are people THAT naive??...... yes they are

kendrafallon

At the end of the day, she'll believe what you're saying when she's ready to actually listen. Untill then, just be a friend and be there for her.

msdizliz

The thing about these liquid diets is that those that go on them end up spending a ton of money. The only ones that win in the end are the people promoting them. Better to count calories and watch what you eat. I am 58 and started the 17 day diet 16 days ago and have lost 10lb. And already feeling so much better. And this l can stick with because l am eating real food!

Ro0kins_Wedding

I know someone like that. She started MFP before me and said it was rubbish, as she didn't loose any weight while using it. I then joined and have lost 24 lbs so far, but she still keeps criticising my food diary and she will say things like, "I thought you were on a diet?" and other negative comments. She doesn't believe that I have lost 24 lbs just by counting calories. The problem is that even though she says the site doesn't help you lose weight., she doesn't actually use MFP properly!! I tried to help her out and give her motivationm, but she was like. "I can't do with all that logging food, rubbish." and when she did start logging food she wouldn't add all the junk food because "it will make my food diary look bad". She then stopped using MFP altogether because "It's pointless".

ArroganceInStep

Go easy on the person. A lot of us, even if we're doing better now, were at that point as some time in our lives. That's a reason many of us are on this site to begin with. We overindulged and didn't do the right things to compensate for those indulgences (I know that was me at least).

Losing weight is simple, but it's certainly not easy. Counting calories can be a massive pain in the *kitten*, hell even people that do it are often wildly off in their estimations. It takes time and a lot of discipline.

Be supportive if you can, and don't let it get to you.

karnypops

Also doesn't she think if she is consuming 1200 calories anyway she would be more satisfied with actual food rather than shakes, i would still be starving just having a shake for lunch but you can make a delicious and healthy low cal soup that would be way more filling - i don't see the point in faddy diets, I don't think they really work in the long run, plus it must feel like your depriving yourself all the time.

christina0089

It is kind of maddening. I am not one to talk about being healthy because I have over 125 lbs to lose. But I have lost the weight before, and it was through careful and healthy food choices, and portion control..PLUUUSSSSS exercise. That's all ya need I think. Diets are weird creatures, everyone wants to beat it with a stick. It really is that black and white.

This! ^^^^^^^

hope516

I don't think they are naive, I think they are in denial. I was one of those people and now that I see how "easy" (((((as in basic, it can get tough to keep oneself in control))))) it is I can't believe it took me this long. She will come around.

krevill

And then you get celebs like Pauline Quirk advertising Lighter Life by saying she is "doing away with fad diets like counting calories and points"
Huh? :noway:

I agree, you would think she would realise there is no way she is going to be able to live the rest of her life on shakes!

Helloitsdan

YAY! I drink all my food and lose fat AND muscle!?!?!?!
Where do I sign up?!?!?!

HeidiMightyRawr

Yes they are..

My bf's previous landlady is just like this. He used to live with her and they got on well so he knew all about the diets she was on. Her most "successful" if you can call it that was the Cambridge diet. She lost a ton of weight really quickly (in about 3 months) and was really proud of herself...

..She gained it all back though when she went back to eating normally :ohwell:

She's also a huge fan of gimmicky weight loss / exercise things. 6 second abs, shake weights, anything that promises to give you great results and fast. Everything she uses she'll get bored of and give away / sell to others after a while. He tried giving her advice of how to do it properly (we didn't know of MFP then) but everything was always too hard.

lilchicksta94

Sorry this may sound mean but to me it's just laziness. If drinking shakes and juice really worked then everyone would be thin now wouldn't we?? lol It's impossible to live your life off of liquid diets. Instead of with approcaching her about counting calories you should tell her about living a healthy lifestyle. Even if she doesn't want to count everything she should know that eating a balanced diet with exercise is the best way to go if you want to maintain substantial weight loss. There is no quick fix. And it would frustrate me too if someone kept shooting me down after much success doing it the proper way :-)

Hezzakiah

I don't believe in fad diets that you get all your nutrition from some type of shake. That said, my breakfast usually consists of a meal replacement shake with some fruit. I do this because I have a bad habit of skipping breakfast and taking my medicines and vitamins on an empty stomach. This also keeps me from reaching for the danish or donuts. The rest of my day is regular food and I watch what I eat. If I get close to running out of calories for the day, I find a way to get in another few minutes of exercise to balance things out,

grinch031

I happen to disagree with the OP on this one. You stated that your friend said counting calories didn't work for her. Why would she say it doesn't work if she has never tried it? How do you know she never tried it? Counting calories works just like any fad diet. Its a manual restriction of calories where your mind/behavior overrides your body's desire for food. It just so happens that you limit calories instead of food groups, but you are limiting your intake nonetheless.

The only diet that works is the one that doesn't drive the person crazy and become too tedious for them to maintain. If counting calories is a pain for someone, then its not going to work and they will fall off the wagon eventually. For some people eating whole foods or low-carb is a more effective strategy than calorie restriction because they are more satiating and less calorie dense and of course less need to track food intake. For others they like to eat anything they want, but restrict calories. Just depends on the person and hormones also play a role as to what foods they respond better to. The OP's friend needs to just keep looking for the right diet strategy that works for her.

MalibuBeth

I don't know. I mean, I believe I would have a REALLY hard time doing this without MFP to help me. It makes counting calories effortless, and I am more inclined to eat healthier foods so I get more bang for my buck. It takes all the guesswork out, and i'm able to focus on other things in my life. Maybe she tried counting calories before, and was too lazy to stick with it having to do all that math.

Tell her to at least check out MFP, and she can take what she wants from it. Don't sell it as a calorie counting website, but a wellness website.

for some reason, seeing all the positive people, and making what i do public keeps me so much more accountable. Maybe if she sees that, she'll be more motivated and stick to it.

ludogx87

I happen to disagree with the OP on this one. You stated that your friend said counting calories didn't work for her. Why would she say it doesn't work if she has never tried it? How do you know she never tried it? Counting calories works just like any fad diet. Its a manual restriction of calories where your mind/behavior overrides your body's desire for food. It just so happens that you limit calories instead of food groups, but you are limiting your intake nonetheless.

shes my best friend so i get a blow by blow account of everything she does and diets shes tried.
shes the kind of person that needs to see results fast, so she will count calories for 3 or 4 days and when she sees she only loses a pound throws in the towel.
whereas doing the cambridge diet after 3 or 4 days doing it she was losing 4-5lbs.

Shes adament she doesnt have the time to count calories, she states shes tried it and it doesnt work.
its a shame as she desperatly wants, and needs to loose weight. but she just isnt ready to put in the effort thats required.

grinch031

I happen to disagree with the OP on this one. You stated that your friend said counting calories didn't work for her. Why would she say it doesn't work if she has never tried it? How do you know she never tried it? Counting calories works just like any fad diet. Its a manual restriction of calories where your mind/behavior overrides your body's desire for food. It just so happens that you limit calories instead of food groups, but you are limiting your intake nonetheless.

shes my best friend so i get a blow by blow account of everything she does and diets shes tried.
shes the kind of person that needs to see results fast, so she will count calories for 3 or 4 days and when she sees she only loses a pound throws in the towel.
whereas doing the cambridge diet after 3 or 4 days doing it she was losing 4-5lbs.

Shes adament she doesnt have the time to count calories, she states shes tried it and it doesnt work.
its a shame as she desperatly wants, and needs to loose weight. but she just isnt ready to put in the effort thats required.

Ok but I still disagree with the the other part of your OP (see below). I must be naive because for about the past 10 years I've had 20-25 lbs that just won't go away and I have tried counting calories numerous times and all attempts failed in the long term because I couldn't sustain it. I found the low-carb / more whole food strategy to be the only thing that would work for me.

There isn't any diet that has a really good track record. The silver bullet hasn't been discovered yet.

are some people really that naive that they think reducing your calories and watching your food intake doesnt help???

ArroganceInStep

I'd suggest the rapid fat loss handbook by lyle mcdonald. It's an extreme diet, and not something that should be sustained long term, but as far as hardcore diets go it's the safest I've seen (I'm doing a modification of it now, I relaxed the rules a bit so I could maintain it for a longer period of time. 33 pounds in a month and a half thus far). It does involve counting calories but it's a relatively simple approach. It's also very blunt, and accounts for cheat meals and transitioning back to a more normal diet afterwards. She would likely see large upfront losses as well to keep her encouraged. Take it with a grain of salt, but I am coming from the experience of someone who can do extreme diets very easily but more moderate, healthy diets are much harder for me.

bluefox9er

there isn't an easy fix..there's no substitute for good nutrition coupled with exercise. to look good and be healthy you have to earn it.