What is the rush?

Options
evildeadedd
evildeadedd Posts: 108 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I notice there are a TON of posts today about people eating insanely low calories trying to lose weight super fast. I know we live in a microwave society, shows like the biggest loser and diet adds have conditioned us to think we should be losing weight in weeks not months, but there is a reason for them to perpetuate this myth. The diet industry survives off people doing crash diets. They want you to fail, if you were truly successful (I.e. got you your goal weight and stayed there) they would stop making money. Jillian Michaels doesn't want you to be healthy, she wants you to be a slave to her system. They all want you to over restrict, get to goal, then gain it all back plus. Crack dealers don't try to get people off crack, and diet companies want us fat.
I know we all want our goals right now, we think that we can't be happy until "X" happens. The truth is getting to a goal, ANY goal is just the beginning. A doctor doesn't go to school for over 24 years, then sit back and say "well I got it, I'm a doctor now, time to move to Tahiti and nap on the beach". Getting the degree is just a new beginning. The same is true for weight loss, getting to that "goal" weight is just the end of one chapter in your book. The things you learn in chapter one: weight-loss, should support and carry over to chapter two: maintenance. If all you learned in chapter one was starving yourself and being miserable, chapter two is going to be a *kitten* chapter.
I know how you feel, for the past ten years I have lost 30 pounds and gained back 35 over and over. I have constantly over restricted myself, went to the gym 7 days a week, lost 3 to 5 pounds a week for a couple months, then burned out. Trust me when I say you will burnout.
Crash diets don't work. Saying oh I am only doing this to get to my goal , THEN I plan on eating better and maintaining the loss, doesn't work for 9 out of 10 people. You have to learn to crawl before you can run. You don't see too many babies running a marathon, then getting down on all 4s to perfect the art of crawling.
I know you want your sexy pants right now, I want mine too. But after many years please listen to a voice of experience. If I would have been reasonable and realistic with my goals from the start I could have spent the last 8 years at my goal weight instead of never being within a hundred pounds of it. Time sucks, no-one wants to think about being a year or more from their goals, but believe me the time passes anyway.
All the burnout sites I have done over the years did nothing but make me miserable and hate myself even more. A constant cycle of feeling like I am going 110% and then failing has broken my ability to think I can accomplish anything. Please for the benefit of your self and your sanity learn patience.
If you take anything away from my ramblings let it be this. January 2017 is going to get here no matter what you do. Are you going to be starting over with another crazy crash diet, or will you be focusing on being a better version of you then you were the day before?
«1

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Options
    Beats me. When I started MFP it didn't even occur to me to pick the 'lose 2 pounds a week' setting!
  • dunkut
    dunkut Posts: 50 Member
    Options
    Amen
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    Options
    seems like a lot of people want immediate gratification or they just don't realize that a lot of things require longer-term planning. it's not just weight loss - people want to build muscle in weeks, learn to play the guitar well in weeks, understand and learn photography in weeks. all sorts of things that are best accomplished by learning about your goal - not just buying a random camera or buying an instrument that may not meet the person's needs at all or replacing meals with shakes.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    Probably because dieting sucks for a lot of people, and they want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible? ?
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Preach! That's what finally changed for me this time. I'm no longer on a diet, I'm just eating at a deficit and trying to make incremental lifestyle changes that include moving more and portion control. Not only is it working, I don't hate it, and it's sustainable. I didn't gain 100lbs overnight, and to expect for it to come off that way is, as you said, the highway to burnoutville.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    Options
    Beach body bro.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Options
    Maybe they are sick of their overweight life and can't wait to get out. Other people tolerate that part of their life better :)

    My progress would make me look like I was in a rush but that wasn't what I intended. I started out not knowing just like anyone. It was just easy to lose 2+ lbs/week so why not. But these days I'm slowing down because I read it's healthier. No complaint since I can enjoy more foods. It's win win.
  • evildeadedd
    evildeadedd Posts: 108 Member
    Options
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    Probably because dieting sucks for a lot of people, and they want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible? ?[/quoting

    If it really sucks that bad you are doing it wrong. That was kinda my while point with this rambling gibberish. I am eating the all the foods I love still, I am just not sitting down and eating a whole large meat lovers pizza and a two liter of mt dew twice a week. If you want to maintain a healthy weight you can't "diet" and "get it over with", all that is going to lead to is a cycle of gaining and losing that will last the rest of your life. Why not learn proper portions and how to live ? The idea of a "diet" is flawed , and exactly how the fitness industry wants you to think. I know first hand what it leads to, I have dealt with it since I was a teenager.
    I'm not miserable, I don't hate anything about the process this time. I am seeing improvement is some way every day. Maybe the scale goes down, maybe it doesn't, but when I go into the gym I bump up the treadmill a little faster, or I lift heaver. If the only thing you focus in is pounds lost you don't appreciate every other milestone you are hitting. Maybe you walk to the end of your driveway today, and maybe to the end of the block by Friday. Those are HUGE accomplishments for some people. Every day you are getting better, stronger, faster than you were the day before. If you teach yourself to hate the process of improvement, you are only forcing yourself to learn to settle for mediocrity. Taking just one more step today than you did yesterday is something to be proud of. Don't hate the fact that you can't run a marathon, appreciate that you can run farther than you did last week.
  • kirayng2
    kirayng2 Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    I lost the first 50 fast and have had the hardest time losing the last 50, so slow and steady is just fine as long as it keeps coming off. I think your best point is how we learn how to live healthy forever rather than quick fixes, that is key.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Options
    evildeadedd wrote: »
    I'm not miserable, I don't hate anything about the process this time. I am seeing improvement is some way every day. Maybe the scale goes down, maybe it doesn't, but when I go into the gym I bump up the treadmill a little faster, or I lift heaver. If the only thing you focus in is pounds lost you don't appreciate every other milestone you are hitting. Maybe you walk to the end of your driveway today, and maybe to the end of the block by Friday. Those are HUGE accomplishments for some people. Every day you are getting better, stronger, faster than you were the day before. If you teach yourself to hate the process of improvement, you are only forcing yourself to learn to settle for mediocrity. Taking just one more step today than you did yesterday is something to be proud of. Don't hate the fact that you can't run a marathon, appreciate that you can run farther than you did last week.

    Well said. Ironically loving the process too much also results in the exact thing you preach again.

  • shaybee377
    shaybee377 Posts: 42 Member
    Options
    You are so right! Thank you for this; it's exactly what I needed to hear today!
  • RoseTheWarrior
    RoseTheWarrior Posts: 2,035 Member
    Options
    Great post OP!
  • evildeadedd
    evildeadedd Posts: 108 Member
    Options
    shaybee377 wrote: »
    You are so right! Thank you for this; it's exactly what I needed to hear today!

    I am glad it was helpful for you. It is nice to know my words did something good.
  • parfia
    parfia Posts: 184 Member
    Options
    I also don't understand the 'I want to be X weight for X event' - I wasn't aware that when you reached that holiday destination or that wedding or whatever event is coming up, that they get some scales out and you're not allowed in unless you've reached a specific weight!! - I understand wanting to look better, yes I totally get that, but why does it have to be a specific number of pounds ??
  • ThunderZtorm
    ThunderZtorm Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    parfia wrote: »
    I also don't understand the 'I want to be X weight for X event' - I wasn't aware that when you reached that holiday destination or that wedding or whatever event is coming up, that they get some scales out and you're not allowed in unless you've reached a specific weight!! - I understand wanting to look better, yes I totally get that, but why does it have to be a specific number of pounds ??

    Goals are good. A good goal has a clearly defined target and a clearly defined timeframe for the target to be reached.

    So in that sense, it's really a good thing to say "weight X by date Y" ;)
  • random_123
    random_123 Posts: 9 Member
    Options
    I must be one of the 1 in 10 because I honestly prefer fast cuts. It's just a "get the job done" mentality and I'm not saying I'd recommend it as a general approach because you need to know you can do it based on actual past evidence rather than wishful thinking. Doing a lot of light cardio while muscle sparing with endless grass fed beef and heavy lifting isn't a fun time, but for me the goal exceeds the effort.
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
    Options
    evildeadedd wrote: »
    I notice there are a TON of posts today about people eating insanely low calories trying to lose weight super fast. I know we live in a microwave society, shows like the biggest loser and diet adds have conditioned us to think we should be losing weight in weeks not months, but there is a reason for them to perpetuate this myth. The diet industry survives off people doing crash diets. They want you to fail, if you were truly successful (I.e. got you your goal weight and stayed there) they would stop making money. Jillian Michaels doesn't want you to be healthy, she wants you to be a slave to her system. They all want you to over restrict, get to goal, then gain it all back plus. Crack dealers don't try to get people off crack, and diet companies want us fat.
    I know we all want our goals right now, we think that we can't be happy until "X" happens. The truth is getting to a goal, ANY goal is just the beginning. A doctor doesn't go to school for over 24 years, then sit back and say "well I got it, I'm a doctor now, time to move to Tahiti and nap on the beach". Getting the degree is just a new beginning. The same is true for weight loss, getting to that "goal" weight is just the end of one chapter in your book. The things you learn in chapter one: weight-loss, should support and carry over to chapter two: maintenance. If all you learned in chapter one was starving yourself and being miserable, chapter two is going to be a *kitten* chapter.
    I know how you feel, for the past ten years I have lost 30 pounds and gained back 35 over and over. I have constantly over restricted myself, went to the gym 7 days a week, lost 3 to 5 pounds a week for a couple months, then burned out. Trust me when I say you will burnout.
    Crash diets don't work. Saying oh I am only doing this to get to my goal , THEN I plan on eating better and maintaining the loss, doesn't work for 9 out of 10 people. You have to learn to crawl before you can run. You don't see too many babies running a marathon, then getting down on all 4s to perfect the art of crawling.
    I know you want your sexy pants right now, I want mine too. But after many years please listen to a voice of experience. If I would have been reasonable and realistic with my goals from the start I could have spent the last 8 years at my goal weight instead of never being within a hundred pounds of it. Time sucks, no-one wants to think about being a year or more from their goals, but believe me the time passes anyway.
    All the burnout sites I have done over the years did nothing but make me miserable and hate myself even more. A constant cycle of feeling like I am going 110% and then failing has broken my ability to think I can accomplish anything. Please for the benefit of your self and your sanity learn patience.
    If you take anything away from my ramblings let it be this. January 2017 is going to get here no matter what you do. Are you going to be starting over with another crazy crash diet, or will you be focusing on being a better version of you then you were the day before?

    I love this post! Well said.
  • foxygirl14
    foxygirl14 Posts: 158 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the encouragement. We are making lifestyle changes!:)
  • parfia
    parfia Posts: 184 Member
    edited April 2016
    Options
    ThunderZtorm wrote: »
    parfia wrote: »
    I also don't understand the 'I want to be X weight for X event' - I wasn't aware that when you reached that holiday destination or that wedding or whatever event is coming up, that they get some scales out and you're not allowed in unless you've reached a specific weight!! - I understand wanting to look better, yes I totally get that, but why does it have to be a specific number of pounds ??

    Goals are good. A good goal has a clearly defined target and a clearly defined timeframe for the target to be reached.

    So in that sense, it's really a good thing to say "weight X by date Y" ;)

    But if I want to lose 20lbs before I go on holiday and get to 18lbs lost - does that really matter?

    I realise I am being pedantic here but that's just in my make up :blush: !
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    Options
    Preach!

Categories