with that more lately--woke up on Sunday morning planning to go swimming and didn't want to, skipped it, and spent the next few hours beating myself up for how lazy I was. Realized this was messed up and idiotic and stopped. Went for a nice run and then overate (artichoke and spinach thin crust pizza) that evening. Managed not to feel pointless and (for me) unproductive guilt about it, but it's one of those things -- why did I do that? I don't think there's an easy answer or the people who claim that if I just gave up pizza entirely or ate only low carb or paleo or vegan or whatever I would not ever be tempted to eat more or differently than I think I should any more than having good habits means I will always want to do a planned workout. Sometimes it's just harder.
For me, though, realizing that it didn't have to be miserable, that it could involve eating regular foods (which for me weren't all that "unhealthy"--protein, starch, vegetables, generally home-cooked), but just cutting the calories and watching portion sizes was so helpful. Somehow before I ever dieted I always assumed it required being hungry all the time or eating super low cal foods only or only vegetables or crazy things like that -- basically the kinds of things you read in fad diets. I think that's because I had never counted the calories in my own meals (and had no idea what I was eating calorie-wise or how it added up) and didn't have a sense of what a good deficit/amount for loss was. Once I figured this out (and it was some time ago, so I managed to gain even knowing this), it made losing seem so much more humane and doable.
The psychological part or mental part or motivation or whatever can still be tough at times, and that varies over time too. When I started in January 2014 it was really easy, because I was so ready. In 2013 it wasn't, since I kept not starting even though I knew the same stuff I knew in 2014. One thing is that I find it gets easier, especially when you start losing (but then I've found it harder close to goal but also don't care as much).
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But if we posted negativity in our posts that are supposed to be supportive, helpful and moreover positive, we would all then perceived as jerks.
No one said dieting, loosing weight, maintaining weight, gaining weight (too), excising for life, health and the pursuit of longevity and happiness is NOT easy.. What is easy is the concept of all these things but putting an action plan in motion is always hard, not matter what you set out to achieve. The mind can take you so far in the process and the rest is up to "you"...1 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »One thing that annoys me, and it's not their fault is when people say "I eat back ALL of my fitbit calories and lose exactly at the rate i chose". My fitbit overestimates by quite a bit, if i ate back all of my exercise calories I'd be putting on weight pretty quickly.
Again, absolutely not having a go at these people. I'm just more annoyed that I can't eat them all back.
I hear you. I have the charge HR and anxiety that causes the hr to go haywire. Once, the anxiety was such a doozy that fit bit thought I went for a bike ride....at 3:30am. I tend to eat back up to 50%. Actually, I haven't got my fit bit linked to mfp anymore and just add purposeful exercise.
Replace your charge HR with a zip, one or alta ...any of the models that don't trace HR
Monitoring HR 24 hours a day is a paltry marketing gimmick not a more accurate TDEE estimate for everyone.
That would be really nice. I do like the alta. The charge hr was a gift.0 -
It sounds like an attitude problem, not the threads. The most I ever see here that *might* count as bragging is when the "eat what I like" people are looking for like-minded users or are asking/answering a question that pertains to weight loss. Frankly I'd rather see people discussing what's working for them (or even just trying to work through a mental or emotional thing) than see the forum flooded with the same two or three questions that could be answered with three seconds of common sense or Google, over and over again.
But even if it is the same three questions, there's a very simple solution: Leave the thread. I don't like listening to gym psychos yap about how lifting 25h a day is the path of godliness, so I don't read threads about lifting unless it's clearly addressing a point I might be interested in. If others are interested, good for them. It's no skin off my back if that's what they want to talk about, nor does it affect you or your progress if others want to talk about their own dietary changes. Live and let live, and your day will be better regardless of how many people are "bragging" about being able to eat pizza every other day.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Some things are easy to do for some and not for others.
Yep. When I was in theater performing in plays, a lot of people said memorizing lines was the hardest thing around. Some of them even dropped out and stopped doing theater because of it. I found memorizing lines to be a breeze, but I didn't brag about it in front of them. I found projecting my voice so it was audible to the back row difficult but others found that it came quite naturally.
I'm with OP. Weight loss is damn hard and, in fact, has been the most challenging undertaking of my life. Seeing a bunch of Sally Sunshines skipping through MFP in their goody two shoes chirping about how easy and effortless it was makes me grumpy too.
I think a key to losing weight is to figure out how to make it easier on yourself. People simply can't sustain long term suffering when they have an alternative. You're far more likely to have long term success of you not only tolerate but enjoy life as you are losing weight.
Went for a nice run and then overate (artichoke and spinach thin crust pizza) that evening. Managed not to feel pointless and (for me) unproductive guilt about it, but it's one of those things -- why did I do that? I don't think there's an easy answer or the people who claim that if I just gave up pizza entirely or ate only low carb or paleo or vegan or whatever I would not ever be tempted to eat more or differently than I think I should any more than having good habits means I will always want to do a planned workout. Sometimes it's just harder.
I echo rankinsect's point about figuring out how to make it easier, which was one of keys I realized very early on. You need to find the equilibrium that works in your favor. If you constantly have to swim against hard current it's just a matter of time you fail. I don't need this struggle, and since there's no/little struggle there's no need for motivation, etc.
This brings to the next point that lemurcat brought up about changing one's foods. It's my observation that foods and our behaviors around them aren't equal or constant. Like anything we do/have in life, better quality can be had if we know what we're doing. Eating/dieting is no different. Part of my success is I no longer randomly eat pizza or pop a beer at every dinner. I cut them out. As a result I control my eating, appetite a lot better. (Ironically pizza and beer have become 10x better when I go for them, and I never have to have only 1 or 2 slices or 1 beers. I have as much as my appetite/stomach allow.)
I don't know about individuals, but it's certainly possible, and probably enjoyable, that millions (vegan, vegetarians, religious people) have stopped consuming meats and don't miss it at all.
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endlessfall16 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Some things are easy to do for some and not for others.
Yep. When I was in theater performing in plays, a lot of people said memorizing lines was the hardest thing around. Some of them even dropped out and stopped doing theater because of it. I found memorizing lines to be a breeze, but I didn't brag about it in front of them. I found projecting my voice so it was audible to the back row difficult but others found that it came quite naturally.
I'm with OP. Weight loss is damn hard and, in fact, has been the most challenging undertaking of my life. Seeing a bunch of Sally Sunshines skipping through MFP in their goody two shoes chirping about how easy and effortless it was makes me grumpy too.
I think a key to losing weight is to figure out how to make it easier on yourself. People simply can't sustain long term suffering when they have an alternative. You're far more likely to have long term success of you not only tolerate but enjoy life as you are losing weight.
Went for a nice run and then overate (artichoke and spinach thin crust pizza) that evening. Managed not to feel pointless and (for me) unproductive guilt about it, but it's one of those things -- why did I do that? I don't think there's an easy answer or the people who claim that if I just gave up pizza entirely or ate only low carb or paleo or vegan or whatever I would not ever be tempted to eat more or differently than I think I should any more than having good habits means I will always want to do a planned workout. Sometimes it's just harder.
I echo rankinsect's point about figuring out how to make it easier, which was one of keys I realized very early on. You need to find the equilibrium that works in your favor. If you constantly have to swim against hard current it's just a matter of time you fail. I don't need this struggle, and since there's no/little struggle there's no need for motivation, etc.
Yes, I agree with rankinsect and wasn't asking for advice. Was just pointing out that I know it's still going to be harder sometimes. I lost 95 lbs and have maintained at 125 (BMI 22) for about 18 months now. I'd like to lose more but am having trouble caring enough. I do know that however easy you make it for me there are always times when it's harder. That's one reason I brought up the exercise, since I have really good exercise habits and love it, and yet, still, sometimes it's a struggle to do what I think I should (I struggle to go to bed at a reasonable time too, often).
Maybe some people never struggle, but I think many of us who say weight loss wasn't that hard for us do understand struggling, that was more my point (in response to newmeadow's post, among others).This brings to the next point that lemurcat brought up about changing one's foods. It's my observation that foods and our behaviors around them aren't equal or constant. Like anything we do/have in life, better quality can be had if we know what we're doing. Eating/dieting is no different. Part of my success is I no longer randomly eat pizza or pop a beer at every dinner. I cut them out. As a result I control my eating, appetite a lot better. (Ironically pizza and beer have become 10x better when I go for them, and I never have to have only 1 or 2 slices or 1 beers. I have as much as my appetite/stomach allow.)
Um, I don't eat pizza at every dinner either, and I normally don't overeat when I do eat pizza. On Sunday I wanted to overeat for some reason, and that's related to why I decided to have pizza.I don't know about individuals, but it's certainly possible, and probably enjoyable, that millions (vegan, vegetarians, religious people) have stopped consuming meats and don't miss it at all.
It's possible, obviously--not sure what the point is.
I typically give up meat during Lent and don't have any trouble but around a week before Easter I really am craving lamb. I think I could go vegetarian or vegan and not struggle with missing foods too much if I was ethically convinced (it's something I've wrestled with). In the absence, I'd have trouble sticking to it since I'd ask myself why. (Lent is easy because of the religious aspect.)0 -
lemur, my point is that it's possible that people change their diet, eg limit, cut out certain foods, and succeed, which respond to your saying " if I just gave up pizza entirely or ate only low carb or paleo or vegan or whatever I would not ever be tempted to eat more or differently than I think I should..."
I follow the mindset that we can do a lot with "strategic/discriminating" eating, at least at first, to help this overeating disorder. For that I don't subscribe to simply counting, but that's another topic.0 -
endlessfall16 wrote: »lemur, my point is that it's possible that people change their diet, eg limit, cut out certain foods, and succeed, which respond to your saying " if I just gave up pizza entirely or ate only low carb or paleo or vegan or whatever I would not ever be tempted to eat more or differently than I think I should..."
I agree that changing diet can in many cases make things easier. I consider that common sense.
I also think realizing (as rankinsect said) that you don't need to cut out foods you love or eat only a really low cal or bland diet (as many assume when starting a diet) makes a huge difference. I found it helpful years ago to focus on home cooking and eating a nutritious diet and tend to more easily eat lower cals when I do that (although I can eat too much doing that too). But the main "eureka!" for me was that you could eat normal delicious food and plenty of it and still lose -- no hunger or ongoing feeling of deprivation required. Do I still want to sometimes just not think about it? Yes -- I mostly work this in to my overall plan, but sometimes it is hard.
I don't think this is a "disorder" but human.
I also don't think that it being hard sometimes would change if I drastically changed my generally quite healthful diet and cut out all pizza or whatever as you seemed to be suggesting. (Pizza is not a significant part of my monthly calories and cutting it out would not make a difference in that total, as I would replace it with something else.)0 -
biggsterjackster wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »While we're having a whinge ;-)
I get sick of the threads that along the lines of "post something about the person above" in the general help forum. I don't see the point of these threads anyway and especially not if they are in the general feed, but, hey ho.
Are you sure it's not in the chitchat section? I've blocked it, so i don't see any of it anymore.
How do you block chitchat? Yes, these threads on the side are annoying.
@biggsterjackster I think you can only do it from you computer. If you hover the mouse over the name of each sub forum, a gear icon will appear to the right, click on that and "unfollow".1 -
I've been seeing a lot of threads on this forum where people talk about how it was so easy for them to lose weight and there were no issues and it required very few changes and was no challenge and they eat whatever the hell they want and keep losing weight and everything is so goddamn great they're practically living on the moon.
I don't understand the point of posting these threads on the General Diet and Weight Loss Help forum. Perhaps they'd be appropriate for the Success Stories forum? Otherwise, to me, it just seems like crowing about how awesome you are, which is not helpful.
I admit I have a jaundiced eye toward this sort of thing, but I think it's counterproductive, and I don't have a lot of patience for people who post that sort of thing on this particular forum. Possibly I'm just a grumpy *kitten*, and if so I'll STFU, but I'd like to see more general diet and weight loss help.
This made my day!0 -
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I've got my mom on an lb/week weight loss plan. Two years ago she was over 500 lbs, when her disability ended her mobility. At first I didn't log any of her food, I just refused to bring her anything as a "treat" between meals besides an apple or banana. In April my dad got in board with the diet thing (finally) when she was hospitalized and he found out she wore 415 lbs. She'd progressed to having difficulty standing it assistance (lots of problems going on besides the weight... Including endogenous Cushings). Now we weigh and log (almost) everything for her.
Ma's having a hard time adjusting mentally though. First, her alloted 2k calories a day goes very fast because she was getting 3k before April. So she feels constantly deprived, even though she gets more food than I do. But she also swings wildly between demanding more food (and complaining that I'm a tyrant) to unnecessarily forgoing both healthy foods and treats that fit her budget because she thinks dieting HAS to be miserable. I never understood how deeply her mother's attitudes towards foods and her experiences as a young nurse had scarred my mom until now. For her, the whole food and overeating and dieting thing is emotionally traumatic in a way that it just wasn't for me.
But the mechanics is just as simple for both of us. Eat a deficit, lose weight. And the numbers are working, too. As of her last weigh-in (2 weeks ago at therapy), she was 385. I wish we could've gotten her on this four years ago when she had her first stroke, but watching her fight it every day when now I have to sadly admit she just couldn't and can't see through her emotional trauma.0 -
I've been seeing a lot of threads on this forum where people talk about how it was so easy for them to lose weight and there were no issues and it required very few changes and was no challenge and they eat whatever the hell they want and keep losing weight and everything is so goddamn great they're practically living on the moon.
I don't understand the point of posting these threads on the General Diet and Weight Loss Help forum. Perhaps they'd be appropriate for the Success Stories forum? Otherwise, to me, it just seems like crowing about how awesome you are, which is not helpful.
I admit I have a jaundiced eye toward this sort of thing, but I think it's counterproductive, and I don't have a lot of patience for people who post that sort of thing on this particular forum. Possibly I'm just a grumpy *kitten*, and if so I'll STFU, but I'd like to see more general diet and weight loss help.
It's easy if you want it to be easy, and hard if you want it to be hard.
It seems like many people want to to be hard. They have been a bad girl or a bad boy for gaining weight, and must now punish themself for months with a strict diet.
Should they cave in, and eat some forbidden food, they beat themself up and think they are a terrible person.
You may be one of these persons.
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Christine_72 wrote: »biggsterjackster wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »While we're having a whinge ;-)
I get sick of the threads that along the lines of "post something about the person above" in the general help forum. I don't see the point of these threads anyway and especially not if they are in the general feed, but, hey ho.
Are you sure it's not in the chitchat section? I've blocked it, so i don't see any of it anymore.
How do you block chitchat? Yes, these threads on the side are annoying.
@biggsterjackster I think you can only do it from you computer. If you hover the mouse over the name of each sub forum, a gear icon will appear to the right, click on that and "unfollow".
Thanks so much0 -
I know you may not want to hear this and I've never posted anything about it "being easy" before because I have struggled like most people here for the last 10 yrs with gaining losing the same 30 ish lbs. However, like others have said IT IS EASY!! It may be hard mentally and to get motivation to stick to eating less than maintenance but if you do - losing weight is NOT hard. I still eat pizza and candy, heck I had a cheeseburger last night and it all fit into my calories and I've lost about 25 lbs in the last 6 months (not fast but I was only about 150 to start)
For me personally, I feel like weight loss has been 90% mental and getting my head around the fact that I can't just eat whatever I want without making sure it fits into my calories. With that being said, I do realize there is medical reasons why some may not find it this way but overall as "normal" healthy individual.0 -
I think part of the "easy" tone you may hear is just that once it finally clicks for people and they make the right habits and have the right mindset they aren't fighting themself so much. It isn't so much of a battle as it used to be. Compared to what they used to do to TRY to lose weight, what they are doing to succeed at losing and maintaining weight loss is easy, but they did a lot of hard work and mental training to make it that way.0
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