Just in time for your resolutions: The "Key" to Losing Weight (and Keeping It Off)

ExurbanLeague.com ^ | Dec. 31, 2008 | Jon

[inkling]

For the first time in a decade, losing weight will NOT be one of my New Year's resolutions. The reason? After years of piling on the padding (and a few failed weight-loss attempts) I've lost 60 lbs. over the past four months.

I've only blogged about diet once and did so hesitantly. But that two-year-old post is still getting consistent hits. Everybody is Googling for the silver bullet to shedding pounds. They think that there must be some secret diet, high-tech fitness equipment, or miracle pill that will finally give them health.

As I said back then, fat people offer the most dieting advice. So I swore that I wouldn't address the subject again until I was a much thinner man. Now that I've achieved a moderate level of scrawn, I wanted to share several counter-intuitive observations about weight loss. Every diet works.

South Beach, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Slim Fast, Medifast, Zone, Modified Zone, Nutrisystem, Jared's Subway Spectacular — each one of these mainstream diets works like a charm. As will any diet or exercise program that takes in less calories than it expends...

[rarestia]

If calorie intake is more than calories burned you will gain weight.

Thank you! This is the simplest piece of advice anyone could get! I spent the last 3 years shedding the pounds, and I've successfully dropped 105 lbs. It's really not that hard, you just can't expect results over night.

To boot, NEVER go hungry. Never, ever, ever! If you're hungry, your body will slow down automatically and store more fat. When I'm hungry, I'll drink a cup of green tea, eat a handful of nuts, or drink a bunch of water. At over a gallon a day, water intake is one of the big keys to effective weight loss! Somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% of hunger pangs are actually thirst!

This guy is a dolt! It would've probably been better that he kept his mouth shut and not blogged about it. He never revealed what diet actually proved most effective, and I'd bet that he was on B12 shots through some Medi-weight-loss-clinic, etc. That's cheating if you ask me.

Finally, the best thing to do for yourself is NEVER diet and NEVER say you're losing weight. If you lose something, there's an unspoken inference that you're looking for it. Every pound off my body was dropped, not lost. I don't sit there and say, "I don't know where it went. It was here a month ago!" People asking me how much weight I've lost, I say, "None, but I've dropped over 100 lbs."

[Ditter]

Beware the boxed food diets, Jenny Craig, Nurtisystems, etc. They contain massive amounts of chemicals that can become a bigger problem than extra weight for those who are sensitive to them. Prepare your own food and you know what you are getting.

[PrincessB]

It seems like he posted this two years ago and has kept the weight off. My biggest dispute is that you HAVE to HATE the food. There is enough variety out there that you can pick something you like and work with that. When I started losing weight, I did eat spinach with a little butter regularly. I have added kale with a little chicken broth and paprika and swiss chard with a little olive oil. It took a few tries, but these are my standard dinner vegetables now and yes I enjoy them.

Trust me, the longer you go without fast food or donuts, the worse they taste when you pick one up again. I had a favorite fast food meal after about four months of no fast food. It’s wasn’t that great and the bloated stomach feeling afterwords has kept me out of drive throughs for over a year.

I lost about 18 lbs. two years ago (My goal was fifteen). I lost the last 12 at a much faster rate (took about 7 weeks) than the first 5 and I switched “diets” to do that. I gained a little back over the summer and went right back to the strict rules and lost the weight again and it is still off.

[Tennessee Nana]

Every one of those pills is to be accompanied by lots of water...

Ergo, it is the water that helps in the lose of the weight and inches...

The costly sugar pill ????

Well, do you really need it ????

Enjoy losing the pounds...

you enjoyed putting them on...

Let's have a group of healthy folks this year...

FReepers, put down that mouse anjd run/walk arou nd the block...

Drink lots of water...

The taste bother you ???

Add slices of limes, or lemons or oranges...

Eat lots of fruit and raw vegetables etc...

Eat at the table and not at the computer...

Get lots of sleep..

And then...Hello feet...

FReeper will soon be synonymous with gorgeous

[utahagen]

“park the car further from the store”...this low-key suggestion is an excellent one because it neutralizes one of the lies you hear about weight loss: “If you don't exercise, you can't lose weight.” The reason this is a lie is because exercise is almost always defined as: put on workout clothes, go to a gym, and move at a fast speed for an hour every day. Most people are simply not going to stick with that because their actual lives can't accommodate that. So, people give up completely because they've bought into the lie that they MUST “exercise” or they'll stay fat. I have found that 90% of weight loss is calorie restriction, which is easier if you cut out refined carbs than if you try to do a low-fat plan. The remaining 10% is simply moving more doing simple things, such as parking the car far from the store and walking more than usual. Joining a gym or getting a trainer is fine, but for those of us who just won't do that, simple stuff works. It's simply a lie that you have to do high-powered exercise to lose weight.

[PrincessB]

You may want to check a book called “The Fat Fallacy” by Dr. Will Cower. He has some anti-business politics, but other than that, you may be able to have success on this one if you liked Atkins and have a good cook around.

[Dilbert56]

We should discuss this further. Let’s meet at my house. You get off the freeway at the Burger Palace. You go three blocks to the Dunkin Donuts and turn right. Two more blocks, just past the Perkins you’ll see a convenience store with Krispy Kreme donuts. My house is just one more block, at the corner where the Coldstone Creamery and Wendy’s are.

[basil]

I like Dr. Laura's simple advice:

EAT LESS, MOVE MORE!

[AnnGora]

Nowadays if you are fat, you are a victim. Just ask Oprah. Expecting self-control is just a way of humiliating the poor, put-upon obese. There must be a way to be able to eat all you want, lay upon the couch, and lose weight.

Stop the discrimination against the Overweight!

[wintertime]

You’re desperately hungry,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And for me, I have been **desperately** hungry for the 3 years that I finally lost 80 lbs. It’s been 4 years since I started the project.

Every day is the same battle. The first think I think of when I wake up is the painful hunger I am feeling. I am reminded of it every minute of every day. I go to bed hungry.

If I am hungry, I know that I have eaten enough to maintain this 80 lbs weight loss.

Yeah it sucks!

By the way...Regarding hormones: I recommend that every one over 30 get a TSH to test the thyroid every year. It’s a cheap test and it is **amazing** how many people are walking around not feeling as well as they could because they are hypothyroid.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Everyone’s different, but I never had a problem hating fast food and sweets...I could never stand them to begin with. I just have to accept that I can’t eat like a normal person and maintain a normal weight, so I have to keep a special diet. The deal that I made with myself is that if I want something (within reason) that isn’t allowed, I can have it, but I have to wait until the weekend. If I still want it then, then it’s no big deal. I’ve steadily lost weight like this for two years now and I’m still going. It takes a lot longer this way, but it is extremely effective and satisfying.

Usually this amounts to having rice with my dinner or a few drinks on Friday, as alcohol is off limits during the week.

[RXSalesman]

Do you want to know how to lose 315 pounds in 3 years? Get a bike.... http://istanbultea.typepad.com/largefellaonabike/

[nbhunt]

I lost weight by eating. Yes I know it’s hard to believe but I did. I ate 2 meals a day for years. And finally got tired of being hungry all the time and finally said to hell with it, if I’m fat, I’m fat. I starting eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and a snack, all while doing the same activity. But I did cut out all colas and kinda watch the sweets. The doctor said it spreed up my metabolism and now I have lost 95 lbs in 7 years and off all medication. A slow process but it worked. I was surprised too.

[angcat]

I was being sarcastic. I feel I have enough fat on me right now to survive a good fasting! I can't wait to get back to normal eating.

[FreeAgent]

“As will any diet or exercise program that takes in less calories than it expends.”

Oversimplistic, but will work for a percentage of people.

[wintertime]

I’ve never understood these kinds of problems. Don’t people have will power anymore? If you’re overweight, eat less!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Please read post #30.

In my case I had been walking around hypothyroid for **years**. I had always been a healthy weight ( a little underweight) until my mid thirties. Then I gradually began gaining weight.

Finally in my early 40s I staggered into my doctor's office and told her, “I feel **horrible!!” I had a TSH of 10.5.

Well...Adjusting the thyroid made a big difference in how I felt but the weight was on to stay. It's been a four year project but I did lose 80 lbs. and it has been off for 3 years.

Every day is a determined struggle of who will win: Me or the hunger.

[AnnGora]

Utahagen, you are soooo right!
Most people dread exercising because it is such a chore! If you have to drive to the gym and get on a little machine and go round and round like a hamster...that’s no fun. Instead, do something you enjoy. Get some great music or an audio book on your ipod and take a walk. Go to the historical part of your town and walk through there. Call up an old friend, hit the local nature trail, and catch up on old times! Walk your dog. Play fetch with your dog. Go rake leaves.

ONLY ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

[durasell]

The fat issue, though always sensitive, is now becoming more important than ever.

Fat is seen as “down market” or low class. Given the opportunity to hire someone who is overweight and qualified versus someone thin and slightly less qualified, many employers will go with the thin person. This is particularly true in jobs where they would meet the general public or customers.

[engrpat]

My doctor sent me to see a dietitian in August. What I learned was portion control as well as eating healthy. I still have meat and potatoes but less and more veggies. I now have only one adult beverage a week and my favorite breakfast of bacon and eggs once a week. Eating more fish, chicken and veggies are important but also eat at the same time is also important. She told me not to go more than 4 hours without eating and if a meal is a couple hours away, eat fruit or nuts. Oh yeah and drink lots of water.

I started Sept. 1 and so far I have lost 42 pounds and have gone from size 42 pants to 38's and looking into buying some 36's as the 38's are starting to get a little big. Went from 221 to 185. I have been heavy for the last 10 years (age 65) so it can be done. The first week is rough after that a piece of cake....whoops did I say cake?

[umgud]

Last year I quit drinking, smoking, gambling, swearing and chasing wild women........... and I got to tell you it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. This year I’ll scale back my resolution a bit./s