How are YOU setting yourself up to fail?

Well said ★. Everyone ate enough sugar over the holidays so no coating required. You're gonna put the diet in industry out of business with this common sense zero cost approach .

Still, hope you're flame retardant, the heavy lifting clean eating brigade will soon be on the war path...

Still, hope you're flame retardant, the heavy lifting clean eating brigade will soon be on the war path...

Since when is heavy lifting = clean eating, or the same brigade respectively?

Roomba?! :laugh: I guess trying to balance on it while it's moving could work your core :drinker:

My day has started with uncontrollable laughter thanks to this post :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

While I 100% agree that counting calories is key to weight loss and maintenance for myself, once you hit your goal weight it is just the foundation for adding the right body toning / exercise beyond walking to build strength.

I will say that for some people, those three week courses are the kick off point to get on the healthy lifestyle wagon. However, I think commiting to a program to meet milestones and goals vs a time limit worked for me.

I count calories so I won't gain back the weight, I walk to make sure I sleep at night, I drink water for brain power and smoother skin, and I do yoga/barre3 to tone my body and build stronger muscles and gain strength/balance.

PS. I am all about hearing the truth, and don't really care how the message is delivered.

I agree with everything said here except the point about exercise. The OP's point about weight lose is correct but only when weight loss is the main point and not overall health and fitness. A person that loses weight without some form of resistance training will only end up a smaller fat person. All though most people that first join here have little information or care as to body fat percentage the fact is that losing weight is not most people’s desired outcome. (Generally speaking) They want to be fit they just put too much emphasis on the scale and too little on measurements and body fat percentage.

When I started I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing-it was my first try at losing weight. But, I had doctor's orders to lose weight or be a diabetic, so I jumped in blindly and figured it out as I went along. I had never exercised in my life (no sports as a kid etc-nothing!), and trying to figure out how to lose the weight was overwhelming enough on it's own, without adding exercise in. So I didn't. I lost over 50lbs and didn't do one minute of exercise in the process. Doing this did not make me a smaller fat person.

My profile picture was taken a few weeks ago, several months after I've transitioned into maintenance. No resistance training at that point- just some walking and a bit of running (total of about 4 miles of the two things combined a week. Started doing this after I transitioned into maintenance, to give me new goals to work towards). My bf% is currently somewhere in the 18-19% range. I am not 'skinny fat'. Losing the weight made me healthy, not exercise.

OP-brilliant post and I agree 100%

AWESOME post, OP! Thank you for this one :-) I just copied and shared the link onto my SIL's page, my mom's page, and my cousin's page - I think your post is a great read for starting off 2014 on the right foot :happy:

The only way I would have changed the emphasis a bit is to note that exercise can indeed play a role (a big role, even) in creating a calorie deficit, so it can be a big part of the equation. But yup, when it comes down to it, it's the calorie deficit that creates the weight loss. If going for a run (even a fairly long run) is used as an excuse to eat an entire pizza, then the exercise - when consistently used as an excuse - is actually detrimental to weight loss. When exercise is properly calculated and used for it's (approximately) true caloric burn, it can be beneficial to the weight loss cause.

Thank you again for this post - very well written, and very true Have a wonderful, healthy, weight-losing 2014!

~ Lacey

PS - love the profile pic; you really are a doll :flowerforyou:

OP, this is a wonderful post; thank you for the 'tough' love that you dished out! Weight loss is not about mollycoddling people! Most need it tough or they'll get soft and quit. I know I did. Often.

But I'm big boned.

I agree with everything said here except the point about exercise. The OP's point about weight lose is correct but only when weight loss is the main point and not overall health and fitness. A person that loses weight without some form of resistance training will only end up a smaller fat person. All though most people that first join here have little information or care as to body fat percentage the fact is that losing weight is not most people’s desired outcome. (Generally speaking) They want to be fit they just put too much emphasis on the scale and too little on measurements and body fat percentage.

When I started I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing-it was my first try at losing weight. But, I had doctor's orders to lose weight or be a diabetic, so I jumped in blindly and figured it out as I went along. I had never exercised in my life (no sports as a kid etc-nothing!), and trying to figure out how to lose the weight was overwhelming enough on it's own, without adding exercise in. So I didn't. I lost over 50lbs and didn't do one minute of exercise in the process. Doing this did not make me a smaller fat person.

My profile picture was taken a few weeks ago, several months after I've transitioned into maintenance. No resistance training at that point- just some walking and a bit of running (total of about 4 miles of the two things combined a week. Started doing this after I transitioned into maintenance, to give me new goals to work towards). My bf% is currently somewhere in the 18-19% range. I am not 'skinny fat'. Losing the weight made me healthy, not exercise.

OP-brilliant post and I agree 100%

Congrats but continue to add weight training and then feel the results.

In, for tough love, truth, and Poomba. Always for Poomba.