Don't deprive yourself or you'll never last the distance!

Orphia

Don't deprive yourself or you'll never last the distance!

How many times and how many ways can we say this, so that the message spreads out past the crash diets, scams, and urban myths that make up the weight loss industry?

Why do so many new MFPers think they need to survive on salad and green tea, then wonder why they can't stick to their diet?

How would you let a newbie know they don't have to do this?

SLLRunner

Endorsed!

nosebag1212

Yep, too many people set up MFP, put their activity as sedentary and choose to lose 2 lbs per week, MFP gives them 1200 calories, they manage to stick to it for a few weeks and eventually break and end up binging, then they feel guilty and that they need to "fix" the binge so they go right back to restricting which causes them to binge again and the cycle continues, I bet this is the cause of so many eating disorders, it's sad. Imo you shouldn't lose more than 1% of bodyweight per week, e.g. if you're 150 lbs your deficit should be 750 cals at the very maximum.

jaxxie

Omg. Haven't they heard ....don't swallow!

Aaron_K123

Agree but clearly I don't think anyone has "the answer" to this problem other than to point out repeatedly why it's a problem whenever it comes up as it so often does.

Orphia

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Agree but clearly I don't think anyone has "the answer" to this problem other than to point out repeatedly why it's a problem whenever it comes up as it so often does.

Indeed! I just had to rephrase the point a few times for a few newbies in a few threads.

The more who know this, the more can let others know.

fr33sia12

What do you mean by "depriving yourself"? Do you mean if you want to eat something, eat it just make sure it's in your calorie allowance?

Machka9

Absolutely!

And for me, exercise helped a lot.

I made a decision when I started with MFP that I would eat ONLY foods I like. I was not going to waste my calories on foods I didn't like. So I went to the grocery stores and markets and read labels and explored and discovered all the foods that both appealed to me and fit within my calorie limit.

I can eat "the usual" foods ... things I like, of course, but rather ordinary ... during the week.

And then on the weekend I might go out and do a long bicycle ride and then we'll have pizza or a large roast dinner with stuffing and gravy and everything or Mexican food or whatever we want.

This means I can be social on the weekends if we want and/or have something special with my husband.

It all fits within my calorie limit and when I was losing weight, I dropped 25 kg/55 lbs with very little difficulty at all.


And the only things I've deprived myself of are foods that don't really appeal to me anyway.

Francl27

Amen OP.

depresseddancer

I've just posted this as my woe and asked for help! How do you embed healthy as a lifestyle choice? The second I take my eye off the ball I pile back on my problem half a stone.

Machka9

depresseddancer wrote: »

I've just posted this as my woe and asked for help! How do you embed healthy as a lifestyle choice? The second I take my eye off the ball I pile back on my problem half a stone.

I don't focus on healthy eating.

As it happens things like vegetables are low calorie and filling ... and they're "healthy". Win-win-win.

But I also eat things like pizza and cheesecake.


I do, however, focus on cycling and I eat for that. If I want to be light enough to cycle up hills without feeling like I'm going to die ... I need to watch my calorie consumption. But on the other hand, I also need fuel.

Red_Pill

Ain't that the truth. It's a learning curve though. Like a little kid sometimes they gotta go through the obstacle course that is the "personal health journey" and let them come out of the other side with the wisdom we also learned. That or just drill it down their throats that it's not necessary to eat salad and run away from sugar for the rest of their lives. It's cute.

workinonit1956

Red_Pill wrote: »

Ain't that the truth. It's a learning curve though. Like a little kid sometimes they gotta go through the obstacle course that is the "personal health journey" and let them come out of the other side with the wisdom we also learned. That or just drill it down their throats that it's not necessary to eat salad and run away from sugar for the rest of their lives. It's cute.

I think this is very true. It was for me, I tried all the "tricks" and finally came to the realization that it's as simple as eating within an appropriate calorie limit.

GottaBurnEmAll

The rush to lose weight really is the one that gets to me. It's often part of the mentality that I call the "fixit" mentality. Dieting should be about learning, not about patching something up and then moving on in ignorance. I think too many people, thanks to media and diet gurus have the idea that dieting is something you can do and then be done with. That's why people regain weight.

Deprivation is part of "fixit"-ism. I'm not talking about people who avoid something because they can't control themselves around it, that's just being smart (I'm thinking of you, Trader Joe's pumpkin spice caramel corn which for me is the whole bag or bust). Like others in this thread, I'm talking about the huge deficit and only salads types. That's not learning anything about how to live a life where you're having a healthy relationship with food and learning to make smart choices and balancing nutrition and enjoyment while balancing energy needs. And all of that is vital to long term success.

TL:DR - Too many people aren't focused on the big picture.

courtneyfabulous

Yes!!! I was going to post something like this. So many are on 1200 calories and expecting to lose 20 lbs in 2 months... they even try to eat under the 1200 cals and do just 1000 a day and exercise multiple times a day without eating back calories or upping their activity level from sedentary... this will just lead to failure. Every time! You can't keep something like this up for more than a couple days. It is impossible! Just eat at a reasonable calorie deficit (500 below TDEE is the max I would recommend) and exercise regularly but not excessively. Also weight is mostly lost in your sleep and muscle is gained on your rest days- I wish people knew this too! Rest people! Don't try to just go go go!

courtneyfabulous

I see it in the food diaries of people I'm friends with on here too- whenever they undereat their already low calorie allowance for a day or 2, I see that the day after that they go way over their calories, if they even bother track them at all.

elisa123gal

I've been thinking about cake all week. Had about 1/4 of a piece of carrot cake I shared with my husband. It gave me my fix..and i'm still on track. I am a fan of eating off one or two meals a week..and sticking to healthy eating the rest of the time. So far, I'm getting smaller and feeling like.. hey! I can do this forever! If i had to eat 1200 strict each meal.. i'd be giving up by now.

endlessfall16

Well...one person's deprivation is another's moderation, or vice versa. One man's feast is another man's famine.

Dieting is easy in concept but much harder in practice. It requires planning (some form of calorie managing, budgeting) and discipline; and if you're not good at these skills you'll always have a hard time.

There's another approach to very effective dieting: don't love food too much. I know a few people like this. They remain thin, fit, effortlessly.

fitoverfortymom

The best thing I have realized is that everything is on my diet, but I have to be accountable. For me, that means some boring breakfasts and lunches during the work week so I can have family dinners each night (even potatoes!). I wouldn't say I am deprived, but I make food compromises all day long (think "not this, but that"). With this approach is also changing my behaviors and feelings about food, which is way harder, but setting me up for success in the long haul. I have a long way to go, but I end each day a little more confident that things are going my way because of the choices I make each day.

ogtmama

Yes and no...of course we don't have to suffer on a diet of kale and matcha but...if you can't eat just a few potatoes chips, or if a spoonful of ice cream always ends in eating the whole tub it's not going to derail your goals to not buy/eat them for as long as it takes to get those triggers out of your head.

ogtmama

depresseddancer wrote: »

I've just posted this as my woe and asked for help! How do you embed healthy as a lifestyle choice? The second I take my eye off the ball I pile back on my problem half a stone.

Unfortunately the answer to that is not taking your eye off the ball.