Why Dieting is the Worst Way to Lose Weight

Ultimately, some people are too large to weight train.

Care to clarify on this? I have seen obese people weight train. They can not do the same exercises, but there is modifications they can use. Unless you are talking obese people who are unable to move....If so, then I do see your point.

I am talking about the morbidly obese people who have a serious addiction to food, not the fat guy who just snacks on too many chips. Weight training is great for once the person has their eating habits fixed. Don't take what I said as advice to people to not weight train, I just think that the article posted is not a blanketing fix for everyone's problems.

Oh, alarming, is it? Well, not as alarming as telling someone who is not losing weight to just eat more calories until they start losing (hint: if you're not losing weight, the problem isn't that you're eating too few calories, it's that you're not counting input and output properly, but whatever, details, right?).

Here's the thing. Not everyone who sets out to lose weight is a chipper, perky little dynamo with willpower to spare, who is eager to make a suite of drastic lifestyle changes all at once. Some of us have really demanding jobs and social lives that don't really make a lot of room for a complete diet overhaul, a stringent workout regimen, and oh, by the way, if you can spare a few moments to track your calories and eat at a deficit it might help. The calorie deficit is pooh-poohed, downplayed, marginalized and dismissed around here, but it is literally the ONLY thing you HAVE to do in order to LOSE WEIGHT. I know this, because it's the ONLY thing I did. And I'm a half pound away from my goal weight.

Yeah, exercise is fine for health or whatever. Fitness, strength, all that jazz. But that's really not about losing weight. I mean, I seem to have lost weight as rapidly as any gymrat around here, and I feel perfectly fine. If I wanted to, now that I'm close to maintenance, I could start to introduce a little exercise into my life, and I might try yoga or something. But that's a separate goal from losing weight, and I figured that it would be better to accomplish one feat before tackling another. And honestly, I don't think I need a whole heck of a lot of toning, I'm pretty fortunate that my everyday activity keeps me at least somewhat toned.

So yeah, judge us lazy calorie counters all you want. We're laughing all the way to the scale. :drinker:

A caloric deficit is never downplayed around here. It is truly the only component to dropping pounds. I am not saying exercise is a necessary component to weight loss. However, exercise provides other benefits that some consider necessary in achieving their goals. I am one of those people.

I never blindly tell anyone to "eat more" nor do I agree with that practice. In my opinion, it is not appropriate to advise anyone on their intake until they are accurately tracking it by weighing and measuring everything. Yes, all that's necessary for weight loss is a caloric deficit, and if your priorities only include dropping pounds and not concerning yourself with the preservation of LBM, then fine. I do not agree with widely touting your specific methods of weight loss without also disclosing the negative impacts it may have. If you notice my ticker, I also am losing quite a bit and it is almost certainly likely I am sacrificing LBM in the process. All the same, I do my best to strength train and concern myself with inches lost over the reading on the scale. Don't let my age fool you, I also work full time, commute, live on my own, etc., but make time for my exercise. It may really not be feasible for some, but for the most part I find that it is a lack of will to exercise that is the biggest hurdle. Nothing wrong with that though, again, to each his own.

I also generally do not give out advice. I am here to learn, not spout off things I believe to be true that may or may not be correct. My biggest concern with you specifically is that you advise without taking time to listen to anyone else. Even experts in any field are wise to expand their knowledge as much as possible. I do not see that with you, and it's disappointing. My guess is that people would be more receptive to your message if you kept learning and could back your statements up with more than "it works for ME" and "I look AMAZING" (the latter being without any proof). Again, best of luck to you and I am glad you have found a method that works so well... for you.

Also... I beg to differ that your "daily activity" is keeping you "somewhat toned". Statements like this really highlight your lack of understanding.

I'm sure you do look amazing but did you ever wonder if and how much LBM you sacrificed in the process if you didn't track it?

Well, since there's less of me to cart around, I don't really need as much "LBM" to do that carting around, now do I? And you're acting like it's a foregone conclusion that I'm "skinny fat"—whatever that's supposed to mean. I am able to walk, talk, and do everything else just as well as I could before I lost weight, so if I lost a bit of muscle mass in the process, I don't miss it. :drinker:

what about things further down the line?

osteoporosis?

I'm already pretty far down the line, I'm old as f__. So far so good, I think genetics plays a much larger role than anything else in that regard. Plus, I eat plenty or protein and fat 'n such in all the junk food I throw down my gullet, so I don't think I need to worry. :bigsmile:

I um. ok then. it honestly scares me that you give out as much advice as you do. I have no problem with your diet and exercise habits (or lack thereof), but the fact that you encourage others to follow the same practices is alarming. best of luck to you though.

Oh, alarming, is it? Well, not as alarming as telling someone who is not losing weight to just eat more calories until they start losing (hint: if you're not losing weight, the problem isn't that you're eating too few calories, it's that you're not counting input and output properly, but whatever, details, right?).

Here's the thing. Not everyone who sets out to lose weight is a chipper, perky little dynamo with willpower to spare, who is eager to make a suite of drastic lifestyle changes all at once. Some of us have really demanding jobs and social lives that don't really make a lot of room for a complete diet overhaul, a stringent workout regimen, and oh, by the way, if you can spare a few moments to track your calories and eat at a deficit it might help. The calorie deficit is pooh-poohed, downplayed, marginalized and dismissed around here, but it is literally the ONLY thing you HAVE to do in order to LOSE WEIGHT. I know this, because it's the ONLY thing I did. And I'm a half pound away from my goal weight.

Yeah, exercise is fine for health or whatever. Fitness, strength, all that jazz. But that's really not about losing weight. I mean, I seem to have lost weight as rapidly as any gymrat around here, and I feel perfectly fine. If I wanted to, now that I'm close to maintenance, I could start to introduce a little exercise into my life, and I might try yoga or something. But that's a separate goal from losing weight, and I figured that it would be better to accomplish one feat before tackling another. And honestly, I don't think I need a whole heck of a lot of toning, I'm pretty fortunate that my everyday activity keeps me at least somewhat toned.

So yeah, judge us lazy calorie counters all you want. We're laughing all the way to the scale. :drinker:

part of what i took from it is that you think calorie deficit is downplayed around here.

you could not be further from the truth. i see the simplicity of deficit brought up time after time after time when people arent losing...usually with a "yes, it really is that simple" at the end.

I have to agree with her, it feels like every damn thread the same "you need to eat more to lose weight" crowd shows up. There are, of course, lots of folks who get it, but they usually succeed quickly (imagine that!) and move off of MFP.

There are days I'm convinced people over-complicate this stuff just so they have a built in excuse to fail...

this perception comes from the OBSCENE amount of threads authored by those who eat VLCDs...which renders the advice to "eat more" pretty solid.

I can't agree with that. There is a fresh thread again this morning, someone claiming to be gaining weight at 800 net calories per day. The typical MFP response of "you need to eat more" is ludicrous and misguided, because it is not possible for the person to be gaining weight on 800 net calories/day, which means the *last* thing the person should be told to do is "eat more" because they're already eating more than they think they are or will admit to.

This happens over and over and over here...the vast majority of the time, "eat more" is completely counter-productive advice, *especially* to those claiming they are on VLCD.

Oh, alarming, is it? Well, not as alarming as telling someone who is not losing weight to just eat more calories until they start losing (hint: if you're not losing weight, the problem isn't that you're eating too few calories, it's that you're not counting input and output properly, but whatever, details, right?).

Here's the thing. Not everyone who sets out to lose weight is a chipper, perky little dynamo with willpower to spare, who is eager to make a suite of drastic lifestyle changes all at once. Some of us have really demanding jobs and social lives that don't really make a lot of room for a complete diet overhaul, a stringent workout regimen, and oh, by the way, if you can spare a few moments to track your calories and eat at a deficit it might help. The calorie deficit is pooh-poohed, downplayed, marginalized and dismissed around here, but it is literally the ONLY thing you HAVE to do in order to LOSE WEIGHT. I know this, because it's the ONLY thing I did. And I'm a half pound away from my goal weight.

Yeah, exercise is fine for health or whatever. Fitness, strength, all that jazz. But that's really not about losing weight. I mean, I seem to have lost weight as rapidly as any gymrat around here, and I feel perfectly fine. If I wanted to, now that I'm close to maintenance, I could start to introduce a little exercise into my life, and I might try yoga or something. But that's a separate goal from losing weight, and I figured that it would be better to accomplish one feat before tackling another. And honestly, I don't think I need a whole heck of a lot of toning, I'm pretty fortunate that my everyday activity keeps me at least somewhat toned.

So yeah, judge us lazy calorie counters all you want. We're laughing all the way to the scale. :drinker:

A caloric deficit is never downplayed around here. It is truly the only component to dropping pounds. I am not saying exercise is a necessary component to weight loss. However, exercise provides other benefits that some consider necessary in achieving their goals. I am one of those people.

I never blindly tell anyone to "eat more" nor do I agree with that practice. In my opinion, it is not appropriate to advise anyone on their intake until they are accurately tracking it by weighing and measuring everything. Yes, all that's necessary for weight loss is a caloric deficit, and if your priorities only include dropping pounds and not concerning yourself with the preservation of LBM, then fine. I do not agree with widely touting your specific methods of weight loss without also disclosing the negative impacts it may have. If you notice my ticker, I also am losing quite a bit and it is almost certainly likely I am sacrificing LBM in the process. All the same, I do my best to strength train and concern myself with inches lost over the reading on the scale. Don't let my age fool you, I also work full time, commute, live on my own, etc., but make time for my exercise. It may really not be feasible for some, but for the most part I find that it is a lack of will to exercise that is the biggest hurdle. Nothing wrong with that though, again, to each his own.

I also generally do not give out advice. I am here to learn, not spout off things I believe to be true that may or may not be correct. My biggest concern with you specifically is that you advise without taking time to listen to anyone else. Even experts in any field are wise to expand their knowledge as much as possible. I do not see that with you, and it's disappointing. My guess is that people would be more receptive to your message if you kept learning and could back your statements up with more than "it works for ME" and "I look AMAZING" (the latter being without any proof). Again, best of luck to you and I am glad you have found a method that works so well... for you.

Also... I beg to differ that your "daily activity" is keeping you "somewhat toned". Statements like this really highlight your lack of understanding.

What negative impacts? I haven't experienced any. This alleged LBM loss that you keep crowing about doesn't seem to be dramatic enough that I've noticed it, so I don't see why I should be concerned about it.

And just what "proof" is it that you think I'm not providing? I could post pics, but honestly, how would you know it's me? And how would you know it's me NOW? Photos aren't proof of anything. I'm either being honest about my progress or I'm not, but if you think the people who are posting pictures are all 100% honest, you might be a bit naive. And don't even get me started about Photoshop. :drinker:

Ah, more gymrat/"nutrition" evangelism. Fail. :huh:

I lost weight through a calorie deficit, eating "dirty" food, with ZERO exercise, and I look amazing. So this author can take a flying leap. :smokin:

looks amazing but no profile pic posted...hmmmmm

Yeah, I don't need validation from strangers on the Internet. Or anyone, for that matter. I do get plenty in real life though, but don't take my word for it, just assume I'm lying. It actually makes zero difference to me. :drinker:

Lady... your hair, make-up and outfit are atrocious. Whoever is telling you that you look amazing is a damn liar. On a serious note, quit making excuses for not working out and throw some iron around. You'll look and feel much better than you already claim to be.

Ah, more gymrat/"nutrition" evangelism. Fail. :huh:

I lost weight through a calorie deficit, eating "dirty" food, with ZERO exercise, and I look amazing. So this author can take a flying leap. :smokin:

looks amazing but no profile pic posted...hmmmmm

Ah, more gymrat/"nutrition" evangelism. Fail. :huh:

I lost weight through a calorie deficit, eating "dirty" food, with ZERO exercise, and I look amazing. So this author can take a flying leap. :smokin:

looks amazing but no profile pic posted...hmmmmm

Yeah, I don't need validation from strangers on the Internet. Or anyone, for that matter. I do get plenty in real life though, but don't take my word for it, just assume I'm lying. It actually makes zero difference to me. :drinker:

Lady... your hair, make-up and outfit are atrocious. Whoever is telling you that you look amazing is a damn liar. On a serious note, quit making excuses for not working out and throw some iron around. You'll look and feel much better than you already claim to be.

The article is being pointlessly pedantic. If you are watching/tracking what you eat - which the article advocates - then you are dieting, no matter what else you call it, even if that what-else is "nutrition program".