"I lost 20lb just by..."

everyone's bodies are different. and cutting back is definitely the first step.
You don' t have to cut out COMPLETELY. but cutting back significantly, helps.

along with cutting back on weight-gaining foods/drinks, you should be cutting diet soda out of your life completely! They can make you bloated and have ridiculous chemicals in them (they don't even taste that great anyways!)

Although you've cut back and are walking more, your body needs you to eat clean too. That means vegetables and fruit and grains ALL the time. and protein. And leave some calories for the cravings you just can't get rid of.
but most people who can't lose weight have "cheat days" and don't just stick to ONE day of the week :P been there done that.

You NEED to exercise 4/7 days a week at least and switch up your routine so that your body isn't used to it! once your body gets used to a workout, it doesn't make you sweat as much, and it doesn't do as good of a job as when you started. you gotta change it up!

sorry for this rant lol but in the end, my point is even though you're cutting back on bad things (yay you!) you have to put in that 100% effort into everything else too!

This is how I feel when my boyfriend does lent and loses 20+lbs by cutting out sugar and dairy. Granted, he eats A LOT of sugar and dairy normally but STILL!

I feel your pain........on all counts.

everyone's bodies are different. and cutting back is definitely the first step.
You don' t have to cut out COMPLETELY. but cutting back significantly, helps.

along with cutting back on weight-gaining foods/drinks, you should be cutting diet soda out of your life completely! They can make you bloated and have ridiculous chemicals in them (they don't even taste that great anyways!)

Although you've cut back and are walking more, your body needs you to eat clean too. That means vegetables and fruit and grains ALL the time. and protein. And leave some calories for the cravings you just can't get rid of.
but most people who can't lose weight have "cheat days" and don't just stick to ONE day of the week :P been there done that.

You NEED to exercise 4/7 days a week at least and switch up your routine so that your body isn't used to it! once your body gets used to a workout, it doesn't make you sweat as much, and it doesn't do as good of a job as when you started. you gotta change it up!

sorry for this rant lol but in the end, my point is even though you're cutting back on bad things (yay you!) you have to put in that 100% effort into everything else too!

My point isn't all the things I need to do, its how easy some people seem to find it. I know those people are the exception but it still grates.

This is also one of the reasons I don't post on here often. I ask a simple question for support so I don't have to sit here feeling like a bitter freak and I get a lecture.

wow lol. wasn't lecturing. was helping. seems silly to whine about how easy others have it when obviously not everyones bodies are the same. so i gave a few pointers. good luck in life brother. lol.

I feel your pain........on all counts.

How do they do it? HOW???? They must have made a pact with the Devil, right?

This REALLY made me laugh out loud! Yes, I agree a pact with the Devil must be the only way they did it!

It is frustrating, but I honestly think they did more than just cut out soda to loose that 20lbs. I mean, I could say I just cut back on my portion size to loose 7lbs in a month....but that's not entirely true! I've re-examined my eating habbits as well and have put a lot more movement into my lifestyle. I'm experimenting with exercise programs and also with making better choices when it comes to what I eat! So yea, there is a lot more to it then I just cut something out of my diet!!

I live with one of these people. I am married to one of these people and as much as I love him, I want to strangle him at the same time. I stopped buying regular coke for him and bought coke zero - he lost 10 lbs. I started sending him a banana and yogurt in his lunch instead of banana bread or blueberry muffins, he lost 8 lbs. I have been cooking healthier at home for all our meals and after the guilty look on his face this weekend when he came out of the bathroom I found out he has lost 32 lbs. Good for him but really, twice as much with half the effort not fair, lol!

I live with one of these people. I am married to one of these people and as much as I love him, I want to strangle him at the same time. I stopped buying regular coke for him and bought coke zero - he lost 10 lbs. I started sending him a banana and yogurt in his lunch instead of banana bread or blueberry muffins, he lost 8 lbs. I have been cooking healthier at home for all our meals and after the guilty look on his face this weekend when he came out of the bathroom I found out he has lost 32 lbs. Good for him but really, twice as much with half the effort not fair, lol!

Yeah, my hubby dropped about 20 pounds just by cutting calories. But he practically starves himself to do it (1 good meal a day and snack or smaller meal). I can't function like that. Men are just built differently. They suck (no offense guys).

I feel for you! Whenever I see someone who looks fantastic in the 'Success Stories' area I'm so happy for them, but then I wonder, "why is it so easy for them?" Then I see they say, "Oh I just cut out sugar and watched my diet" If it could only be so easy for me too!

Currently battling a 3 month plateau, the scale is finally moving a little, but I have 15-20 more pounds to go.

I live with one of these people. I am married to one of these people and as much as I love him, I want to strangle him at the same time. I stopped buying regular coke for him and bought coke zero - he lost 10 lbs. I started sending him a banana and yogurt in his lunch instead of banana bread or blueberry muffins, he lost 8 lbs. I have been cooking healthier at home for all our meals and after the guilty look on his face this weekend when he came out of the bathroom I found out he has lost 32 lbs. Good for him but really, twice as much with half the effort not fair, lol!

Yeah, my hubby dropped about 20 pounds just by cutting calories. But he practically starves himself to do it (1 good meal a day and snack or smaller meal). I can't function like that. Men are just built differently. They suck (no offense guys).

I could almost take it if he was starving himself, but he isn't. He didn't need to drop a lot of weight it just kind of happened. Everyday for work he packs a banana, a yogurt, a sandwich with cheese, 2 granola bars, and two diet sodas. I won't even get into his coffee from Dunkin Donuts everyday and the calories that must add up to. He has the healthy dinner that I have prepared (sometimes almost a double portion) and ice cream or some other snack before bed. I get that men are built differently, but where is the justice, lol! He apparently inherited his father's metabolism ( the man was 5ft and was very excited to brag to me that he had finally gained weight and was weighing in at 110 lbs -- most he had ever weighted) and I can only hope my son takes after his father too I guess.

I made small adjustments and pounds are going down. i spent my days sitting in front of my computer. Before i got to mfp i had 224 now i am 211. I started exercising 30 min a day, walking, i rarely use elevators, no more sugar, especially in my coffee (i realized I don't really need it) and salt, I reduced salt intake (i was salt junkie, i liked really salty food).
But everyone's bodies react differently. I am dreading my plateau

When I was younger I used to be able to lose weight just by dropping my daily chocolate bar. I could still drink, eat largely what I wanted, I did some exercise but no where near what I do now. Maybe my metabolism was higher then (although I doubt it) so how I used to do it I don't know... But I wish I could do that now.

Jealous of people who can drop weight easily?.... Yep, you bet.

Does anyone else die a little bit on the inside whenever they read or hear comments about how someone lost loads of weight just by doing something really simple, like switching to diet coke/cutting out mid week drinking/changing to skimmed milk etc?

I've cut out booze completely. I've switched to diet drinks. I've got rid of my car so have to walk more. I've made a ton of tweaks and you know how much I've lost this year? About 3lb. 3 f*cking pounds. In 8 months. I'm happy for the people who have lost weight but it feel like a punch in the stomach as my efforts are going nowhere.

Am I alone with my bitterness?

I agree it can be demoralizing when someone post a large or rapid loss with something fairly simple.

However, in most cases I don't think that there's any malice intended. It just skews our expectations of what we can/should be doing.

Let's face it, weight loss isn't always linear, there are plateaus and weird stalls etc. and when its all said and done, I've yet to hear a clear explanation of those anomalies. People simply mindlessly chanting 'calories in calories out' which can be even more demoralizing to someone that's doing all that they know.

Oh man... I just started watching what I ate, stopped eating a few key foods, and stopped buying things that were high cal that came in packages with lots of servings. (Like string cheese and nutella)

Yeah I've lost 20lbs in 6wks. I bike to work/everywhere though... mostly I just don't eat half a 1.65quart at a time, though.

I am/was 70-100 pounds overweight, though. Now I'm 60-75 overweight. I don't go to the gym or do anything every week, I just work retail and bike.

I'm only 25 though so my metabolism hasn't started slowing down yet (one of the reasons I decided to seriously start losing weight)

I think I may just secretly have an alright metabolism, sorry!

I feel your pain I bike 100 miles a week and have done this since June faithfully, eaten my limit or under and have not lost one ounce. If I didn't like biking so much and enjoy the view I probably would quit but I think about my heart and how it is at least getting a workout and in the the big picture... I guess that is what counts.

That is because losing weight is hard and requires tremendous patience and no "I've been good today so I get to eat _fill_in_the_blank_" It is really simple, eat less move more. But it is hard. If it were really so easy more people would be successful.

Whatever the trick, it comes down to eat less, move more. But you can't exercise away too much food.

eating less makes you lose fat

exercise (especially weights) makes you keep or build lean body mass.

cardiio has health benefits, keeps your heart strong,etc.

It is that simple and that hard.