Can you keep it off? scary article

Bob314159
Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
(from Shannon Chamberlain) ~~ I Once Was Obese
And now I’m not. Please don’t applaud me for losing the weight.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2012/11/from_obese_to_chubby_how_i_lost_the_weight_and_why_you_shouldn_t_admire.html
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Replies

  • Hollycat
    Hollycat Posts: 372
    Link incomplete
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    ): What a story...
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,471 Member
    It's a good article. Thanks for the link.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    Eating 800 calories a day and burning up about 400 of them on the treadmill at lunch doesn’t leave you with much will to resi

    no wonder they canny loose weight doing something as stupid as this. People are weak, long term weight loss is simple eat what your body needs. You will need to do it for the rest of your life once you drop the weight.
    that's the reality and why people fail.
  • lauriem1966
    lauriem1966 Posts: 134 Member
    I feel depressed after reading that.

    I lost 65 pounds and regained it all. I feel more positive about keeping it off this time though...maybe I'm naive? I'm not following a VLCD, I'm working out, eating back some of my calories...I'm trying to change my life.

    I'm emailing that to a friend. Thanks for the link.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    I feel depressed after reading that.

    I lost 65 pounds and regained it all. I feel more positive about keeping it off this time though...maybe I'm naive? I'm not following a VLCD, I'm working out, eating back some of my calories...I'm trying to change my life.

    I'm emailing that to a friend. Thanks for the link.

    If you want to keep it off you will. But your body is fighting against you to regain it. Its hard but that's good its just evolution at work only the strong get the good stuff.
  • Starla_
    Starla_ Posts: 349
    That article is just proof to me that in the long term, starving your body just won't work... even the current 1500 cals (with 90 mins of exercise) isn't working because she's just not eating enough for her body.

    She's still got the diet mentality instead of the lifestyle.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    I have gained and re-lost 60-70 pounds every 2-5 years since high school and I'm almost 40.:cry: That's why I'm not really focusing on the losing now so much as how to build a healthy, sustainable life style (and also how to get over the addiction to the compliments you get when you lose). It sure is a battle and I wish everyone on this site many blessings in their journey.
  • iqnas
    iqnas Posts: 445 Member
    .
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
    P.S. That article she links to in the New York Times is really interesting as well (link inside of this article).
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    The writer of the article seems rather bitter and b*tchy and assumes that everyone (including medical professionals) "hates fat people." Even in the end, she's eating way too little and she hates it and is willing to make herself miserable forever? WTF? This article sucks.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    The writer of the article seems rather bitter and b*tchy and assumes that everyone (including medical professionals) "hates fat people." Even in the end, she's eating way too little and she hates it and is willing to make herself miserable forever? WTF? This article sucks.

    exactly.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    That article is just proof to me that in the long term, starving your body just won't work... even the current 1500 cals (with 90 mins of exercise) isn't working because she's just not eating enough for her body.

    She's still got the diet mentality instead of the lifestyle.

    This....It's not easy, but if I can keep 60lbs off for four years and still do it during a crazy hormone invested period that might go on for the next ten years, so can anybody....I exercise 4-5 times a week for 30-40 minutes and eat 1700-1900 cals a day - and maintain on that.... It's NOT impossible....
  • beverley_f
    beverley_f Posts: 31
    I don't think it's impossible but for me it's not working. I eat anywhere from 600 to 1800 calories a day (sometimes more, at weekends, sometimes less) and exercise 7 days a week, 45 minutes minimum, 2 hours max and do not lose weight. I gain muscle but barely lose fat. You would think I was tiny now, but I'm 5'5.5, 127lb's and 21.2% bf. I can't lose weight and if I eat more or exercise less I gain. It's horrible :/ I hope no one else gets stuck in this rut.
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    I'm trying to become an endurance athlete to help me in my quest for lifelong fitness. I want to run long distances very regularly. I currently run 5 days a week and it has helped me a lot.
  • m23gm25
    m23gm25 Posts: 153 Member
    5'5.5" tall at 127lbs. and you still want to lose more weight???!!! I would take your "rut" any day!
  • chocl8girl
    chocl8girl Posts: 1,968 Member
    That actually wasn't scary at all. It was a pathetic victim-mentality article written by someone who never bothered to change her THINKING.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    do you have a reason for this because

    below 1500 cals you need almost or protein or your shooting yourself in the foot.
    If your exercising cardio at low calories below 1000 your doing it wrong.

    These people claim this and that.

    I did X and it does not work oh i tried every fad diet and each time then went back to over eating and gained it back. The problem stems from 95% of people not researching what is going on and why they are eating x instead of y.
  • BrownEyedGrrl
    BrownEyedGrrl Posts: 144 Member
    I don't think it's impossible but for me it's not working. I eat anywhere from 600 to 1800 calories a day (sometimes more, at weekends, sometimes less) and exercise 7 days a week, 45 minutes minimum, 2 hours max and do not lose weight. I gain muscle but barely lose fat. You would think I was tiny now, but I'm 5'5.5, 127lb's and 21.2% bf. I can't lose weight and if I eat more or exercise less I gain. It's horrible :/ I hope no one else gets stuck in this rut.

    I'm confused. You are at a healthy weight for your size, actually on the lower end of the healthy weight and bf stats. Are you going for the model/Hollywood skinny look?!?
    Btw, you look really good in your pic!
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    That actually wasn't scary at all. It was a pathetic victim-mentality article written by someone who never bothered to change her THINKING.

    :love:
  • ChrisRiches
    ChrisRiches Posts: 45 Member
    5'5.5" tall at 127lbs. and you still want to lose more weight???!!! I would take your "rut" any day!


    This.

    I'm 4'11" at 127, and I while I need to lose a bit more, I certainly wouldn't if I were almost 6" taller.
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
    The writer of the article seems rather bitter and b*tchy and assumes that everyone (including medical professionals) "hates fat people." Even in the end, she's eating way too little and she hates it and is willing to make herself miserable forever? WTF? This article sucks.

    This. The despondence in the article is ridiculous and gives off an aura of inevitable failure. She's lost the fight because she's already given up in her mind. There are those who lose the weight and keep it off. Every day is a battle against gaining it back; but that emphasizes the need for one to change their habits rather than just going on a diet.

    Every day is a battle; you win some, you lose some, but you never give up! You find ways to adapt, roll with the punches, and move on.
  • BrownEyedGrrl
    BrownEyedGrrl Posts: 144 Member
    The writer of the article seems rather bitter and b*tchy and assumes that everyone (including medical professionals) "hates fat people." Even in the end, she's eating way too little and she hates it and is willing to make herself miserable forever? WTF? This article sucks.

    Yeah you definitely got it right. Never even finished reading the article cause it got way too ridiculous!
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
    I thought the article sucked...she never changed the way she ate, she seemed to diet all along.. Unless I read it wrong. She complained through the whole thing..

    I for one to plan on gaining anything back and I am not starving myself either.. Some people just are never happy and complain about everything.. I have a feeling she is one...
  • kalch
    kalch Posts: 45 Member
    I had written a whole response, then i thought the following sentence sums it up.

    Just remember, the tortoise won.
  • Kathy_TheVampireSlayer
    Kathy_TheVampireSlayer Posts: 189 Member
    The writer of the article seems rather bitter and b*tchy and assumes that everyone (including medical professionals) "hates fat people." Even in the end, she's eating way too little and she hates it and is willing to make herself miserable forever? WTF? This article sucks.



    This is the same way i felt about it.
  • Starla_
    Starla_ Posts: 349

    Just remember, the tortoise won.

    Yes!
  • anifani4
    anifani4 Posts: 457 Member
    The writer, I think, is being as honest as she can be. And she is talking about her own experience although she does generalize some things...like medical professionals hate fat people. No doubt there is a LOT of judgement floating around in the world. I believe there IS a genetic link for obesity and it makes being slim harder for some people (the writer is one of them). I think I am also but I don't plan to give up anytime soon. A large part of the battle for me is inside my own head. And I wonder over and over why can't people just be accepted as they are. It is this lack of acceptance both from myself and from others that led to "diets" which never worked for the long haul. I feel very sad for the writer and painful things she has endured.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    That article is messed up.

    So many people complain about how hard it is to lose weight, and how they just can't.. and blah blah blah. Honestly, stressing about it makes it worse.. and it's not rocket science.

    If you eat like crap, your going to get results like crap.. but if you eat well, and do what you are supposed to, then you'll be ok.

    I'd like to know how much lean muscle mass she lost during this whole experiment.
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,733 Member
    i didn't read the article, but based on the comments here, i'm pretty sure i can fill in the blanks and be at least 90% correct about what was written.

    i would never look down on somebody because they are fat. i do look down on people who have 100 different excuses for why they are fat, but none of the excuses include themselves. i see it all of the time, even on MFP - thyroid conditions. hormones. gluten allergies. etc. etc.. etc... whether real or imaginary, these are all still excuses. people get fat because they stuff their faces and don't exercise. i got fat because i stuffed my face and didn't exercise. it was my fault... nobody else's. until these people (like the lady who wrote that article) accept personal responsibility for the choices they've made in their lives to get where they are, i don't see how they can ever change.

    fortunately, most people on this site understand this point and they stop looking for somebody or something else to blame and they start changing their lifestyle. but some people will never have that "lightbulb going on over their head" moment and will seek excuse after excuse after excuse to justify their failures. that's not a good way to spend the rest of one's life, in my humble opinion.

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