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Or it could be that she doesn't have a challenge to keep the weight off. Some people who don't have that challenge might not understand how difficult it is for people with that challenge. It's easy (and 100% technically correct) to simply say "Don't eat so much and you won't be fat" or "Have some will power..". All completely correct. It's like me (non smoker) projecting my non desire for a cigarette to a chain smoker: "I don't want a cigarette so therefore you shouldn't want one. Just stop smoking, it's easy - see, I don't want one, look how easy it is. You just need to make a wise choice like I am making not to smoke."
It's a challenge, but I'm up for it. I've never had to struggle with a weight problem before, this is my first serious attempt. I've been on the plus side of average weight most of my life, but never obese til 5 years ago when I quit smoking.
It was never a struggle, and I'm not struggling now either. It's not easy, but it's not a struggle. There -is- an inbetween. Willpower is overrated. I give in to my cravings, I don't deprive myself of anything. But I do adjust my portions, I've added more non-starch fiber and more protein, and I do exercise now, where previously I did not. And so the weight is slowly coming off, and I feel healthier than I've felt in 20 years. If I want chocolate, I have 1 candybar. I no longer buy a 1/2 pound of Hersheys Kisses and eat the whole thing while watching a soap opera. If I want ice cream, I buy a pint and have a scoop today, another scoop tomorrow, and finish it the third day. I no longer buy a 2-scoop hot fudge sundae with marshmallow fluff and gobble it all up in one sitting. There's no deprivation at all, so there's no need to feel like I'm struggling. It's called taking responsibility for one's own choices.
And it isn't comparable to quitting smoking. When you quit smoking, you quit smoking. When you lose weight, you don't quit eating.
This is how I feel, Charles. People are all different. I smoked to look cool for a year and never craved cigarettes and never had to struggle with that addiction. Not my issue: Food is, instead.
I think a lot of this is physiological: Food, cigarettes, etc. and it depends upon the person's make up what they are going to "need".
Another thing, a person can quit cocaine, alcohol, smoking, etc and in time the cravings go away (I am pretty sure).
You can't quit food. Moderation is a lot harder than cessation.
Another thing, a person can quit cocaine, alcohol, smoking, etc and in time the cravings go away (I am pretty sure).
You can't quit food. Moderation is a lot harder than cessation.
I disagree. Moderation of food choices, is different from cessation of addictive drugs. Not harder - just different. The *process* of quitting alcohol is harder than the *process* of changing your food choices. The process of quitting smoking is harder than the process of changing your food choices. However, once the poisons are no longer in your body, your body no longer experiences withdrawal symptoms. You can't say the same about "once food is no longer in your body." And that's why it seems harder to maintain a healthy diet. However, people with celiac don't seem to struggle all that much with not eating wheat, once they get used to it. Diabetics who are insulin-dependent, mostly get used to the drastic change in their own diets. People taking coumadin don't seem to struggle too much with not being allowed to enjoy their favorite vegetables. Vegans don't seem to miss meat at all, once they get used to not eating meat.
People with food allergies don't seem to struggle with refraining from eating those foods. My mom convinced the whole neighborhood that I was allergic to chocolate, and I didn't get to eat it for two years til I caught on that she only said that because I was a messy kid and always got chocolate stains on my shirts. I never struggled with the deprivation. I whined because I WANTED it..but I never felt like I was suffering without it.
And people who really ARE allergic to chocolate, live without it just fine.
Responsibility for one's own choices, including the choice to be healthy. It's a matter of mind-set, not willpower. Willpower is overrated, as I said. If you *think* you're suffering, then yeah it'll be a challenge. But you're not really suffering, when you're not "full." Even if you were to fast for a full 24-hour period, you wouldn't be "suffering" unless there was something medically wrong with you (such as a blood sugar problem). Feeling a hunger-rumble in your belly isn't suffering. Feeling it for a few hours also isn't suffering. And it's pretty insulting to people who really DO suffer, to get all overdramatic about how you're suffering just because you didn't get to eat your Twinkie.
I thought that there might not be anything my post that matches who you are or what's going on in your life. That's why I kept saying "maybe". If I intended to be presumptive I would have said "I suppose" but that wasn't my intention. I wasn't trying to analyze you. I was just throwing some possible situations out there that are common to people who overeat.
Sometimes it's hard when someone is typing or writing something because the person you're addressing can't hear your voice or see your facial expressions. I was typing with a friendly and helpful tone in mind. I didn't state anything as a fact. I was just brainstorming based on some common types of problems that people have that cause them to overeat. I knew that trying to help you by giving you info on nutrition wasn't helping because we were telling you things that you already know, so I figured I'd help in a different way. I didn't mean to be invasive. I didn't ask you whether or not you were in any situations that I thought of. I was just throwing some things out there.
I think doing rescue and helping others is great. I hope you didn't think that I was insulting the job you do with rescuing animals. What I meant was that sometimes people lose interest in what they're doing, no matter what it is. Or even if they don't lose interest there's still something else that they'd like to do instead. It's great that you're doing what you want to be doing and you're not looking for a change.
I hope that you're able to figure out why it's difficult for you to eat less. I wish you the best of luck and I wish that I could have been helpful to you. ((HUGS))
Another thing, a person can quit cocaine, alcohol, smoking, etc and in time the cravings go away (I am pretty sure).
You can't quit food. Moderation is a lot harder than cessation.
Yes, it is. As a matter of fact, that science based Stop Smoking program that my husband attends and which I sometimes go with him to, just to give him company, has found that if smokers allow themselves to have even one cigarette ("because I just needed it, I was under so much stress, and it's only one"), guess what, they have statistically been found to have had another....and another...till they eventually become regular smokers. They must stop completely in order to succeed. One cigarette is considered very dangerous.
I disagree. Moderation of food choices, is different from cessation of addictive drugs. Not harder - just different. The *process* of quitting alcohol is harder than the *process* of changing your food choices. The process of quitting smoking is harder than the process of changing your food choices. However, once the poisons are no longer in your body, your body no longer experiences withdrawal symptoms. You can't say the same about "once food is no longer in your body." And that's why it seems harder to maintain a healthy diet. However, people with celiac don't seem to struggle all that much with not eating wheat, once they get used to it. Diabetics who are insulin-dependent, mostly get used to the drastic change in their own diets. People taking coumadin don't seem to struggle too much with not being allowed to enjoy their favorite vegetables. Vegans don't seem to miss meat at all, once they get used to not eating meat.
People with food allergies don't seem to struggle with refraining from eating those foods. My mom convinced the whole neighborhood that I was allergic to chocolate, and I didn't get to eat it for two years til I caught on that she only said that because I was a messy kid and always got chocolate stains on my shirts. I never struggled with the deprivation. I whined because I WANTED it..but I never felt like I was suffering without it.
And people who really ARE allergic to chocolate, live without it just fine.
Responsibility for one's own choices, including the choice to be healthy. It's a matter of mind-set, not willpower. Willpower is overrated, as I said. If you *think* you're suffering, then yeah it'll be a challenge. But you're not really suffering, when you're not "full." Even if you were to fast for a full 24-hour period, you wouldn't be "suffering" unless there was something medically wrong with you (such as a blood sugar problem). Feeling a hunger-rumble in your belly isn't suffering. Feeling it for a few hours also isn't suffering. And it's pretty insulting to people who really DO suffer, to get all overdramatic about how you're suffering just because you didn't get to eat your Twinkie.
"The process of quitting smoking is harder than the process of changing your food choices. However, once the poisons are no longer in your body, your body no longer experiences withdrawal symptoms. "
I do want to say that the Stop Smoking program teaches that the physical effect of cigarettes affects one for a long, long time. The brain has been altered. The habit and need to use cigarettes is also still ingrained. It does lessen over time, but it remains and that is why people who have stopped for 5 years are still going to weekly meetings. In a sense, there are still psychological withdrawal symptoms with smokers for many years.
I disagree. Moderation of food choices, is different from cessation of addictive drugs. Not harder - just different. The *process* of quitting alcohol is harder than the *process* of changing your food choices. The process of quitting smoking is harder than the process of changing your food choices. However, once the poisons are no longer in your body, your body no longer experiences withdrawal symptoms. You can't say the same about "once food is no longer in your body." And that's why it seems harder to maintain a healthy diet. However, people with celiac don't seem to struggle all that much with not eating wheat, once they get used to it. Diabetics who are insulin-dependent, mostly get used to the drastic change in their own diets. People taking coumadin don't seem to struggle too much with not being allowed to enjoy their favorite vegetables. Vegans don't seem to miss meat at all, once they get used to not eating meat.
People with food allergies don't seem to struggle with refraining from eating those foods. My mom convinced the whole neighborhood that I was allergic to chocolate, and I didn't get to eat it for two years til I caught on that she only said that because I was a messy kid and always got chocolate stains on my shirts. I never struggled with the deprivation. I whined because I WANTED it..but I never felt like I was suffering without it.
And people who really ARE allergic to chocolate, live without it just fine.
Responsibility for one's own choices, including the choice to be healthy. It's a matter of mind-set, not willpower. Willpower is overrated, as I said. If you *think* you're suffering, then yeah it'll be a challenge. But you're not really suffering, when you're not "full." Even if you were to fast for a full 24-hour period, you wouldn't be "suffering" unless there was something medically wrong with you (such as a blood sugar problem). Feeling a hunger-rumble in your belly isn't suffering. Feeling it for a few hours also isn't suffering. And it's pretty insulting to people who really DO suffer, to get all overdramatic about how you're suffering just because you didn't get to eat your Twinkie.
"Feeling a hunger-rumble in your belly isn't suffering. Feeling it for a few hours also isn't suffering. And it's pretty insulting to people who really DO suffer, to get all overdramatic about how you're suffering just because you didn't get to eat your Twinkie.[/quote]"
You get pretty emotional, pretty moralistic about people who say they are suffering when they subjectively feel they are suffering, don't you? I don't think you ought to counsel overeaters LOL!
My thing with the OP is that she said the advice was useless advice.
No one was rude up for the first 4 pages.
Maybe it was useless for me to offer advice.
The next thing that might work? Appetite supressants. Is that what you want to hear?
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