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

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  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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: 13,575 Member
    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
    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
    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.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    My husband drinks A LOT of beer. If he stop drinking beer and made no other diet or activity changes, he would lose weight rapidly.
  • Jbarbo01
    Jbarbo01 Posts: 240 Member
    Uh man I empathize with you here! I never drink soda, juice, or eat a lot of sweets, drink a lot of alcohol, etc and my weight will stay the exact same. Usually people who lose weight from just cutting out soda were replacing meals or food with soda and were drinking a TON of it. From my experience, they are also often men and as you may know they lose weight faster than ladies. Plus these stories are usually the exception not the rule, most people have a hard time losing weight and it takes a lot of discipline for 85% of humans.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I'd already cut out liquid calories before deciding to lose weight. It does seem like an easy thing to cut (although since I didn't consume them, of course it would). I think everyone overweight likely has some area where it's not that hard to cut down, though. (I ate pretty thoughtlessly in some ways.)
  • orchidbutterflies
    orchidbutterflies Posts: 59 Member
    I used to drink anywhere from 5-8 cans (355ml) of rootbeer or gingerale a day. I didn't intake any "straight" water. I was also consistently eating Mcdonalds and Wendy's; each visit was netting me 3,500+ calories on top of all the other food I ate each day.
    I cut out pop, Wendy's & McDonald's cold turkey and went through a terrible week of migraines and extreme fatigue.
    I still ate other fast food and I began replacing my pop intake with juice. I only lost 30lbs in 11 months (380lb to 350lb.)
    However, I buckled down 7 months ago and began logging my food, cut out 95% of fast food and only drink water and have lost over 70lbs since then.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited September 2015
    It's not about changing your metabolism, it's about eating less calories than you burn. Period. That's all you need to lose weight. You can do it by lowering the amount of calories you consume, burning more calories than before, or a combination of the two. For me, it's mostly category A. I cut out most sodas by switching to unsweet tea with Equal because it's a flavor I happen to like. But I still drink soda, mostly at games or if I'm really short on calories for the day. Just not every day like I was. Making that change cut out 200-300 calories a day from my diet that weren't really necessary. I don't eat dessert at restaurants much at all because I've gotten used to smaller, more normal portions and I'm usually to full to eat dessert now.

    Losing weight isn't about WHAT you eat, it's about HOW MUCH you eat. Granted, a diet composed of nothing by twinkies and soda will catch up to you very quickly because you're not getting the nutrition you body needs to survive, but it can be done that way. I never cut out all my favorite 'junk' foods. (by junk food, i mean foods that are high in calorie but have little to no nutritional value) I simply found ways to cut down on them, espically when I was eating them due to snacking out of habit. I do eat a little better than I did, after all, if you substitute low calorie options for high calorie options, you can eat a lot more in terms of bulk! But I still have 'junk' food, I still eat foods that aren't as good an option nutrition-wise, and I'm doing fine. The only vitamin deficiency I have is something my body doesn't seem to want to absorb via my digestive track, not because I'm not getting enough of it.

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