Firstly, how can it not make a lick of sense if you’re also conceding it’s true?
Secondly, you seem to be implying I am making excuses for people not making a concerted attempt to lose weight and I am not and would not do that. If someone is obese then there are myriad improvements that they could make to their health, lifestyle and lifespan by cutting some weight.
The point is this is much harder than most people seem to assume, and that’s all I was illustrating. Yes we can say lots of things make you feel hungry, tired and sore, but it’s a question of degree, and what the failure rate is.
Dieticians and doctors are reassessing a lot of what they used to claim on this topic. Because more and more studies in recent years have shown that while this or that diet might work somewhat in the short term, losing a lot of weight and keeping it off is actually vanishingly rare. At the same time, we are understanding more of the underlying physiology, such as fat signalling chemicals like NPGL.
I’d agree with that – the immaturity of people who post things like “Calories in just needs to be less than calories consumed!”.
It’s not much more helpful than telling a family living in poverty “You just need to earn much more money!”
Adult life is chock-full of unpleasant duties that we undertake to achieve long-term positive results.
You’re making a observations and calling them obstacles, and that doesn’t make a lick of sense. Several people have pointed out that you can’t break the laws of thermodynamics, and you cite that metabolism can slow when a person reduces their calorie intake. An accurate observation, but that person will still lose weight because you can’t maintain a 300-lb body on 1500 calories/day, period, slow metabolism or not. A 300-lb person in a coma needs more than that to maintain her body weight. Your body gradually adapts and starts using the reserves, just like it’s evolved to do, until the reserves are depleted.
This is a BS misdirect. A person that’s overweight needs to reduce their calorie intake, not increase their activity. It’s a lot simpler eat 1000 fewer calories than it is to burn a 1000 more. Similarly, it’s easier for a family living in poverty to look for ways to conserve money rather than earn more.
I think you’re missing the point it wasn’t trivial for people to lose weight by eating less. It hurts, you’re tired and cranky and its harder to get energy to go out and have a life. But the solution to being fat is easy just eat less calories then you burn. There are some diets that trick your body into ignoring some types of calories or to help you feel more full so you suffer less but in the end move more, eat less is the core and its simple and easy.
For people who say they’re metabolism slows down then they should eat less calories then their new metabolic set point. Until you get down to 500 calories per day you’re not getting to real dangerous waters and with supplements you can be perfectly healthy and losing weight.
In the end losing weight is hard because your life sucks and the people around you are having fun. You get to decide if having fun with them is worth what ever reason you don’t want to be fat any more. If it is worth the struggle then the solution is easy.
Well it’s an observation of an obstacle. An obstacle being something difficult, but not impossible, to overcome.
Please do not reply once again with stuff about thermodynamics because we’re now at the point of me agreeing that yes, very obviously, if you consume fewer calories than you burn you’ll lose weight about 5 times in this thread. It’s getting very tiresome to keep having to repeat this, so please engage with what I am actually saying and not go back to the straw man.
It’s not a misdirect, it’s an analogy: it’s an example of another case where a simple truism is exceedingly patronizing in itself, and certainly not useful advice.
But, since you went into it, it’s interesting that you went to conserving being easier than earning. Does this imply most poor people are wasteful?
Also, let’s say I’m poor: if I put what little money I have into adult education or starting a business, does that count as saving? Because I would be extremely cash poor during that, and one accident or mishap away from complete disaster.
Honestly, when I want to lose weight (enough to change my lifestyle), there’s usually a reason for it, and the reason is temporary (it’s usually when I’m going to see people I haven’t seen in a long time, or trying to make a good first impression at a rare event). I don’t like that I gain the weight back, but there really isn’t any harm to it.
I know this thread has already gone off the rails on the whole calorie debate, but this section was just too good to pass up.
Wow. I am glad that is true for you, but that is pretty unusual. Exercise is stressful, mostly for two reasons:
Because it feels so terrible.
Because it takes time away from your life. Time that you would have been doing other things (going to grocery store, cleaning the house, sleeping, etc) so now you are even more behind in your life.
Also, when I exercise I just get more hungry. Hey, even take it from Winnie the Pooh:
[QUOTE=Winnie the Pooh
]
When I up, down and touch the ground
It puts me in the mood,
Up, down and touch the ground
In the mood for food
I am stout, round and I have found
Speaking poundage wise
I improve my appetite
When I exercise
I am short, fat and proud of that
And so, with all my might
I up, down and up, down to
My appetite’s delight
While I up, down and touch the ground
I think of things to chew, like honey
With a hefty happy appetite
I’m a hefty happy Pooh
[/QUOTE]
Alright, you all may now resume the calorie in-out and thermodynamics debate.
I’m also like guizot in that when I exercise regularly, I’m more likely to eat healthier and make more nutritious choices. When I’m sedentary, I tend to each much worse. I can resist stuff like cookies much better when I’m working out than when I’m not. But that appetite switch happens when I regularly exercise vigorously, which would be like a 1 hour workout where I’m sweating the whole time. Light activity, like walking or hiking, doesn’t act the same way on my appetite.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the people who go to the gym on a regular basis are rarely greatly overweight. I’m sure there are a variety of reasons for that, but it seems like there has to be some sort of connection between working out regularly and and maintaining a healthy weight.
I am far from being an expert in exercise and fitness. But I think—and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong—that someone who is such an expert would say that, if exercise feels terrible, you’re doing it wrong. That, or you’re doing something your body isn’t used to, and if you keep at it, it won’t feel terrible any more. That, or you have some issue that you need to see a doctor about (if you haven’t already).
And, arguably, activities like going to the grocery store or cleaning the house are exercise. Exercise can be anything that gets you moving around (preferably enough to raise your heart rate) and/or using your muscles. It doesn’t have to mean “Take the time to put on special clothes, drive to a special place, and do boring repetitive activities on special machines.”
I’ve heard plenty of fitness experts recommend choosing activities that you actually enjoy, because that makes it more likely that you’ll stick with them (and won’t think of them as wasted time).
Or, try to build exercise into your daily routine, so you’re not taking time out to do it. For example, walk someplace instead of driving there. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Move around instead of sitting on your ass while you’re watching TV, or taking a break at work, or whatever.
Oh, jfc. Another “don’t exercise because it will just cause you to gain weight” person.
Which is one of the MAIN reasons I want people to stop thinking about losing weight, and start thinking about exercising goals, and healthy eating goals.
If you exercise, you may not lose weight.
If you don’t exercise, you will have long term health issues down the line.
My father didn’t exercise much. He was skinny most of his life and he never got past the “a little bit of a pooch” level of overweight.
And he had back problems most of his adult life because he didn’t exercise. He died from heart disease, and while nicotine and unhealthy eating were also factors, I am positive that the fact he didn’t exercise contributed.
My mother, who avoided exercise like it was a rattlesnake, was having real problems with falling at about the age I am now (late 50s), and by her early 60s, she was unable to get off the ground without help.
Meanwhile, I can get up from being on the ground fairly easily. I can do it without using my hands if I concentrate. And I am probably about the same weight she was when she started having problems, so it isn’t a weight issue.
If you don’t exercise, you will have health problems later in life as a direct or indirect result of not exercising. Even if you look like Don Knotts
I think taking life tips from a fictional character who is intended to be viewed as somewhat lazy, immature, and prone to eating badly is probably a bad idea?
Also, I have NEVER gotten hungry from exercise. In fact, exercise has often made me energized. Consider that you might be the exception, rather than the rule… or that you have convinced yourself that you should be hungry after exercise.
This is exactly the poster child for the misconception that this thread is intending to clear up: you cannot have the “long term result” of weighing less by going on a diet and then going off the diet when you’ve “completed” it. If you eat less than your body wants in order to lose weight, then you have to commit to eating less than your body wants to eat for the rest of your life, otherwise there will be no “long term result”. This is the entire reason the phrase “yoyo dieting” even exists!
You can certainly go off your diet and not gain weight. My current diet is 1,500 calories per day. Once I reach my goal weight for this year my BMR will be 2500 calories per day with no exercise. Once I’ve reached my goal I can eat 2/3 more food then I am on my diet and stay at my goal.