diet for someone who has no willpower?? I am tired of being overweight, but have no clue where to start except for exercising. What works best and is easy??

Christina

Surprise - a huge study of nearly 900,000 people over 19 years has proved exercise does not cause weight loss unless you are on a weight loss plan....

If you really want to lose weight, you will find the will power. No one can give it to you and its not built into any plan. You will need to deal with the reason you eat and don't have will power with something besides food.

The best plan is the one you can live with the rest of your life. You will not be able to return to your old eating habits.

But what plan should I try....I have no clue. I think this time I will have the will power because I am so tired of being overweight! I am more determined this time....but don't know one diet from another....

Hi there Mommy

Now, THAT's a tough question to answer "what plan to try". First thing that comes to mind is something Yoda said in one of the Star Wars films...

"Try? There is no try. There is only do or not do."

I think what I'm attempting to say here is...first thing to do is start researching. There are 1,000,000,000,001 diet plans out there...you need to find one that you can stick with for life.

If you're going to read ONE BOOK, I would HIGHLY recommend going to your library and looking for "Fat of the Land" by Michael Fumento. It's slightly outdated (published in 1997) but has some great insights and also just might help you in separating the 'good' plans from the 'bad' plans.

Also, I do encourage you to start JOURNALING. Get a spiral-bound journal book (I like the ones that they sell at Old Navy!) and a pen and start writing...get some insight on yourself, because bottom line, it's not the plan you pick that is going to take the fat off, it's YOUR efforts.

Another excellent exercise is to spend a few days writing down everything that you eat - EVERYTHING, down to that last crumb. The trick is to become MINDFUL of what you eat. Oftimes, we just eat automatically 'because it's there' rather than because of true stomach hunger...that's what makes us fat.

Here's another tip: Rather than saying "I'm gonna lose all this weight" (this is if you have a lot of weight to lose!) set a smaller goal...say 10% of your bodyweight. Let's say you weigh 200 pounds...so set your goal to lose 20 pounds...through healthy eating AND exercise (exercise DOES play a part, but as stated above, if you eat a ton of crap all day, you're not going to lose fat). After you lose that 20 pounds...before trying to lose more...MAINTAIN that weight for a few months, maybe six months, before attempting to lose more weight - then shoot for another 5-10%, then hold that weight for a few months, etc.

I will tell you this from personal experience...if you think LOSING weight is tough, maintaining the weight loss is just as tough if not tougher, unless you make PERMANENT healthy lifestyle changes. (That's the problem I have with the word "diet" - it implies a temporary eating change only). Setting small weight-loss goals, then maintaining them for awhile before going to the next goal, IMO teaches your body to maintain at the 'new' setpoint and you're less likely to rebound and gain your weight back.

Another thing - "Accentuate the Positive"! That means look on the positive side...the glass is half-full, rather than half-empty. Instead of saying "I don't have the willpower to do this" say "I CAN do this!!" and put your goals down in writing. Make sure you write down what you want to do at your new lower weight...go horseback riding...snowboarding...buy some new clothes...have a romantic night out all the stuff you dream of doing (sorry about putting horseback riding in there...that was a major dream of mine and one that I would have never ever done at 265 pounds...but now I'm taking lessons and LOVING it...beginning jumping...fun!).

Just a few tips...oh and here are some awesome websites...

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html <== Krista Scott Dixon's Weights for Women site. GREAT info there!

www.skinnydaily.com <== Just discovered this yesterday. check it out - JuJu also has a forum here at 3FC.

And if you're looking for me...I generally hang out at the 3fc Ladies Who Lift forum...feel free to come have a look 'round! Take care - and remember YOU CAN DO THIS!!

MrsJim, that was great advice. I totally agree with everything you said. Basically, you either do it or you don't. Find what you can live with FOR LIFE and "just do it". I am not saying it is easy, because we all know it is not, but you must make a start somewhere. I completely agree with journalling. This is where I started and I could not believe my portion sizes until I saw them written down. Quite the eye opener.

I use a plan on the internet called dietpower.com which involves writing down everything I eat, my weight, and my exercise. It calculates everyday my caloric intake, my metabolic rate and my nutritional intake. If I don't journal everything, the only person I am lying to is myself. That makes it tough to take. It is very easy to tell people " oh, I don't eat that much" or " I exercise all the time", but to write it down and to have it looking you in the face is no easy task. This was my turning point.

Best of luck with your journey, Mommy. It starts with one small step. Remember, we are here for each other

Hello mommyo2! I don't think you need a plan, you sound like it would be hard to stick with anything that's too structured. You need to get to a point where you don't want to be at your current weight and want to make changes. Then you need to work it into your lifestyle, such as no second helpings, no snacking that isn't planned, parking at the end of the parking lot and walking, using low fat cheeses, drinking more water, eating one salad a day in place of another meal...small changes that you can do gradually and will become life changes. When you start to notice a weight loss, then you could incorporate more changes and a more structured routine. Good luck, you can do it if you put your mind to it, and this place is excellent for advice and support!

honey I understand your deliemma. I can help you to not even get started down the road of fighting with your body.

first of all you are not fat because you eat to much or don't exercise enough. in fact exercise doesn't burn that much fat. in fact most of your caloires are to fuel the brain. 80 percent in fact. I learned this on the discovery channel.

so exercise burns very little. in fact our bodies are very effiecient.

second, undereating for fat loss only shows the body (because you are not eating to complete saiaty. (satisfaction). that famines do occur.

so what does it do then? it changes gears. first it lowers metabolism, which means less desire to move or work, I mean it makes no survival sense when fuel remains low to use the remaining fuel in unecessary movement.

second it releases hormones that increase the desire for higher caloire foods like ice cream so it has the raw materials to built the fat reserves quickly (once it overrides your will power).

third it eventually wins out and you regain the weight with some to boot.

fourth it holds that fat until the next famine. your body can predict the future based on past experience. it's job is to keep you alive and if the food supply seems to be limited at times then that is a threat to that survival.

fifth. different diets no matter what the name or claim is still just variations on the same theme. eat less to lose fat exercise too to burn fat.

I have read some horrid statistics that shows that on any given year 50 percent of americans are trying to lose weight. some will try 2 diets a year. the diet industry is a muti billion that is with a B, business, people are counting caloires exercising trying diet pills doing the surguries all in the name of forcing the body to use the fat up.

yet americans are fatter than they have ever been. why?? read my threads (i am the antidieter by the way) the site that gives the statistics is in the Fat!So! website under the articles section.

The word "diet" to me is a dirty word because the connotation is that you do something for a time and then quit. That cannot happen for someone who needs to lose weight. YOU HAVE TO COMMIT TO A TOTAL LIFE CHANGE. Now though that sounds daunting, it really isn't but it does take commitment, to changing how you think about yourself, how you think about food, how you eat, ie, do you tend to binge or over eat when you are bored, angry, depressed, etc. You have to break bad habits like eating in front of the tv or while reading, in the car, or on a bus. You need to commit to getting some exercise everyday. I firmly believe if you want to lose and keep it off that exercise is so very important and setting yourself up a routine is the best way. Don't try to do too much with exercise though. Start out slow just so that you can enjoy it and then increase in intensity and length. Though I don't agree with him about everything, I do think Dr Phil's new book has great insights and if you can get it and read it.

I found that an ordinary fat and cal counting worked for me. I did put a LOT of work into it by making myself a months worth of menus and following them, but once I did that, I now can know exactly everyday what to eat, how much etc. I also exercise everyday and rarely miss. Sometimes, I am busy and only get 20 minutes in doing strengthy training, but I try to do SOMETHING everyday.

If you need encouragement, go to www.freewebs.com\trexnonny/ and look at all the stuff. I hope it will encourage you to take this step and help you to realize you CAN DO THIS! I would also encourage you to find a group in the support section if you haven't already to draw on when you are having trouble or when things are good and you want to crow. Check out Time for Serious Fun on Support. There is a lot to do there and the thread is specifically set up to help you have FUN yes FUN losing weight!

Faye

I also learned that eating disorders don't exist. I am not the only one saying this. so called eating out of emotions or whatever is just the body taking advantage of a down period in your life to override your willpower to eat less.

in fact people sometimes are so in the habit of undereating they don't realize they are doing it, that is until the "eating disorder binging" comes on the scene.

The body's main goal is to keep you alive. that is foremost. If one undereats and the body is forced to use the fat to make up the difference it will do whatever it can to get you to overeat to replenish the fat stores with a little thrown in for some to make sure the fuel is there the next time you don't eat enough for any reason.

The body will releive whatever stress it can. it deals with what it can and forgets the rest. so when you have a depressed time, or a time where your motivation is low that is when the body will releive the stress of undereating.

the natural reaction to stress in a well fed body is neausea or not eating. only undereaters experience binging in a stress situation.

This has always been kinda confusing for me..So if a person has alot of weight to lose say 120 pound... I feel it is harder for the body to ADJUST to what it needs. If I am eating 1800 calories a day and losing one pound a week..if I cut back on the calories to say lose 2 pounds a week all of a sudden..Will my body go into starvation mode and not use all this stored fat I am carrying around?...I am confused here..can you tell?..HELP!

Skinny: As you can see from my stats, I weighed over 400 lbs and that was in January when I started. I went to www.dietitian.com and did her little healthy weight calculator that is up in the left hand corner of the website. It told me how much to eat to lose either one or two lbs a week. I thought it sounded like an awful lot so I cut it back by about 300 cal and also made my distribution protein/fat/carbs different. I cut my fat to 25% and upped my carb and protein by 5% each to balance out. I lost 70 lbs in about 6 months. I have now lost about 90 (I gained some when I was ill for about a month). One huge thing is to get your body moving and make sure you include some resistance training at least 2 times a week to get your metabolism going so that you burn fat better. PM me with any ? I might help you with.

Faye

if you are famining you will lose weight there is no doubt a bout it if you famine for 6 months and lose 50 pounds for example this is still famine weight loss.

bears and deer lose weight famining too in the winter. they don't do it because they want to lose weight their bodies do it. also when a bear loses weight due to famines (winter time) they do not lose any muscle. it is all fat they lose because the body is controling the loss the bear is not forcing itself not to eat, food just isn't available. and so what do they do? they sleep.

people in this country on teh other hand have food available and force the body to lose the weight, as a result muscle is lost too. quite a bit is. and when the weight is regained muscle is not regained with the fat, no matter how determined you are if your survival instincts are stronger than you, you will gain it back. no doubts about that. not unless you are a person who can fight her body the rest of your life.

and the fact you are as heavy as you are tells me you are a very famine sensitive individual, just like me. we famine sensitive indivuiduals have to give the control where it belonged in the first place so we can have a life, the body is responsible for food regualtion and weight regulation.

our minds were not designed to do it. we have become a nation of you cant trust the body, it's signals are arbitrary and unreasonable.

we have to stop the diets eat enough food to completely satisfy our cravings and hunger and never ever go hungry and never force the body to use the fat. we have to choose real foods over junk as often as is possible.


the body knows that obesity is bad when it is fed enough everyday and the fat is not needed to fuel or make up the differnce between what is eaten and what is needed by the body.

obesity is survival when food is intermittedly restricted for whatever reason. if the fat is used it is replaced. the longer the restriction in eating the more fat is needed by the body to prepare for the next famine, we call this a binge. each time we famine it programs the body to put on more than what was lost, this seems to be a common thing. what if the next famine lasts longer than the last one?. this is the body's programming for most.

so once the set point is reached the long wait begins to show (the body can't be told) the body famines will never occur again and it can make the needed adjustments for fat loss. in this case when the body does it without interference or forcing from us only fat is lost not muscle.

this wait can take up to two years for severe faminers, mild faminers usually don't take as long.

the loss is slow for most once it starts but it is permanent provided we do not famine to do it. end the famines you end the need for fat. it really is that simple.