Who are these people who can just cut out soda, etc?

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  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
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    Or the person is like my dad. He insists that he lost weight because he stopped eating pizza and fries. He rarely ate pizza and fries. And he will still eat them if someone offers them to him. He lost weight by retiring from a desk job.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I quit soda with calories and booze and fast food way before I ever dieted (and when I was average weight), so I didn't have those easy fixes either. I looked at my diet and figured out where my extra calories were coming from and cut them. I also realized that one issue was that at one point I went from active to sedentary and at 5'3 and 120-125 (my comfortable weight) I can eat 2000+ and maintain if I'm active, but need more like 1500-1600 to maintain if I am not.

    1500 is low, so knowing that matters -- I can either be really rigorous with my diet (including evenings out, which can add up), or I can be active. I chose the latter.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,594 Member
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    It's not rocket science. They just ate/drank much LESS than they used to. Regardless if it was soda, chips, donuts, fried chicken, gravy, whole sticks of butter, hot dogs, pizza, etc., any reduction in calories results in less weight.

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  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I don't drink soda - never have. I rarely drink as it gives me migranes. I am one of those people that eats chocolate etc. every day and still loses weight- thats because my meals are smaller than most people's meals. I don't have a large appetite. It's CICO. Oh I've never been one to eat junk food or go out to eat- so i don't miss it.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    I was easily consuming 500 calories per day just by drinking coke. It's an easy thing to cut out to create a deficit.

    Same here, at least 500 calories, but with soft drink and/or alcohol.

    I gave up all the soft drink, and a lot of the alcohol. Priorities. :)
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
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    My big problem was juice - I would easily drink a litre of the stuff in a day of work. Now I have switched to "infused water" (aka cut up fruit - put it in water/sparkling water) at work. I've changed other habits as well so I can't put it down to that entirely, but now being much more aware of calories I'm shocked at what a big impact it had.
  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
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    This is why -- for me -- it is SO easy to lose weight in the first week or so. My diet overall has never been too bad, so if I just stop eating junk and drinking calories (mainly wine with dinner and another glass afterwards) I'll lose weight. Easy. Too bad it's more difficult as the weeks go on. lol.
  • enkiemonkey
    enkiemonkey Posts: 82 Member
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    I get what you mean. I don't drink soda. Not really juice either. And I don't have a sweet tooth. Plus I walk a ton given where I live. Yet I am not at my ideal weight.

    Turns out my portions really are just too big and it's too salty :)
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
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    juliebowling1 wrote: »
    I just don't understand why some people just cut out sugary drinks, fast food and maybe cut back on drinking and they lose weight. I've never been a fan of soda, I rarely eat dessert and I have had alcohol in over twenty years. Now, I readily admit I love pasta and potatoes and those have to go except for small portions now and then. But why do some people seems to lose so easily?
    I don't mean to sound like such a whiner. Is it all about changing your metabolism?

    Why do you think it's easier to cut out Coke for a Coke lover than a triple portion of pasta? Eliminating 1000 calories a day is hard, whatever the source. And if you eliminate 1000 calories, you will lose weight. It has nothing to do with metabolism.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    If soda isn't your thing, it won't do you any good to cut it out. But I've seen people who stop at a convenience store every morning to buy the biggest sugary drink they can get. For them, just changing that one habit could result in weight loss.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    My sister.

    She changed how she takes her coffee, cut back a little on sweets, and works out a little more. She lost 30 lbs, but can't seem to lose any more.

    I'm kind of jealous, but I know that what I'm doing will work in the long run.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I was kind of one of those people. I cut out soda, stopped gaining weight. Then a bit later I cut out candy bars, fast food, and the daily crap I was eating and started eating nutrient dense foods instead.
    I lost about 30Lbs, and got to a very healthy weight. I've kept it off about 14 years now. I find it easier to keep it off when I keep my diet nutrient dense, and limit those heavily refined carbs. But yes, the calorie deficit I apparently created was important, I just didn't count calories or anything else to create it.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    sheldonklein wrote: »
    juliebowling1 wrote: »
    I just don't understand why some people just cut out sugary drinks, fast food and maybe cut back on drinking and they lose weight. I've never been a fan of soda, I rarely eat dessert and I have had alcohol in over twenty years. Now, I readily admit I love pasta and potatoes and those have to go except for small portions now and then. But why do some people seems to lose so easily?
    I don't mean to sound like such a whiner. Is it all about changing your metabolism?

    Why do you think it's easier to cut out Coke for a Coke lover than a triple portion of pasta? Eliminating 1000 calories a day is hard, whatever the source. And if you eliminate 1000 calories, you will lose weight. It has nothing to do with metabolism.

    Cutting a coke is actually pretty easy because so long as you don't mind the slight difference you can move over to diet.

    I actually think it was harder for me to give up my sweetened tea for unsweetened tea than it was for me to go from regular to diet.
  • xLoveLikeWinterx
    xLoveLikeWinterx Posts: 408 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I cut out soda cold turkey as well as a variety of different food types, and I drank a LOT of Dt Mountain Dew (like 60 oz/day). 1) I have bad teeth and my dentist strongly recommended I stop, and 2) I have health issues that necessitate quitting. It made it relatively easy to quit, because it scared me to think of needing dentures at 40 or insulin at 35.

    I've cut out grains, flours (except coconut flour), soy, soda, nightshades, legumes/nuts, most fruits but some lower on the GI I seem to do ok with... I'm not 100% compliant although I really try. I'm still in the "experimenting phase" before I go back to my doctor next month. Sometimes I'll eat something I'm cutting out and my stomach hurts/I bloat so bad I can't zip my jeans, and I remember why I cut out/cut back (whatever you want to call it).

    The first week was bad stopping cold turkey- I drank a lot of water, popped Tylenol, and got through it. Now I'm fine, don't miss it, and don't even want a soda at all.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I used to drink 600-1200, or more, calories a day in milk. It wasn't about changing my metabolism, it was about changing how many calories I consumed.
  • umayster
    umayster Posts: 651 Member
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    In steps, I cut out almost all liquid calories. First soda, then coffee sugar, then juice & milk and lastly lost my desire for the nightly glass of red wine. I still drink cream in coffee, but those are the only regular liquid calories.
  • Vanyahiril
    Vanyahiril Posts: 89 Member
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    My hubby cut out soda, and excessive junk food, and that worked for him... Because he wasn't replacing it with anything else. Essentially, he's just eating less.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I think it's usually just mindset. When you are really ready to do something, you do it. Ditching the soda or carbs or alcohol are just the means. It's decision and commitment that makes the difference.
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
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    What most people have said.

    OP, you need to let go of the idea that some people have it easy and that you are in some way disadvantaged. I call it the myth of the naturally skinny people and it really is a myth. Did you know, that a fatter person has a faster metabolism than a thinner person? Bodies require more fuel to run, the larger they are. That thin person gets to eat less than you consistently, not more. A lot of overweight people are convinced it is the other way round and that they starve while certain "lucky" people eat what they like. This is not true. The idea will hold you back.

    We can't guess at what other people are doing or how easy or hard it is to give up certain foods vs others. What we do know is that we gained because we ate too much, not because life was unfair to us. We can lose when we eat less and take responsibility for our own choices and worry less about what we guess others are doing.

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    juliebowling1 wrote: »
    I just don't understand why some people just cut out sugary drinks, fast food and maybe cut back on drinking and they lose weight. I've never been a fan of soda, I rarely eat dessert and I have had alcohol in over twenty years. Now, I readily admit I love pasta and potatoes and those have to go except for small portions now and then. But why do some people seems to lose so easily?
    I don't mean to sound like such a whiner. Is it all about changing your metabolism?

    Some people were thin before they started going to Starbucks everyday. When they stop going to Starbucks, or when they change their order to something like coffee (not coffee flavored....dessert)....they lose weight.

    I have a bigger problem. I've been overweight most of my life. The thing that says "stop....you've had enough" or the thing that says "I ate a ton yesterday, so today needs to be a lighter day" is broken. For those that are only 5-10 pounds overweight....they have a clue.

    I'm not trying to change ONE thing, I'm trying to change decades of bad habits.

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