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Article in response to Biggest Loser Study

sunnybeaches105
sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I found this to be some helpful perspective from someone with experience with major weight loss.

http://www.vox.com/2016/5/10/11649210/biggest-loser-weight-loss

My guess is that this article from yesterday is already on here somewhere, but I thought it was worth highlighting. I'm posting a long quote below, but it's one worth reading if you don't click the link and read the entire piece.

This is something I've witnessed regularly in my own practice. Looking to my experiences working with thousands of patients over the course of the past dozen years, it's clear that liking the life you're living while you're losing weight is the key to keeping it off.

Liking the life you're living while you're losing looks different to each individual. There is no one "best" diet. While different diet gurus and their acolytes will try to tell you that their diet is the best and only diet, there is definitely no clear winner in the medical literature.

Moreover, even if there were a clear winner on paper, if the key to your success is actually liking the life and diet you're living with while you're losing, one person's best diet, if not enjoyed, would be another person's worst.

So what does that goal post look like? The term I coined to describe it is "best weight," where your best weight is whatever weight you reach when you're living the healthiest life that you actually enjoy.

If your efforts can be summarized as cyclical, episodic, concentrated bouts of suffering, during which your aim isn't the healthiest life that you can enjoy but rather the healthiest life that you can tolerate, well, go figure you're not likely to keep it off.

If you want to succeed with long-term weight loss, it's crucial that you embrace both reality and imperfection.

Remember, too, that your best efforts will vary. Your best when facing a challenging time in life will be different from your best when everything is hunky-dory, just as your best on your birthday, or on a vacation, or at a holiday meal will require indulgence.

Replies

  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
    It has been depressing reading all the negative articles about how it's almost impossible to be successful. This article is much more.positive. The weight loss doctor writes a blog. I bookmarked.

    Thank you for sharing.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    100df wrote: »
    It has been depressing reading all the negative articles about how it's almost impossible to be successful. This article is much more.positive. The weight loss doctor writes a blog. I bookmarked.

    Thank you for sharing.

    You're welcome. I'm hoping more people see this link and read what this doctor has to say.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I didn't have to click through to the article to know it had been written by Yoni Freedhoff. He's got a great perspective on weight loss as exemplified by this quote from the OP:
    it's clear that liking the life you're living while you're losing weight is the key to keeping it off.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Wow, he sums it up nicely. Thanks for sharing :)
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    lauracups wrote: »
    Someone said to me "well! you know you'll gain it all back when you start eating normal again "!, umm this IS my normal now. Making healthier choices, eating certain treats in moderation, sometimes falling off the wagon, but only for a day not for a week or a month is my new normal now, therefore maintaining my over 50 pound weight loss and continuing to lose is not a fluke not an anomaly and certainly sustainable. #drops the mic

    Thanks for posting the positive article!

    Nice work.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    That's a great perspective!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I totally agree. I also feel that this what MFP teaches, and coming in here two years ago made an enormous difference to my life, habits, attitudes. After losing 50 pounds, for the second time, and struggling with weight since adolescence, I'm no longer afraid of regaining, because I eat in a way I like, not to primarily keep weight off. Maintaining weight is just a pleasant side effect of eating like I do now.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    +1. Yoni Freedhoff really knows what he's talking about. His book The Diet Fix is one of three books on weight loss that I really recommend (his "10-day reset" is a bit gimmicky with its focus on 10 days, but all the advice is good). (The other books I like are John Walker's free e-book The Hacker's Diet, which approaches weight loss as an engineering and management problem, and Richard Watson, The Philosopher's Diet, which is not really about weight loss at all, but rather, about the value of making a commitment to doing something difficult.)
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