Losing weight does not mean you have a good plan

NovusDies
NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
edited December 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
It doesn't mean your friend, relative, co-worker, or someone they know has a good plan either.

Losing weight can easily mean you have a perfectly horrible plan and calling it a lifestyle doesn't mean it stopped being a diet.

The scale will sometimes distract you from the truth. It has certainly distracted me in the past. There is something about losing that first 5 to 10 pounds that makes you forget all the times you have lost that amount in the past and still failed to lose all you wanted... assuming this is not your first attempt.

But this time is different. I am more committed. I have more important goals to motivate me. I have more willpower. I am disgusted over letting myself go and there is no way I will continue living this way. Any of that sound familiar? I said all the above for decades.

Any diet I have been on for more than 3 weeks has resulted in weight loss and sometimes it has been that fantastical 8ish pounds in a week number. Some of my ill-conceived plans lasted for 6 months resulting in some decent losses. None of them lasted so they were all pointless except they finally made me such an expert on failure I learned to avoid the traps.

Just about ANYONE can lose some weight on just about ANY diet that creates a calorie deficit by design or accidentally. Almost EVERYONE fails to lose all the weight they want/need to lose.

What I learned is that a good plan has less to do with the scale and more to do with how easily I can stick to it. If just about any plan can produce results then the real secret is to pick one or design one that I can execute most days without much extra motivation or willpower. It is also important that I never think I have all the answers or that I am stubborn.

The other thing I see distracting some people here are the bells and whistles the internet promises people who "practice" IF or keto, or low carb, or whatever. If weight loss is your primary goal then evaluate everything on how easy you can sustain it and ignore the rest. If some of it is true that is great but if not you do not want to be stuck starting over again later on because you were lured in by features that were not directly related to losing weight.



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Replies

  • yuko0407
    yuko0407 Posts: 67 Member
    @NovusDies Great wisdom!
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    @NovusDies, you exhibit real wisdom here.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    It doesn't mean your friend, relative, co-worker, or someone they know has a good plan either.

    Losing weight can easily mean you have a perfectly horrible plan and calling it a lifestyle doesn't mean it stopped being a diet.

    What I learned is that a good plan has less to do with the scale and more to do with how easily I can stick to it. If just about any plan can produce results then the real secret is to pick one or design one that I can execute most days without much extra motivation or willpower. It is also important that I never think I have all the answers or that I am stubborn.

    The other thing I see distracting some people here are the bells and whistles the internet promises people who "practice" IF or keto, or low carb, or whatever. If weight loss is your primary goal then evaluate everything on how easy you can sustain it and ignore the rest. If some of it is true that is great but if not you do not want to be stuck starting over again later on because you were lured in by features that were not directly related to losing weight.

    I agree with so much of what you said in your original post. However, your sentiment of sustainability is the reason I call it a lifestyle over a diet. I view a diet as something that I will do for a short time and maybe lose a little something before returning to all the habits that led me to gain in the first place. I'm building, ever so slowly it seems sometimes, a better life overall, hence again why I personally call it a lifestyle. Part of that lifestyle is a way of eating that I can live with not only while I lose, but when I choose to maintain and for the rest of my life.

    Do I sometimes need to re-evaulate? Of course, my needs as far as nutrition change, my tastes change, and my understanding of what I am eating changes. My way of eating today, is vastly different from my way of eating when I began and when I think I want to eat that way I quickly realize how much I really don't. I urge everyone to find what works for them, but to never be afraid to ask on occasion, is this truly working, is this something I can live with for the rest of my life. When those answers start to shift to no then it's time to re-evaluate, but never stop moving forward.


    I agree with most of what you said. However, I always find the "lifestyle" tag a little odd.

    To me, it's just a matter of eating appropriately to get to or maintain a healthy weight /body fat level. Exercise is something everyone should do for health and fitness regardless of their lifestyle.

    I do really see eating properly in the same light as I would see, say, an urban lifestyle or a beach lifestyle or any of the more odd ones (use your imagination). It's just eating appropriately.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,937 Member
    @NovusDies and @mmapags Fair enough points and I understand why the two you don't prefer or wish to use the term. For me it's about the mental and about a slow overhaul of my entire life. I may one day feel the same as either of you, but I wanted to explain why I use the term. Find me odd, but so far it's working well and we all need to do for ourselves to get to where we want to be.

    If it works for you, great! A lot of the whole process of eating appropriately is changing our mindset and learning to recognize the triggers that cause overeating. So, whatever works for you.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited December 2019
    Terminology is really only important in how you relate to other people. Internally if it helps to call it a diet, a lifestyle, normal, or awesome sauce it does not really matter.

    I think a diet is commonly viewed as a temporary thing so if what you engage in doesn't last it wasn't really awesome sauce it was a diet. That was the point I was trying to make.
  • tony56pr
    tony56pr Posts: 141 Member
    edited December 2019
    Diets should be used as a tool. I lost 130 pounds low carb, (more than I planned) That's not really sustainable for life and always. That said, I understand where my weakness is and what I have to avoid so I don't get fat.

    After I lost weight I wanted to bulk up (I was 162.2 pounds) and gain muscle. Which i did, but i gained more fat than i wanted and then got put on TRT, and that made my weight shoot up 20+ pounds and had low energy and struggled with consistency at gym. I'm finally coming back, but it's been a struggle. I'm now ~240 pounds

    Anyways, of course calories in/calories out, but for me and many I believe, carbs are an issue, I just cant get full like I should and end up eating way too much. So avoid all junk and try to keep other carbs to minimal. I do better somedays than others, but that's what is needed for me.
  • Kotuliak
    Kotuliak Posts: 259 Member
    Thanks for an excellent post, OP. Also, many good points in @lgfrie post. I believe planning for life stressors and other disruptors (such as travel, holidays, etc) is absolutely critical to success. That includes planning the bootstrap for when we completely give up for a week or two. It may never happen, but if it does, it's just reality of life, and we all had better prepare for it.

    I don't agree with the following:
    lgfrie wrote: »
    Well, whatever you've "got" left after your diet's been all bruised up like that is the truth, the real one. At that point, you either have some new way of approaching food and exercise, or you don't.

    I don't believe that's "the truth." There are days when we feel so bad we call in sick. Or stay in bed all day. Or drink a bottle of wine. Or whatever. That's not the truth - those are exceptions. We live with them, we accept them - and we move on. Moving on means going back to our "normal" lifestyle. Which includes getting up in the morning, going to work, etc. Which also includes going back to eating, drinking, and exercising as usual.