How do you do it?

You want to know what people who lose weight and keep it off do? Take a look at results from the National Weight Control Registry: http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm

Capt_Apollo wrote: »

i would've loved to have graduated college without cracking a single book. but i couldn't expect to get a degree without studying. so i had to do something that i didn't love, to get something that would make me happy.

I second that^^^^^^^^
THe Juice was and always is worth the squeeze, when Life hands you Lemons, make lemonaide : )

Gosh, this is such a great discussion thread! I credit it with getting me out the door this morning for a CrossFit session when I was strongly considering blowing it off.

You see, I'm a whiner too, who also wants to have it both ways. But your motivating comments helped me remember that, hey, those weights aren't going to lift themselves. Thanks for the extra push, everyone!

I'm just like that...I don't want to do what I know needs to be done because...well, I just don't want to make the effort all the time. At 60 years old, still a cry baby.

But there are four points I would make (to myself as well as the OP):

1- Nothing changes if nothing changes.

2 - That term "lifestyle change" is overused and, I think, misused a lot. It implies a wholesale change to all that makes your life what it is. Things like where you live, who you live with, who you associate with, what you do for a living, what you do for fun, your income....stuff like that. Some of us need only to change a habit or our schedule or our attitude.

3 - Consider whether you really need to lose those last 20 pounds. Some of us think that what we weighed in high school is what our goal should be when that's not realistic or necessary.

4 - Think about what you had to do to lose weight and why you stopped doing it. If it was making you miserable so much that you couldn't wait to be finished with it, then maybe it was the wrong approach for you.

The only advice on this I have.. is that after two weeks of going through the motions of logging..(yet make tasty food it is like not dieting ).. all of a sudden a switch will flip, and you will want to do it. For me it took two or maybe three weeks. I'm on day 75...and now i eat like a skinny person without thinking about it. Such a huge change from when I started. I am naturally wanting more healthy food.. i make better choices and can put my fork down. I want to work out… gosh..who would have thought?

… good luck..just do it.

AliceDark wrote: »

When you lose weight, you always lose some fat and some non-fat (muscle, bone, even blood volume, etc.). When you gain weight back, it's mostly fat.

Lose fat + muscle...gain fat...repeat a few times...

You end up with a proportionally higher % of body fat than you started with. That's why yo-yo-ing is bad.

The OP is actually at a healthy BF% as she had stated in another thread, it's the number on the scale that is the problem for her.

OP as I said in your other thread, don't worry so much about what the number on the scale shows, if you are already in a healthy BF% then you probably don't "need" to lose those 20lbs, not for health reasons anyway. The BF% is more important then what the scale shows or what your BMI is. Good luck

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

JaneiR36 wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

dbmata wrote: »

@need2exerc1se
Regaining it causes more stress than just maintaining, or losing and keeping it off.

In what way?

If this is true, then why should anyone even try to lose weight, given the extraordinarily high percentage of people who regain?

I don't necessarily think keeping the weight on is healthier, but chronic yo-yo dieters will try anything. Some of the options are downright dangerous and I know for me, when I read about certain weight loss methods I really did say, "screw it, I'd rather be fat". Maybe you're simply still in that stage even though we think our methods are so "simple" and only require little tweaks.

Just a few months back I came across a lady complaining about how hard it is to stay thin and her diet pills and having to put up with an*l leakage so long as she got to stay thin. Holy *kitten*!! Literally! Put me down for a rather be fat right there!! :noway:

Is that really the norm, though? I've never done a poll or anything, but if I was a betting gal, I'd bet that more people just diet (eat less, maybe exercise more) to lose weight. Then they gradually slack off and slowly regain. Then they do it again.

I know maybe one person like this. The micro changes in others' weights may have been too small for me to notice

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

Yes, and no. I don't know, really. I don't want to drink less, or switch to liquor and diet drinks just to get less calories (I don't care for the taste of either). I don't want to give up my precious free time to exercise.

I guess I'm just whining because I don't want to change anything at all. Except my weight. Geez, when did I become such a big baby??

I agree with everyone else. You're clearly not ready to lose the weight. You're being presented with the easiest of options - eat just a little less, make some healthier choices, do some moderate exercise, and you don't want to do any of them. That's kind of a clue that cake/drink/free time means more to you right now than losing weight. Which is fine - we're all different. But I honestly don't know what answer you're hoping to hear? You can't lose weight eating the way you currently do, and you may possibly gain weight. It's that simple.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I suppose I should add that I'm not unhealthy. My BP, blood work, etc. has always been in the healthy range. I am pretty active and eat pretty well most of the time. I drink too much, and this is the obvious thing I should change. I'm not a lush, I just like to party with my friends.

Are you really 50? The above sounds like a college age person.

Are you or have you ever counted calories? If you have, it should be clear that you don't have to exercise or give up your partying to lose weight. But something does have to go... less of something or less caloric food overall or more activity.

And if you're at a healthy weight now and get a lot of calories from alcohol and that is non-negotiable, even for just a weight loss phase, it'll be harder than for most people. I've known slim people who are heavy drinkers. They pretty much just drink with very little eating.