You know ... we've read it here. "How can I lose weight if I don't like diet foods?" "I can never be thin ... I'm just not eating all that stuff."

What's your interpretation of the root of this?

Social norms, stereotypes and a fast food nation, in short. I'll come back with a better answer after lunch.

I think it has to do with how we're raised. Some people were never served vegetables when they were kids, so they never developed a taste for them. I'm always puzzled to meet people who have never eaten vegetables. I stare at them dumbfounded, wanting to check their pulse.

Some people have the same attitude towards whole-grain products, too!

Susan, what are your thoughts on it?

I wonder if some magical thinking is involved. Remember the tomato soup diet? the hard boiled egg diet? even meal replacement drink mixes? If I can just find the right combo ....

Because "diet" foods (vegetables, fruits, etc.) actually require work whereas a bag of cookies is one quick pull of the plastic and your in!!! But, I read somewhere that Dr. Phil (not exactly my favorite person but he's okay ) said the more work it takes to prepare a food, the better it is for you. Which tends to be true, pealing an apple is more work than chowing on french friends from McD's!!

ADVERTISING!!! We are all marketed to constantly, til you get programmed that they need to buy magic products, or else be fat....I'm really trying to lose that mindset....I won't even buy a Diet Coke anymore! I used to guzzle the stuff and one day I looked at the ingredients label and was like, uh, why do I put this in my body??

The diet pill commercials on cable TV really crack me up. "Please don't respond to this ad if you only have a few pounds to lose - this is only for SERIOUS dieters!" Oh brother....as IF they won't take your credit card # if you're not fat or serious enough?

The weight loss industry ironically, is incredibly fat and bloated!!

In reality you don't have to buy a thing to lose weight. You have to consume LESS not MORE!

ding ding ding ding ding! It's all about fitting it into a nicely wrapped, marketable package.

I think for some people, they are comfortable eating the foods they eat now. They taste good to them, and they know that they like those foods. If I spent years eating junk and never ate a single vegetable, I'd feel a little odd about having to switch from my "normal" eating to something I rarely eat and eat that thing a lot more.

I think it's the mindset that you have to eat rabbit food or foods you dislike to lose weight. Because of that, people think you eat cabbage soup for a while, lose the weight, and then you're done. Then the plan is to eat what you ate before and cross your fingers—usually with good intentions like "I will eat what I used to, just less of it" or "I'll just never eat a cookie again."

The kicker is, how can they expect to portion control the foods they love, or never eat a certain food again, if they haven't been practicing it all along?

I trained for a marathon once. The long daily walks were a blip in my normal behavior. I never expected to walk 10 miles a day for the rest of my life, and I never expected to magically maintain the same level of fitness once I stopped. The diet food mentality seems like marathon training—switching to a different mode for a shortish while, but without the realization that it's going to be temporary.

And I totally don't get people who don't like vegetables at all! My friend's sister is like that. Like...how do you...function?

I absolutely agree! Advertising is at work here, I think. We are innundated with advertising from things like Relacore, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, TrimSpa. (I'm not knocking these programs, I'm just saying that you can hardly turn on the TV without seeing an ad.) Remember Ayds diet candy from the 70s and Dexatrim from the 80s? So many people have tried diets and failed and some have assumed that their failure was because they didn't "buy" some program or product they saw advertised on tv. Even here at 3FC, it's pretty common to see a new poster lamenting that she can't afford Jennie Craig/ LA Weight Loss/ or some other food delivery service. They seem to feel that is the only way to lose weight.

Susan, I think a "magic combination" is another part of the reason. At one time that "magic combination" was no-fat, regardless of the calorie count. A few years later, it was "low-carb". It seems like we, as a society, are always looking for the magic (combination, pill, food, etc.)

jtammy, I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about how the "magic combination" is forever changing. It's either low fat, counting calories, low-carb or some new diet aid and I think to myself, when will it all stop. I'm in awe of the French (and I mentioned that I am a lot on this site) and when I visited Paris and Monaco last April I was in awe of French women. I stayed with a friend who moved from the States for job reasons and when I saw her, she was 60 pounds lighter and looked like a completely different woman. She had picked up the habits that so many French women practice and they are basically eat lots of veges and fruits, chicken & fish and maybe beef once a week and portion size is a big deal plus walk everywhere. Amazingly, we could not find many low-fat products in the local markets and when I pumped some of her French friends about what they thought about diet aids some of them didn't know what I was talking about. When I came back to the states, it didn't take me long to get caught up in all of the weight loss/diet hype and think about what diet am I going to use now to lose my last 20 pounds. I even started the low carb thing and then missed my french tarten in the morning and said forget it - so I'm sticking with the French way - watch portion size, eat a large variety of foods - dessert once a week and make it something really decadent and worthwhile - and move that body!

DeeDee, your post made me laugh - I spent six years in France, and in that time I met many happy, healthy but fairly chubby French women. I met ONE thin French woman in Paris (out of many) who DID NOT drink espresso and smoke unfiltered cigarettes. I hated shopping in Paris - nothing fit me. I always secretly hoped *I* could learn to love espresso and unfiltered cigarettes...

Generally though, it is absolutely true. We live in a 'quick-fix' society - and I have watched people tune out after they ask me how I am losing weight... they don't want to know that I am controlling what goes in my mouth and how much I exercise. Recently, a lady in a shop asked me (I kid you not!) - "Why didn't you just get the surgery?" I left.

Personally I think that the "root' of al of this is...now don't get'cher panties in a wad.....WE ARE LAZY ~ WE ARE SPOILED ~ WE WANT IT and WE WANT IT NOW The easy way is to drive up to a place that cooked it for you The easy way is to let the "fat" dog walk himself...he deserves it...I gave him plenty of cookies to shut him up, while I watched another Jerry Springer The easy way is to WHINE .. oh poor woe is me and get a without doing anything!

Now in NO WAY do I think this applies to everyone. I know there are a lot of "issues" out there...one reason this 3FC site is so successful...but....WE are a lazy people....that's just MY take on it!

Well, some diet plans really are pretty bland and yucky. I was on a plan once where it was egg-white omelets most mornings. I hate egg whites, and there is really no reason not to eat a whole egg. Also, the plan had lots of turkey breast for lunch or dinner. I used to like turkey breast, but not anymore!

On the other end of the scale are the plans where you have to be cooking all the time. I'm just not there... I don't want to spend a lot of time every day making my food. Yeah, that could be considered lazy--but mostly I think it's my own preference!

So, I count calories, and I pretty much have come up with how to eat and what to eat, and it's all stuff I like to eat--but of course I have restrictions! I don't believe there is any way for someone to lose weight without some sort of food restrictions.

I also don't believe there is any way to avoid regaining weight lost without some sort of food restrictions.

Like EZ said, we want it and we want it now. Lots of people are just "big children" that way--and I was one of them! People equate "restrictions" with being unhappy, and that's not what it is. It's being an adult and knowing the laws of physics. No, I can't sit down and eat a pint of ice cream unless I'm prepared to do those 8,000 jumping jacks!

Jay

Dang, there Gary goes talking about himself and his pet mouse again