Stop telling me you lost weight by walking and cutting out beer.
msophia94
Posts: 4 Member
Full disclosure, I've hit a plateau in my weight loss and it had made me more than a bit salty. However I've always thought this was annoying but now just need to put it out into the universe. I am so sick of people saying they've lost forty pounds -or whatever- just by walking a few miles a day and stopped drinking their calories. I walk anywhere between ten and thirteen miles a day on average. I never drink beer, or soda, or any other 'devil drink' you can think of, I don't have mindless calories to cut out of my day. I do strength training six days a week and worked incredibly hard for every pound I've managed to lose. I get that when you look at me you think I don't move very much or that I am guzzling the calorie laden drinks when no one is looking, I understand that people think that telling someone to walk is a helpful tip to start a weight loss journey, but respectfully that doesn't work for everyone. I can't be the only person out there that rolls their eyes every time someone says 'start walking and don't drink your calories', can I?
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Replies
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I hate walking and I love beer. Does that help?32
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If you don't want unsolicited advice from people, you shouldn't share your weight loss goals with them.
Telling people that you are working to lose weight opens the door for comments like that.44 -
Since COVID in March, I started walking 3 hours a day (90 minutes in the morning, then 90 in the evening after dinner) and basically just controlling calories. I'll do some interval sprints 3 times a week as well. I've lost 38lbs since then. From 218 down to 179 as of this morning.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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So what is your daily calorie intake?8
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Believe it or not there's whopping boatloads of us who do not spend any time in a gym. Functional muscles for the WIN.
I don't care how you go about getting them. In the gym or via hard, physical outdoor labor it all takes hard work. I don't ever drink beer and I go for walks. I make no apologies for that. Too much pride and the super ego always comes before a fall. Don't get too big for your britches because rebound weight gain with friends can happen to anyone at any time when they let their guard down.
It even happens to the most brilliant and clever minds who've got everything going on for them. I would never dream of rolling my eyes at anyone who manages to get off the couch from the speed of zero and walks out their front door for a hike. Stay humble. I've been around long enough to discern when someone is taking it to the razor's edge with the answers to absolutely everything, swole may be the goal but pride will always knock you off your game.
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When my OH lost 30 ish pounds years ago, it was via walk/run and cutting soda.
I like to eat too much to lose weight easily.
And right now, I'm comfort eating
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The people I have known who made seemingly small changes to their diet and lost large amounts of weight as a result were very obese and had a lot to lose. When you have less to lose it is much harder to lose each pound. That’s unfortunate but true.44
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My saga is similar. I gained weight because I'm lazy, and lack of activity means I don't burn much. Combined with easy fast food at 800++ calories per meal is not a good combination.
I have to make an effort and 60+ minutes walking daily to achieve a tdee around 1900. But I actually enjoy it. That is for a slow loss of about 2 pounds per month.
I switched to diet soda over a decade ago. I'd easily have weighed 40 more if not for that. Dropping the regular did not lead to weight loss, but I know it decreased my weight gain.
My husband is a different story. If he starts walking 2 miles a day he will lose easily. But there is more to the story. He is all or none. So when he starts walking, his eating habits change. Today his lunch is McDonald's quarter pounder, nuggets, fries and a mcchicken sandwich. Mine is 6 in subway sandwich plus 1 cookie.6 -
It’s all about eating less calories than your body burns. How you get there is up to you. Some do it without any additional exercise. Some are faithful to working out. But weight loss occurs from eating at a calorie deficit.20
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »So what is your daily calorie intake?
I average about 1500 including days that I don't have time to eat more than a few bites here and there (full time childcare for the win) and celebratory days that are more calorie dense. but I track and weigh everything and never have a day when I walk less than 20,000 steps and do at least 45 mins of strength training. I'm not complaining about the work I've had to put in, just the people that make it sound like its so easy a rodent could figure it out.6 -
Full disclosure, I've hit a plateau in my weight loss and it had made me more than a bit salty. However I've always thought this was annoying but now just need to put it out into the universe. I am so sick of people saying they've lost forty pounds -or whatever- just by walking a few miles a day and stopped drinking their calories. I walk anywhere between ten and thirteen miles a day on average. I never drink beer, or soda, or any other 'devil drink' you can think of, I don't have mindless calories to cut out of my day. I do strength training six days a week and worked incredibly hard for every pound I've managed to lose. I get that when you look at me you think I don't move very much or that I am guzzling the calorie laden drinks when no one is looking, I understand that people think that telling someone to walk is a helpful tip to start a weight loss journey, but respectfully that doesn't work for everyone. I can't be the only person out there that rolls their eyes every time someone says 'start walking and don't drink your calories', can I?
I walk between 4 and 5 miles a day and that takes me around 90 minutes. At my current weight and fitness and with some of the walk being really hilly that is worth about 400 calories a day which on paper is around 0.7 pounds a week.
Not to be sniffed at I think.
But if you are smaller and/or fitted than me unfortunately(?) you will burn less calories.9 -
I'm sure I'm an anomaly, but I lost over 50lbs over 2 summers just by walking anywhere from 1/4 - 1 mile every other day. I do walk on crutches, so my physical exertion is much more than a normal person that walks normally. So just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean it doesn't work for a lot of other people.28
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Lol. Every person on the whole planet is prone to huge, extreme, exaggeration. No one ever lost weight walking and cutting beer. Every single one is lying. Your journey is a struggle, but everyone else has it so easy! That's just not fair!
Sounds pretty bad, huh? Maybe some of them did lose weight that way. I lost 80 pounds and 90% of my exercise is walking 3-5 miles a day on hills in my neighborhood. I did quit drinking to lose that last 20 and I just never picked it back up again.
It's always about calories. Dial that in and it really is simple. Maybe not easy, but there is a number of calories for everyone which will allow weight loss without too much of a struggle. If it was that hard, none of us would do it.26 -
My previous GP used to say things like, "Just figure out your trigger food" or "Just cut out junk food." I explained to him that there was no one trigger food and I didn't eat junk food. I weighed twice what I ought because I ate twice and much as I should. No, I couldn't lose 140+ pounds by just walking or stopping snacks. No, I couldn't suddenly go to some one-page advice sheet he handed out that was a low-fat 1200 calorie/day plan. Luckily, I had found MFP and knew how to lose weight. Doing it was a problem but knowing how was not and it wasn't what he was saying. When I control my calorie intake I lose.23
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My path was walking and adding bourbon 🤷🏿♀️40
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I lost weight by cycling, strength training and swapping mid-priced wine for twice as expensive but half the amount good quality wine.
Oh and by cutting 3,500 cals from my weekly calorie needs.
I've lost a few weekends to beer though if that counts? :drinker:
Think your first step would be to tighten up your food logging - lots of estimating and using poor measures in your diary such as spoons, scoops, cups, half this, half that.
Weigh those things on digital scales, maybe eat less prepared food where you are only making a very rough guess like your burritos......
You might find this game of numbers much easier and less annoying, with less plateaus, if you knew your numbers better.
PS - just looked at your exercise diary, your calorie burn estimates are also dreadfully exaggerated. Maybe a fresh start is in order on both the CO and CI sides?40 -
IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »I hate walking and I love beer. Does that help?
interesting... i like walking and a hate beer.15 -
If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.20
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Given that beer has 150 or more calories per bottle, giving up beer could make a big difference to someone who often drinks two or three in the evening. Same with someone who is very sedentary who starts a regular walking regime. As you know, it is all about calories in and calories out. How you choose to reduce your calories is up to you. For me it meant not eating out as often, because restaurant meals are almost always much higher calorie than what I cook at home. My husband at one point gave up his 2-3 liter a day soda habit and lost 50 lbs. Sometimes it really is the simple things that make a difference. It also depends on how much you have to lose. The last few pounds may be difficult because you've already cut back on all the obvious things. So you may need to cut back on the less obvious - a smaller piece of meat or switching to a lower fat cut.19
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HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »My previous GP used to say things like, "Just figure out your trigger food" or "Just cut out junk food." I explained to him that there was no one trigger food and I didn't eat junk food. I weighed twice what I ought because I ate twice and much as I should. No, I couldn't lose 140+ pounds by just walking or stopping snacks. No, I couldn't suddenly go to some one-page advice sheet he handed out that was a low-fat 1200 calorie/day plan. Luckily, I had found MFP and knew how to lose weight. Doing it was a problem but knowing how was not and it wasn't what he was saying. When I control my calorie intake I lose.
I had a nurse practitioner tell me to eat carrots instead of cookies.
Yep, last time I went to her. 16 -
I wear a Fitbit tracker, its making the exercise calorie estimations but even still on average I'm eating about 1500 calories while weighing my food. even if I sat on my couch ten hours a day which I can assure you I don't because I have an incredibly labour intensive job I should lose weight according to my TDEEI lost weight by cycling, strength training and swapping mid-priced wine for twice as expensive but half the amount good quality wine.
Oh and by cutting 3,500 cals from my weekly calorie needs.
I've lost a few weekends to beer though if that counts? :drinker:
Think your first step would be to tighten up your food logging - lots of estimating and using poor measures in your diary such as spoons, scoops, cups, half this, half that.
Weigh those things on digital scales, maybe eat less prepared food where you are only making a very rough guess like your burritos......
You might find this game of numbers much easier and less annoying, with less plateaus, if you knew your numbers better.
PS - just looked at your exercise diary, your calorie burn estimates are also dreadfully exaggerated. Maybe a fresh start is in order on both the CO and CI sides?
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asthesoapturns wrote: »If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.
I can promise you Ive never once asked how anyone has done it.1 -
asthesoapturns wrote: »If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.
I can promise you Ive never once asked how anyone has done it.
Then they're rude as hell. To quote a drag queen, water off a duck's back. Don't dwell on it. I have absolutely been told what I can't eat after someone's found out what I lost. Yeah. Thanks, what I've done works for me.
Depending on how long you've been at it you may just need to be patient. I was losing 10lb a month for the better part of a year. Now it's dropped off a lot, doing the same stuff, just because that's where I'm at. Frustrating, but predictable. You may also look at if you are under fuelling YOU. I don't lose weight at 1200 cal. I plateaued hard. Once I couple hundred calories back, presto started losing again. As a rule I don't eat all of my exercise calories back, I don't entirely trust the estimates but how accurate any of it is varies from person to person.4 -
When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.
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Full disclosure, I've hit a plateau in my weight loss and it had made me more than a bit salty. However I've always thought this was annoying but now just need to put it out into the universe. I am so sick of people saying they've lost forty pounds -or whatever- just by walking a few miles a day and stopped drinking their calories. I walk anywhere between ten and thirteen miles a day on average. I never drink beer, or soda, or any other 'devil drink' you can think of, I don't have mindless calories to cut out of my day. I do strength training six days a week and worked incredibly hard for every pound I've managed to lose. I get that when you look at me you think I don't move very much or that I am guzzling the calorie laden drinks when no one is looking, I understand that people think that telling someone to walk is a helpful tip to start a weight loss journey, but respectfully that doesn't work for everyone. I can't be the only person out there that rolls their eyes every time someone says 'start walking and don't drink your calories', can I?
•Well, we don't know how much beer *they* were guzzling down before. (A few beers on an almost daily basis could easily be equivalent to a pound per week). Or soda (some people regularly consume ginormous wads of sugar-water calories). (And drunk people also make stupid food choices at bars, which have insanely calorie-dense food..they may be one of these people and conveniently have forgotten that bit).
•And maintenance calories are a LOT more for someone heavier. There's a reason it's often larger males that lose a bunch by merely cutting out the beer. (although they are usually also athletic ones in my experience, not new walkers - which means it would take some awareness, but not a huge amount of it, to keep under TDEE..cutting out obvious stuff usually is enough in that case).
• I don't know anyone in the 'I lost all this weight by just adding walking and cutting out beer/soda' category, but if someone is far into being obese, they could lose quite a bit doing this. (much higher level of maintenance calories + much higher calorie burn for even a super-low-burning activity + they may have been consuming loads of alcohol/sugar water previously to get to that point in the first place).
• If physically fit/near normal weight and/or smaller and/or not very active, you'll have to be pretty on-point on calories (easy changes like these won't cut it).
•*** And.. if that was someone's response to me, I probably would respond way more snarkily/meanly than merely rolling my eyes at them. (If the words "well, if I was as fat, lazy, and a lush as you are/were, then maybe that would work" applied, I'm not sure they wouldn't automatically come rolling out of my mouth.)(Note: at my heaviest 158 lbs, I was a runner, hiker, trail runner/orienteerer, mountain climber...so stupid non-applicable advice from someone heavier than me and non-athletic playing know-it-all would have annoyed TF out of me too). ***
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When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.
True.. but in the OP's case, it seems this was given as unsolicited advice (rather than a question about *starting* to exercise) with the implication that she must currently be sedentary AF.1 -
I'm just wondering how long you've been doing 20,000 steps every day and 45 minutes of strength training 6 days a week.
And if you have around 10-15 lb to lose, that'll be masked by water weight in fluctuations by different strength workout routines.
Are you using a weight tracker such as Happy Scale or Libra? Those show the trending weight / moving average, not just from day to day.10 -
When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.
True.. but in the OP's case, it seems this was given as unsolicited advice (rather than a question about *starting* to exercise) with the implication that she must currently be sedentary AF.
Hmm. I didn’t get that at all from OP. They just said they were tired of hearing that walking is a good way to start. Whatever.8 -
Are you using a fitness calculator to determine your TDEE or your actual data from MFP? I have found that the majority of fitness calculators overestimate my TDEE. To use several different calculators at once you can go to Gym Goal and see the variation in estimated calories. There are members here that have spreadsheets that they use to calculate their monthly TDEEs, maybe one of them could chime in?1
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