What causes failure?
Replies
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maintaining is hard because youre still restricting calories but for no improvements like weight loss so the motivation to maintain fades as you get used to how your body looks or you care less and less as the days go on untill you gain too much and care enough again to diet0
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This is a false dichotomy. Calorie counters return to MFP time and again talking about "falling off the wagon". This is true across the globe. To say ONLY those who restrict foods fail is just plain false.People fail because they restrict food groups and believe they are "bad"…they then restrict to the point that they can't anymore and then bing on said bad foods…feel guilty, eat more, give up, and then repeat the cycle again every few months…
If most people just made sensible changes and ate in a deficit and treated themselves to said foods then they would lose weight and it would be sustainable.
the post was about what "causes" failure….IMO food restriction is one of those causes….I mean if you want to me to cover every single possibility for failure then we will be here all day….
geez…lighten up C3PO….0 -
Ah so now it's one of the causes. Got it.
This is a false dichotomy. Calorie counters return to MFP time and again talking about "falling off the wagon". This is true across the globe. To say ONLY those who restrict foods fail is just plain false.People fail because they restrict food groups and believe they are "bad"…they then restrict to the point that they can't anymore and then bing on said bad foods…feel guilty, eat more, give up, and then repeat the cycle again every few months…
If most people just made sensible changes and ate in a deficit and treated themselves to said foods then they would lose weight and it would be sustainable.
the post was about what "causes" failure….IMO food restriction is one of those causes….I mean if you want to me to cover every single possibility for failure then we will be here all day….
geez…lighten up C3PO….0 -
Deprivation I believe.I believe they give up because they are trying so hard to be healthy they leave out what they are craving or have little of it, and so they then overindulge and give up because they feel like failures, even though they're not. Take the bad with good, if anyone has a bad day just let it be, then try again the next day.0
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People fail because they focus on food and exercise instead of a real mental or spiritual program. Weight loss is a short term fix. Yee haw I lost 20 pounds. What is your average weight over the last year? Two years? 5 years? Chances are you will be back to your 5 year average without keeping your mental and spiritual program alive and active and that program never ends.0
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so you are saying that food restriction is not one reason that leads to failure????
Ah so now it's one of the causes. Got it.
This is a false dichotomy. Calorie counters return to MFP time and again talking about "falling off the wagon". This is true across the globe. To say ONLY those who restrict foods fail is just plain false.People fail because they restrict food groups and believe they are "bad"…they then restrict to the point that they can't anymore and then bing on said bad foods…feel guilty, eat more, give up, and then repeat the cycle again every few months…
If most people just made sensible changes and ate in a deficit and treated themselves to said foods then they would lose weight and it would be sustainable.
the post was about what "causes" failure….IMO food restriction is one of those causes….I mean if you want to me to cover every single possibility for failure then we will be here all day….
geez…lighten up C3PO….0 -
Judging by the number of "I'm Back!" threads on MFP, it would seem that counting calories is a major cause of failure.0
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Of course I'm not saying that. But I also think calorie counting does.
so you are saying that food restriction is not one reason that leads to failure????
Ah so now it's one of the causes. Got it.
This is a false dichotomy. Calorie counters return to MFP time and again talking about "falling off the wagon". This is true across the globe. To say ONLY those who restrict foods fail is just plain false.People fail because they restrict food groups and believe they are "bad"…they then restrict to the point that they can't anymore and then bing on said bad foods…feel guilty, eat more, give up, and then repeat the cycle again every few months…
If most people just made sensible changes and ate in a deficit and treated themselves to said foods then they would lose weight and it would be sustainable.
the post was about what "causes" failure….IMO food restriction is one of those causes….I mean if you want to me to cover every single possibility for failure then we will be here all day….
geez…lighten up C3PO….
Or rather: I'm saying that regardless of HOW folks created a deficit they tend to regain the weight after they stop being mindful of that deficit.0 -
It could be mine as well if I'm not careful. I love wine. And as I age my "discretionary calorie" allotment decreases, leaving less room for yummy wines.Alcohol has been my Achilles heel.0 -
i think a lot of it is complacency as well. i know that a lot of people go "oh, i've been loging for X months, i can keep track of it in my head." to an extent, yes, but not long term.0
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This is an excellent question. I am answering it more for myself. I have not been over-weight all my life. It has really been just the past couple of years. After considering what has got me here, I will have to pursue a more active career. In addition, I will have to pursue activities in groups like boxing. I enjoy any activity while I am still learning how to do it. Once I have mastered it, I usually lose interest. I have thought of becoming a weight trainer and eventually moving into the field of rehabilitation. I am heavily dedicated to one of the most sedentary professions and currently attending grad school in the profession. Both combined creates a sedentary life.
I will have to seriiously consider my social interactions and make a conscious effort to find friends who are active and who eat healthy.
My thoughts have been interrupted, so I must go and come back to this after more thought. Thanks for the questiopn.0 -
Failing causes failure.
Don't fail and you won't be a failure.
Glad I could help . . .0 -
Depression, fast food, junk food you name it0
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all the sugar and fats I have had since Halloween(my annual down fall). 30 lbs off in the last 18 months, now gained 10 back. ;-((0
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I wasn't sure where to post this question, so I figure I would ask those that are trying to maintain. Lately I have seen several people posting things like "Back to MFP again". I've seen a lot of people on here talking about how they lost weight and then gained some or all of it back so they are back on MFP. Why do people fail? Right now I have the drive in me to lose weight. Once it is lost, I don't want it back. What makes maintaining hard? What can I do to prepare myself better?
I'm not on maintenance yet, but I suspect that part of the answer is in your question. The people are "Back to MFP again." The reality, at least for me, is that I have a disordered relationship with food. I don't just naturally eat the amount I should. I compulsively overeat. Just because I reach a specified number on the scale doesn't mean that issue is just going to go away. I will probably need to keep logging, or at least keep periodically logging, for the rest of my life if I don't want to go back to the way I was. So, by the people saying they are "back", that means they left. They stopped logging. Chances are, they thought they were finished and could go back to eating the way they had before. Or they might have had some illusion that they would eat healthier, but without logging their habits slipped.
For myself, I may not log every day for the rest of my life, but I do think I will need to keep an eye on things. Weigh myself each week, and if I notice that number going up and my habits slipping go back to logging for a time. I just doubt that I'll ever be able to not pay attention and expect the weight to stay off. When I don't pay attention I do things like consume 4000 calories in one day. :-/
I think people regarding it as a temporary diet instead of a permanent lifestyle change is the cause of failure. Add to that the fact that some have unreasonable goals (I've seen many women post stats of goal weights that are 10 pounds under what would be the minimum healthy weight for their height and age) of course if your goal is to be underweight your body will resist that.
Mostly though, its the "diet" instead of the "fitness" mentality.
After all, the site is called Myfitnesspal, not Mydietpal. Watching what you eat and exercising is something that most of us need to continue for life, not just long enough to reach a goal.0 -
Because I got sick of logging my food. It got boring to me. I started having too much fun going out with new friends and having dinner and too many drinks now that I am single(and loving it). I had the same attitude as you when I started on here. I couldn't imagine gaining back any of the weight I'd lost. LOL. Life happened. Getting slowly back on the wagon now.
I gained about 10lbs from my lowest weight.0 -
well first off, failure is when you stop trying. So I don't think anyone who is back has failed they just see that they need to evaluate what they have been doing. I think the idea that once we achieve our goal weight we'll effortlessly stay there might be a bit unrealistic. to easily stay at goal weight may take a few tries to get right and for some it may never come easy. also some who are "back" have only gained 10-15lbs. where as they came in with 60 or 70 to lose. they are "back" so that the buck stops at 10 which I don't think is failure at all, I think its smart!
I know that for me I enjoy a healthy lifestyle, I love to workout and prepossessed junk food looks like garbage to me.. all the same, times like holidays I over eat here and there. Or I get sick and stop working out for a while, then starting up again is a struggle. its as easy as letting that happen a few to many times and you find yourself needing to "get back on the wagon" but there is noting wrong with that, its just life. Its throwing your hands up and saying well I didn't hold maintenance weight so I guess I'll just be fat forever...that's failure.0 -
For me, lately I've been getting tired of logging. I get tired of the mentality that I automatically shift to, "How many calories is this?" every time I want to eat something that doesn't come with the calorie count on it. Many times I'll just say, "I think that's about 1200 calories." And just throw it in there as a quick add.
Also, winter kicks my butt and I have severe muscle pain when I spend more than a few minutes walking around outside. When walking around is my main form of "exercise"---well, I'll just avoid it to avoid pain.0 -
Is everyone tired and bored of being thin and fit? I was tired of being a lazy slob and bored of the tediousness of trying to lose weight. This point in my life is much better and I will kick, scratch and bite before going back! No way will I accept anything less than where I am now. I have a whole of improvement in front of me, but every misery behind me will not be relived!0
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Bump0
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Until I could get right in my head about the emotional reasons I was eating, there was no way I could lose weight. For me, it was never about the discipline or eating the "right" foods or whatever the reason was that I thought I was failing at in my journey to lose weight. I was so disciplined in every area of my life, why couldn't I make this work?
Turning to food for comfort was how I dealt with my demons. My demons were being a perfectionist, feelings of not being worthy of love, not loving myself. I had to go ALL the way back and figure it out. I am still about 40 pounds out but let me say this. I have gained self love, confidence and appreciation for the fact that I am worthy of everything this life is about.
I am going to be 50 in 2014. I know with an absolute certainty that my weight will be gone by then. This is all fine and good but the best part is that my "head space" where food for comfort is concerned is right where it belongs for the next 50 years....out the door and viewed as a demon of the past.
****edited for clarity****0 -
You are right....and MFP tells us how many calories we should consume to lose and/or to maintain our weight...it's not rocket science. .Each one of us has different requirements. It's a life long commitment. I'm amazed at how quickly the calories rack up in a day! MFP is a great tool to keep a diary of food intake.
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I think alot of folks fail or regain their weight because they stop tracking and logging. I believe essentially that is the beginning of the fail and eventually folks may even stop working out.
I think it is imperative that we log, and track our food till our life on this earth ends, but that is just my opinion.0 -
Let me preface this by saying that I don't use MFP as a social device or as a weight loss tool. It's just an amazing calorie counting app! What I see in a lot of clients I train who fail is this continued setting of goals. Setting goals and meeting them is not inherently a bad thing, if you want to look good for a reunion or beach day, great! However it leaves you feeling satisfied afterwards, which is dangerous. Fitness and the pursuit of aesthetics can't be a momentary drive towards a single goal, it needs to be a lifestyle.
1.) A sense of satisfaction.
2.) Boredom with eating clean.
3.) Peer pressure (you're friends all want you to drink or eat the same thing as them, which you can't do)
4.) Overdieting/overcutting (cutting calories to something like 1400 a day will not only **** up your metabolism but will also leave you hungry and susceptible to cheating)
5.) Not understanding this is a lifestyle and, in turn, a life long commitment.
6.) I see some people result o food and lethargy when they go through a rough patch in life (family members death, SO problems etc...) I like to think of fitness as a way to work through those issues, not as a reason to quit.
7.) Money - supplements and clean foods are expensive.
8.) simple lack of will power. this is probably the most common, some people have never dedicated themselves to something like this before and just don't know what it takes. It's an all day all night thing, not simply when it's convenient.
9.) This is less listable but a lot of people structure their lives around food and eating. Whether it's comfort/boredom eating or just a routine/habit you can't shake.
The truth is pretty simple and something a lot of people don't want to hear. The reason you quit is because you don't want it bad enough. You don't want to work. You don't have the drive and the work ethic. It's hard to hear but it's often the truth and lies, at the very least, at the base of all reasons someone slipped.0 -
*Lack of focus0
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Until I could get right in my head about the emotional reasons I was eating, there was no way I could lose weight. For me, it was never about the discipline or eating the "right" foods or whatever the reason was that I thought I was failing at in my journey to lose weight. I was so disciplined in every area of my life, why couldn't I make this work?
Turning to food for comfort was how I dealt with my demons. My demons were being a perfectionist, feelings of not being worthy of love, not loving myself. I had to go ALL the way back and figure it out. I am still about 40 pounds out but let me say this. I have gained self love, confidence and appreciation for the fact that I am worthy of everything this life is about.
I am going to be 50 in 2014. I know with an absolute certainty that my weight will be gone by then. This is all fine and good but the best part is that my "head space" where food for comfort is concerned is right where it belongs for the next 50 years....out the door and viewed as a demon of the past.
****edited for clarity****
Way to go on figuring our the root of the problem. Congrats on the success you've already have had and on your future success. 0 -
You're right.....making lifestyle changes rather than "being on a diet".... is the right frame of mind0
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Let me preface this by saying that I don't use MFP as a social device or as a weight loss tool. It's just an amazing calorie counting app! What I see in a lot of clients I train who fail is this continued setting of goals. Setting goals and meeting them is not inherently a bad thing, if you want to look good for a reunion or beach day, great! However it leaves you feeling satisfied afterwards, which is dangerous. Fitness and the pursuit of aesthetics can't be a momentary drive towards a single goal, it needs to be a lifestyle.
1.) A sense of satisfaction.
2.) Boredom with eating clean.
3.) Peer pressure (you're friends all want you to drink or eat the same thing as them, which you can't do)
4.) Overdieting/overcutting (cutting calories to something like 1400 a day will not only **** up your metabolism but will also leave you hungry and susceptible to cheating)
5.) Not understanding this is a lifestyle and, in turn, a life long commitment.
6.) I see some people result o food and lethargy when they go through a rough patch in life (family members death, SO problems etc...) I like to think of fitness as a way to work through those issues, not as a reason to quit.
7.) Money - supplements and clean foods are expensive.
8.) simple lack of will power. this is probably the most common, some people have never dedicated themselves to something like this before and just don't know what it takes. It's an all day all night thing, not simply when it's convenient.
9.) This is less listable but a lot of people structure their lives around food and eating. Whether it's comfort/boredom eating or just a routine/habit you can't shake.
The truth is pretty simple and something a lot of people don't want to hear. The reason you quit is because you don't want it bad enough. You don't want to work. You don't have the drive and the work ethic. It's hard to hear but it's often the truth and lies, at the very least, at the base of all reasons someone slipped.
Well stated 0 -
You're right.....making lifestyle changes rather than "being on a diet".... is the right frame of mind
Absolutely 0
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