What would happen if I stopped dieting??

Gettinghealthysarah

At age 51 I have been on a 'diet' since the age of about 12! You name it I have done it! What a surprise with all my knowledge I am still fat! I yo-yo but mostly I have been just heavy! Who has ever decided to just stop the madness and given up counting, obsessing, analyzing and wasting time always trying to lose weight? I am tempted to say 'no more' from here on I will eat only what I want when I want and do my exercise! Really how much more over weight could I get ? Currently 70 pounds over weight! The more I 'diet' the more I weigh!

HannahInHawaii

Your "diets" have probably been unsuccessful because you need to make a lifestyle change. Sounds like you are trying to change the effect without changing the cause! :flowerforyou:

trogalicious

Who has ever decided to just stop the madness and given up counting, obsessing, analyzing and wasting time always trying to lose weight?

I'm sure plenty of us have. I did. I gained up to well over 330lbs

The more I 'diet' the more I weigh!

then change how you live. Diets fail.

Use this website, track everything you eat, adjust as needed.

beachlover317

The more I 'diet' the more I weigh!

Looking at this as a diet is why I always failed in the past. I was always fantasizing about being at goal weight and being able to eat again. I restricted too much all those times, eventually started eating again and gained all the weight (and more) back.

For 19 months I have been focusing on my health. I count calories/track macros because I wanted to learn to feed my body correctly. I began exercising (running and lifting heavy) because I wanted to minimize my loss of LBM as I worked to lose the fat.

Guess what? Now I do all of that because it works. I love running and I love lifting - so I train to meet fitness goals I am setting for myself.

I'm almost 56 years old. If I go back to the way I have lived - I am destined to regain my weight. I'm at a point where I feel good. Really good. I'm stronger than I have been in years. Keep going.

Briargrey

Tracking intake isn't dieting if you incorporate into a lifestyle change versus some sort of restrictive plan that isn't sustainable for a lifetime. You need to find a healthy relationship with food. Every time I use a diet plan and restrict something, I lose weight, get bummed because I can't eat something, eat it, feel guilty, and fall down the rabbit hole. By looking at what calorie amounts I should be eating and then what I need on a reasonable deficit so I can lose, I have created a sustainable lifestyle change.

I'd suggest that's the best way to do it. Get a reasonable caloric deficit (i.e. not something unsustainable and low like 1200), track everything, and you can be successful for a lifetime.

Sapino

Hello Gettinghealth,

I do not know who is driving / supporting you but if your "diet" failed to your goals, either this person is not really competent or (/and) you lost motivation. Maybe you simply do not follow elementary rules…It is amazing how many people think they know what they are doing and they are actually not.

No offense obviously. I mean, I still have myself a lot to learn on the subject and with the progress of the science, knowledges need to be regularly updated!

I personally do not believe in the word "diet". Diet is synonym of failure. You can´t be on diet all your life, and as soon as you will stop it, you will take back all the weight you have been trying to lose.

You need to focus on habits in order to get a healthy lifestyle. This is the key…

You need to change your habits bit by bit. This way you will never stop to "diet" because there will not be dieting anymore.

If I can be of any help, do not hesitate to contact me!

Nicolee_2014

It should be a lifestyle change, not a 'diet'.

frodopuppy

watching since I was 12 also learned in my late 20's not to cut out the foods I liked just eat less. quit smoking gained 10 pounds now I'm trying to eat healthy and not loose control. lifestyle change is good don't worry about a small cheat just start again not tomorrow right away makes all the difference. by the way I've weighed as much as 190 and 145 right now. I'm here to get healthy and not gain anymore. stick with it people are here for support wishing you the best

Barbonica

I did. I gave up at age 49. Decided that I wasn't meant to be normal sized. I was 224 pounds at 5'6". BUT... I knew that I always felt better when I exercised regularly. I had fallen off the exercise wagon years earlier for various reasons. I was still active, but not pushing myself. I hired a personal trainer in April 2011 and started working with him 2x week. A couple of months later, I had accidently lost 15 pounds or thereabouts. I started figuring out my workouts were better when I ate more veggies, meats, fruits. I decided to eat things that are actively good for me. I didn't cut out anything, but since I was focusing on making sure I was eating nutritiously, I accidently found out that I was cutting out a lot of foods that were pretty high calorie. About 6-7 months later, I had accidently lost a total of 45 pounds. WOW! How did that happen? I didn't diet, I didn't count calories, I didn't worry about portion control. I just found that I overate a lot less when I was eating a healthy diet. BTW - I also found this helped minimize perimenopausal symptoms. BONUS!

I maintained at that level for most of 2012 - up and down maybe 5 pounds, ultimately for the year down maybe 5 pounds. IN 2013 I decided the next thing was to start paying attention to portion sizes. I have been losing 2-3 pounds a month this year (total since joining MFP 21 pounds). There is a lot of variance month to month depending on life. I don't worry about it.

I am still working with my trainer, I started running and lifting heavy - just because it is fun. I didn't start doing any of those things. They just happened. My words of wisdom to you... Start doing something that makes your feel better that gets you moving. Start experimenting with creating foods that appeal to you, and have great nutrition. Don't be in a hurry. Don't set yourself weight goals, set goals like running a 5K race (for the first 50 years of my life, I NEVER thought I would say I was going running).

I am now 52, still 5'6" and weight 166. I am still losing weight. I feel better than I ever have, but I am where I am because of small, incremental changes, and finding things that I enjoy. That is a true lifestyle change.


tl/dr: I gave up at age 49 but started making minor changes for other reasons, and low and behold - started losing weight, feeling better, and found new hobbies.

__freckles__

Here's my logic - I've never been on a diet and have never had a weight problem. Soooooo...perhaps you should stop trying silly diets and just eat less and move more!

Gettinghealthysarah

Here's my logic - I've never been on a diet and have never had a weight problem. Soooooo...perhaps you should stop trying silly diets and just eat less and move more!

Perfect!

cevalid

Lol I thought I couldn't get much higher than 72kg. Soon I was 85kg. Was convinced I wouldn't go higher than that. Next minute, I was 97kg. Then 105kg.

anggolds

I think you should absolutely stop dieting. The word diet simply psychs people out, we feel deprived and tell ourselves we can't have a cookie for example. Small steps, establishing new habits, lifestyle changes.

It's all about positioning in my opinion. Looking at things differently - balancing not analyzing, lifestyle changes not dieting.

I look at it like this, If I want to eat a cookie then I need to balance that with the rest of my day's intake or I need to offset it with activities. If I have a special occasion and want to indulge in dessert I need to balance that out with the rest of my week. I don't look at like cheating, because it's not a test. It's a lesson in tradeoffs; an opportunity to learn how to find the balance.

I don't diet anymore. I make choices. Some of those choices are healthy some unfortunately are not, but I have managed to find a balance that works for me.

anggolds

I agree...small incremental changes are the key. I was roughly 220 in June of 2012. I am down to 187 make small changes at a pace I am comfortable with until it becomes habit. I haven't lost as quickly as others, but it works with me. This isn't a weight loss contest... it's real life

azdeha

Lol I thought I couldn't get much higher than 72kg. Soon I was 85kg. Was convinced I wouldn't go higher than that. Next minute, I was 97kg. Then 105kg.

This for me too....Exactly this.

I think the main problem people face is the idea that once they lose the weight that's it...you can eat normally again which is where the yo-yoing comes in. It took me years of 'dieting' to figure that one out (I'm not the brightest crayon in the box) The trick is to not expect miracles...to do it little by little and over time change your lifestyle until it becomes natural and you can instantly know what you can and can't eat and in what amounts without faffing about with counting calories. That way you're less likely to fall off the wagon.
As for giving up treats....well...that's why most of us are here in the first place right? Treats? My philosophy is not to give them up. To eat little amounts when you get a craving and don't beat yourself up about it if you binge. I binge all the time and I've still lost almost 60lbs in 2 years. When I binge I just think....'well that was silly...oh well...tomorrow is another day' Beating yourself up about it and getting down will only make you lose motivation and binge more...the vicious cycle of the yoyo dieter.

Of course, noone can tell you what to do. If you're at a point in your life where you're comfortable with who you are and don't think losing weight will make you happy, then that's entirely your decision. If you want to lose weight without changing your eating habits then all you have to do is get a bit more active. Walk instead of driving/getting the bus etc. It's the little things that make the big differences.

Good luck with your decision.

GoMizzou99

calories in less than calories out = weight loss...it's really that simple.

Chicken wings, ribs, french fries is now replaced with chicken breast, pork loin, and baked potatoes. I think you see the pattern. But every now and then I still have wings, ribs, and french fries.

curlytoes79

There's a school of thought that says you don't need to weigh food and track calories but that you can use your own feelings of hunger to guide your eating. I think it's called hunger-directed eating. I read a book about this called "ThinSide Out: How to Have Your Cake and Your Skinny Jeans Too," by Josie Spinardi. The idea is that you can eat whatever you want, but you must stop eating as soon as your hunger is satiated. So you can order the cheesy pasta alfredo with a zillion calories at a restaurant, but you will be pushing your plate away the second you reach fullness, instead of continuing to eat because it tastes good. It's not supposed to feel restrictive because you're letting your own body guide your behavior, instead of a calorie limit or other external rules.

This approach didn't work well for me because I'm such an emotional eater and I'm constantly getting my emotional and hunger signals mixed up. (Spinardi is currently writing another book about emotional eating.) But it has worked for others. You might want to look into it if you're sick of counting calories.

__freckles__

Here's my logic - I've never been on a diet and have never had a weight problem. Soooooo...perhaps you should stop trying silly diets and just eat less and move more!

Perfect!

__freckles__

There's a school of thought that says you don't need to weigh food and track calories but that you can use your own feelings of hunger to guide your eating. I think it's called hunger-directed eating. I read a book about this called "ThinSide Out: How to Have Your Cake and Your Skinny Jeans Too," by Josie Spinardi. The idea is that you can eat whatever you want, but you must stop eating as soon as your hunger is satiated. So you can order the cheesy pasta alfredo with a zillion calories at a restaurant, but you will be pushing your plate away the second you reach fullness, instead of continuing to eat because it tastes good. It's not supposed to feel restrictive because you're letting your own body guide your behavior, instead of a calorie limit or other external rules.

This approach didn't work well for me because I'm such an emotional eater and I'm constantly getting my emotional and hunger signals mixed up. (Spinardi is currently writing another book about emotional eating.) But it has worked for others. You might want to look into it if you're sick of counting calories.

This is basically what I've done my entire life. I never knew people actually counted calories until I joined MFP when tracking my pregnancy weight loss.