Stop telling me you lost weight by walking and cutting out beer.
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HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »My previous GP used to say things like, "Just figure out your trigger food" or "Just cut out junk food." I explained to him that there was no one trigger food and I didn't eat junk food. I weighed twice what I ought because I ate twice and much as I should. No, I couldn't lose 140+ pounds by just walking or stopping snacks. No, I couldn't suddenly go to some one-page advice sheet he handed out that was a low-fat 1200 calorie/day plan. Luckily, I had found MFP and knew how to lose weight. Doing it was a problem but knowing how was not and it wasn't what he was saying. When I control my calorie intake I lose.
I had a nurse practitioner tell me to eat carrots instead of cookies. Yep, last time I went to her.16 -
I lost weight by cycling, strength training and swapping mid-priced wine for twice as expensive but half the amount good quality wine.
Oh and by cutting 3,500 cals from my weekly calorie needs.
I've lost a few weekends to beer though if that counts? :drinker:
Think your first step would be to tighten up your food logging - lots of estimating and using poor measures in your diary such as spoons, scoops, cups, half this, half that.
Weigh those things on digital scales, maybe eat less prepared food where you are only making a very rough guess like your burritos......
You might find this game of numbers much easier and less annoying, with less plateaus, if you knew your numbers better.
PS - just looked at your exercise diary, your calorie burn estimates are also dreadfully exaggerated. Maybe a fresh start is in order on both the CO and CI sides?
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asthesoapturns wrote: »If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.
I can promise you Ive never once asked how anyone has done it.1 -
asthesoapturns wrote: »If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.
I can promise you Ive never once asked how anyone has done it.
Then they're rude as hell. To quote a drag queen, water off a duck's back. Don't dwell on it. I have absolutely been told what I can't eat after someone's found out what I lost. Yeah. Thanks, what I've done works for me.
Depending on how long you've been at it you may just need to be patient. I was losing 10lb a month for the better part of a year. Now it's dropped off a lot, doing the same stuff, just because that's where I'm at. Frustrating, but predictable. You may also look at if you are under fuelling YOU. I don't lose weight at 1200 cal. I plateaued hard. Once I couple hundred calories back, presto started losing again. As a rule I don't eat all of my exercise calories back, I don't entirely trust the estimates but how accurate any of it is varies from person to person.4 -
When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.20
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Full disclosure, I've hit a plateau in my weight loss and it had made me more than a bit salty. However I've always thought this was annoying but now just need to put it out into the universe. I am so sick of people saying they've lost forty pounds -or whatever- just by walking a few miles a day and stopped drinking their calories. I walk anywhere between ten and thirteen miles a day on average. I never drink beer, or soda, or any other 'devil drink' you can think of, I don't have mindless calories to cut out of my day. I do strength training six days a week and worked incredibly hard for every pound I've managed to lose. I get that when you look at me you think I don't move very much or that I am guzzling the calorie laden drinks when no one is looking, I understand that people think that telling someone to walk is a helpful tip to start a weight loss journey, but respectfully that doesn't work for everyone. I can't be the only person out there that rolls their eyes every time someone says 'start walking and don't drink your calories', can I?
•Well, we don't know how much beer *they* were guzzling down before. (A few beers on an almost daily basis could easily be equivalent to a pound per week). Or soda (some people regularly consume ginormous wads of sugar-water calories). (And drunk people also make stupid food choices at bars, which have insanely calorie-dense food..they may be one of these people and conveniently have forgotten that bit).
•And maintenance calories are a LOT more for someone heavier. There's a reason it's often larger males that lose a bunch by merely cutting out the beer. (although they are usually also athletic ones in my experience, not new walkers - which means it would take some awareness, but not a huge amount of it, to keep under TDEE..cutting out obvious stuff usually is enough in that case).
• I don't know anyone in the 'I lost all this weight by just adding walking and cutting out beer/soda' category, but if someone is far into being obese, they could lose quite a bit doing this. (much higher level of maintenance calories + much higher calorie burn for even a super-low-burning activity + they may have been consuming loads of alcohol/sugar water previously to get to that point in the first place).
• If physically fit/near normal weight and/or smaller and/or not very active, you'll have to be pretty on-point on calories (easy changes like these won't cut it).
•*** And.. if that was someone's response to me, I probably would respond way more snarkily/meanly than merely rolling my eyes at them. (If the words "well, if I was as fat, lazy, and a lush as you are/were, then maybe that would work" applied, I'm not sure they wouldn't automatically come rolling out of my mouth.)(Note: at my heaviest 158 lbs, I was a runner, hiker, trail runner/orienteerer, mountain climber...so stupid non-applicable advice from someone heavier than me and non-athletic playing know-it-all would have annoyed TF out of me too). ***
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When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.
True.. but in the OP's case, it seems this was given as unsolicited advice (rather than a question about *starting* to exercise) with the implication that she must currently be sedentary AF.1 -
I'm just wondering how long you've been doing 20,000 steps every day and 45 minutes of strength training 6 days a week.
And if you have around 10-15 lb to lose, that'll be masked by water weight in fluctuations by different strength workout routines.
Are you using a weight tracker such as Happy Scale or Libra? Those show the trending weight / moving average, not just from day to day.10 -
When I suggest that people "start by walking," it's in response to a question about how to start EXERCISING. Walking is one of the best ways to start exercising, especially for someone who's unfit and overweight. Not sure why you would have an issue with that.
True.. but in the OP's case, it seems this was given as unsolicited advice (rather than a question about *starting* to exercise) with the implication that she must currently be sedentary AF.
Hmm. I didn’t get that at all from OP. They just said they were tired of hearing that walking is a good way to start. Whatever.8 -
Are you using a fitness calculator to determine your TDEE or your actual data from MFP? I have found that the majority of fitness calculators overestimate my TDEE. To use several different calculators at once you can go to Gym Goal and see the variation in estimated calories. There are members here that have spreadsheets that they use to calculate their monthly TDEEs, maybe one of them could chime in?1
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zebasschick wrote: »IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »I hate walking and I love beer. Does that help?
interesting... i like walking and a hate beer.
Which one of us is the weird one? Maybe both? 😂5 -
I love this post so much. I'm so annoyed with men especially who are like, oh i started eating a salad for lunch and lost 15 lbs. Thanks for the update "Bill", thats super helpful for me with female hormones and metabolism. Also used to hate when women would be like, oh I got even lower than my pre-pregnancy weight from breastfeeding. So glad for you but unfortunately I gained weight bc I was SO f-ing hungry. Sorry about your plateau though, that's super frustrating11
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I run into people who say, "Oh, you should just eat lots of vegetables and fill up that way! " I have IBS. If I eat most common vegetables like that, I'll fill up all right. And it will hurt. For a couple days, as my body explosively and angrily rids itself of the stuff I ate.
I do a lot of smiling and nodding and remembering that eating chips and candy every day, within my calorie budget, has got me 45 pounds down, and that we're all different.
I don't exercise to lose weight. I exercise to build muscle and endurance. I have arthritis in my feet, so at this weight I still have to save my weightbearing time for ADLs. And right now I'm plateaued, and while I'm not thrilled about it, I'm also under a lot of stress and that will do it. When the stress eases, I'll probably lose five pounds.11 -
AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »I run into people who say, "Oh, you should just eat lots of vegetables and fill up that way! " I have IBS. If I eat most common vegetables like that, I'll fill up all right. And it will hurt. For a couple days, as my body explosively and angrily rids itself of the stuff I ate.
I do a lot of smiling and nodding and remembering that eating chips and candy every day, within my calorie budget, has got me 45 pounds down, and that we're all different.
I don't exercise to lose weight. I exercise to build muscle and endurance. I have arthritis in my feet, so at this weight I still have to save my weightbearing time for ADLs. And right now I'm plateaued, and while I'm not thrilled about it, I'm also under a lot of stress and that will do it. When the stress eases, I'll probably lose five pounds.
I hear you on the IBS. Veggies and dip is such a healthy snack (I hear this constantly), or replace rice with cauliflower in everything. I'd rather not be sick for days. Not that I don't like raw veggies, love them, but 80% of the time I will get horrible spasms that last for days and it's not worth it. I have salt water taffy at my desk at work. I eat a few every day. I eat ice cream. Lost 65lb. I personally haven't found absolutely cutting anything from my diet, save for what makes me sick, to be helpful or necessary.5 -
I love this post so much. I'm so annoyed with men especially who are like, oh i started eating a salad for lunch and lost 15 lbs. Thanks for the update "Bill", thats super helpful for me with female hormones and metabolism. Also used to hate when women would be like, oh I got even lower than my pre-pregnancy weight from breastfeeding. So glad for you but unfortunately I gained weight bc I was SO f-ing hungry. Sorry about your plateau though, that's super frustrating
@Raegold I love YOUR post! I lost weight super slow working out like a beast and weighing everything, it made no logical sense. I eat super healthy. Got to maintenance, my health crashed, now I'm trying all kinds of eliminations from my diet and fighting to exercise. I start dating and he's getting healthy from eating a couple servings of veggies I make and he doesn't exercise. I get even more strict and my hair starts falling out and I break out. I wish I was one of those people who drops 50lbs stopping soda!10 -
If the topic of weight loss comes up and someone asks me how I lost 43 lbs and I respond “calorie counting” they usually don’t believe me... or they just don’t want to believe that calorie counting was what worked and helped me keep it off for nearly 7 years now. It’s ok if they don’t believe me though, as long as it keeps working!
Back when I was losing weight I was 100% sedentary and the only exercise I COULD do was walking and it was the bulk of my calorie burn for the whole 10 months it took to reach my goal weight. Also I only drank zero calorie drinks like water and tea and that really helped me save and spend my calorie allowance on delicious satisfying food instead.
Now I’m a runner so I burn some calories that way. In maintenance if the scale creeps up over 5 lbs from my goal weight I will count calories but also start adding walking to my exercise in addition to my regular running schedule. Just a short walk a few more times a week really makes losing those few pounds a lot easier, you’d think it wouldn’t matter or that I could just increase my running but that just makes me tired and ravenous. Over many years I’ve tried and tested other methods but only the extra walks during the week make me easily lose the weight exactly as predicted when coupled with counting calories, and I always eat back ALL my exercise calories. But of course we are all different so what works for some may not work for others, but don’t get discouraged!5 -
asthesoapturns wrote: »If you aren't asking how they achieved their weight loss, they can keep their mouths shut, but if you're asking, and that's the answer their giving, then it's not fair to be annoyed. Not to come across as an *kitten* but that IS how I've lost what I've lost. Not drinking excessive calorie heavy *kitten*, portion control and walking. And it was easy once I made the decision to do it, just time consuming.
I can promise you Ive never once asked how anyone has done it.
Then they're just volunteering stuff about themselves. No reason to think it's meant as advice to you. Just like you, they think the conversation is all about them. They can't imagine you wouldn't be interested in whatever random stories about themselves they decide to tell. They're not nearly as interested in the fact that you're eating X or doing Y workout as you think they are.20 -
I'm taking your post as a rant and frustration which many of us run into. If you've been doing the same things for awhile then why not think about changing your exercise up? Also, analyze what you're eating and make some changes. See if that helps. People that exercise a lot and watch their intake can get into a rut. Try something new. Also, people that just start a diet and exercise regime (even bland) can lose weight seemingly effortlessly. By all means not all. Good luck, I hope things start moving soon.2
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The problem with this advice, is that it relies on someone being totally inactive and drinking a lot of calories. If you have lost 20kg by not drinking (soda/beer/etc.), you were drinking a LOT!
It's very similar to the advice about cutting out takeaway coffees to save money - it assumes that you are making "bad" decisions that can easily be cut out of your life for instant results.9 -
I lost weight by cycling, strength training and swapping mid-priced wine for twice as expensive but half the amount good quality wine.
Oh and by cutting 3,500 cals from my weekly calorie needs.
I've lost a few weekends to beer though if that counts? :drinker:
Think your first step would be to tighten up your food logging - lots of estimating and using poor measures in your diary such as spoons, scoops, cups, half this, half that.
Weigh those things on digital scales, maybe eat less prepared food where you are only making a very rough guess like your burritos......
You might find this game of numbers much easier and less annoying, with less plateaus, if you knew your numbers better.
PS - just looked at your exercise diary, your calorie burn estimates are also dreadfully exaggerated. Maybe a fresh start is in order on both the CO and CI sides?
If you are using your Fitbit why are you then logging your exercises like walking and running using the MFP database's poor calorie estimates? (Not that Fitbit is guaranteed to be accurate of course.)
If you are weighing your food I don't understand why are you logging half a peach, half an avocado, half a sweet potato, ten strawberries at an unrealistic 2cals each?
Oh well - if you are confident that your logging is accurate then suggest you carry on for a month.
If you lose as expected then great, if you don't then time to review your methods. As you no doubt realise if you are in a genuine and prolonged deficit you must lose fat.I lost weight by cycling, strength training and swapping mid-priced wine for twice as expensive but half the amount good quality wine.
Oh and by cutting 3,500 cals from my weekly calorie needs.
I've lost a few weekends to beer though if that counts? :drinker:
Think your first step would be to tighten up your food logging - lots of estimating and using poor measures in your diary such as spoons, scoops, cups, half this, half that.
Weigh those things on digital scales, maybe eat less prepared food where you are only making a very rough guess like your burritos......
You might find this game of numbers much easier and less annoying, with less plateaus, if you knew your numbers better.
PS - just looked at your exercise diary, your calorie burn estimates are also dreadfully exaggerated. Maybe a fresh start is in order on both the CO and CI sides?
I don't understand how you are getting from weighing your food to logging precisely half of various vegetables and fruits including calorie dense avocado? Perhaps you could expand on your method?
I could see how you could log 3 spoons of something if you weigh to the gram an amount that is equal in calories to that 3 spoons database entry but seems like an unnecessary step.
I could see how you could use an inaccurate database entry that has 2 cals per strawberry and adjust the number to match what you weighed but again don't understand why you wouldn't simply pick a better entry and log the weight?
Also don't understand why you are logging exercises like walking and running from the MFP database if you are using your Fitbit?
But if you are confident you are consistently eating under your actual TDEE then carry on, you can always review your methods if after a month you aren't getting the results you expect. Good luck.
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