Living the Lifestyle, wildcard Tuesday! 10-26-2021

steve0mania

We meet here to explore, share, celebrate and (sometimes) agonize over how we do (or don't) incorporate weight loss guidelines into our daily lives. "It's a lifestyle, not a diet" is easily and often said, but sometimes not so simply put into practice.

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday - crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – Wildcard
Wednesday - misterhub (Greg)
Thursday - imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday - Flintwinch (Tim)

Today's Topic: Your biggest resentment

Let's admit it...weight-loss and management is not all butterflies and unicorns pooping ice cream! While some folks make it seem so easy (at least on MFP and other social media), I think that in many cases that's really a façade created for the internet. In reality, weight management can be really hard (simple, yes, but challenging nonetheless).

So, let's vent: what do you resent the most about weight-loss and management?

steve0mania

I have two main resentments that go hand-in-hand.

I resent not being able to have an alcoholic beverage whenever I want. I also resent not being able to snack when I want.

Admittedly, neither of these behaviors is very well-adaptive, but honestly, both of these things bug me. One of my favorite "unwind" activities is to sit with my wife and have a beer, or a glass of wine, and watch a TV show together. However, if I want to keep my weight in-check (or really, get back down to my personal target), I can only really do something like that rarely. Of course, there are certain snacks that enhance each of those experiences (chocolate or cheese for the wine, chips or pretzels for the beer).

Yes, I know I can work these into my "lifestyle," but that takes "work."

misterhub

I resent having to "think" about what I eat. I need to consider each bite.

crewahl

steve0mania wrote: »

While some folks make it seem so easy (at least on MFP and other social media), I think that in many cases that's really a façade created for the internet.

I think people tend to forget that the internet, and social media specifically, is a medium that is curated for its audience. People share what they choose to share, and it’s rare that people share “gosh, don’t I suck” observations. For the most part, social media is to reality as an impressionist painting is to a photograph.

Resentments? Maybe I came to weight loss late enough that I’m grateful to be able to walk, and not to have had a heart attack or stroke, since I had to think hard about the question.

I think the issue I have is that the weight loss equation feels unbalanced to me. In other words, we give up X, and we give up Y, and we give up Z - and get what seems like a little bit of A. The volume of sacrifices we make for the few indulgences we get seems disproportionately high. I suspect that part of that emotional response is that we give things up in the present in exchange or hope of receiving something in the future - better health, better appearance, etc. That temporal link between what we surrender and what we get is somewhere between strained and absent.

I get that delayed gratification is part of being an adult - but don’t it just suck! 🤯

Flintwinch

I've lived a lucky life. I had an abnormally happy childhood. A car hit me on my bicycle when I was 12, hard enough to kill me, but I ended up only cuts, bruises and a concussion. I came back from the Vuetnam War unscathed and mentally intact. My first practice marriage of a few years taught me most of what I needed to know to enter a wildly successful 2nd marriage. I enjoyed my working life, I have two great kids, two delightful grandkids. I've dodged the bullet on a number of really bad diseases. What, me resentful? I consider diet limits annoyances rather than reasons fir resentnrnt Yet there are times when self-pity rules the day

Al_Howard

I, too, resent all the energy I need to expend on weight-loss (planning, logging, and exaction. However, one of my big stumbling blocks was, removed \unexplainably, last November, when I quit drinking. The 3-5 six-pack's of good beer's calories is the prime reason I was able to get to goal.
A lot of us oldies seem to put it aside, out of the blue, alcohol, and other "vices" that have plagued us most of our adult lives. Guess God wants us around longer

88olds

I’m not naturally thin.

But I don’t resent much in any of this. Actually I count myself lucky that I seem to have found a way to live within some reasonable limits.

But to get back to resentment, I seem to recall a post by Charlie @crewhal, along these lines-

This was back on WW goad. A newbie showed up complaining. His complaint was basically resentment of the entire process. The injustice of not being to eat all we want of anything we want whenever we want without gaining weight. Charlie’s response that I’ve never forgotten- “How do you feel about gravity?”

This stuck with me because we live every day in the same physical universe and never give most of its workings a bit of thought. If I drop my favorite coffee cup onto the tile floor in the kitchen its going to break. I’m not going to think “There’s that rotten gravity thing again.” The ability to gain weight helped our ancestors survived hard times. Its a good thing. Its a sign of good health. Mother Nature didn’t envision this much food. Its a good problem to have.