HOW did you lose the weight??? Do you get asked that all the time?

Pastaprincess1978

Does anyone else often get asked how they lost weight? It continues to surprise me how curious people are about how I lost weight - it's as if they are expecting some neat and easy answer apart from eating less food!

ccsernica

"I ate less and exercised."

They are invariably disappointed.

dsboohead

Yes...just today. A woman who works in the same building as myself but haven't seen for awhile. She saw me and her mouth fell open asked me...how did you do it?Just told her MFP
as well as logging a1400 cal program.
She stood there silently for a moment and just looked as though I deflated her balloon! Nope no magic...just 1400 calories and logging diligently.
Maybe moving more.......WHAT DID SHE WANT?!

seltzermint555

I feel like people think I'm lying when I tell them counting calories with MyFitnessPal. They usually make this face like "no I mean seriously, how?" It is very annoying. For some reason they seem to prefer if I said "I went gluten free!" or "Keto" or even "surgery" and I really think a lot of them believe I'm withholding secret info. It is obnoxious. It happens less now than it did in the first couple of years but yeah, ugh. It seems like a nice question to be asked but at least 90% of the time hate their response to my answer.

ImmeDay

They really want a quick trick, they don't want to know how hard we worked, they hope we can give them some shortcut

Pastaprincess1978

I now say - 'eat less food' or 'less in more out'. About sums it up!

Pastaprincess1978

We could probably create some 'magical weight disappearing powder' and sell it!!

Pastaprincess1978

Actually I think they already have those - meal replacement shakes!

qstneverything

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has to deal with annoying people when asked this question

They always stare and get disappointed when you say 'Exercised more and ate less' sometimes even prodding with a "yeah...but what's your secret?" until they eventually give up and quickly change the topic.

LivingtheLeanDream

Oh yeah, get asked it frequently but peoples eye glaze over when I tell them I count calories and move a bit more.

ilcontreras28

I get asked all the time..i even get accused of using diet pills. People don't get the concept of eating less

Rincewind_1965

ImmeDay wrote: »

[...] they hope we can give them some shortcut

In my experience they want me to give them an excuse why they couldn't do it.
They look relieved if I try to tell them about complex nutritional concepts and extremely annoyed after the concluding sentence, which is: "... but it all boils down to "Eat less than you burn"" ...

Literally anyone can do it, all it needs is willpower, and that's what really p.... finishes them off.

dutchandkiwi

At my previous job quite frequently. They all wanted to know my magic bullet and tried to tell my about their amazing new diet, all wanted to cut the enemy out fo their diet (gluten, fat, carbs, dairy, meat, etc etc)
Never ceased to maze me Don't have that issue at my current job as they've only known me at goal weight

GOT_Obsessed

I don't get asked the why very much but I do get their assumptions. A new big gym opened up here last July. But I did not start until Oct. People assume "oh you go to the new gym I bet." I assure them that I do go there but only a couple days a week. I say that I found the best results once I got my food intake under control. I started to log my food and keep track of my calories.

Most are shocked that I don't live at the gym, some are shocked that I still eat pizza on occaision, and some are so bored at my words that they are looking over my shoulder for an escape route.

GOT_Obsessed

ImmeDay wrote: »

They really want a quick trick, they don't want to know how hard we worked, they hope we can give them some shortcut

Absolutely!

hesn92

Diet and exercise lol. Yes it’s funny. They are expecting some magic short cut or pill

DananaNanas

I don't get asked this (yet?) lol but this thread made me lol

cmriverside

Like every other subject, it seems that people just want to 1. Show you how smart (smarter than you ) they are. and 2. Get into an argument.

I've stopped engaging in those discussions. Everyone has an opinion and mine is the right one.

emcclure013

There are a lot of outspoken people at my work, so I get asked this quite a lot. My short answer? "I don't eat anything fun anymore." We have a good laugh, I tell them I'm using MFP and counting calories and that I still eat ice cream almost every day, they tell me that's super hard and walk away. Rinse, repeat.

urloved33

daily walking, healthy meals and lifting.

rachelr1116

Even people that have asked me before will still ask how I lost the weight. I don't know if they're expecting me to change my answer? I always tell them the same thing - I ate less and tried to move more. I've even started telling them exactly how I did it, counting calories with MFP and using my Fitbit to motivate myself to burn more calories. Sometimes I'll get the follow up question about whether I did low carb or low fat and I'll tell them that I like cake too much to do either of those. I maintained for about a year and now I'm working on losing some more so I expect I'll start getting more questions.

DEBOO7

I've lost 45kg.... and I get asked. My answer is I changed my eating lifestyle, started weighing, tracking and paying attention to what I eat, adequate exercise... day after day. The truth of the matter is that people are looking for a quick fix - a pill or potion, something magical that requires no effort on their part but it doesn't exist. Mostly they say the words 'I need to loose weight' but there's no substance or commitment behind it.

ryenday

Wow, I’ve only been asked this a couple of times but my assumptions are so different.

The person is being complimentary and is just chit chatting and I answer with ‘it has been hard work but just watching my intake and increasing exercise’. They are always just fine with that answer.

Or

The person is obviously struggling with their own weight and are actually asking ‘I find weight loss so hard, it looks like you have conquered it. Have you any help or wisdom to offer?’ And they are fine, but sad, when I give them the same answer.

Never got the eyes glaze over, but never go into any detail unless the other person continues. I guess I just see the question as an friendly ice breaker/chit chat and reply at that level. All good.

steveko89

I've never lost a huge amount of weight, especially as a adult (~25 lbs max), so I don't necessarily get asked how I lost weight, but far more often how I manage my weight effectively. Like others have said, most are disappointed when my answer involves calorie tracking and exercise, often met with "I don't have time for that".

Spaffdavidson

I get asked that all the time. I tell them it was a slow process but well worth it. Losing 100 lbs does not happen over night. Eating right, working out and tracking both worked for me. It also helped me to keep a pic of me at my highest weight on my phone....whenever I was feeling like giving up I would look at the pic and see how far I have come and was not going back. Everyone wants the quick fix, the miracle pill....but there isn't one other than working hard and eating right.

Zodikosis

I just say "bit by bit".

seltzermint555

steveko89 wrote: »

I've never lost a huge amount of weight, especially as a adult (~25 lbs max), so I don't necessarily get asked how I lost weight, but far more often how I manage my weight effectively. Like others have said, most are disappointed when my answer involves calorie tracking and exercise, often met with "I don't have time for that".

I've heard that one too and they often follow up by telling me they did it for a month and only lost 2 lb. I'm like, yeah, I lost 5 lb my first month. People want to lose all their weight in 2 weeks and then go back to eating whatever they want.

bisky

I am honest and say very very slowly by logging food through MFP and mainly walking at least 45 minutes a day and long walks twice a week. I avoided loose skin because my weight loss was so slow. I don't call it a diet so much as lifestyle changes that are sustainable. I did switch to 80% fruits, vegetables and beans with occasional eggs and fish.

Not everyone is looking for a quick fix. Some people don't have the knowledge about MFP or how important it is to lose weight by less calories in on a sustainable life style change.

cct204

This is what I tell people...

beerfoamy

cct204 wrote: »

This is what I tell people...

hehe love that film.
And yes, it is more along the lines of what people want to hear.

I say I track what I eat and stick to a certain calorie number. I usually get the response of, 'oh I couldn't do that. I couldn't give up x,y or z'. At that point I don't have the strength to explain that giving anything up is not part of the plan!

RadishEater

I eat more protein and fiber. I eat more food more often.

The second statement is usually counterintuitive for many people but for a bag of jimmy john bbq potato chips ~300 calories (one of my favorites) I can eat

2.5 oz of blackberries, 1 fage 6oz yogurt, 100g raddishes+ hoisen sauce, 1 medium apple, 5.5 oz of v8 juice and have 50 calories left over to put towards my evening chocolate/wine. I will have eaten alot more volume wise of food, and eaten 17g more protein,10g more fiber than the measly potato chip snack.

People always want to know about carbs and they are mostly an afterthought.