Ya know, I never have a problem with these articles. I kinda like them because it confirms how difficult it is to lose weight and to maintain the weight. After all the many years of maintenance, I have heard my share of "You don't need to watch what you eat anymore, memememe76!!!!"
Even in weight-related forums, so much blame for weight regain is directed at the person, usually in the form of that person stupidly choosing some quick-fix diet regime that had no chance whatsoever at being long-term.
Whoa, what is with that article? I don't see the point in publishing things like this...it's hard enough to work up the motivation to lose weight, and reading something like that won't help someone get started. The statistics, accurate or not, are scary and depressing, but I think it's pointless to think of it when you're trying to lose weight. Kaybee, I would put it out of your mind and focus on you and your long-term plan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnP
This is a great opportunity for me to plug intermittent fasting. While not for everyone it has been a game changer for me.
I have to agree. I feel confident that once I get to maintenance, I have a good plan in place thanks to intermittent fasting and 5:2.
The statistics are true, one trawl through an old page of this message board makes that quite clear. But you're not a statistic. You're an individual with agency and choice in this, and whether or not *you* succeed is entirely dependent on your choices and body's needs, not anyone or anything else. I won't lie, keeping large amounts of weight off is hard work, every day, for the rest of your life. It isn't impossible, but don't downplay the effort either
Well, I can never be sure of breaking statistics but after 10 years of maintenance (and two pregnancies), the key for me is this:
Every day, every meal, I am conscious of what will happen if I don't control my eating. I have good and bad days, more good than bad, but not a day has gone by this decade that I dont have to make a conscious choice about what I eat. Yes, it isn't fun, but I guess its a price I pay instead of staying overweight.
Yup, that's it. As long as you understand this you'll be fine, but it is when someone thinks they can ever lose vigilance or go back to their old way of eating without the predictable result that we get into trouble
Thanks guys, you've all been a great help. I feel like i'm somewhat back on planet earth today. I've been having a rough couple of days and this morning I had a literal melt down at work lol (there was nothing that people did that did not piss me off today) but I think I kind of needed to let it out. That stupid article mixed with a renewed focus on the current direction of my life (aka a quarter life crisis-induced panic attack) sorta pushed me over the edge. The good news is, I renewed my gym membership with my trainer for another 4 months after having been off for almost four weeks so at least that's back on track.
I also really appreciate your advice about how to discern fact from fiction and to be diligent about what one reads on the internet/takes to be truth without really looking at the sources. I should have thought of this, because funny enough I'm a huge skeptic and a big fan of logical thinking/reason inspired by the four horsemen of new atheism - i digress, but what i mean to say is that i'm usually very aware of what my sources are. As someone who typically overreacts, worries, and stresses out about EVERYTHING i've had to literally teach myself to step outside of my head and critically evaluate whatever bothers me. Clearly, i did not do that last night hence my crazy post lol.
Thought people might like to look at this site if they havent seen it before and the research that they are doing. A lot of their articles link to pubmed and you can only get the abstracts for many of them unless you have personal access
They analysis the information on those who join the register to determine both what makes for successful dieting and long term maintenance. Their estimates are higher, though part of the qualification to join is maintaining for 12 months.
Use your own brain! Absolutely no one (perhaps baring a legit condition such as Prader-Willi syndrome) is condemned to be obese for their entire lives. Of course there are so many biological and chemical functions going on that may contribute to our TENDENCIES and BEHAVIOUR that lead to weight gain.
But mind ultimately controls matter.
Eat less and you will lose weight. Eat the amount needed to maintain weight and you will maintain weight. Eat more, gain more. All diets, strategies, and mental tools differ in their guidelines but they all amount to exactly this.
That is the BOTTOM LINE.
You CAN lose weight. You CAN keep it off for as long you have the emotional stamina to eat the appropriate energy needs. There is NO driving force to will gravitate you against your will to going back to obesity.
This.
In 2011 I lost 50 pounds and have kept it off or two and a half years. I lost similar amounts of weight several other times in my life and always gained it back. This time, in my mid-fifties, I've finally figured it out. I eat well (2,000 cals per day) and exercise regularly. That's all. As stated above, there is absolutely no driving force pushing me to regain the weight except my own love of food and love of overeating. I still overeat massively on occasion, but nip it in the bud and get back to moderate eating the next meal.
There's no reason you can't keep weight off if you understand and manage your relationship with food.
F.
Last edited by freelancemomma; 06-06-2014 at 06:49 AM.
I lost 100 lbs this past year more or less effortlessly after a transition period to ween me from starches, sugar, grains, most fruit.
My wife adopted it in January and has lost 38 lbs, she was around 196 to start. So 2 for 2 in one household.
The theory is there is a set point if you just cut calories but eat less of the same foods or try to.
But if you change the macro content, you change your underlying biochemistry and then anything is possible.
I didn't calorie count and never will. On high fat my appetite regulates itself. Just like for millions of years of lean humans who didn't even know what a calorie was.
I firmly believe, for many, that permanent weight loss does not require lifelong effort as long as you eat whole foods and get good macro nutrient percentages.
For me matter absolutely controlled mind. When you consume carbs, insulin has to rush in to get the glucose the carbs become out of your bloodstream. Glycogen stores or only so big. After that insulin does its job and stores excess calories as fat. Your blood sugar drops you start the whole cycle over.
Fat produces no insulin response and helps your body absorb nutrients. Insulin was too powerful for me. Mind over matter, eat less move more never worked for me. When I worked with my body, weight loss, for me, was effortless.
Last edited by diamondgeog; 06-06-2014 at 07:34 AM.
So glad that a couple of people put in the link to the weight control registry. There are several members of this forum who are members [VERY proud members - as they should be].
One of the key findings from this registry - which tracks how people lost the weight, and more important, what they do to MAINTAIN it - is that after we've lost weight, we're somewhat different than people who've never had to lose it. People who've successfully maintained over time tend to eat slightly fewer calories and exercise about 30 minutes more a day than never-had-to-lose weight people.
Most people - the 95% in the article - don't view weight MAINTENANCE as part of their 'diet.' They'll lose the weight and for some reason decide that they can go back to their old habits. As my surgeon said to me - why mess with success? why go back to what made you gain weight in the first place?
Yes, I've had surgery. But I'm here to tell you that it's really NO DIFFERENT than losing weight the old fashioned way. It's simply a tool that re-set both my eating habits and my metabolism. It requires constant vigilance. .
I saw the same article come across my facebook newsfeed from cbc, I decided not to read it lol. I figure it's a very rare person that hasn't insisted they are on a diet or going to lose weight (especially in January), but the majority are not seriously committed to the idea. With 80% of the population taking on these 'diets' it's no wonder the majority of dieting 'fails'. I think those of us who have seriously sat down and thought about wanting to lose lbs and how to do it are in a different category than everyone who decides to diet for a few weeks.
In my own small circle I know two women who have lost weight without surgery. My mother was around 160 lbs at 4 foot 9 and around 8 years ago she changed some eating habits and started walking regularly and is now around 120 lbs. She's maintained this weight more or less for at least 8 years.
My aunt was over 300 lbs for most of her adult life. In the past 3 years she has lost over 150lbs. She hasn't been maintaining as long but she's lost an amazing amount of weight by using weight watchers and picking up some exercising habits. I honestly doubt she'll ever regain.
I was just a bit over 200 lbs 6 or so years ago. 2 pregnancies later I've maintained 160 with very effort now that my lifestyle (especially around food) has changed. Now to just lose the next 30!
As previous posters have said we're not statistics, and I really believe those statistics are skewed anyways.
And Earthling you get +1 points for using the word 'cockamamie'.
Last edited by CanadianMomma; 06-06-2014 at 08:48 AM.
I'm with Earthling. Most journalists know nothing about how to dissect scientific research, nor do they care. (I have published papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. I have also been a sensationalist journalist. I've seen both sides.)
Take EVERYTHING you read in any news medium (be it newspapers, magazines, websites, or even scientific journals) with a grain of salt.
As my old research methods prof used to say, it's just another example of "How to lie with statistics."
Perhaps this publication is funded by the weight loss surgery industry? I know the numbers for long term weight-loss are not exactly inspiring, but similar studies basically told me my kids would be sick more, obese, and stupid if I didn't breastfeed for twelve years (note sarcasm). Studies are all fine and good when they serve some positive end, in my opinion, but stuff like this I tend to willfully ignore. YOU and I are not numbers, m'dear, we are individuals with the POWER to shape today and tomorrow, and every day thereafter. I agree with time2lose.
I loved what the canadian article brought forward since it applies to all we do in life.
If your weight loss plan makes you miserable, it wont work long term and will not help you maintain. Attitude, attitude, having a positive outlook always help, to see the positive instead of the negative.
Another point is the fact that people revert to their old habits, it is not the fact that they were on a diet that they regain but because they stop doing what was working for them.
I have regained some weight, one because menopause hit me like a freight train and my daily calorie need drop about 200 calories and second told myself it is only 5 pounds but it was never the same 5 pounds. If I would have taken into account menopause and instead of saying only 5 pounds and took action at just 1 pound I would still be 125. A little less yogourt or an apple and a half would have solved my problem, but proscratination got hold of me.
So NO I do not agree that it is impossible to maintain weight loss.
Maintenance really is the hard part... and unless you stay conscious of it, the weight can creep back up on you. In the program I'm in, the doctors are performing a study right now mapping our genes because they have found evidence of a "fat" gene, that some people are predisposed to being obese, and as a result will have to work harder for the rest of their lives in order to keep the weight off.
The key for me right now (keep in mind I'm still in the weight LOSS phase, but I'm learning every week new tools to help once I'm on the maintenance phase) is learning everything I can about the nutrition and behavioral aspects of food and weight loss. Armed with the right tools, I hope to make the right choices in the future. We'll see how I do with maintaining, but it really is about a lifestyle change... and the key (according to the clinic I'm in) is to take small steps towards your goal rather than try to jump in feet first. Often times that's what people do, they get all gung ho about weight loss, say THIS IS IT and decide to do all the things.
They end up cutting out everything they once loved
working their butts off
pushing themselves past their limit..... and as a result, end up giving up and relapsing because it isn't something they can maintain long term.
The better way to do it is to slowly make better choices. Don't deny yourself everything you love all the time, or you may end up relapsing and binging.. find healthier ways to enjoy the foods you love.
Don't start off by running a mile... if you're just starting out, try going around the block.. once that's easy, find a new goal, even if it's just going around the block twice.
Bit by bit you're building steps towards that new lifestyle you want, and because it was your choice, and you enjoyed yourself along the way, you didn't push yourself to the point of constant pain and agony.. you got there, and changed along the way.
It takes time to break habits, and time to form new ones.. if you try to change too many things at once, odds are, at some point, you will stop trying so hard to keep doing all the things, and end up right back where you started.
