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Calorie-Counting Diva
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 689
Height: 5'1"
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Why Diets Don't Work
I wrote this article for another website I'm a co-administrator for. I thought you all might enjoy it.
Why Diets Don't Work
I am obese. Yes, I said it. I am an eighteen year old woman who is obese, and I admit that. The difference between me and many of the obese people in the world? I admit I have a problem. I am doing something to fix the problem. I am not going to sit back and complain, hoping that something will happen. I am not going to eat myself to death. I am not going to wallow in my own self pity. I am going to become a better person, in spite of all the obstacles put in front of me. I am going to lose weight.
At five feet, one inch tall, I should weigh between 110 and 135 pounds. On November 1st, 2005, I weighed in at a whopping 180 pounds. One hundred and eighty pounds. Look at the numbers I stated first. Now look at that number. See the difference? 45-70 pounds is the difference. Obesity vs. healthiness is the difference. October, 2005, I didn't think I had a problem. I thought I was fine. Suddenly, in November, I absolutely snapped. I suddenly saw myself for what I was (obese) and knew I had to take action.
I didn't know what to do. Actually, that's a lie. I knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to stop eating so much, eat better food, and exercise regularly. I needed to take care of my body. The hard part was trying to actually DO that. As many have said before, that first step's a doozy.
Eighteen years isn't very old, is it? No, it isn't very old at all. Very young, in fact. But even at such a young age, I've had over a decade of battling the bulge (and losing). I've been on every diet known to man, with little-to-no success. I hated exercise, I loathed to ever do it. I thought I could lose weight without it. I'd convinced myself that I could lose weight on a diet and I wouldn't ever have to exercise. I'd do just fine. After 10 years of trying something and failing miserably and getting worse, you'd think I'd learned my lesson. Well, I finally did.
Here's the secret: DIETS DON'T WORK. I don't care how many people rave about the Atkins and South Beach or any other kind of diet. I don't care if celebrities on TV tell you that they lost X number of pounds on such and such a diet. They do not work. Period. Why? Because once you get off them (which the majority of people will), you will gain ALL of the weight back, and then some. You get into the mindset that it's just a diet and that once you lose the weight you can go back to the way you acted before the diet. Therein lies the rub. How do you think you got to be fat in the first place? You ate poorly and you didn't exercise. What do you think will happen if you do that again? You'll get fat again. All that hard work will be wasted because you didn't learn your lesson the first time. Do you honestly WANT to subject yourself to things such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and an increased risk for certain kinds of cancers?
As of today, March 16, 2006, I weigh 167.5 pounds. I lost about 2 pounds between November 1st and January 1st. Between January 1st and today, I have lost 10.5 pounds. In just a few months, I have lost 7% of my body weight.
How did I do it? I kept to the simple rule of creating a deficit between calories in and calories out. Keep the calories you eat less than the calories you burn and you "magically" lose weight. Eat more calories than you burn and you gain. Eat the same amount of calories that you burn and you maintain. A novel concept, but you knew all that already. Here's something that you might not know: 3,500 calories = one pound. Therefore, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you eat in order to lose one pound. On the same token, if you eat 3,500 calories more than you burn, you will gain one pound. Here's where things get tricky. It's incredibly easy to eat 3,500 calories.
Consider this: At the average fast food joint, a regular hamburger, medium fries, and medium soft drink will add up to about 900 calories. 900 calories, and you feel like you've barely eaten. Most people eat more than that when they eat out. The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) established by the US National Academy of Sciences says you should eat about 2,000 calories per day. With that hamburger meal, you've just consumed nearly half of your daily calories. And you're still hungry. As I said, it is incredible easy to eat 3,500 calories.
On the other hand, a person 25-years old, weighing 150 pounds would need to exercise between 2 1/3 and 16 2/3 hours (depending on intensity) in order to burn the same calories. That is why people find it so hard to lose weight, and so easy to gain it.
What they don't realize is that it doesn't have to be that hard! Making small changes, taking one day at a time, will equal big results. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away, eat the apple pie instead of the cheesecake. Start off with little things and work your way up. Rome wasn't built in a day, but it did take dedication. Your body has so much to offer you, the least you can do is help it do its job.
Where did I start? I started by eating one sweet food a day instead of two or more. I exercised for 10 minutes, three times a week. Now that doesn't sound so hard, does it? It really isn't. After that, I began exercising as much as I was able to each week. I tried to stay away from sweets as much as possible. I cut back on fried foods and ate less boxed products. I started eating fruits and veggies every day.
Right now, just 7 weeks and three days after I began these changes, I am up to exercising for at LEAST 5 hours per week. I reduced my calorie intake from its previous 2,500 to 3,000 per day down to between 1,000 and 1,600. I eat mostly whole grains when I eat grains at all. I actually go out and buy fruits and vegetables AND I EAT THEM! I don't push myself more than I can go. I do what I can and don't beat myself up if I can't do it all yet. But I work toward a goal of being happy and healthy.
It isn't impossible to lose weight. It is not improbable that you can do it. Do as much as you can right now, and push yourself a little more each day. Drops of water can dissolve a rock, and you can do the same with your weight. Keep doing what you know is right and you will reach your goals. You will get there. All you need to do is take that first step.
© Lydia Killian, March 16, 2006
Last edited by LadyFirelyght; 03-17-2006 at 03:19 PM.
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