I'm new on here but here are my thoughts on weight loss

FiberousJ
FiberousJ Posts: 82 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm new here, but I want to see if anyone can relate.

I've come to this conclusion. I'm not saying calories don't matter. But what I am saying is that if you don't figure out the root of the problem, it won't be realistic to sustain. People overeat in general because food tastes good. That pleasure is what is hard to overcome. If only it were as simple as just refueling your body like you refill your gas tank at the gas station. Think about it. If only it were that simple.

But that's not where the problem truly underlies. It isn't as simple as just being able to count. Most people are not overweight because they have trouble counting. It's because they have trouble with not needing to stimulate their brain with food. I know I have this problem too. I own it. I'm trying whatever I can to improve.

I don't feel like we do enough to treat the real reason why we overeat. We focus on it more like it's just a matter of being good at math. We all know there's more to it than that. That's not the underlying reason.

If you're not hungry, you're less likely to overeat. Even if you do manage to use willpower and count your calories properly, you're just gonna yo-yo, if you haven't addressed the real issue.

Now I have lost a bit of weight, around 30 pounds in a year, but I also workout 2-3 hours a day, lift a few days a week and I don't do it for weight loss. I'm training for endurance sports. If I want to get down to my ultimate goal, I'm going to have to address my emotional eating issues. Just because I can count, doesn't mean I've solved the underlying issue. Yes, I can confirm exercise does make you lose weight, but it might not help you lose all you need unless you are someone that doesn't have a big appetite.

Food stimulates me. Sure, I'm trying things like meditation and eating more fiber, drinking more water. But I'm not able to completely curb my habits and find myself going in cycles. The more I try to restrict foods, the more I want them. I have a journal too, where I keep track and store my ideas. I'm learning there is no magic bullet.

I'm just being honest. Sure, calories matter but the real question is how do you take care of the underlying problem of how to naturally not eat too much in the first place.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    For me, "naturally not eating too much" is not a goal that I consider worthwhile.

    I respect that others might want to achieve that goal, but I'm living in a situation that is virtually unprecedented, few of my ancestors ever had to deal with it. With little effort, I can easily access a surplus of highly palatable foods and I'm not required to move much in the course of my daily life. Given that this situation is novel for humans, it's not surprising that I require some strategies to ensure that I move enough to stay fit and don't consume more energy than my body needs. I'm fine with that not happening "naturally" as long as I can make it happen.

    I don't think anyone here says that it begins and ends with calories and there is nothing more to consider. There's an understanding that there are situational, logistical, and emotional components to meeting a calorie goal. It's actually a pretty frequent thread topic -- the different ways that people address the obstacles they discover in weight management.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    I have learned that I need to weigh myself every few months and if my weight is up, try to cut down on some things. If it's still up after cutting down, I need to calorie count to re-baseline.

    I am the child of two morbidly obese parents. I found MFP when I was obese for the first time in my life and used it to lose 70 lbs. Since then, I have creeped into overweight only 1 time since 2009 and I've never gone back to being obese. Activity level has never been a problem. Fiber, meditation, and water have never been an issue. Heck- I'm a vegetarian and don't even eat a lot of things people find to be major issues in the standard American diet.

    For me, the solution really is just about counting calories (when my weight starts to go up).
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    I overate because I associate every emotion or way of feeling (happy, sad, bored, tired, excited, anxious . . ) with food. I learned very young to "stuff down" bad feelings with food and "puff up" good feelings with food (and, by the way, sometimes with foods that I didn't really thought tasted good.)

    I reduced overeating and lost weight when I addressed my emotional eating behavior, and actively worked to understand the thought-feel-act cycle: what thoughts lead to the feelings that make me want to act by overeating.
  • FiberousJ
    FiberousJ Posts: 82 Member
    leggup wrote: »
    I have learned that I need to weigh myself every few months and if my weight is up, try to cut down on some things. If it's still up after cutting down, I need to calorie count to re-baseline.

    I am the child of two morbidly obese parents. I found MFP when I was obese for the first time in my life and used it to lose 70 lbs. Since then, I have creeped into overweight only 1 time since 2009 and I've never gone back to being obese. Activity level has never been a problem. Fiber, meditation, and water have never been an issue. Heck- I'm a vegetarian and don't even eat a lot of things people find to be major issues in the standard American diet.

    For me, the solution really is just about counting calories (when my weight starts to go up).


    So it sounds like you haven't had much of a struggle with weight, especially since you said you were only overweight once. You didn't say that you stuffed down food for your emotions. The poster below you did.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    FiberousJ wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    I have learned that I need to weigh myself every few months and if my weight is up, try to cut down on some things. If it's still up after cutting down, I need to calorie count to re-baseline.

    I am the child of two morbidly obese parents. I found MFP when I was obese for the first time in my life and used it to lose 70 lbs. Since then, I have creeped into overweight only 1 time since 2009 and I've never gone back to being obese. Activity level has never been a problem. Fiber, meditation, and water have never been an issue. Heck- I'm a vegetarian and don't even eat a lot of things people find to be major issues in the standard American diet.

    For me, the solution really is just about counting calories (when my weight starts to go up).


    So it sounds like you haven't had much of a struggle with weight, especially since you said you were only overweight once. You didn't say that you stuffed down food for your emotions. The poster below you did.

    I went from obese down to overweight with MFP. Before I was obese I was likely overweight for a while, creeping up. After I was obese I was overweight for a while- almost a year, slowly but surely losing weight with MFP. I crept back up to overweight in covid times. Even while not overweight, my MFP progress chart looks like a heart rate monitor. Weight stays down for about a year then a MFP check-in and calorie counting is needed to re-baseline because I've gained 30+ lbs. Because I am very tall, the Normal BMI weight range for my height is 137-183 (46 lb margin!).

    tl;dr: I haven't been overweight "just once" and I have absolutely had to work hard many times.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,457 Member
    Figuring out the root of the problem......

    Boy oh boy, welcome to the boards. You’re going to have a field day here!!!

    A zillion members, and a zillion roots.

    But we all have the same goal, so welcome!

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