Is losing weight supposed to be hard?

You're in high school and have zero life responsibilities and associated stressors.

Grow up and stop trivializing what is difficult for a lot of people.

You have all the tools available to you that you need to complete your goal. Responsibility and stress aren't reasons to not develop healthy habits
Don't have time to have a healthy breakfast or lunch?
Make it the night before and en masse
Don't have time to exercise?
Go for walks around the office or workplace if you have the chance

You asked about challenges. Examples were given. No one said those challenges preclude success.

The troll is strong with this one.

Those aren't challenges, those are excuses

At what point do "excuses" become challenges then. Where is that line?

I am sorry but when you are trying to maintain a house, working a 10 hour shift and starting a family those "excuses" qualify as challenges. We all have been through highschool, I can assure you....you have not experienced true stress yet. Your body is in peak form at your age, your energy level is at its highest it will ever be, you have the fewest responsibilities you will ever have in the rest of your adult life.

You perceive things as not being difficult because you have nothing in your life that makes them difficult.

Is weight loss or fitness complicated? No. But it, like anything, takes time...and time becomes a lot more precious at 30-65 than at 18.

I'm 40, a wife, a mother of two teens, work full-time.........................






...................and I used to make excuses as to why I couldn't lose weight. The truth was that I hadn't figured out how to do it. Once I figured it out, it was actually pretty easy.


I'm still kicking myself that I spent all those years making excuses instead of putting in the work to research, learn, and figure out the math and science of it.

I'm making the progress I want to be too, doesn't mean it wouldn't have been a heck of a lot easier for me to do so when I was 18. How about you?

I agree that many people make it harder for themselves than they need to - undereating, limiting foods, etc. But it doesn't mean that it's easy to make or sustain the changes that are needed. After awhile, for many of us, it becomes habit and a part of our lives. But don't underestimate the trial and error it took to get you there either.

Yep. It's the "trial and error" that is the *hard* part. That's the time spent "figuring it out." And once it's figured out, and you make it a habit, it's not so hard.



I agree that the OP could have used better wording, but the base point is there.


Why does it take so long for so many people to "figure it out?" I mean, it took me *years* to even recognize the fact that I needed to lose weight at all. I didn't even realize that I was obese, so fat that I couldn't even fit correctly in a chair at the movie theater. :blushing: :blushing:

<Ducking as I write this>

As a 40 year old woman, I found losing weight to be pretty straight-forward and simple. The weight didn't come flying off quickly, but it was steady, reliable and generally easy for me this time around.

My past efforts to lose were difficult and destined for failure because I over-complicated everything with diets, huge calorie deficits, and long lists of forbidden foods. If I went off my rigid track even a little, it always snowballed into a return to the bad habit of overeating all the time and proclaiming myself a failure.

As soon as I realized that all I needed to do is cut a minimal amount of calories from my daily intake (250 in my case) and work harder at moving throughout the day, everything else fell into place. I continued to eat all my favorite foods (not even the diet/light versions). Most days I ate over 2000 calories and still lost consistently. I went from 202 to 152 (my initial goal weight) in about eight months. I went on to lose another 16 pounds over six more months, before finally settling around 136 lbs. (I'm almost 5'9"). I've hovered between 135-140 for a little over two years now.

I don't want to minimize anyone else's struggles because we're all different. But for me, it was easy.

You're in high school and have zero life responsibilities and associated stressors.

Grow up and stop trivializing what is difficult for a lot of people.

You have all the tools available to you that you need to complete your goal. Responsibility and stress aren't reasons to not develop healthy habits
Don't have time to have a healthy breakfast or lunch?
Make it the night before and en masse
Don't have time to exercise?
Go for walks around the office or workplace if you have the chance

You asked about challenges. Examples were given. No one said those challenges preclude success.

The troll is strong with this one.

Those aren't challenges, those are excuses

At what point do "excuses" become challenges then. Where is that line?

I am sorry but when you are trying to maintain a house, working a 10 hour shift and starting a family those "excuses" qualify as challenges. We all have been through highschool, I can assure you....you have not experienced true stress yet. Your body is in peak form at your age, your energy level is at its highest it will ever be, you have the fewest responsibilities you will ever have in the rest of your adult life.

You perceive things as not being difficult because you have nothing in your life that makes them difficult.

Is weight loss or fitness complicated? No. But it, like anything, takes time...and time becomes a lot more precious at 30-65 than at 18.

I'm 40, a wife, a mother of two teens, work full-time.........................






...................and I used to make excuses as to why I couldn't lose weight. The truth was that I hadn't figured out how to do it. Once I figured it out, it was actually pretty easy.


I'm still kicking myself that I spent all those years making excuses instead of putting in the work to research, learn, and figure out the math and science of it.

I'm making the progress I want to be too, doesn't mean it wouldn't have been a heck of a lot easier for me to do so when I was 18. How about you?

At 18 I was running 3-5 miles three times a week and in the gym twice a week. I didn't *need* to lose weight until my twenties. I gained 90 pounds with my first pregnancy, then another 60ish pounds with my second. I had c-sections with both of them and was told not to exercise for a while. I waited about 15 years. :laugh:

I wasn't told not to exercise and I waited two. I just didn't have the time or the sleep to do it before then. Not excuses. Reasons.

I had my reasons too.

All of this "he's 18 and I'm 4o, 41, 42, 45" implies an inherent difference in BIOLOGY in aged people that makes it hard.

Besides my injuries I have to consider when choosing exercise I wasn't aware that there was some biological or physical state that my age bestows on me that nullifies CI/CO? I thought as far as I don't have PCOS or thyroid problems which are rare, I have the same methods as any other human. Am I misinformed? Have I misread hundreds of threads?

<Ducking as I write this>

As a 40 year old woman, I found losing weight to be pretty straight-forward and simple. The weight didn't come flying off quickly, but it was steady, reliable and generally easy for me this time around.

My past efforts to lose were difficult and destined for failure because I over-complicated everything with diets, huge calorie deficits, and long lists of forbidden foods. If I went off my rigid track even a little, it always snowballed into a return to the bad habit of overeating all the time and proclaiming myself a failure.

As soon as I realized that all I needed to do is cut a minimal amount of calories from my daily intake (250 in my case) and work harder at moving throughout the day, everything else fell into place. I continued to eat all my favorite foods (not even the diet/light versions). Most days I ate over 2000 calories and still lost consistently. I went from 202 to 152 (my initial goal weight) in about eight months. I went on to lose another 16 pounds over six more months, before finally settling around 136 lbs. (I'm almost 5'9"). I've hovered between 135-140 for a little over two years now.

I don't want to minimize anyone else's struggles because we're all different. But for me, it was easy.

Well I will come out swinging at you and say....yeah for me it is easy to. However unlike our friend here I have enough experience to recognize the challenges and enough empathy to sympathize with them.

I've always read and heard about people complaining about weight loss being too difficult, or that it's too complicated. I'm on day 48 of my weight loss "journey" if you wish to call it that, and there's been absolutely zero challenges I've faced. I lift weights 3-4 days a week, and eat at a 500 calorie deficit and I've lost 16 pounds.
So what's the big deal with weight loss? Why is it considered to be so impossible?

You're right, losing weight isn't complicated - exercise and eat less than you're burning. But putting it into practice isn't always easy.

That's great that you haven't had to face challenges, but I believe you are the exception, not the rule Some people aren't ready to fully commit or there could be health issues that cause them to stall. Sometimes life gets in the way (stress, jobs, kids, etc) and sometimes (this is me) people just really like junk food and over eat :laugh:

Exactly^^^^ Simple, but not always easy.

All of this he's 18 and I'm 4o, 41, 42, 45 implies an inherent difference in BIOLOGY in aged people that makes it hard.

Besides my injuries I have to consider when choosing exercise I wasn't aware that there was some biological or physical state that my age bestows on me that nullifies CI/CO? I thought as far as I don't have PCOS or thyroid problems which are rare, I have the same methods as any other human. Am I misinformed? Have I misread hundreds of threads?

I agree with OP that calories in calories out is all there is to it, that conceptually it is easy. I disagree that as an adult balancing your own personal needs with your responsibilities to others is "easy".

The backlash is largely centered on OP's lack of life experience and overall smugness and arrogance.

:drinker: :laugh:

I think the majority of us are reading this laughing to ourselves quietly because we know they're trolling

I've always read and heard about people complaining about weight loss being too difficult, or that it's too complicated. I'm on day 48 of my weight loss "journey" if you wish to call it that, and there's been absolutely zero challenges I've faced. I lift weights 3-4 days a week, and eat at a 500 calorie deficit and I've lost 16 pounds.
So what's the big deal with weight loss? Why is it considered to be so impossible?