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"Oh, it's all right if I have that bagel. I'm going to exercise later!" Then I don't exercise. Or if I do, then I conveniently forget about the bagel and reward myself with something else! Two snacks + one exercise session = no weight loss! I need to learn to think of carrot sticks as a reward. Uh huh... I'll get right on that - as soon as I lose my addiction for Cheez-Its and Milano cookies!
I think about exercising a lot, especially at night when I ruminate on all the clothes in my closet that are currently too small for me. Somehow, "thinking yourself thin" never worked for me. Can't imagine why!
On a more serious note, I actually put together a daily journal for myself; I'm supposed to write down everything I eat, and what kind of exercise I got that day. There's also a section titled, "If no exercise, why not?" I wonder how many times I'll get tired of writing "lazy"? I know, I know, I'm defeating myself before I even really get started. I am going to try to do this (eat less; move more).
So what is the question, What do you want from this thread?
Or, are you looking for people to add on to the thread with similar experiences?
In the former case, I don't think you need any advice (nor does anybody who is trying to lose weight; everyone knows what they need to do - lack of knowledge has barely anything to do with weight loss failure). People lose weight when they are serious about it (replace "can't" with "want" to lose weight).
So, it must be the latter case.
Unfortunately almost all of them put it back on. Anybody can lose weight - that's the easy part. Keeping it off is almost impossible - statistics bear this out. It's ten times easier to go
From ("ideal weight" + 30) To "ideal weight" in six months
than it is to keep from going
From "ideal weight" To ("ideal weight" + 5) for two months.
So, my anecdote is when I was a bachelor my weight often varied up and down as a function of whether I was dating someone or not.
Have a girlfriend? "Let's eat! I'm on the 'bus'" Chub up.
Don't have a girlfriend? "Got to drop it, I'm on the hunt." (Women are the same way. I notice so many of my recently divorced female friends dropping the "married 20" once they are on the hunt again.)
In both cases, exercise was irrelevant. I have always exercised. Weight control was 99% food control.
So, you basically have two choices:
1) Understand that you will have to not eat what you want to in the quantities you want to for the rest of your life - basically deprivation (some people sugar coat this and call it "changing your habits"), or
2) Lower your standards and be overweight.
I'm looking for motivation, which as usual, I am sorely lacking. I don't want to deprive myself of every food I love, although I have banned ice cream from my diet except on very rare occasions. Exercise is the only way for me to be able to eat more of what I want without gaining 1-2 lbs a week.
If it's in your genes, then that's what it boils down to. You'll never exercise enough to overcome your desire to eat more than your body wants you to. You have to eat less than you want.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyCo
Exercise is the only way for me to be able to eat more of what I want without gaining 1-2 lbs a week.
Exercise will not help much to lose weight. You'll just make yourself hungrier. For every five calories you burn at the gym, you'll get six calories hungrier. Bottom line: You have eat less than you want, exercise or no exercise. Want to drop a pound a week? Then eat 500 calories less/day than you burn. Burn an extra 500 at the gym? Great, but you will be that much hungrier so you still have to eat less than you want. (Ever notice the overweight people at the gym never really change that much? They work out just as much as anybody else but they don't lose weight.)
Unless you are willing to be 500/calories per day hungrier, then you'll never lose weight. And unless you are willing to do this the rest of your life, you'll never keep it off.
The rest of your life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyCo
I'm looking for motivation
Lou Holtz, coach of the great Notre Dame teams of the 1980s, responding after it was suggested he was a great motivator:
"I am not a great motivator. I'm just really good at weeding out those who can't motivate themselves."
Your post sounds just like my thinking at the beginning of this year. Then in April, my weight was increasing and frankly shocked me. It was enough to make me determined to do something about it. I committed to do my absolute best to make it to the gym and workout for at least an hour every day for a year.
I did not make a committment to myself to diet but I did decide to make better choices and eat much smaller portions of less healthy foods. I have stuck to my commitment so far for 4 months and I've lost over 40 lbs.
I had "wanted" to make changes many times in the past couple of years, but I was never "determined" to make a change until this time.
1) Understand that you will have to not eat what you want to in the quantities you want to for the rest of your life - basically deprivation (some people sugar coat this and call it "changing your habits"), or
Now see, I disagree with that. It's not sugarcoating. What it IS, is learning how to eat to maintain a fit and healthy body. If you are fat, then obviously you got that way by consuming more calories than you burned. You screwed up is what you did. Lost track. Stopped paying attention. Maintaining a healthy weight DOES take focus, and it does mean you have to pay attention.
But it surely does not mean deprivation - or anything close to it.
hat it IS, is learning how to eat to maintain a fit and healthy body.
If you are fat, then obviously you got that way by consuming more calories than you burned.
You screwed up is what you did. Lost track. Stopped paying attention. Maintaining a healthy weight DOES take focus, and it does mean you have to pay attention.
But it surely does not mean deprivation - or anything close to it.
I agree this is the case for some people, but only a small minority - and only those who weren't predisposed to being overweight in the first place. You're referring to normally not overweight people who really went nuts with food and gained weight. This is most likely due to some extreme situation or external stressor or something like that. Not common. If someone has the "fat gene" (maybe the original poster or the majority of thread starters on the forum???) then it's a major battle that they are unlikely to win.
Find ten people out there who aren't fat and have not been fat for several years. Ask them if they focus on their eating habits. Nine of them will probably answer something like "not much" or "I try not to overdo it" etc. For them, it wasn't an issue in the first place. Re-read that last statement - it's important. For them, it wasn't an issue in the first place. For someone who has the "fat gene", meaning they are prone to being overweight, it has most likely always been an issue and that's all they think about.
Take a look at the people in your office. Ever notice the heavy people stay heavy, the thin people stay thin? nobody really changes - maybe temporarily - but not long term. That lady with the big butt - does she really eat that much differently than the bean pole man? She may but not because she lacks control - the bean pole man's appetite isn't genetically programmed like hers. Also, her butt just happens to be the exact shape as her mom's. Coincidence? Nope. Does anyone really think it is because the thin people are focusing on their eating habits and more than the overweight people? If anything, the overweight people are focusing more (like they have been for 30 years). It's almost all genetics. Their genes have more of an influence on their weight than their habits do.
If you are naturally not overweight, then sure a small amount of focus, "not blowing it everyday" is all that is necessary.
For someone who has the tendency to be overweight (their mom or dad was overweight for example), it does require superhuman strength. In their case "Changing their eating habits" really does mean saying "be hungry forever".
If I am wrong, then all the overweight people in the world would simply have to exert as much effort (which isn't too much) as our our lucky, naturally not overweight brothers and sisters out there do (the nine people above for example) in order to not be overweight. That simply is not going to happen.
If you are not overweight and have pretty much always not been overweight, with the exception of a temporary period in your life - it is mostly because you are lucky (or not unlucky).
Hey sandyco! I know how you feel. For one, Charles is a real downer. He is right in a sense but has no people skills. I have successfully lost some weight. About 40 pounds. It was 50 but I put some back on when I moved. I have some photos posted on another website....I'll post a link at the end. When you click on the link you'll have to click on yet another link to see my before pics. I still have some weight to lose. 20 to 30 pounds or so.
What I did at first was just get real mad about it. I got a cheap treadmill from a friend, ate way less, and ran ran ran on that darn treadmill till it broke. (cheap o) I would reward myself with treats at my favorite buffet or whatever. It is not impossible. You can do it if you are determined enough. Get mad like I did! New to Low Carb...It's worth a try! - Low Carb Friends
scroll down to post number 19 for the other link and post 20 is a recent photo of me.
Do you drink sodas? They are very fattening AND they contain HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, which causes increased hunger. Look it up.
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I know, I know, I'm defeating myself before I even really get started. I am going to try to do this (eat less; move more). 
