Why diets don't work

The only thing that needed (needs?) to be reset in order for me to vanquish my blubber was (is?)...drum roll please...MY MIND! Life's a ***** huh? I would say it's usually a long, hard road to finding and accepting what works for us each as individuals. I, like you, exercise frequently. However, I also have concentrated on reducing my caloric intake. It works for me, thanks. At this point, the only 'one size fits all' revelation I'll accept is a calorie-burning cheeseburger. That would be too tempting to doubt.

like others have said, you have found what works for you at this moment and that is great. everyone needs to find what works for them.  however, you are still in weight loss mode. and in the high point of weight loss mode where you are actually losing weight reliably every week. when you get to 150 lbs or whatever your healthy goal weight is, you won't be able to eat as much per day. you body become more efficient over time, both with processing caloric load and with burning cals at the gym. i work out everyday - 3 times a week intensely with a trainer using heavy weights. is this challenging? yes. but i don't burn anywhere near the calories that i burned 4 years ago when i reached my goal weight, let alone the amount i burned when i was 280 lbs. the same activites are much less challenging. and you can only work out so much with so much intensity. otherwise you risk injury and losing other important aspects of your life (working out 18 hours a day is not good for your social life). the body is a sophisticated and complicated machine that is amazingly adaptable. you have to keep on top of it and changing things up all the time just to maintain your weight. almost any fitness/nutrition/medical professional will tell you that anyone can lose weight. its not that hard really. the complicated and much harder part is keeping it off over time once your body has adapted and your routine doesn't work the same way it used to. its hard work, but i know that for me, i will have to have that degree of vigilance for the rest of my life. it seems like all of your messages tout this newfound way of eating, which is really great, but flexibility of your program is also very important.

Never suggested it wouldn't change as I lose.  Don't know what gave you that impression.

I'm a member of the new OH Mental Health Advisory Board so I hope you don't mind if I jump in here with my first post ever. First, I have to agree with a comment that was made much earlier that many doctors don't understand the effects of dieting - on our bodies or our brains. The bottom line is that if dieting was the answer, there wouldn't be a problem. To me the biggest problem with diets is that they focus on WHAT and HOW MUCH we eat, not on WHY and HOW we eat. To me that is why the results are usually temporary.

We get in the habit of eating by the clock or whenever we see delicious food. We eat because we are bored, stressed, lonely, happy, etc., etc. When we eat food our body didn't ask for, it has no choice but to store it so of course we gain weight. When I used to diet, I would still eat for emotional reasons but I just ate what was allowed on the diet. The game was trying to get the most food for the fewest calories or points. Nothing really changed about WHY I was eating - so I still felt like eating all the time. Eventually I'd feet too stressed or deprived or whatever, and go back to eating my favorites - still for emotional reasons. Whether you choose to follow specific rules or not isn't really the point. The point is why do we eat in the first place? Until we learn to deal with that, the underlying problem doesn't go away so as soon as the diet is over we go back to overeating again.

Michelle - WELCOME! 

I look for ward to hearing your point of view on this board.  We are a pretty tough group and almost all of us are open to some good constructive criticism. Thanks for your time and input.

Thanks! No criticism intended, constructive or otherwise!  The bottom line is that this is a complex issue and I think there is usually more to it than eating perfectly or weighing and measuring every bite . I think I used dieting the same way I used food - to distract myself from experiencing the fullness of my experiences and emotions. If I wasn't thinking about food (eating it or not eating it) then I had to get back to work or have a hard conversation or find something else to do. Now my intention is to eat when I'm hungry, stop when I am comfortable then not focus on food until my body tells me to eat again. Simple but not always easy.

See I have to maintain far more control to have success.  Perhaps the time will come when I can listen to my body's hunger signals... but for now I must eat small meals at regular time.  I pre-plan and pre-portion everything in order to keep from bingeing. I am glad that you have found a way to eat healthy that works for you.

But see, I don't think all obese folk have an eating problem.  I didn't.  Dieting made me nuts to be sure, sending my body signals of deprivation, my mind signals that something was wrong with me, but before dieting--no, I wouldn't say I had a problem, ate emotionally or anything.  My body just stored everything it had, even if it wasn't traditionally excess food.  The fact is, excess food is what I needed.

I'm not saying some don't have a problem with food or overeating, but not all of us.  I watch the Biggest Loser and when they use food temptations, I don't get it.  That's not me.

Eating too much healthy food can cause one to get fat. I completely disagree that some obese fat people don't have an eating problem.  They do, even if the problem is their bodies store food too readily.

They may not feel addicted/obsessed/compulsive about food, this is true, but they are not able to manage food intake with exercise.   There is no way that you did not eat to excess for YOUR body.  You did, plain and simple. Maybe the amount was not what I ate to get fat, but it was too much for YOU.

Most of us do not need anywhere near what trainers and other wannabes say that we need. Not too many women, espcially over age 50 need 2000 calories a day. Well, unless they swing a pick for 8 hours every day. Those kinds of figures are a starting point only.   You have lost what 14 pounds...you are at the beginning of this journey. I sincerely do not intend to take the wind from your sails; with all my heart i hope you lose your weight.   As has been said, many have lost it, many times using any variety of methods...the real test is keeping it off.

 

The majority of people in this country have an eating problem, obese or not.  I'm not saying that what you are doing isn't working for you right now.  If it's working and you are happy with it then that is all that matters.  Success is long term and if this makes you successful long term, more power to you.