Intellectuals

I absolutely DON'T think that "Calories in/calories out" makes you lose weight. I'm convinced that it is much more complicated than that because the body isn't a combustion engine. I also think 90% of diet advice is a pile of stinking horse poo. Sifting through that to find the golden 10% is the hardest thing I've ever done. The hardest part is to realize that several anecdotes (which is just a story about something) does not equal hard data. Anecdotes sell diet books and get-thin-quick pills, but they don't actually help you lose weight. Make sure you notice that little (*Results not typical) hidden somewhere in the fine print.

Everyone's body is different. What works for me might very well fail for you. For my body to lose weight, I have to be constantly aware of what I am eating, and log it consistently every day. (Shonasteele, I totally agree that weight loss has a very strong mental component!) I can see a difference in my weight loss depending on how much sleep I get at night, my hormonal cycle, and my stress levels. I know it's not Cal In/Cal out because when I'm paying attention, I eat 1800 a day, every day, without fail.

By using MFP every day, every meal, I can see exactly how much I've eaten and exercised, and (most importantly to me) WHAT it is that I ate. If I'm not obsessive about it, I will convince myself : " I'm doing just fine, I don't need to track my food!" and that "Oh, I know how to eat!" and what really happens is that I forget what I've eaten during the day and assume that I'm doing just fine staying within my calorie range. When I do finally sit down to enter my calories, I'll discover that I've actually consumed 2500 - 3000 calories in one day and 720 the next. It's crazy!

What I concentrate on is eating a low-salt diet and it really helps for me to use pre-packaged meals to help me control calories. That's a bit of a problem, since most packaged meals are VERY high in salt. Somehow, I manage! (hah!) I discovered that when I eat a lot of salt - even if it's the same number of calories I ate yesterday - I can gain as much as 3 lbs overnight and it takes weeks to drop back off.

I exercise because when I'm done, I feel so much better. I sweat and groan and curse and get angry that I can't do some of the exercises because my body is in my way, so I power through the ones I _can_ do. When I'm done, I'm warm and glowing and I can feel my muscles and I feel a sense of accomplishment that makes me happy. When i walk on my treadmill, I fire up the Netflix on the laptop and watch episodes of fun old TV shows while I walk, and having some private "me" time makes me happy. When I walk with the dog, we have a great time together, and stop at the playground for some off-leash fun for both of us.

Been reading this thread and I think its awesome. I'm new to this site myself and so far I have found it amazing, and the people on it even more so. So many times I have tried to loose weight for all the wrong reasons, and it never works. In the end it just ends.

I think people quit their diets because they're just that, a diet. A four letter word filled with shame, guilt, and the burden of responsibility that if you need it you've already done something wrong. Like you said in your first post, the mental aspect of weight loss is so very important, as it is whenever you're trying to make a change. The general social mental mindset I've found around dieting, especially in our culture, is brutal. Especially if you're going into it with the wrong, or at least not the right mindset.

There is a book on this matter I think you would find interesting. It's not about dieting, but about self-directed change. It's a text I read a while ago in a psych class about cognitive-behavioral change (yes, I'm a psych major over here). It deals not only with the aspects of making a change in your life (no matter what kind) but the pitfalls one can encounter along the way...all based on well respected and documented research.