What are the main reason behind your failed diet attempts?

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  • gracegettingittogether
    gracegettingittogether Posts: 176 Member
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    FitnessOCD wrote: »
    Because I didn't have MFP. Ever since getting this app, I have been crushing it!

    Me too! I intend to keep logging forever. I've never enjoyed myself so much, losing weight effortlessly while eating sweets every day. It motivates me to keep going.
  • sarahthes
    sarahthes Posts: 3,252 Member
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    I've only really backslid twice. One of them will be 3 in February and the other will be 6 in April. Hard to believe I first joined MFP more than 7 years ago! After each kid it took a while to be physically & mentally ready to start losing again.
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 667 Member
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    vegaslounge wrote: »
    For the most part, the whole "diet" mindset and fads as opposed to knowing actual science "prevented" me from losing weight as I had no understanding of CI<CO or even calories. I grew up in the age of Susan Powter, SlimFast, Wow! chips, Alli and Snackwells and God knows how many more in between, it seems that every few months in the '90s there was a new product or plan on the market and I tried them all.

    The worst was Atkins because that was popular when I was a teenager and so it's the one I remember the clearest. If my mother went on a diet the whole family went on a diet (I literally remember her saying, "we have to completely revolutionize the way [our family] eats") and those were the most miserable three months of not only mine, but all of our lives. I love bread– it's undoubtedly my favorite food– and by week three, no kittening you, I was about ready to shank my best friend over the hunk of bland baguette she was mindlessly chewing in the high school cafeteria.

    Now, I eat everything I like to eat (especially bread ;) ), I just weigh the right portion sizes and don't go over my limit for the day. I see it as a budget, the same as with my finances. Honestly, this is so much simpler than the crazy crap I was doing for so long. It takes so much more mental stress to adhere to arbitrary diets than it is to...eat less and exercise more.

    Crazy, I know.

    ~VL

    I relate to this so much...plus you made me laugh several times. Susan Powter (forgot about her) shank your best friend!! Lol. Hysterical.
  • Marykaylady2010
    Marykaylady2010 Posts: 69 Member
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    Anytime I try a very specific fad diet I eventually give in cause I start craving whatever it is I can’t have. I was doing really well in a very well balanced diet and exercise routine that I was doing with a group. When the group changed the time we all met to work out I couldn’t go and then didn’t establish a routine to continue. When I am working to loose weight it’s easier for me to keep up with eating right when I am working out. I’m not sure if it’s a mind game I play with myself but I feel as if my body starts to crave more nutritious foods and I also say to myself I worked to hard at the gym to binge on donuts. So I fell of my diet when I quit exercising
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    I haven't yo-yoed like some. I moved to the US from the UK when I was 23 and a combo of the food supply and lifestyle immediately led to weight gain. It was creeping, but I went from normal weight to 40lbs too much over the years. My first attack was working out and eating well but I don't think I had a handle on the CICO back then and had picked a pretty arbitrary 1500 cals to stick to. I also had a pretty permissive doctor who prescribed me Adipex instead of discussing my lifestyle with me. The weight came off real fast, but of course it went back on. I stayed active but ate however I wanted, and ended up a sort of fat athlete - like sort of "in shape" sport wise but a big girl. I practiced all kinds of self acceptance and honestly wasn't unhappy with my body in big ways until one day I just decided to see what it would be like to just really get the weight down and get a sick fit body. I think the idea of turning 40 and just being "whatever" wasn't appealing. I'm 11 months maintaining so far and still working on the physique.
  • HDBKLM
    HDBKLM Posts: 466 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    I haven't yo-yoed like some. I moved to the US from the UK when I was 23 and a combo of the food supply and lifestyle immediately led to weight gain. It was creeping, but I went from normal weight to 40lbs too much over the years. My first attack was working out and eating well but I don't think I had a handle on the CICO back then and had picked a pretty arbitrary 1500 cals to stick to. I also had a pretty permissive doctor who prescribed me Adipex instead of discussing my lifestyle with me. The weight came off real fast, but of course it went back on. I stayed active but ate however I wanted, and ended up a sort of fat athlete - like sort of "in shape" sport wise but a big girl. I practiced all kinds of self acceptance and honestly wasn't unhappy with my body in big ways until one day I just decided to see what it would be like to just really get the weight down and get a sick fit body. I think the idea of turning 40 and just being "whatever" wasn't appealing. I'm 11 months maintaining so far and still working on the physique.

    This bit made me laugh out loud!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Too restrictive usually! and this feeling that you had to exist on rabbit food....doh! how silly a notion that was!
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
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    honestly? stress eating, for the most part.. some people lose their appetite when dealing with anxiety/feeling down, I'm the opposite of that...
  • dtelsah
    dtelsah Posts: 584 Member
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    Plain and simple - my love of all things greasy, sugary and/or baked goods. I KNOW what I am supposed to stay away from. I just have to reach a point where my motivation to be more fit exceeds my love of bad foods.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I've never yo-yo'd...and really only ever made one real attempt to lose weight which was successful. I made one half assed attempt years ago mostly in support of my wife, but I had put on a bit of weight (not much) and she wanted to do the low carb thing...I was miserable and lasted two weeks at most.

    As a general observation I'd say that people tend to be overly restrictive, they tend to feel this need to make whole sale changes overnight, and they have an all or nothing mentality.
  • JenSD6
    JenSD6 Posts: 454 Member
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    Emotional and stress eating overcoming self control. And then what does one more bag of chips matter, I'm fat again anyway. I'll get back on track next week. Rinse and repeat.
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
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    Trying to eat too little.
  • HDBKLM
    HDBKLM Posts: 466 Member
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    bump
  • Caralarma
    Caralarma Posts: 174 Member
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    I believed that weight loss was about clean eating and I love food too much for that. Then I discovered MFP and weight loss became a way of life
  • Vynex
    Vynex Posts: 18 Member
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    I lost 24 pounds last year with MFP's help. I was doing SO good, then I just got tired of exercising and wanted to eat whatever. I'm an emotional/stressed/bored eater, so that made it worse. I simply got lazy. And I gained it all back very quickly. I'm hoping this time it sticks for good, because I know what to do. I'm just choosing not to do it, and that's the problem.
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    What caused each and every one of my failures was trying to diet in a way I could not maintain for life. I only succeeded when I learned how to eat for the rest of my life to maintain a 100+ pound weight loss.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
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    I was miserable. Most diets are too restrictive for me, I was just not happy having to give up things I enjoy.

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