A short rant about many of the posts I have been seeing here. May come off as harsh but must be said

Derprioception wrote: »

If people were one dimensional beings then yeah, CICO would be the sum of all things weight loss. Regardless, it is the foundation of success. Winning doesn't happen without it... Period. However, we aren't 1 dimensional. Everything physical is also affected by the mental and emotional processes we experience. It's a bit naive to assume that it isn't. The disconnect comes in when we factor the different degrees by which we are all affected by them. There is a broad variance there and given the huge number of different people on this site you're discounting a significant portion of the population by asserting that they all must approach the process with the exact degree of mental and emotional disconnect that you approach it.

Some people have emotional issues that cloud the picture for them. I was sexually abused as a child and raped as a teenager.

So I understand what you're saying.

However...

To be successful, you can't let that stand in your way and use it as a shield forever.

Some people come on this site and they're still at a stage of their journey where they're in the middle of dealing with those emotional issues. This is NOT a counseling site. No one here can help them get through the various types of emotional baggage that can be reasons for over eating.

When someone is past that point, and has dealt with the issues, and is simply down to eating as a habit, and is ready to break a bad habit? Then they're ready for what this site can offer.

TheVirgoddess wrote: »

AmbyrJayde wrote: »

It's CI vs CO. It is that simple.

Last year I stopped watching it quite as well as I should have. I ended up gaining 40ish pounds back. I decided it must be some type of problem, condition, something outside of my control, and obviously not the extra food I was shoving down my throat. Finally in November of last year I broke thru all of that fat logic. My foot suddenly swelled up really badly and I thought I was legitimately dying, of a heart problem. I immediately started weighing and measuring and actively counting again. I also started really looking at my exercise and coming to terms with the fact that no, I did not burn 1k calories walking for an hour at 2.5mph and that I should not be eating all of that back. And look at that my 40lb weight gain over last year is almost all gone.

If you are honest about your calories in vs calories out you will lose the weight. If it's not working for you, check and make sure you're really eating the portions you write down. Make sure that you are really burning the calories you say you are.

Accountability and motivation are great. I honestly don't think I would go quite as hard if I didn't know that someone would see my exercise entries, or that nice note "Finished her diary and was /under/ her calories." But I thrive on competition, and comparing myself to other people.

Good job on the weight loss OP!

Last note: OP being 19 has absolutely nothing to do with the things he posted, it's just an ad hominem attack from people who can't find anything else wrong with the post, or don't want to think about what they are doing wrong. Weight loss is incredibly simple, even if not easy. It's just math.

Simple does not equal easy though.

CICO is how we lose weight, period. But finding the way to apply it to your life sustainably is not always easy. And that's where the issues/questions and threads come in.

It's lack of education 90% of the time. There are a ridiculous amount of fitness/weight loss/health related myths out there and it can be really hard for people to wade through them to find the truth and then learn how to apply that truth to their lives long term.

I've lost 72 pounds, while dealing with multiple health issues. So I get it - I know how hard it can feel. But I also know that it's doable.

So yeah, excuses are lame and frustrating. And I don't have patience for them. I just don't think the majority of threads on here *are* excuse filled (and when they are, I just move on, realizing that excuses are generally a sign of lack of commitment). I think they are ignorance. And people shouldn't be shamed for being ignorant. Mostly.

Totally agree with simple not always being easy. But there's usually a very noticeable difference between someone who is just ignorant vs someone who is making excuses.

on another note, I should probably get out of here. I've got a run to do.

JOE, i understand your plight. I don't get on the forums mainly because i mobile app and not pc but i am 39yoa with an extremely slow metabolism. Always has been even though i played a lot of sports I peaked at 270 lbs , 5'8'', with back injuries from car crashes dating back a decade. These problems are currently getting rectified by a doctor i recently found that could help me when in the past 8+ doctors could not.

Mind you when i was younger i fluctuated with weight and muscle according to which sports i was playing and how much beer i consumed. I have been steadily accumulating fat and decided to research and get my *kitten* in gear. I did not eat a lot but it was the foods that i was eating that was blimping me up.

I started losing weight in November but I have used MFP religiously since December 2014 and at last weigh in last month i lost about 30 lbs. I cut my calories by about almost a thousand a day from what i actually need to maintain. That puts me around 2lbs a week fat loss, (500 cals a day= 1lb a week). i do not cardio right now but do body weight exercises.

I wanted to point out I am making progress and doing pretty well. I say that to say this: JOE, I agree with you. i believe the excuses go back to a lifetime of enabling and coddling. I am sure there are some psychological issues dealing with comfort food and self worth somewhere mixed in. It happens and that needs to be sorted out. In theatre, it is taught to look at yourself and give an honest evaluation and own yourself. OWN IT. NO EXCUSES. I said to myself, I am FAT and I want to change. Sometimes people need tough love. It IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Some would rather in self pity and feel the cards are stacked against them and just be unhappy for whatever word they call them self. Overweight, obese, fat, etc.

Joe I agree it is about the calories and the fat. Your body needs both, just not excessive. Most people will not succeed because it is just a glazed donut. That is how i felt about the double quarter pounder and the it's just chicken nuggets.. etc.

Obesity to me (yes i was quite obese, thank you) is like an addiction of sorts. A heroin addict, crack addict or any other addict cannot help themselves and begin to over haul their lives until they get fed up and decide they do not like what they are becoming or how they look. They DECIDE they want to do something about it and succeed. I decided to get back the body that i used to have so i can play and teach and coach my 4yr old in all the things she wants to learn. I wanted to no longer have to say, hold on baby, Daddy needs to rest a minute.

i will probably not be back on to read any of the nasty comments the small minded and offended people will inevitably have to write. this is a rare occasion i am on a pc. I am not saying any of you are small minded or offended but i guess we will see. Some of the above is my opinion but mostly it is facts that deal with me and the progress i made as the result of calorie cutting. Thumbs up to you Joe for the weight loss and marathon work.

keep it up little brother.

bbindigo wrote: »

Sometimes the truth hurts, good post

Ditto

Haha. Joe. That's the norm here. (Fist bumps joe)

EWJLang wrote: »

OP: Excuses won't get you anywhere
Everyone else: OMG MY EXCUSES ARE REAL, YOU FETUS!

Many people are laughing at the OPs approach because they remember knowing everything when they were his age.

I saw very few people saying their excuses were real. Nor does laughing at the above mean they are agreeing with or validating anyone's excuses.

AmbyrJayde wrote: »

LiftAllThePizzas wrote: »

AmbyrJayde wrote: »

LiftAllThePizzas wrote: »

joejward95 wrote: »

Are you telling me, if you didn't eat for 2 weeks you would not lose a single lb? You understand that is literally defeating the laws of physics.

Just curious, if you had to choose between being fat, or feeling like you are starving all day every day for the rest of your life, which do you think you would choose?

That is not how this works, that's not how any of this works. There are not only two options starving or gluttony. There is a middle ground.

There is for almost everyone, and I have spent a lot of energy advocating just that on these very forums for over two years.

In regards to starving vs gluttony there literally is a middle ground for everyone.

In regards to eating the things you want, probably not so much. I don't allow chips or snack cakes or cookies etc, in my house any more even though I love them because I know my limits and I know that I personally can not handle them in the house because I will over eat them. not everyone has to do that. They can manage their middle ground in regards to snacks w/out harsh restrictions. I can't, and I admit that I'm an addict and I keep my drug of choice far away. Now, if I'm out and about and have worked out that day and have the urge for a snack cake or a soda I will buy one, and enjoy it. Because It doesn't happen often. But I always faithfully log it because not logging it doesn't mean the calories didn't go in :P (That's a poke at myself not you.)

I think you're missing the point.

I practice moderation, and I also preach it. It's also easy for me because moderation equals averaging about 3000 calories a day.

If you had a medical condition that caused you to gain whenever you ate more than 1000 calories per day, yet your hunger is not satisfied until you've eaten 2000 calories, can you tell me what you would define as a "middle ground" in such a scenario?

snickerscharlie wrote: »

markjbevan wrote: »

For example, if someone says "I've had a bad day at work, so I ate a box of donuts", the easiest thing to say is A. "I dont blame you, I woudlnt worry about it, you can always start again tomorrow". But the more helpful thing to say is B. "sorry you had a bad day, but the donuts wont help, and you will probably feel worse after you've eaten them".

Which one would be easier? A. Which one would be more helpful? B.

Just my thoughts

But B assumes that you know more than your friend does. Don't you think they already know that scarfing down a box of donuts was a dumb idea? And that perhaps rubbing their nose in the donut crumbs is the least helpful and least kind response you could have chosen?

The correct response is, "great, that should undo all the bad things that happened earlier today."

Wiseandcurious wrote: »

Bring on the cat gifs.

I've been trying, though they haven't been strictly cats. I'm surprised this thread hasn't been nuked yet.

zyxst wrote: »

Wiseandcurious wrote: »

Bring on the cat gifs.

I've been trying, though they haven't been strictly cats. I'm surprised this thread hasn't been nuked yet.

I love that gif, the ultimate wind up