Why are women always on a diet?

lacurandera1

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Not on a diet. Idk the answer to your question but I had to stop by and say that.

crystalflame

I'm a bit insulted everyone is jumping on the "it's just a woman thing" bandwagon here.

It's really not.

More of the men in my office are on "diets" and yet still go grab burgers for lunch, snack all day on chips and candy and barely exercise.

I'm on paleo brah, I'm on keto, dude. I'm on atkins, man.

Really? :noway: ...cause it doesn't look like it.

COMPLETELY my experience. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE in my building is on a diet, and I work with 95% men. And by "on a diet", some are on fad diets, some are supposed to be on a diet but eating whatever they want when the wife isn't looking, and some are really and truly trying to improve their bodies.

<Warning: major generalization and exaggeration>In my experience it starts later for men, and it usually starts because they wake up in their mid-thirties with two kids and mortgage payment, no time for the gym, and a diet of burgers and Twinkies and go "Oh dear God what happened to me?" Then the crazy dieting starts.

Women start sooner - I've been on a diet since I was 14 because I thought I was fat, whether I was or not. It's so ingrained in me to think that way that even though calorie logging, generally healthy eating, and working out are part of my daily routine now, losing weight or watching what I eat is still being "on a diet." I'm working on that mindset.

Saying you're on a diet for a man or woman is definitely a social thing. It doesn't matter how serious you are about it - if you're on one, you can bond over it. Everyone whips out their MFP or WW apps at lunch. People discuss their awesome burns in the gym. They share their tips about what's healthy to eat and how to cook vegetables so they don't taste disgusting and does cutting out all sugar really work??? A coworker turns down one of my homemade cookies because he's dieting, and several others nod in agreement (and then one or two say "screw it" and take one anyway). Our society is OBSESSED with being on diets - it's all the rage. It'll be nice when being healthy is the new trend.

quirkytizzy

Every woman who used to say they were on a diet is now mysteriously quiet about it around me. They used to talk about it around me, but as soon as I started dropping the pounds, it's not a subject they bring up with me anymore.

They often have really bizarre ideas about weight loss (i.e - sugar is what does it, so order all the fried food you want!), weight loss methods (pills, endless pills, and the patch? Wtf?) and higher time expectations (50 pounds inside a few months.) At first they were alright with chatting with me about it.

Now? Nada. It's wierd.

Oddly enough, the dudes who are trying to slim down seem not only easy about talking it, but open to honest conversation about the whole thing. They seem to take it easier on all fronts.

I don't get it.

jennifer_417

Because they don't feel confident about their bodies, but aren't willing to be disciplined about a solution.

This.

Women are naturally lazy and unmotivated.

They're also by nature fatter.

Troll level= rank amateur

rkn1

Here's the thing. If I hear one more person say "just stop eating chips and drinking soda" I'm going to lose it. I don't drink soda. I don't eat chips. Or pizza. Or drink. And I struggle. A woman's metabolism (especially after childbearing) is different. Add to that that men generally have a much higher muscle mass (eg. better fat-burning capacity) and you'll see the major differences between men and women. Personally, I eat healthfully, track calories (12-1500/day), work out regularly and STILL have major struggles in weight loss for many reasons. Thank God weight loss is easy for you. Please be sensitive with your judgments.

Thank you! For some people it is caloriesi in/calories out. But for others, their body doesn't work correctly and it may take years of work with doctors to discover what part of their metabolism doesn't work correctly. And yes, you might catch them eating McDonald's once in a while. They get discouraged when they gain as much weight eating 900 calories a day as they do when they eat 2500.

csuhar

I think one challenge that men and women can have, especially if they may simply be climbing on to the dieting bandwagon, is that they miss the first thing we did here on MFP, which is to figure out how many calories we, specifically, need.

For one thing, all of our nutrition labels base their % Daily Value on a 2000-calorie diet. So some people may fixate on that, which may help or hurt.

I created an example for one of my subordinates using the height and weight standards for joining the US Air Force. The shortest a male can be is 4'10" and the midpoint of the allowable weight range for that height is 111 lbs. The tallest a male can be is 6'8", with the midpoint of the allowable weight range being 211.5 lbs. If they're both 18, then the shorter male is looking at a BMR of 1372 while the taller one is more in the range of 2277. If they're both sitting around all day, then 2000 calories isgoing to cause one to gain weight while the other looses weight.


Some people may be copycat dieters. They may simply say "Well my friend eats this much or follows this diet plan, so I'm going to do that", which is nearly tantamount to me walking into a gym and trying to lift the same weights as in the gym as my buddy's lifting even though I haven't done any formal lifting like that in years and don't know my current 1RM. It may work, but it may just as easily be too much or too little.


People may also fixate on general diet concepts while missing relevant caloric. They may think the point is to eat as little as they can possibly stand. They may think the key is to eliminate certain things, such as carbs or fats. They may pick up on the "eat clean" message. These approaches can work. You may need the self-restraint to say "I shouldn't eat any more, even though I feel hungry". You may need to rein in your carb or fat intake. You may need or want to eat cleaner.


But even following the most effective, proven diet plan could be for naught if you don't first understand your body's caloric needs. If you don't have that sorted out, the diets you try may never work, leaving you constantly in search of "the one".

bcattoes

The only woman I can speak with any real knowledge about is me. I am always on a diet to keep from getting fat. I've been on a diet pretty much since high school. And it's worked like a charm, except for those periods when I forget that my diet includes enough calories for exercise, which means if I don't exercise I'll gain weight. I plan to be on this diet for the rest of my life.

gapm

I have been one of those women. The reason they don't lose any (substantial) weight is because it's a diet, something they will do for now and then go back to their previous eating habits. I've definitely done it, you name it, Weight Watchers, Biggest Loser, Slimming World.....

But now on MFP I'm not on a diet I'm changing habits and adapting my way of eating, portion control etc.

^ this

smantha32

The only woman I can speak with any real knowledge about is me. I am always on a diet to keep from getting fat. I've been on a diet pretty much since high school.

Me too. But my problem is that in the past I'll get down to my goal weight and then stop doing anything to maintain it so I end up in a cycle of always trying to lose. Thanks to MFP though, for the first time in forever I did NOT gain any weight this winter when I was feeling too cold to exercise.

f1tforever

this is the "Monday-Friday diet, along with Saturday-Sunday gain it all back".

julianpoutram

Diet is an ugly four letter word. If you are making changes they have to be life style changes, you cant go back to your old ways and expect to keep weight off. They are most likely lying to themselves or "dieting" for 2-3 days a week and old habits the rest of the week.

This is so true! I'm glad someone else has the same mind set as me! I HATE the word 'Diet' it just screams 'I'm not really bothered about losing weight' there is no commitment in a diet so how can you succeed is you don't commit?

bcattoes

Diet is an ugly four letter word. If you are making changes they have to be life style changes, you cant go back to your old ways and expect to keep weight off. They are most likely lying to themselves or "dieting" for 2-3 days a week and old habits the rest of the week.

This is so true! I'm glad someone else has the same mind set as me! I HATE the word 'Diet' it just screams 'I'm not really bothered about losing weight' there is no commitment in a diet so how can you succeed is you don't commit?

Nonsense. Just because you may not be able to commit to a diet doesn't mean no one else can.

bekeyers

A mixture of a few things. They might be trying but might be really miss informed about what a good weight loss plan is about. I felt like I was doing a lot of the right things and not getting anywhere previously but I was taking bits and piece from here and there and now I know a lot of it was misguided. But there is also a large percentage of wishes that get thrown around in conversation and one uping in the women's world of weight loss that I think some just say things to be a part of the conversation and then go home sit on the couch and eat. Cause if you cut the crap, follow a program and do the work, you lose weight. We live in a society where people just don't wanna take responsibility for themselves, that's why the poor old metabolism gets a bad rap!

Opyl

Because losing weight is really really hard.

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julianpoutram

Diet is an ugly four letter word. If you are making changes they have to be life style changes, you cant go back to your old ways and expect to keep weight off. They are most likely lying to themselves or "dieting" for 2-3 days a week and old habits the rest of the week.

This is so true! I'm glad someone else has the same mind set as me! I HATE the word 'Diet' it just screams 'I'm not really bothered about losing weight' there is no commitment in a diet so how can you succeed is you don't commit?

Nonsense. Just because you may not be able to commit to a diet doesn't mean no one else can.

Huh? I can't commit to changing my diet? Are you a fool? I have lost almost 60 lbs from changing my habits all the time, not for any short period...

AND looking at your profile, you have lost 15lbs? Ok so that may or may not be a reflection of who has the winning ideologies...

Cheval13

Either they're overeating and underexercising or undereating and overexercising.

Seriously dude. No one who undereats and overexercises doesn't lose weight. The people who are either have hit a dangerously low BMI (and are really unable to lose much more), have a rare serious medical condition, or they are part of the group who lies to themselves.

That being said, this is actually an ugly thread.

keem88

everyone is on a diet. a diet is what you eat.

Simone_King

I admit. I eat everything under the sun, and I am still losing weight.

Yet for me it has slowed down. I think it's the birth control.

Yet, this life style change I REFUSE to give up eveyrthing. It's not how I can live. I use..moderation.

shelaneydae

If you're asking why women are always on a diet, it's because society thinks that skinny is automatically beautiful, so girls and women put that in their heads. Now the women at your work are probably just saying that because other wise they'd be successful by now.

pterradactyl

There is a lot more cultural pressure for women to be thin/fit/attractive/whatever and the expectations are often unrealistic even if they knew how to do things properly. A lot of women are frustrated with their bodies and they have been told that dieting and buying products will solve that problem. That's a little different than making a personal commitment to improve your body.

Erisad

Well it takes longer for some of us. I started this journey in May 2010 and I thought I would be done by now. It's not that I'm not trying, it's just that it takes some time. It's not that I'm lying to myself, while I do cheat sometimes but I wouldn't be able to maintain this lifestyle without a treat here and there. This thread seems rather toxic even if it wasn't intended to be that way...

matthewcorb

Because it's much more important for women to have a better figure than the next woman. It's a girl-thing that is very hard to explain.

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emma155

I vote for they're lying to themselves. My friends all tell me how lucky I am to be thin because no matter how hard they try they can't lose weight. If I spend any time with them I know exactly why they don't lose weight but they don't want to hear it.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TRUE!

skinnyinnotime

They're kidding themselves with how much they're actually eating.

No idea why some women are constantly on a 'diet'.

I get bored of listening to their woes of how they just can't lose, have no time to workout, tell me how 'lucky' I am.

You make your own luck in life!!

stephcollins91

Secret eating? (not admitting to that slice of cake after a healthy dinner etc)

From personal experience, I have told people I am 'dieting' having not really fully committed, and I haven't lost any weight for that amount of time. This has been down to; too much wine (no calorie count on the bottle means no calories? haha), not admitting to myself that the treats I would have more than once a week counted :P, and not maintaining a proper work out routine.

Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but those were my downfalls that I have now changed and the weight is dropping off steadily. Some people may just have a slow metabolism or other reasons.

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bcattoes

Diet is an ugly four letter word. If you are making changes they have to be life style changes, you cant go back to your old ways and expect to keep weight off. They are most likely lying to themselves or "dieting" for 2-3 days a week and old habits the rest of the week.

This is so true! I'm glad someone else has the same mind set as me! I HATE the word 'Diet' it just screams 'I'm not really bothered about losing weight' there is no commitment in a diet so how can you succeed is you don't commit?

Nonsense. Just because you may not be able to commit to a diet doesn't mean no one else can.

Huh? I can't commit to changing my diet? Are you a fool? I have lost almost 60 lbs from changing my habits all the time, not for any short period...

AND looking at your profile, you have lost 15lbs? Ok so that may or may not be a reflection of who has the winning ideologies...

You said you can't commit to a diet (see your post above re: "there is no commitment in a diet "), not I.

I don't see how my not allowing myself to get 58 lbs overweight shows your ideology as superior, but if it's working for you then it's all good. While it's true I didn't meet the random scale number MFP forced me to enter, I have reached a healthy weight, fitness level BF%, healthy waist-to-height and waist-to-hip ratio, my Dr. says I'm healthy, and I like what I see in the mirror. That's winning enough for me. :drinker:

zoomerrs

I agree that most people who talk about all the dieting they're doing and exercise yet you see no results are lying to themselves. I have several close relatives who are morbidly obese who regularly profess how little they eat, so they have no idea why they can't take off the weight. They are totally deluding themselves because when we actually review the calories in what they eat on a daily basis they are stunned to know the actual calorie counts of their "healthy" meals i.e. large bagel and cream cheese with large coffee and double cream for breakfast, yet they always thought this was such a healthy choice for them? As well I have been with them at many, many meals where they eat portions enough for two or three people.

I don't care if people want to eat what they want and stay at the same weight, but then stop whining about how you have no idea how this is happening. I'm fully accountable to why I'm always struggling with about 20 lbs and keeping a food journal really makes you answer to your eating.