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If the stats on long term weight loss are so bad, why bother?
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Bump for above "intrinsic" or extrinsic.0
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I agree that most people probably revert back to old eating habits after losing weight. I was at a decent weight after losing, for about 6 years, but then I moved, and had a lot of life changes. I started eating "whatever" and the weight came back and I weigh more than I ever have and ever thought I would. So far, since I started MFP, about 6 weeks ago, I've lost 10 lbs., with about 90 to go! I find the MFP helpful because it lists not just calories and tracks exercise. I realize once I started tracking my food (my doctor's idea) that I was eating about 2x as much as I should have been, and so it hasn't been hard to cut back, since I'm now aware. I had digestive issues as well, and since I started to eat less and overall more whole foods (less processed and take-out) they have disappeared. If I have to track my food for the rest of my life once I reach my weight loss goal I will do it! I had reached a weight that was too much and I'm healthy and don't have to take any meds, but cannot do the physical stuff I once could. It really was a point of no return to me--that I had to do something about it--doing nothing and continuing the way I was going, I would have continued to gain and I just couldn't accept that. I could deal with the bigger clothes and looking fat but not with being unable to run, play sports, have stamina and energy, walk up and down stairs, etc.2
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Speaking of the NWCR, I realized that I now fit the criteria (over 30 pounds lost, maintained for over a year)(JUST!) and signed up. For n= and for Science!!!
Apparently they send you questionnaires and things...in the mail? Like, the post? Like, what? C'mon. Science.
I've been a participant for a few years, they'll send you emails with links to the different questionnaires.1 -
I see those struggling to lose weight very similar to alcoholics and others struggling with addiction. I had to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (for nursing school) and thought it was really interesting when one of the members said, "I know lots of people who get sober. I don't know very many who stay sober."
I think losing and maintaining weight is extremely difficult. I also feel getting and staying sober, quitting smoking, and other major changes are extremely difficult. As the wise Bob Kelso once said, "Nothing ever worth having in this world comes easy."7 -
Interesting article.
Could be right. Maybe.
I think some of it is that fat is becoming normal. Most people are overweight or very overweight. I think maybe there is less desire to change when you already fit in. Maybe?
I agree with this.
Plus, it's easier to look at others around us who are overweight and think about how they don't do it either so why should I. Or hey look at that person who is 100 lbs bigger than me. I'm not so bad after all kind of thinking. It's the easy way out to just stay where we are and not try hard to be healthier or thinner. It's hard work and most people have an excuse as to why they can't do it because it's just easier that way.0 -
4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »This is a viewpoint that often annoys me. People take isolated events and draw lots of conclusions from them. Then they want to compare their own lives to that situation. You have no idea of those people's back story, but it is so easy to fall into the trap of "it is so easy for everyone else" when in reality you have no idea the ease of their situation.
Yes! I had a similar thought at that part of the story. You just don't know what someone else had to overcome or to get through to be standing where they are today. I do agree with other commenters that it really is possible to change one's behavior. Not easy, but certainly possible with dedicated effort!
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I've been on many diets in my life. I never approached it the right way until last time. When you look at it diet they absolutely suck you give up stuff you like and you're miserable all the time. When you're miserable it's not going to work it has to be a sustainable.
I lost 80 lb over 8 months. As crazy as this sounds it's the easiest thing I ever did in my life. I've been maintaining that weight loss for approximately one year.
The difference from me this time:
First something clicked and my whole attitude changed. I believe for weight loss to be successful and to maintain that success it has to be a mental decision. Once you make that decision it's a piece of cake. I tell people the toughest part of my workout is walking into the gym once I'm in the gym it's easy
Second I educated myself as far as weight loss and this mfp app really helped a lot. As crazy as it sounds it's simple cico. When people ask me what I ate and I tell him whatever I want they don't believe me. During my weight loss phase I still had Wendy's hamburgers beers on the beach and pizza. It's just a matter of fitting the calories into your daily goals.9 -
I relate to this author so very much. I recently found myself googling some pretty ridiculous things in my desperation to take control of my intake and weight. I recognized the insanity of this and then googled "how to eat intuitively" and came across an article that really struck a chord with me. I started reading more of this person's blog and became more and more intrigued.
She posits this idea of mental restriction, that if you're afraid of eating certain things or too much, that if you think in terms of how much exercise you have to do to burn something off, that if you give yourself permission to eat because you've worked out, that if you decide to let yourself eat with abandon now with the intention of "getting back on track" tomorrow or whenever, that all these things are a form of restriction and that they contribute to the inevitable return to bingeing.
She puts forth the terrifying (for lifelong weight-/food-obsessed people) idea of allowing yourself to eat what you want, when you want, as much as you want, recognizing and accepting that you may gain weight in pursuit of doing away with restriction, actual and mental, and once you remove your fear from food and weight gain, the idea is that your eating habits will balance out.
I understand that this approach isn't for everyone. I don't have any science or studies to back it up. I've only just started trying it myself, and moving away from a decades-long obsession with what to eat and calories and weight loss is not without its challenges. But man, has it been a beautiful thing to start to experience some freedom from these things. The crazy part? I haven't binged once. When I take away the "I'm going to let myself eat whatever I want because I'm going to get back on track" thought and other similarly restrictive / moral thoughts about food, the urgency and desire to eat large quantities of everything just isn't there.
This is coming from someone who spent almost two years losing and maintaining weight loss. I thought I had it figured out. I was regularly eating more food than I ever had before and was the leanest I'd ever been and close to my lowest weight ever, and I didn't feel restricted. Until I found myself unable to do it anymore. I spent the last year trying and failing and feeling terrible about it. Now I realize that even during those two successful years, I was food-obsessed. Ugh, I just want to eat. I just want to let it go. So that's what I'm trying.
I know I've probably gone way off on a tangent, and I'm also guessing this won't be very well-received on a calorie counting and weight loss website that I know some people use very successfully. It's just that this woman's desperation and loss at what to do feels so familiar.7 -
Because I am not a number.
I yo yo'd for years...when it clicked it was for health.
I found MFP looking for 30 DS Results, setup my profile, found a few groups and then the forums. Got re-educated and realized what I had been doing wrong..the rest is history.
50+lb lost over 18 months...and I have kept it off since 2014...
I keep it off for a few reasons.
1. Health
2. People are just waiting for me to get fat again so they can say yup I knew it wouldn't last
3. my Step mother just died at 55 from a massive heart attack from poor eating, no exercise and smoking...55...let me repeat that again 55...I am 45...
4. I love my husband and he is younger and I want to be with him as long as I can since I only found him 8 years ago.
5. I want to hold grand children
6. I want to live.
how's that for intrinsic (mainly)
ETA: this ticks me off just another excuse for those who are looking for reason's not to do the one thing in their life that could extend it for those who love them..smh.3 -
To answer the question in simple terms. To heck with the odds. I want to show my children that their father was strong enough to lose the weight and keep it off in spite of every study out there. If they ever get as big as their dad or face any type of insurmountable challenge I want them to remember my struggle and my victory and my vigilance. Of course the whole world is against you, otherwise it wouldn't be a fair fight.
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Ugh! The sentiments in this article are why so many of us are fat/still fat. Until you suck it up and do the hard work and stop comparing yourself, your progress, your life, or anything else to anyone else, you'll still tread water. That last bit of her gazing wistfully at thin people eating "bad foods" just got my goat. I am nowhere near done but I eat pizza, I eat cupcakes, I drink Dr. Pepper. Not all the time and not nearly in the quantities that I used to. Is it easy? No. It's the hardest thing I've done in my life but it'll be worth it when I can wake up in the morning and hop out of bed instead of levering my bulk out and shambling toward the shower. When I can fit an airline seat without an extender. THOSE are the things home chick should be "gazing wistfully" at. Not the *kitten* cupcakes.
EDIT: Because proofreading is a thing.
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If Harvard only accepts something like 5% of all freshman applicants, why do people even bother applying?28
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estherdragonbat wrote: »If Harvard only accepts something like 5% of all freshman applicants, why do people even bother applying?
BOOM!6 -
While regain/relose the same five-ten pounds, the original forty I dropped is still off...and I finished losing it almost three years ago. I'm in no danger of ballooning up like a cartoon character, because to lose weight, I changed. I'm a different person than I was, and I no longer worry that the weight is going to magically come back. For one, I'm more vigilant. For another, I'm more active. And I care, generally, more about my health and choices.
Losing weight for vanity's sake alone probably won't produce the same results. It comes down to the "why" and the "how."7 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »If Harvard only accepts something like 5% of all freshman applicants, why do people even bother applying?
Exactly!
Quite proud of my record of breaking statistical barriers.
The misapplication of statistics is a pet peeve. It is irrelevant that 60% of a given population succeeds or fails. What matters is that you succeed....and those times that you fail....you learn and implement appropriate changes to ensure you don't fail in the same manner.9 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »If Harvard only accepts something like 5% of all freshman applicants, why do people even bother applying?
Exactly!
Quite proud of my record of breaking statistical barriers.
The misapplication of statistics is a pet peeve. It is irrelevant that 60% of a given population succeeds or fails. What matters is that you succeed....and those times that you fail....you learn and implement appropriate changes to ensure you don't fail in the same manner.
I love being a statistical anomaly
I'm the only one in my family who's reversed the progression of prediabetes, and I'm the only one in my family who's maintained significant weight loss long term. Oh, and I was the first to graduate from college, but my sisters and cousins were right behind me in that one 8 -
Because I'd rather strive to be part of the successful few, than give up and languish in the unsuccessful many.18
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Alatariel75 wrote: »Because I'd rather strive to be part of the successful few, than give up and languish in the unsuccessful many.
***Stolen*** thanks 2 -
Life is what happens when you are between diets.1
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I think the discipline you gain from weight lost is something you can apply to every corner of your life. When you decide to lose fat and transformer yourself, it changes you as a person. On the other hand, it can also hurt you! When I was losing fat and saw real results it causes me to eat less and workout more (not good), I ended up being tried, not motivated, and hurt. Once I saw what I was doing I reverted back to my original plan and has gotten better results. That's why I do what I do! People even admire the discipline you gain alone the way.6
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It's something that always bothered me. We went from blaming fast food and processed food to now saying it's "who I am, I am a fat and I accept myself." I don't know about being good with being fat, I have never been good with my weight especially coming from a fit power lifting past. But the truth is I got fat because I made poor choices and stuffed my face, oh ya and I carried my weight well (seriously WTF kind of lie is that to tell ourselves). It took getting diagnosed with Kidney disease to realize my bad choices got me to this place and I either continue on or change. It's not fricken easy, but possible if we do the work. I got a health coach this time and I changed my relationship with food. I do not deny myself anything, I just choose to eat things that fuel and heal my body. When I started thinking in those terms, it became easier to make the right choices. I started on MFP in March of 2011 and lost 73 lbs and then gained back 40 of it. This round I have lost 53lbs since Feb 27th when I went into the hospital. I'm now 17lbs away from 100lbs lost from my highest weight of 371. I think the only thing that saved me this time was getting real with myself and as somebody else said on here, I got busy and did the hard work. To me, I am choosing a way of eating that promotes health and the weight is falling off without even trying and I am eating tons of food, but the right ones. I was one of those folks on here who would down a 24-ounce porterhouse and then cry about not losing. Hello, denial is not just a river in Egypt.
Fight the good fight and be the oddball who beats the odds. Don't be a statistic, be a PITA to the number crunchers and prove them wrong.
Good luck!4 -
gatamadriz wrote: »Life is what happens when you are between diets.
Maintenance and lean bulking really are life. 5 -
Last I looked, the statistics on long-term living are pretty bad too.13
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I'm not a statistic. I'm an individual with free will. Maybe that's why I've maintained at goal for over 5 years now, with no plans to stop. Other people's failures have no bearing on me. I do what I want.
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"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win."
- John F. Kennedy, September 12, 19628 -
Well, I guess it's kind of like building the pyramids of Egypt, you gotta have something to build your economy around.0
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Why not?1
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Because we all believe that 'we are special' and 'that won't happen to me'1
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moogie_fit wrote: »Because we all believe that 'we are special' and 'that won't happen to me'
To be fair, the longest running veterans here seem to be having no issues. Assuming that a dieter accepts reality (CICO) and keeps habits that are conducive to working within the framework of that reality (calorie and weight trend tracking), things seem to keep humming along just fine.
It's when people try to go back to eating intuitively in the modern food environment without being picky about food choices that things tend to slide sideways. The IIFYM style of eating only actually works well, when you know what macros you are shoving in your face.15 -
I liked this, I feel like you're describing me (and I'm starting to feel like a veteran - been here since Dec 2013)Gallowmere1984 wrote: »moogie_fit wrote: »Because we all believe that 'we are special' and 'that won't happen to me'
To be fair, the longest running veterans here seem to be having no issues. Assuming that a dieter accepts reality (CICO) and keeps habits that are conducive to working within the framework of that reality (calorie and weight trend tracking), things seem to keep humming along just fine.
It's when people try to go back to eating intuitively in the modern food environment without being picky about food choices that things tend to slide sideways. The IIFYM style of eating only actually works well, when you know what macros you are shoving in your face.
I'd like to cosign what you're saying about food choices, this is exactly what I've done - I eat meals, I cook from scratch, I don't buy lots of junk to "keep" (those things just don't seem to "keep" well). My everyday meals look very much like everyday meals from the past, like my uncles and aunts and grandparents ate. People moved more on the daily. People were normal weight then. I take the stairs, I walk, run, dance, play. I'm normal weight. Not much to ponder.7
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