IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME????

WitchesGuildMaster
WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
in Health and Weight Loss
Why is every other teenager/young adult I know talking and praising crash diets detoxes and funny fixes???

A few years ago, when I was turned 18, I wanted to start losing weight. I searched the internet for diets and one word popped out from the text : "Calories". And I thought :huh: what the heck are those???

For a whole month I did reading and research and was learning what they are, how they work, how they can help you lose weight, and what the consequences of using their method can be. That's when I discovered MFP. I didn't read a single forum but lost a lot of the weight for a while on my own.

However these days everyone my age is chasing a quick fix, is there something wrong with me for being knowledgable? Maybe I have been inhaling too many fumes from my potions, or eating too many frogs legs and canned spaghetti...heck maybe I've even been EATING too much??? Maybe it's because I like to eat and to chew and don't want to do some freaky liquid cleanse.

I feel so out of place among them :ohwell: But atleast I know about a million or so users on this website who like to count things and make funny forums... :bigsmile:

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    weight loss scams have been around for as long as people realized they can make money preying on other's insecuities. i remember my mom used to have one of those electric bands that jiggled your body that was supposed to make you lose weight :laugh:
  • lucyford22
    lucyford22 Posts: 198 Member
    I'm fairly certain folks have been "chasing a quick fix" for a hundred years. Hence all those vintage ads selling tapeworms in pill form. This is nothing new.
  • xDawnsgrace
    xDawnsgrace Posts: 436
    nah, you're just smart.
  • JosieRawr
    JosieRawr Posts: 788 Member
    Nope, there's something wrong with their thinking... Nutrition and micro biology did me in... My professor was a hoot, and very blunt!
    I may not make the best decisions all the time, but I know when I'm doing bad, and I'm not trying to convince others to follow my mistakes ;)
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    weight loss scams have been around for as long as people realized they can make money preying on other's insecuities. i remember my mom used to have one of those electric bands that jiggled your body that was supposed to make you lose weight :laugh:

    My mom always told me bananas made you fat, even though I ate 2 everyday and lost 36lb.
  • Loralrose
    Loralrose Posts: 203
    Yeah there's something wrong with you: you have Early Age Thinking Syndrome (EATS). It's a serious condition where young people start using their brains too early in life. EATS can have terrible consequences such as questioning your elders, not jumping off bridges when everyone else does, and making informed decisions.

    I also suffer from EATS. The best thing to do is find support from others with the condition. ;)
  • aedreana
    aedreana Posts: 979 Member
    Glad you found what works for you! What works for you may not work for them.
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    Perhaps my problem has been that I can't stick with diets naturally. I get bored with them. With eating the same damn thing day in and day out. At that time I was searching for diets like WW, holford's and atkins because I knew they had a wide range of food choices. That's when I read the word "calorie" and became curious.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
    you didnt know about calories until you were 18?


    but anyway my mom pushed crash diets on me all while i was growing up because they were what were being advertised.

    the people with money to make are the ones to scream the loudest. so good old fashioned healthy weight loss and patience was ignored. less money in that. how do you market "lose one pound a week!" unless you are weight watchers and then you are marketing cameraderie in it. anyway because of all the crash diets always thrown my way i didnt know the actual healthy way until college nutrition class. until someone tells people the right way its pretty easy to fall for whatever is being advertised.

    and people do want quick fixes and until someone tells them that even though it sounds healthy it is not... how do they know?


    i sure did love that class. i even kept the textbook instead of selling it back. i have been thinking or reading it again lately.
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    Yeah there's something wrong with you: you have Early Age Thinking Syndrome (EATS). It's a serious condition where young people start using their brains too early in life. EATS can have terrible consequences such as questioning your elders, not jumping off bridges when everyone else does, and making informed decisions.

    I also suffer from EATS. The best thing to do is find support from others with the condition. ;)

    EATS ... A fitting acronym. :bigsmile:
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    you didnt know about calories until you were 18?

    Nope.:blushing: I had ONE class, that mentioned them when I was in grade 4. And that's it. I forgot about them like completely.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
    you didnt know about calories until you were 18?

    Nope.:blushing: I had ONE class, that mentioned them when I was in grade 4. And that's it. I forgot about them like completely.

    maybe thats the problem with the people you know then.
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    :drinker:
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
    nah, you're just smart.

    This^^^^^^^^^^^.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Yeah there's something wrong with you: you have Early Age Thinking Syndrome (EATS). It's a serious condition where young people start using their brains too early in life. EATS can have terrible consequences such as questioning your elders, not jumping off bridges when everyone else does, and making informed decisions.

    I also suffer from EATS. The best thing to do is find support from others with the condition. ;)

    EATS ... A fitting acronym. :bigsmile:

    If that's accurate, then I have O A T S. Which is also surprisingly appropriate.

    OP, good job on doing the readin' and learnin' :bigsmile:
  • harriyot
    harriyot Posts: 58 Member
    You sound perfectly sensible to me. My uncle is a doctor and is fond of telling his overweight patients that the only good diet is the right food, the right exercise and a target loss of 2lb per week. Fads come and go, but diet and exercise is the best way to guarantee you'll keep the weight off because you're training yourself into healthy living, not just going through the motions. Also, remember you can eat anything. Want chocolate? Go for it. Just take it into account. When you deny yourself stuff, then you'll want it more and are more likely to binge.

    Hardly rocket science but some people don't want to wait for results, I guess.

    Good luck and keep being sensible!
  • smetka01
    smetka01 Posts: 99 Member
    Oh, my mother has it all. Meal supplements, pills that make you lose weight overnight, machines for 6 pack abs... :laugh: She tried every diet on this planet but she always gains back what she loses, if even. It makes me cry when I think about how much money she spent for this all :sad:
    Last time she told me that all that matters is not eating at evening/night. I told her calories mater and nothing else. And then she said "I disagree!" and went to eat another pound of chocolate that day :noway:

    I agree with others - you are to smart. You are way smarter than my 50 years old mother :tongue:
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    Also, remember you can eat anything. Want chocolate? Go for it.

    I sometimes have days where I only eat treats, and still make sure they fit. Counting is better than any silly diet I've ever done. :happy:
  • dammitjanet0161
    dammitjanet0161 Posts: 319 Member
    I hate to break it to you but it's not just teenagers and young adults! I know loads of people who are old enough to know better who are also chasing the latest fad diet and quick fix.

    For example, in my workplace:
    - a 56 year old man on my team tried raspberry ketones a few weeks ago and is now on Slimfast shakes to lose a few holiday pounds (and the irony is that he tells everybody he was martial arts expert and weight trains regularly so knows all abour nutrition)
    - at least 8 women of varying ages are currently doing Lighter Life or Cambridge Diet shakes and soups, this is a VLCD but all bar one of them are only looking to lose a few pounds
    - last week I overheard one thirtysomething woman talking about a tea from Australia that fills you up and kills your appetite so that all you need is a bit of fruit to keep you full all day.

    And let's not even mention the now-commonplace belief that bread and potatoes are the devil's foods!

    Some people just want a quick fix or want to overcomplicate things. I just keep logging my food on here and keep my thoughts to myself!
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    Some people just want a quick fix or want to overcomplicate things. I just keep logging my food on here and keep my thoughts to myself!

    This! My family thinks I have some sort of eating disorder because I count calories and weigh all my food. :noway:
  • trinatrina1984
    trinatrina1984 Posts: 1,018 Member
    Good for you for doing a bit of sensible research & finding something that works. I think a lot of people would take the quick fix, if I could take a pill that would instantly make me fit & healthy then I probably would. Unfortunatly it doesn't exist and anyone that tells you otherwise is probably just trying to make money out of you, shame more people don't realise this.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    Good for you for educating yourself and doing things according to your needs and goals. But hey, different strokes for different folks. I don't buy into all the hype either, for me, it comes down to calories and carbohydrates. But it took me a while to figure that out too. I think many of these folks are just desperate and truly don't even know where to start. Either that or they're just lazy and don't want to put the time in doing the research on their own.

    It really is amazing what people perceive as healthy though... I worked with a woman who thought a ham, egg and cheese croissant was a diet food (because the egg has protein and the croissant was light and flaky). Not that there is anything wrong with eating that but... really? She had no clue how many calories were in that sandwich, no clue of the fat content or any of the nutritional values at all. Uneducated choices are bad.

    I also think that many of the products with the exception of the blatantly fad ones, are meant to "Assist" in weight loss efforts. Hell if you're running a calorie deficit, exercising and eating right you shouldn't need them but a few smart supplements can't hurt. But they're not magic... that's why they are called "supplements". Meant to be taken in conjunction with a healthy life-style. It's the ones that claim "Take this pill and don't change a thing about your diet". Those are the ones that are off the charts silly.
  • WitchesGuildMaster
    WitchesGuildMaster Posts: 114
    Also, these people who are on these forums posting about some 3 day diet or any other diet crap everyday is not helping me!!! In fact, their making me extremely frustrated!:explode: :indifferent:

    I'm off for a 3mile walk to calm my nerves.:glasses:

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