People asking how I lost weight
njitaliana
Posts: 814 Member
I have about 70 lbs off. It has taken about 9 months. Every time someone notices my weight loss, they ask how I lost weight. I tell them I use MFP to track my calories and that I eat up to 1600 calories a day.
They look at me with disappointment and then proceed to tell me how I'm losing weight "wrong" and which way I "should" be losing: don't eat carbs, don't eat bread, don't eat sugar, juice all day instead of eating regular food, eat cabbage soup all day instead of regular food, only eat 300 calories a day, etc, etc. This most recent time was at a dermatologist's office. Instead of being happy that I lost weight, the dermatologist told me I should consume nothing but juice.
Yea, right. I have 70 lbs off and am enjoying eating whatever I want, within reason. I'll keep doing it my way. Why do people think losing weight requires starving yourself or depriving yourself instead of just tracking calories and eating enjoyable foods? It's annoying. Next time someone asks, I feel like telling them it's a secret and they can find out when they buy the book I'm writing, LOL.
They look at me with disappointment and then proceed to tell me how I'm losing weight "wrong" and which way I "should" be losing: don't eat carbs, don't eat bread, don't eat sugar, juice all day instead of eating regular food, eat cabbage soup all day instead of regular food, only eat 300 calories a day, etc, etc. This most recent time was at a dermatologist's office. Instead of being happy that I lost weight, the dermatologist told me I should consume nothing but juice.
Yea, right. I have 70 lbs off and am enjoying eating whatever I want, within reason. I'll keep doing it my way. Why do people think losing weight requires starving yourself or depriving yourself instead of just tracking calories and eating enjoyable foods? It's annoying. Next time someone asks, I feel like telling them it's a secret and they can find out when they buy the book I'm writing, LOL.
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Replies
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i totally feel you on this. on the 'what do you hate to hear' thread, my choice was 'what's your secret???', since that almost always ends in an argument.
congrats on your loss, clearly whatever you're doing is working!2 -
Because people want some sort of quick fix. While we see doing these drastic diets as harder than just moderating intake, they see lifelong lifestyle changes as too hard and want something they can do for a couple of months and then like magic they're skinny. Doesn't usually work too well for them.
This is also an important reminder that some doctors really don't have the first clue about nutrition. Just because they are medical doctors and may be knowledgeable in their specific area (although honestly that is far from a given), does mean they are necessarily any more qualified that Bob the accountant to give out nutritional advice. I'd be hesitant to seek any sort of medical advice from a doctor who thinks a person should only consume juice.5 -
I'd also be concerned about the Dr. That is a very odd recommendation. Obviously what you are doing is working so Id keep that up and be proud of yourself. This is a tough process4
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I'd also be concerned about the Dr. That is a very odd recommendation. Obviously what you are doing is working so Id keep that up and be proud of yourself. This is a tough process
She's a dermatologist who I only went to for a mole. Why she thinks she should give out nutritional advice is puzzling.4 -
Because people want some sort of quick fix. While we see doing these drastic diets as harder than just moderating intake, they see lifelong lifestyle changes as too hard and want something they can do for a couple of months and then like magic they're skinny. Doesn't usually work too well for them.
This is also an important reminder that some doctors really don't have the first clue about nutrition. Just because they are medical doctors and may be knowledgeable in their specific area (although honestly that is far from a given), does mean they are necessarily any more qualified that Bob the accountant to give out nutritional advice. I'd be hesitant to seek any sort of medical advice from a doctor who thinks a person should only consume juice.
She is a dermatologist who I was seeing just to get a mole removed. For some reason, she felt she should dispense nutritional advice.1 -
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It seems crazy to me that people give a successful person who has lost weight..advice on how they SHOULD have lost their weight. lol. Insane. really funny if you think about it..
Maybe a "thanks for your thoughts..but you can't argue with success and my way obviously worked for me."6 -
I never really talked about it. People could see that I was brown bagging my breakfast, lunch, and snacks and eating a more nutritionally sound diet rather than Taco Bell everyday for lunch which was usually a burrito supreme, taco supreme, two bean burritos, and a large Mt Dew...I was also exercising regularly on my lunch break. I think people just assumed eating healthier and exercising regularly.
I never told anyone except for my wife that I was calorie counting.2 -
elisa123gal wrote: »It seems crazy to me that people give a successful person who has lost weight..advice on how they SHOULD have lost their weight. lol. Insane. really funny if you think about it..
Maybe a "thanks for your thoughts..but you can't argue with success and my way obviously worked for me."
That's pretty much what I say, and yet they continue giving me advice on what I'm doing "wrong."0 -
My bad cholesterol was creeping up over a year ago. My Doctor told me to stop eating eggs. what I did was eliminate processed foods & high sugar treats. Dropped 40lbs.
Boom!! blood work is normal now & BTW I eat 2 eggs every day...
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I never really talked about it. People could see that I was brown bagging my breakfast, lunch, and snacks and eating a more nutritionally sound diet rather than Taco Bell everyday for lunch which was usually a burrito supreme, taco supreme, two bean burritos, and a large Mt Dew...I was also exercising regularly on my lunch break. I think people just assumed eating healthier and exercising regularly.
I never told anyone except for my wife that I was calorie counting.
Then I guess that means you are in a different situation where the same people see you every day. I'm not in that situation, as I work from home. People don't see me for a couple months and then ask what I did to lose weight.0 -
You could say you've cut out the flavour of the month Instagram or Pinterest or whatever diets that almost always lead to a restrict-binge cycle.
A bit passive aggressive, but so are they.1 -
Look up diet books on Amazon. The books are 98% this or that gimmick or trick. I don’t understand the attraction.
When people asked how I lost I told them - old fashioned diet and exercise. And kept on walking.
Why everyone has an opinion about what others should be doing, I don’t know that either. I’ve had morbidly obese people tell me I was doing it wrong. People are nuts.4 -
njitaliana wrote: »elisa123gal wrote: »It seems crazy to me that people give a successful person who has lost weight..advice on how they SHOULD have lost their weight. lol. Insane. really funny if you think about it..
Maybe a "thanks for your thoughts..but you can't argue with success and my way obviously worked for me."
That's pretty much what I say, and yet they continue giving me advice on what I'm doing "wrong."
After a while - like after the 2nd or 3rd time of the same nonsense from the same person - I think it's OK to just laugh, then smile like you have a secret, and change the subject.
I literally had an overweight friend argue with me at length that it was impossible to lose weight without cutting carbs, because "last Winter she had read all the books and they all said so". Finally, I underscored something she implicitly knew but was ignoring: Last Winter, what I had done was lose 50 pounds, from obese to healthy, while still eating carbs. She didn't have a good answer for that . . . so she got pretty mad at me, actually. 5 -
At least they noticed you lost weight. Usually when I even bother to tell people I’ve lost weight they ask how with eager anticipation. When I tell them about MFP they always get a big disappointed look on their faces and say “oh that’s WAY too difficult for me”. From now on I’m just going to say it’s a new scientific breakthrough you just take a blue pill once a day and voila the pounds come flying off! And some person on MFP is writing a book about it that will be released shortly. Just let me know where to send the preorders for your book!1
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I actually ran into someone after I had lost 120 pounds who told me "if you'd done X (I don't even remember what it was) you could have lost faster." Seriously? I lost 120 pounds in 12 months - just how much faster should I have gone????
People have quit asking me now, probably because I've resorted to telling them "magic." They don't really want to know, they just want to tell me how they could never do what I did.9 -
I actually ran into someone after I had lost 120 pounds who told me "if you'd done X (I don't even remember what it was) you could have lost faster." Seriously? I lost 120 pounds in 12 months - just how much faster should I have gone????
People have quit asking me now, probably because I've resorted to telling them "magic." They don't really want to know, they just want to tell me how they could never do what I did.
I completely relate to all of this! Yes!!
I also find that people who lose let's say 40 lb on a fad diet, start dressing very revealing/sexy & wear a lot of makeup, and post tons of photos on social media, get the most attention & the most people wanting to follow them and do what they do. This doesn't seem to lessen, even if the person immediately gains back every pound, was still overweight or obese the entire time, and goes back to wearing sweats 24/7. It's the image and that drastic change most people seek.
I probably sound bitter, saying that, and it's fine if I do. But as someone who always took pride in her appearance even at 300 lb, dressed the same/does the same makeup, and lost well over 100 lb SLOWLY through calorie-counting and have kept it off successfully for 5 years and counting...people are not interested in that. It's not the story they want. They want to go from frump to sex kitten in a few weeks, a couple months AT MOST, with a magic diet, even if they're starting out morbidly obese.
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You could say you followed a strict diet of 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fats (or whatever your macros are) and tracked it all with a special app that recommended how much sugar, fiber and other nutrients to eat. (In other words, MFP).2
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People don't wanna hear that we've lost weight by eating right and exercising, they want a shortcut. Be happy you did it the healthy way. Yay MFP!1
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the answer i like to give to this question is "applied knowledge" then i say 'i learned what's in the food i eat by logging it on my fitness pal, and how many calories i burn etc"... and then i say "basically i got an education." anything done successfully is done by getting an education first. you wouldn't try to build a boat without first educating yourself on how to build it would you? and if you did, you sure wouldn't trust it to float in the ocean! (124 lbs lost)2
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Everyone and I mean everyone has to always pitch in their 2 cents . You are doing good so far . When you need advice you'll try other things. But with so much to choose from just listen to your body. I avoided carbs (bread) for 2 weeks and lost 10 pounds. Never again. It didnt come back but it was not easy.0
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When a colleague asked I said calorie counting & exercising and she said I should start Slimming World with her instead. Although she hadn't lost anything yet 'it'll be easier to count syn's than calories'. She didn't like when I said I lose weight for free. And she definitely didn't like when I said rather than SW subs, I could pay my husband £5 a week and he could call me fat instead
A friend also asked me to join a juice plan. Basically she paid someone £100 a week to juice some fruit & veg in their kitchen and put them in little bottles. Sarcastically, I asked if that was all it cost and the answer was no, there's £10 for delivery too
I'd rather wipe my butt with nettles, which would be less painful than after a few days of magic juice. 1
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