Not saying that it's "easy," just "easier than expected."
I have always struggled with my weight, but I didn't even have the self control to be a yo yo dieter. I would start these ridiculous diets with no knowledge or plan, and they would literally last half a day or a day or maybe even two. Once I tried to be a raw foodist, haha (not putting that lifestyle down, it was just so different than what I know and my only knowledge was reading a few pages on a blog, lol). In a fit of frustration, I simply decided that I would be anorexic. I'd just quit eating and lose weight, bring on the unpleasant side effects. Yea, that lasted until dinner time.
I was simply so overwhelmed with weight loss. I was under the impression that losing 20 pounds was unheard of. It was something that miracle drugs promised, but I knew those never worked. I thought once somebody was fat, they stayed fat. Little 180lb me was looking up gastric bypass surgery...I truly thought that's what I needed.
Well once I (finally) decided that I would just eat a balanced, healthy diet and exercise, weight loss no longer seems impossible. I'm losing between 2-3lbs/week. That's above the suggested rate, so I've actually upped my calories (between 1300-1800/day). I don't work a whole lot, maybe 30-60 every other day. Really, my lifestyle hasn't changed dramatically, it's just improved. And the weight is coming off quite steadily.
By no means am I bragging, I'm sure I'll reach a tricky plateau one of these days. I'm more just shaking my head at my former self when I thought this task was so impossible. Diet and exercise is better than any magic pill, I don't understand why I didn't give into it before.
Congrats! Yeah, weightloss seems easy enough calories in< calories out. Its the willpower thing I have issues with. You seem to be doing very well though, congratulations!
The brain is an amazing thing - when I was at my heaviest and before I started, losing the weight seemed so impossible. But when I'm doing it, it's not bad at all and parts of it are, dare I say it, fun. I'm not sure where that switch happens, but I'm so glad for it. I occasionally miss the foods I used to binge on, but really, living this way is not a hardship and it's worth not eating the crap.
I agree that losing weight isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I never dieted, I was the person that was always going to start a diet tomorrow, but tomorrow never quite came. I had this mental image of 'dieting' as torture, something to be endured and survived only by the strongest (clearly not for me, lol). When I first started losing weight this year, I began by changing my lifestyle (basically cutting out all the junk-food). Just by eating healthy the weight began to melt off. Once my food issues were under control I added exercise to my new lifestyle. Again, not that difficult, just get up and move. Of course for me, the real hard part has been the mental barriers. Losing weight itself has been relatively simple (eat right and exercise), but making sure I stay on plan and not sabotaging myself has been an altogether different struggle. I have good days and I have bad days, but it is a surprise that I've lost so much weight. A year ago I would have thought it impossible that I could naturally (without surgery or some kind of miracle) lose 10 lbs much less 100+. So I guess I agree with you, losing weight is not as hard as I thought...it is still a difficult journey but thankfully the only thing I've really had to struggle with is myself (if I wasn't so stubborn, lol).
Losing 165 lbs, which for YEARS seemed out of the question to me - just not doable - was in certain ways - dare I say - easy. Having made the decision to get the job done - no matter what - that's when I devised and customized my own plan. I gave up the junk while ADDING in healthy foods. I had a problem with overeating the junk - so I didn't START. problem solved. Then I realized there were foods that I didn't have that problem with - so I ate those instead. And found others.
Made a plan, made some rules, counted some calories, incorporated some exercise - lost some weight.
You took the words right out of my mouth! These past few weeks I have been thinking...why did I take so long to get started with this. I was always so intimidated to even try to lose weight thinking it was this complex thing that I would never figure out. Well it's not! I was so amazed when I saw the numbers go down on my second weigh-in...and they keep going down.
Agreed! I had given weight loss a few half-hearted attempts before, but when I actually sat down and counted calories for a month and saw what I needed to be eating - which I'm finding is plenty of food - and what I needed to do to exercise regularly, I found that it wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd built it up to be. Granted, I might feel different when I get down to the last 10 pounds or so, but right now, I feel surprisingly confident that I can and will get this done.
I have had very similar thoughts too! I started a few weeks ago and i thought it would be uber hard.. all i have done is cut out junk food and eat less and more healthy options and I am already 11 pounds down from then and 19 from my highest weight 2 years ago. Ive always dreaded dieting but im so glad im on my way now
Last edited by Phoenix301; 12-21-2009 at 10:56 PM.
Absolutely!! I think the reason why it seems so easy is that I don't think of it as a diet anymore. I ate an entire box of blueberries today -- totally enjoyed it -- and afterwards didn't feel like I need much more in terms of fats and refined carbs for dinner. That can only be a good thing. As for exercise -- it's cured my insomnia like nothing else can.
I am worried about maintenance since I'm approaching that time, but I think the solution is to stay active and not let myself slip. Even WLS patients can regain weight if they stretch out their stomachs again by slipping a little at a time, which is something I find useful to think about as an analogue to what everyone goes through -- you let yourself go a little, and then a little more, and pretty soon you don't want to face the scale. Being healthy is easy, as long as you don't forget to do it in your choices every day. Go us!
It's a simple method to lose weight no matter how much you weigh, the harder part is maintaining the weight loss. And I think it is harder because it's not that hard to lose weight in the short-term, but it requires 100% long-term commitment to maintain the weight loss in the long-term. That means long-term lifestyle changes. If you eat only 100 calories above what your body needs to maintain it's weight daily, you will gain about 10 lbs per year. To me losing weight is half the battle, the other half is maintaining the weight loss.
I've lurked around the maintainers forum many a time to glean some tips from them, after all this is not a diet, it's learning a new way of living.
I just mentioned in another thread about finding an old diary, well it was because I've been going through all of my things because I'm moving soon. In addition to the diary I also found an old shopping receipt from when I was at goal a few years ago, and it was all light yogurts, fake meats, oat cereal, pumpernickel, cold vegetables, diet coke, caffeine tablets etc. Small wonder I was always hungry and felt cold and exhausted! I obviously thought before that you can't stay slim with eating normal homecooked meals. Now I'm doing this sensibly and cooking wholefoods from scratch and doing caloriecounting, it does seem so easy. Can't believe it took me this long to realise! And filling up with warm healthy vegetable soups and stews is so much more nutritious than all those "diet foods" and far tastier too! The weight isn't dropping off like crazy, but after 10 weeks of trying 10lb are gone, and it has definitely taken effort and commitment and willpower, but feel lighter and healthier already
The part that I find is so much easier then I thought it would be is the eating! Honestly, I rarely crave foods I used to be practically addicted to! It's not hard at all for me to eat healthy, which I always thought was the toughest part! Now I realize working out is the hardest part ha
For all the years that I thought losing weight was impossible, when it all "clicked" and it did happen it seemed easy, but in no way effortless. I think it was just the expected result of how committed I was to the cause.
So yeah, that first 7 months where I lost most of the weight was easy, but the following 5 years have definitely required some fighting. This is the hard part for me.
The first little bit is easy. The last 10-20lbs is quite difficult. Maintaining for years is truly the most difficult part. It can be done, but you need to keep aware for the rest of your life.
Weight loss...easier than I expected?
