Weird looks and questions when I explain how I lost weight

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Replies

  • JenX15
    JenX15 Posts: 103 Member
    I can totally relate ... not 100 lbs, but still. My weight has been steady +/- 5 lbs probably since last September and yet I get comments from people now telling me that I have lost a lot more weight. Who knows? Maybe it's just that it takes a while for it to dawn on people.

    I also get asked what is that I do - the answer is simple, eat less and move more. The response I usually tend to get - "but I am not really eating that much anyways, why can't I lose like you?" Then I tell them about MFP and tracking caloric intake, etc.

    It has been mentioned a lot in the comments above - people are always looking for the "magic" pill. But it really is THAT simple, eat less...move more.
  • Ftw37
    Ftw37 Posts: 386 Member
    How do you guys explain it to people? Do you notice the same thing or is it just me? It seems they want to know a secret or something, and are disappointed that I don't have something more profound to say. I would really like to hear from those of you that lost a lot of weight. My weight loss wasn't dramatic and some people don't even notice it. Dying to know how someone who lost 100 lbs by counting calories feels about the reactions people have to their explanation of how they did it.

    Many people have asked "what's your secret?" as if there is some magic easy answer.

    I say "I record everything I eat, weigh and measure my food to make sure of portions, eat around 2000 calories a day, and I exercise." Some people can't believe that it works--they seem to be looking for an easier answer.

    Others get inspired to try it themselves.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
    The best thing is when you give them the explanation and they tell you how that doesn't work for them :laugh:

    Yeah that happen about 50% of the time! 'I could never do that, too much work'. It is so much easier to spend a fortune on pills and supplements I guess.
  • dubbodu
    dubbodu Posts: 5 Member
    Explain what you did in brief and throw at them It not that easy to Count on Calories, Challenge then if they want to it for One week.Thats answers everything.
  • peacheswi
    peacheswi Posts: 91 Member
    It is very common that people think we have all found a magic bullet to weight loss. It is as though they were not paying attention (if someone sees you every day) or they think you have had "help" (such as surgery, Nutrisystem, etc).

    I saw my son for the first time last weekend - had not seen him in 18 months. He was stunned. Then he asked my if I had "the surgery". Nope. just MFP, and doing the right things, all on my own.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
    This is pretty common, actually. So many people have been conditioned to hear that you've done it with {name of fad diet plan or nutritional system here}. I get the same thing. It usually ends with a puzzled ... "so, you've done it all on your own?" Yes, I just eat sensibly, track my calories carefully, and exercise a lot. Sometimes I follow up with "I wasn't doing that before." Huh.

    I don't explain beyond that. If they don't get it, if they don't want to get it, that's their problem. Conversation over.

    Exactly this.

    My ticker reflects weight lost here, but in total it's well over 100 since my heaviest and I constantly get assumptions that I did it by eating low carb, gluten free <snort>, going vegan and/or using special supplements. Even some of the people who I've referred to this website because they seemed truly interested, still make weird comments to me a lot of times about "So you eat totally clean?" and I'm like wat!? A lot of people just do not believe it's this simple.
  • radmack
    radmack Posts: 272 Member
    I just give the tired old 'eat less, exercise more"
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Tell them it a miracle pill and you only have to take one and poof your excess weight is gone. What the heck, most of these people believe that when its on the advertisement anyway.
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
    I have employees at work that suggested I'm doing drugs or something because they used to say things like "you literally are eating all the time at work and you're losing weight. It's really not fair". Actually... it is fair... I weigh/log everything, and wake my *kitten* up at 4:30am M-W-F to go lift hundreds of pounds, and my TDEE is high to begin with because of my height. But I just tell them that I'm eating less and working out more and they drop it.
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
    I told a few ladies last weekend how I am losing weight, and I think the BIGGEST factor for me was my MFP friends this time, and the accountability and relationships they bring to the table. Going to a place every day where there are great people fighting the same battle as I am that I can relate to and cheer on has brought me to a 230 day streak, the longest I have ever stuck to anything. I don't think I could have done this all on my own to be honest. It IS less food and more exercise, but I wouldn't have the motivation without my peeps. They did look at me a little weird, but who cares? :drinker: Cheers to MFP!
  • negator5543
    negator5543 Posts: 36
    My go to response: I was online and found an ads for this miracle pill, basically what it does is it chemically reacts with the foods you eat to super charge your metabolism. Basically this proprietary chemical compound when combined with a specific number of calories based on the energy in food relative to your age and body weight turns all food you eat(up to a certain point) into basically a fat destroying enzyme. If you get the numbers right your food and this pill can actually burn 1-3 pounds a week.

    The coolest part of this pill is it makes you love simple things like walking or swimming because the light physically activity actually enhances the chain reaction in your body.

    I actually have two bottles of these pills left. They retail for like 120 bucks each but if you want I can give you both for like 100 and I can even help you figure out how much food to eat to turn them on.
  • BEVERLYSTEEN
    BEVERLYSTEEN Posts: 106 Member
    I don't understand why coming to MFP daily to stay accountable is a bad thing people go to AA and they are not criticized.
    Until someone is ready I don't think even a 'magic pill' would work, you have to really want it bad.
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
    Now that summer is coming to an end and I am returning to work (I am a teacher), more and more people seem to be noticing my weight loss (strange in itself because I had lost 90% of my weight before summer break but maybe its the new wardrobe or tanned skin) and are asking what I did?

    I keep it brief and say "honestly I just got control over my eating and keep my calories below 2000". I'll mention that I use MFP to log everything, and occasionally workout and try to get some cardio a few times a week.

    People seem to expect something more radical. I get all kinds of strange looks like I'm holding something back or something..

    How do you guys explain it to people? Do you notice the same thing or is it just me? It seems they want to know a secret or something, and are disappointed that I don't have something more profound to say. I would really like to hear from those of you that lost a lot of weight. My weight loss wasn't dramatic and some people don't even notice it. Dying to know how someone who lost 100 lbs by counting calories feels about the reactions people have to their explanation of how they did it.



    Congradulations on your weight loss
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
    People simply don't want to hear something that they could also do themselves but won't or know they don't have the self control to stick with. They want something extreme so they can justify not doing it for lack of time, lack of resources, or it being a threat to their health.

    Telling them it involves six hours a day of naked bungee jumping, expensive exercise machines, and eating mostly live insects while also daily ingesting small amounts of arsenic and you'll make their day since they would never consider doing anything that extreme and dangerous, so any meaningful weight loss to them is still simply impossible to ever achieve.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I just had that experience yesterday, I was walking at lunch and ran into a colleague also out braving the heat. She said, "wow you've lost so much weight, has it just been from walking?". I said, "no, but that is certainly a part of it, I made a lot of small changes and had a lot of big results". She just said, "huh" and kept walking.

    A slightly related humorous story. I came back from the same walk and had a meeting yesterday. I brought some of my favorite Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel squares and offered them to everyone in the room. My boss said, "Oh gosh, I can't eat one of those, I have my FitBit on today" and someone (who has no idea what a FitBit is or how it works) said, "oh my god, does it give you an electric shock if you eat something you aren't supposed to?".
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
    A slightly related humorous story. I came back from the same walk and had a meeting yesterday. I brought some of my favorite Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel squares and offered them to everyone in the room. My boss said, "Oh gosh, I can't eat one of those, I have my FitBit on today" and someone (who has no idea what a FitBit is or how it works) said, "oh my god, does it give you an electric shock if you eat something you aren't supposed to?".

    LOL :laugh: :laugh: Could you imagine if it did? Bahahaha
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    A slightly related humorous story. I came back from the same walk and had a meeting yesterday. I brought some of my favorite Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel squares and offered them to everyone in the room. My boss said, "Oh gosh, I can't eat one of those, I have my FitBit on today" and someone (who has no idea what a FitBit is or how it works) said, "oh my god, does it give you an electric shock if you eat something you aren't supposed to?".

    LOL :laugh: :laugh: Could you imagine if it did? Bahahaha

    I know, that's what I was thinking. Like a shock collar on a dog!
  • DayByDayGetStronger
    DayByDayGetStronger Posts: 108 Member
    Human beings want everything in life with the smallest effort put forth possible. We want a bigger bank account just by scratching off a lotto ticket or spending $1 to win $180 million. We want a pill to keep us from pooping so much, a pill to make us poop when we can't. We want answers to our problems and will take the advice from a glowing box (tv) when it tells us to buy this car because it looks pretty and will make us feel confident and who cares how much those payments are going to be...just lease it if your credit sucks.
    We want to enjoy that sofa, entertainment center, new iphone, Jimmy Chu shoes, or go on a vacation TOMORROW and pay for it later on a credit card with 21% interest. Because dammit," I'm and American and I deserve to have any friggin' thing I want at my fingertips with no effort involved".
    Very few people, and I mean very few people want to focus on something intangible every day, every meal, every calorie when the benefits cannot be seen until we are in a hospital ER having a heart attack or a stroke.
    I work in the healthcare field as a Registered Dietitian and have been for over 12 years now. Most people will tell me they want to "die happy" and eat the Double Double from In-n-Out every day instead of being miserable watching what they eat. I'll be seeing them in my clinic in a few years begging god for another chance after they've had their chest busted open with their ribs and sternum broken recuperating from a quadruple bypass. It's hard to sell a healthy lifestyle...even if it's free. Crazy how people are skeptical about what I am educating them on.
  • christschild2
    christschild2 Posts: 97 Member
    I do find that people do want the easy way out. If you did not gain it overnight, then do not expect to lose it overnight. It takes time and dedication to lose it. When I say that I measure and count everything with a scale, measuring spoons and measuring cups, I am told that it is too much work and takes too much time. I just tell them that it works for me. I have to be aware of the amount of calories that I am consuming. I also invite them to come go with me for a walk, but they just don't seem to want to move. I just say to them when you change your mind, then you will change your body.

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