Does everyone here know how hard it is to lose weight?

I'm sure that between us here we've been on every diet ever conceived - crazy, fad, healthy etc. It's hard to get started and it's even harder to stick to it.

I can't offer any suggestions on the above but I did read a book recently that I thought could help all of us. The writer is a behavioral psychologist who studies why we eat, when we eat, how much we eat etc. and this book discusses some of his and other people's research to show us what we can do to help ourselves towards losing weight. It's a very easy and interesting book - and there are quite a few surprises and laughs etc. I borrowed it from my library but I think it's also in bookstores since it's popular. He wrote it with the idea that it can help you lose 10-20 pounds which for me is a drop in the bucket. BUT the good news is that you can make these simple changes while you continue to struggle with finding and sticking to the right diet.

The book is called Mindless eating : why we eat more than we think by Brian Wansink PhD.

Some of the suggestions were things you might have heard before - such as use salad plates instead of dinner plates and dessert forks instead of dinner forks to eat your meals. I have been doing this for awhile even before I read this book and it really helps.  Another one is that when you have to make yourself something to eat you eat less that if you take out from a restaurant so that's a good reason to cook at home even if you are tired or aren't a very good cook.

There are some really clever and funny research projects - one was a bowl that kept filling up with soup so the person eating the soup was completely unaware and ate more than they realized. I've read another book by him - can't remember the title but I recommend it too.

Skylar

Sounds like my kind of book! I am going to check it out.

I'll certainly check it out. I describe losing weight as pushing a 500 lb boulder up a hill that seems like there is no end...I tried every diet too, some were even ridiculous looking back at it now but for me I've realized that when a person is fed up enough, changes begin to happen...I'm not a big Dr. Phil fan but I love his phrase "how's that working for you". 308lbs just wasn't working for me anymore and once that decision was made, the hard work just seemed inevitable so why procrastinate. This site was such a blessing for me too, reading all your stories was very motivational. I couldn't wait until I could report that I was a success story too

I've realized that when a person is fed up enough, changes begin to happen...I'm not a big Dr. Phil fan but I love his phrase "how's that working for you". 308lbs just wasn't working for me anymore and once that decision was made, the hard work just seemed inevitable so why procrastinate.  Well said!

I read a book by a dietitian years ago (can't remember the title) but she studied people who had lost weight and kept it off for 2 years.  It came down to (like you said sanjali23) 1. the person made the decision to lose the weight and kept it as a priority
2. they kept a food log and 3. they exercised. It didn't seem to matter  if they went to a program (like WW, TOPS etc) or if they came up with a plan for themselves. It also didn't seem to matter how much a person needed to lose.

It has been within this last week that I have considered WLS and  a friend who had RNY done and is doing well keeps encouraging me. But I tend to gravitate to the forums like regrets, complications, and failures.

But this lifestyle of mine is not "working for me". And no matter how I look at the lifestyle it is the weight that is keeping me from truly enjoying life even living life.

I haven't figured out this website as yet but this particular forum is great and positive. I pray that all of you have great success!

Hi Reb-bec - you are right - the one thing we can't keep doing is the same old thing that clearly isn't working. I know many people are struggling with making changes in their diet and this book can help those make at least a small and easy start.

I guess I reached my lowest point when I decided to do something about it - and I've made a complete lifestyle change, not just a diet to lose weight. Now when you have WLS you're supposed to make these changes - but not everyone does. WLS will make it easy to lose a lot of weight quickly, but to be successful in the long term you have to make real changes. I just figured that I may as well make the changes and not have the risks of surgery LOL. I do hope that we all have success with whichever route we take.

Skylar

I wrote you this whole speech and then it got delted so here I am trying again:-)

I was so much like you, I was scheduled for surgery and cancelled 3 days before because it occured to me that while curgery is great for some, I would have to accept the side effects that could come with it and they were just too many for me to accept. I have a friend who loves her RNY except for her hair falling out from lack of protein and her constant trips to the ER for iron infusions because she cannot aabsorb iron on her own, still she says she would never change her decision. It would drive me crazy becauce I HATE HOSPITALS...

I so hope that you have extreme success with yor weightloss no matter which route you take to lose it and my advice to you is to celebrate evry pound lost as if it was the last pound to get you to your goal and I promise you life will start to feel a lot better.