Attitudes of people with different levels of fitness and wei

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  • Bethie_B
    Bethie_B Posts: 292 Member
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    I really don't know that it's so much an issue of denial. I think there are a lot of us that start to feel hopeless, particularly if you're trying really hard to lose, and either plateau for an extended period of time, or like me, have been working hard, cutting calories and not losing anything. Yes, yes, I know that it's all a process and each individual has to figure out the correct balance of calories in and out to have success. But the constant roadblocks can really set a person back. It's not an excuse, it's a fact.

    I exercise 6 days a week now. When I'm out in my neighborhood walking, it's almost a daily occurrence of people shouting things out of their cars at me. I've heard "go home fattie", "fat a**" and the most popular "Moooo". So believe me, it's not denial that I'm fat, or denial that I need to do the work to have positive results. Sometimes we just need some hope and kindness, instead of judgment for ruining our bodies in the first place.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    I really think everyone should be encouraged as much as possible. It's hard, we know that. But everyone can do it.

    Also, this is weird.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    I guess all the ongoing obesity research is a waste of time since it all boils down to gluttonous behavior and excuses right? Why bother researching when a simple physics equation is the answer to a complex biochemical process?
  • Phrak
    Phrak Posts: 353 Member
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    I guess all the ongoing obesity research is a waste of time since it all boils down to gluttonous behavior and excuses right? Why bother researching when a simple physics equation is the answer to a complex biochemical process?

    Simple. Money. If they can figure out that "silver bullet" that allows people to lose weight without putting in effort. It will be worth billions of dollars.
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
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    I think it can all be boiled down to one thing. Excuses. Losing weight and being in shape is damn hard. There's no way around that. To do it takes work and effort and dedication.

    So you either do the work and get fit or make excuses as to why you can't. It's a defensive thing your brain does that allows you to take it easy on yourself, "Hey it's not your fault. Gyms are too expensive. You don't have the time. Bacon is delicious and even more so with mayonnaise."

    If you really want to be in shape you have to work hard at it. There's no other way. People who are in shape or have worked to get there realize this and have the attitude to match.

    A big thing is education on the subject, I know how I got fat...Food and lack of exercise, that simple. Now I am losing weight and feeling better eating more than I ever have. I still eat bacon and mayo because I took the time to educate myself on weight loss and exercise. Everyone want's a quick fix like a 7 day soup diet. Look at the forums here, it's the same thing everyday, different people asking the same questions over and over because no one looks anything up or does their own research.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    I guess all the ongoing obesity research is a waste of time since it all boils down to gluttonous behavior and excuses right? Why bother researching when a simple physics equation is the answer to a complex biochemical process?

    Simple. Money. If they can figure out that "silver bullet" that allows people to lose weight without putting in effort. It will be worth billions of dollars.

    I don't buy it. Its really simple that most people on this thread have narrow-minded unscientific views of the world around them. There is plenty of scientific evidence supporting the idea that our body's response to the environment we live in (ie. full of easily accessible toxic processed foods) is the cause of obesity, not the psychological behaviors of each individual.

    Not everybody is in it for the money. We really do need to find a solution that works. There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that either calorie restriction or exercise are effective treatments for obesity.
  • tlc12078
    tlc12078 Posts: 334 Member
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    I have this very same problem as you, been tested. But one thing I did find when my body was going through hell being pregnant 3 times in row (them being c-sections) and 2 other surgeries, 1 being a very huge hernia that got repaired and then infected. That I found a high protein diet worked for me. I am not making excuses for my over weight problem either, but I am so sick n tired of people just saying cus you over eat which is not the case. My log on here tells me so. I actually by the time I am done, have between 500 to 1,000 calories to spare. I have had problems all my life, been fighting the bulge all my life. But my doctors tested my thyroid, came back ok. I know I am on the birth control shot. I got onto it every time I had a baby, but had to get off because it was effecting me drastically, including my weight. So, I am not in denial of my weight problem, but frustrated that nothing worked, but I am at it again, only because I have lost 30 pounds in the last month of me being on this high protein diet. SO I dont want to give up just yet.
  • fatzombiegirl
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    "Most people are very supportive and complimentary, but there are one or two people who, when they ask how I've done it, seem to immediately switch off when I tell them I just ate better and got a gym membership. It's like they don't want to hear that it's a hard graft and want me to tell them about some magic pill or fad diet that makes you lose 10lbs in a week."

    This is so true. I've seen them "swtich off" too. As soon as I tell people about eating healthier, they respond "Oh I couldn't give up FILL IN THE BLANK."

    You have to reach a point where you want it bad enough to deny yourself some things. Eventually I realized I enjoyed the healthy foods as much or more than the unhealthy ones I used to eat. I took a while, though, to make that transition.
  • almc170
    almc170 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I think it's interesting to the extent to which these attitudes are fostered among healthcare professionals as well. I've been working with a nutritionist since December, when I first joined MFP. Aside from wanting to put me on some ridiculous DASH diet (six servings of grains a day, are you kidding me??), she also suggested that I not worry about exercise at first, that it's not really that necessary for weight loss. I think the idea was that at some point I would ease into fitness by counting steps with a pedometer and whatnot. I promptly ignored her advice and started lifting weights :) To be fair, the woman's not completely useless. She encouraged me to stick with a moderate calorie deficit and directed me to this site.

    I think that, all too often, people aren't really pushed to make the necessary changes that will help them lose weight. My husband, a type 1 diabetic, has had the same experience. In fact, one doctor told him that getting patients to make diet and fitness changes was so difficult he had stopped incorporating it into treatment plans, relying on drug therapies instead.
  • r1ghtpath
    r1ghtpath Posts: 701 Member
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    i can't speak for the US obesity issue as a whole, as i am just one person. i can speak on my own situation though. i hear from my kids, almost daily, " mom, you have a big butt." now, granted, compared to them i do have a big butt :-) and compared to a lot of my friends i do too. i know this. my kids tell me i'm fat, and i have heard it from my mother my entire life. mind you, my mother has always been over weight and always on a diet and has never really lost weight.

    i have ALWAYS been active! always. i was a gymnast, ice skater, soccer player when i was younger, and ended up with pretty big legs because of it. i remember one time in high school my ( now) step brother said that i had legs like a football player. i was offended, but i guess what he meant was they were very muscular. and they were, always have been!!!

    i ran track, and swam, and did month long hiking trips in high school. i also spent my evenings running up and down the stairs, doing sit ups and push ups, while watching TV. i was NEVER skinny, but i had a really really nice body!

    in college i worked out as well. initially losing weight my mother was ecstatic. and after gaining it back, she freaked out and the name calling got even worse. i belonged to a gym, worked out with my boyfriend, but because of my mom started eating less.......

    this started a pretty bad trend for me. i graduated college about the same size i started. still working out daily. worked nights as an RN, stopped working out, started eating more junk. BAD!!! gained about 20 lbs. blah!!!! but, i fixed it after i rejoined the gym and stopped eating soft pretzels and bagel sandwiches everyday, LOL!!!

    got married and started having kids, still working out. after my 3rd baby was born, i decided to go vegan. my caloric intake dropped DRASTICALLY, and even since then i have been the exact same size! no matter how hard i worked out i could not lose weight. i stopped being vegan because my 3rd child developed a soy allergy, which i contributed to my consuming so much soy ( due to being vegan). i had two more kids and quickly lost all of my baby weight, but could not lose the weight from #3. it was really annoying.

    that was 6 yrs ago. i saw docs, tried WW, went to jenny craig, worked with a personal trainer. i have had a gym membership all of those 6 yrs. going at night almost daily. the number on the scale never budged and my clothing size never went down. it took me six years to figure out what my issue was!!!!!

    i wasn't eating enough. and i still struggle to eat enough most days. it's a chronic mental block for me. the ONLY reason i know this is because i joined MFP and started logging every bit of food going into my body. my days were always under 1000. regardless of how much i worked out that day. i was basically at a stand still. i wasn't gaining, i wasn't losing.

    i've ALWAYS lifted weights. since high school, i've lifted to varying degrees. i don't weight myself at all anymore. i use my clothes, pics and measuring tape. gonna start using body fat % too. i'm not saying my being fat is psychological, but there is definitely a mental component. last night, my mom was here for my daughter's birthday, and even though i had only had 1000 cal before dinner, and i was SHAKING and JITTERY, and had burned like 500 calories during my work outs, i still ate very very very little while she was in my house. she glares and makes comments, pretty much all the time. i hate eating in front of her.......

    my oldest daughter mentioned that i log all of my food and my mom commented that it was a good thing i did. so, i made sure to say, " i have to log my food to make sure i am eating enough calories during the day." if i ate based off of appetite i would never get enough!

    for the first time in 6 yrs i'm losing size! i work out a lot still. i'm slowly starting to shrink. i would bet i would shrink faster if i ate more. but, if i hadn't found MFP and started recording what i was eating, i wouldn't be shrinking now at all :-(

    and i'm ok being called fat. i call myself fat. i laugh when my kids tell me ' i'm fat but i'm trying to be skinny.' well, i don't want to be skinny. i just want my body fat % low enough to show off all of these muscles i've spent years caring for :-)
  • busymom50
    busymom50 Posts: 29
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    this is so true
  • chrishgt4
    chrishgt4 Posts: 1,222 Member
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    I guess all the ongoing obesity research is a waste of time since it all boils down to gluttonous behavior and excuses right? Why bother researching when a simple physics equation is the answer to a complex biochemical process?

    Simple. Money. If they can figure out that "silver bullet" that allows people to lose weight without putting in effort. It will be worth billions of dollars.

    I don't buy it. Its really simple that most people on this thread have narrow-minded unscientific views of the world around them. There is plenty of scientific evidence supporting the idea that our body's response to the environment we live in (ie. full of easily accessible toxic processed foods) is the cause of obesity, not the psychological behaviors of each individual.

    Not everybody is in it for the money. We really do need to find a solution that works. There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that either calorie restriction or exercise are effective treatments for obesity.

    "There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that either calorie restriction or exercise are effective treatments for obesity."

    This comment convinces me that you are, as I suspected, trolling...

    That is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard.

    Open question on here - how many people have had success, whether it be fat loss or muscle gain that wasn't attributed to eating properly and exercising regularly?

    I think anyone with any level of success knows it is all about those things...
  • WanderingMe
    WanderingMe Posts: 216 Member
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    I was just having this conversation with my mother. She is 5'2" and 345lbs, and blames everyone and everything but herself. Yesterday she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and is POSITIVE that's the reason she can't lose weight. It's so frustrating to see her this way because of her denial, she's killing herself. I'm fat because I ate too much crap, hahaha but I'm proud that I'm working to change that the hard way!
  • galegetsthin
    galegetsthin Posts: 1,352 Member
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    Here is the deal. Sometimes, there are legitimate obstacles that people dont know how to overcome or don't know are an issue. When I was a child, a very young child, my parents had some serious issues. My dad worked at a KFC, my mom had a position at a local convienience store. There was not much money. On top of that, they had some major issues with drugs. That meant there was NO money. there was often no lights, no groceries, no water either. My dad would bring home leftover food from KFC. That is what I had. It wasn't anything remotely healthful. I would also get hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, becasue $1.00 could feed all of us. There were nights that I didnt eat at all. They couldnt send me with lunch OR lunch money and they didnt qualify for free or reduced. So all I got to eat was fried chicken, hotdogs, macaroni, or other nutritionally void crap. The poor diet created some severe vitamin deficiencies. These deficiencies are linked to an insulin resistance, which causes your body to not process carbohydrates the way it should. So I had a diet HEAVY in cheap carbohydrates and a metabolic disorder that made me not use them. I was 6-10. I was hungry. I was sick. I had nobody to teach me. I got taken away at 10 and sent to live with my grandmother. Grandmothers spoil. I was 10. I didn't know any better. Of COURSE I was going to take the cookie. I was also still in the frame of mind of not knowing when I would eat again. It hadn't clicked for me. I would hoarde food under my bed, in my closet, anywhere I could. I would eat every bite and ask for more. Nobody taught me. I didnt realize until I was 13 that there was a big problem. I was not diagnosed with the insulin resistance yet and had no income and had just been released back to my parents. Who picked on me relentlessly about being fat. I would ask for healthy things. They refused to buy healthy things. I was heavier at that point than I am today. I grew through high school. Not having regular cycles, doing gymnastics, swimming and tennis daily and still growing. At 22 I was diagnosed with the metabolic disorder. I was 342 lbs by then. I was started on Metformin to fix the metabolic disorder. I began working with a nutritionist to learn what I am supposed to eat. And a Trainer to learn what to do physically. So, even though I would eat more than I should at times, It was not solely sitting on my *kitten* and not moving. Blanket statements do hurt those of us who actually DO have some barriers that we were not equipped to handle. How was I, as a 7 year old, supposed to fix that problem? It is not just lazy people who like fries and soda that are overweight. Now I am ok. I was taught what to do and given the proper medication to control my hormonal imbalances. I am down to 165 now, because I learned. But when it started, I was helpless and neglected. Who are you to look at me and assume I play video games and down mountain dew by the gallon or doritos by the family size bag? I have noticed that the fitter people tend to treat the people who have legitimate contributing factors like non-humans. Like we MUST have all looked at a cheesecake and said "meh..... I am fat, but THAT is yummy".
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that either calorie restriction or exercise are effective treatments for obesity.

    Forgive me but if you truly feel this way I have no idea why you'd be on a website for tracking calories. Don't be surprised to find your statements met with great resistance around here. They fly in the face of everything this place is for.
  • almc170
    almc170 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I guess all the ongoing obesity research is a waste of time since it all boils down to gluttonous behavior and excuses right? Why bother researching when a simple physics equation is the answer to a complex biochemical process?

    Simple. Money. If they can figure out that "silver bullet" that allows people to lose weight without putting in effort. It will be worth billions of dollars.

    I don't buy it. Its really simple that most people on this thread have narrow-minded unscientific views of the world around them. There is plenty of scientific evidence supporting the idea that our body's response to the environment we live in (ie. full of easily accessible toxic processed foods) is the cause of obesity, not the psychological behaviors of each individual.

    Not everybody is in it for the money. We really do need to find a solution that works. There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that either calorie restriction or exercise are effective treatments for obesity.

    From the article you linked to:

    "If dieting doesn't work, what does?

    'Eating in moderation is a good idea for everybody, and so is regular exercise," Mann said. "That is not what we looked at in this study. Exercise may well be the key factor leading to sustained weight loss. Studies consistently find that people who reported the most exercise also had the most weight loss.'"

    And there's this: http://www.ajcn.org/content/82/1/222S.full
  • missdee8
    missdee8 Posts: 1 Member
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    I am new to this site and just started reading the forums. I really appreciate your post and agree it is our own responsibility to control our eating and exercise plan. If we don't look out for our own health and wellbeing who will.

    Your final statement really hit home. "No matter what you write down in your food journal or post about on the forums- your body records every meal, every workout, and every beverage. What you eat in private always shows in public- some people will accept it, some never will" I printed it and have it on my fridge as inspiration. Thanks
  • WanderingMe
    WanderingMe Posts: 216 Member
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    Open question on here - how many people have had success, whether it be fat loss or muscle gain that wasn't attributed to eating properly and exercising regularly?

    I think anyone with any level of success knows it is all about those things...

    I did, but I also had cancer and was on rounds of tons of chemicals. For some reason I don't think that would be a wildly popular choice for weight loss haha! You are correct though, I think the successful people have it all boiled down to calories in, calories out.
  • busymom50
    busymom50 Posts: 29
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    sometimes when I post a reply it is does not go under where I intend. But to the gal whose mom makes comments about her weight, my heart goes out to you. I got stuck on same weight for short time and found I was eating under calorie as well. But not for as long as you did. Logging my calories and realizing I was keeping my body on starvation mode make the difference. I ate more calories although they were healthy calories. I still want to overdo it,and probably always will. But I now know what my limit its,and drink as much of the 8 cups of water as I can. I usually get it all. Thanks to Planet Fitness I have a gym membership I can afford and find that I feel so much better after exercise. For the sweetheart whose mom has (probably unitentionally)made cruel remarks that now make eating at all an issue,you hang in there. I also had c-sections and would love to be your friend. You can talk to me about anything you want. Kathy
  • chrishgt4
    chrishgt4 Posts: 1,222 Member
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    Open question on here - how many people have had success, whether it be fat loss or muscle gain that wasn't attributed to eating properly and exercising regularly?

    I think anyone with any level of success knows it is all about those things...

    I did, but I also had cancer and was on rounds of tons of chemicals. For some reason I don't think that would be a wildly popular choice for weight loss haha! You are correct though, I think the successful people have it all boiled down to calories in, calories out.

    Haha no I think the preferred method wouldn't include life threatening illnesses.

    Having said that, during breakups and bouts of tonsillitis I have lost masses of weight in the past, maybe there's a new diet fad to be capitalised on......:ohwell: