Weightloss is complicated.

I'm so overwhelmed by all the different advice I receive daily lol but I take everything in. Thank u all.

Stick to something and remove yourself from the forums. I am dead serious. Too many opinions will kill your progress.

It's not, at all. You're even overcomplicating it with the clean stuff and exercise. Clean- debatable, but the idea goes towards your health, not necessary for weight loss. Exercise? Also unnecessary, but it certainly makes it easier to a degree- but the purpose of exercise is fitness and health- weight loss is achieved ONLY by eating less calories than your TDEE.

If everyone took a couple weeks at the beginning to figure out their own actual TDEEs- meaning the # of calories necessary to maintain weight, and ate a moderate deficit less than that number, it would work for everyone (with a few exceptions of peopel with metabolic diseases).

^^^this.

IF IT WAS EASY 95% OF PEOPLE WOULDNT GAIN IT BACK AND EVERY ONE WOULD BE THIN!!!! YES I'M SHOUTING BECAUSE I WANT THE PEOPLE WHO THINK ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE WILL POWER TO HEAR ME!!!!

For a normal, healthy person, weightloss is a simple concept. The problem is that we live in a society that has complicated "food" and what we put into our bodies. Not only that, by we have our own shortcomings and addictions to deal with.

I hate generalizations though, and people constantly telling you that "no, no you must be doing it wrong" if the pounds aren't melting off can be extremely frustrating to deal with. I'm one of those individuals who does everything right and still has an incredibly difficult time losing weight. I'm not normal or healthy though, as my metabolism has been put through the ringer thanks to 4+ years of disordered eating.....it took a long time to screw my body up, so it will take time to heal it as well.

It IS as simple as healthful eating and exercise. But we live in a culture that wants us to do exactly the opposite. We live in a culture that puts bacon on french fries and burger patties between two donuts, a culture where chefs become celebrities and the more butter-soaked their cuisine, the more popular (I am looking at you, Paula Deen). We live in a culture that elevates those who sit at a desk all day and demeans those who do physical work. We live in a culture where four cheeseburgers cost less than a pound of apples. Almost everything about our culture sets us up to fail.

Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions? I am sorry but this is pure nonsense.

Interesting. I read back through my original post and don't see anywhere I suggested people not take personal responsibility. On the contrary, my first sentence pointed out the fact that it IS simple. I think your negativity is pure nonsense.

Actually you didn't. You described a world in which none of us live in. Your comment on demeaning physical work is comical.

It's not the weightloss that is complicated. It's the emotional issues behind the weight gain. That is why many find it so hard.

Exactly. The mental side of most things is much harder than the physical.

Sure, it's easy to say "eat less and exercise more." It's hard to stick to that when you are tired, stressed, and running late.

Well hooray for all people who are finding it simple. It used to be simple for me, too.

Now I'm giving it my best effort, and I know that I've cut my calories down by a lot because I used to graze all afternoon nearly every afternoon, and I don't do that now.

However, I keep gaining and losing the same freaking 3 pounds! It's driving me insane!

I'm going to keep working with it, though. Hopefully I will soon find my balance between calories consumed and calories burned.

It IS as simple as healthful eating and exercise. But we live in a culture that wants us to do exactly the opposite. We live in a culture that puts bacon on french fries and burger patties between two donuts, a culture where chefs become celebrities and the more butter-soaked their cuisine, the more popular (I am looking at you, Paula Deen). We live in a culture that elevates those who sit at a desk all day and demeans those who do physical work. We live in a culture where four cheeseburgers cost less than a pound of apples. Almost everything about our culture sets us up to fail.

Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions? I am sorry but this is pure nonsense.

Interesting. I read back through my original post and don't see anywhere I suggested people not take personal responsibility. On the contrary, my first sentence pointed out the fact that it IS simple. I think your negativity is pure nonsense.

Actually you didn't. You described a world in which none of us live in. Your comment on demeaning physical work is comical.

Again... no I didn't. I am 100% positive I have seen bacon on french fries. I am 100% positive I have seen a burger served between two krispy kreme donuts. I am 100% sure I just saw Paula Deen on TV yesterday slathering the corpse of a chicken with butter. I am 90% positive a McDonald's Hamburger is 99¢ (can't say 100% because I haven't been at a McDonalds in more than 5 years) and a pound of apples at Whole Foods was the other day was $2.39. I am 100% positive Donald Trump sits at a desk. And if you think people don't demean physical work, ask an 8 year old if he wants to grow up and be a garbage man. I am 100% positive you are a person who looks for the absolute worst in everyone/everything despite what common sense would dictate. And I am 100% positive I am done with this conversation and clicking the good ole ignore button. *Poof*

You can break it down to being as simple as that but for many folks there are lots of hurdles...how do I eat clean, how do I eat clean and still feed my family what they like, what does "plenty" of exercise mean exactly, where do I start, etc. For those who've been doing this for years, it's easy to say how simple it is. Just like I could say my job is simple but for someone who's never worked with our specific systems or someone who knows little about Excel, it could be viewed as very difficult. It's all a matter of perspective.

As far as advice goes, be open minded but learn to figure out the difference between scams and real advice. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is (HCG, ketones, etc). Also, be conscous of what you think will work long term for you. Try different things but know yourself enough to tell the difference. a lot of people recommend running or lifting heavy but if you hate running or have bad knees maybe you need to find something that's more sustainable.

It's a learning process!

P.S. If it was so simple, we wouldn't have an obesity issue! I'm sure the reasons are different for everyone but I think most folks with weight/health issues just go through their lives not knowing the difference and/or caring and/or making excuses. I knew but didn't care, I have cousins who don't know and don't care. Once you care enough to start making changes and learning how to properly feed and care for your body, it will come.