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Author: John Christopher
Date: 01-25-04 19:50
Hi,
I was wondering what other people thought about this.
I have a couple of friends who have lost a lot of weight over the last 4-7 months. One of them is constantly preaching how easy it was. She says that once you actually learn how the body works at burning fat... it suddenly becomes very motivating and easy. Her claim is that all the previous confusion and conflicting messages you hear from so many different people, is what causes lack of motivation and a lot of hard work too.
My other friend who has also lost a bunch of weight... except it took him a few months longer... says how hard it is to do. He keeps saying that it was, and is, no picnic. That losing weight requires a 'lifestyle' change that is almost like a life sentence... telling you that you must suffer for the rest of your life. No food that you like. Plus having to exercise all the time.
I don't understand how two people achieved such similar results, yet experience the whole thing so differently.
Sometimes it pisses some of my other friends off when they hear Cindy say how easy it was, and is to maintain. They complain to me, saying that it makes them feel stupid and lazy. Yet I have other friends that like being around her because they actually feel motivated by how easy it was for her. And it's the friends who like being around Cindy, that can hardly stand being around James. They say he's nothing but a negative pain in the arse and that it makes them sick.
I think I know how I feel about the whole thing... but I was wondering if anyone else here could share what they think about this kind of thing too.
Kindly,
John
Post Edited (01-25-04 20:18)
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Author: Fabulous@50
Date: 01-25-04 20:24
John,
How do you feel about your weight loss so far? Do you believe it was easy or hard?
Your Friend #1 obviously, along with getting her lifestyle straight, has also adjusted her attitude to the right way of thinking about healthy eating and a healthy life--thereby making her weight removal easier.
Your Friend #2 who feels that he must suffer for the rest of his life, that to maintain weight loss is a life sentence and can't eat the food that he likes isn't doing it right. He's an addict still hooked on his drug "food" and doesn't want to let go of his life as a junkfood junkie.
If your other friends feel stupid and lazy, it is because they give themselves permission to feel that way.
It's more about what you "think" than how and what you "eat." Cure the mind, and the body will follow.
Given the choice between the two, I would chose Cindy if I wanted to succeed on my weight removal. For those who want to live a life of self-pity, they should hang out with James.
Fabulous@50
225/156/150
Program Start: May 12, 2003
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.”
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Author: Pianolady
Date: 01-25-04 20:31
No two people are exactly alike. Both people are probably right about how they lost the weight--for them. Everyone has different attitudes, health backgrounds, athletic ability, and so on. It probably is easier for some than others.
Sounds like there's some jealously or competition going on here, which is just silly and unsupportive from all sides. I usually refrain from offering advice about weight loss myself, unless asked. This usually keeps me out of trouble as looking like a know-it-all, or making someone ticked at me. lol
And....I hang out with people with positive attitudes whenever I can. ;)
Pianolady
250/158/150
http://www.bondpiano.com/weightloss
"Success comes before work only in the dictionary." --Anonymous--
Post Edited (01-25-04 20:35)
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Author: new me
Date: 01-25-04 22:03
Right on! It's rather smug to offer advice that isn't asked for and as we can see from this site there are a lot of different ways that work to loose weight. Each one of us needs to find what works for us.
Lynn
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Author: miranda
Date: 01-26-04 09:53
My experience is that losing weight isn't nearly as hard as a lot of people make out, but it's still harder, and a lot less fun, that eating all you want all the time. Part of the reason I'm still about 15 pounds over my goal weight is that after a year and after 70-75 pounds, dieting just got dreary. However, maintenance has been a blast (I just wish I was maintaining about 15 pounds less). Yes, it's a total lifestyle change, but I love it--I like being more active, and experimenting with different lower calorie foods--and yes, it's been fairly easy--I had over a year to change my habits and expectations to a level that makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight. I wonder if your friend who finds it so miserable has explored different low calorie foods which would ease his hunger pangs and satisfy his taste buds?
So I guess I'd take a gloater over a doomsayer. However, over both of those, I'd take a person who says, yes, in the beginning, it won't always be easy, but it does get easier as you slowly establish new habits and learn new ways to satisfy yourself, and once you've achieved a healthy weight, it's downright wonderful.
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miranda
230/169.5/145
"I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway."--Bill Watterson, "Calvin and Hobbes"
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Author: hoola
Date: 01-26-04 13:37
"So I guess I'd take a gloater over a doomsayer. However, over both of those, I'd take a person who says, yes, in the beginning, it won't always be easy, but it does get easier as you slowly establish new habits and learn new ways to satisfy yourself, and once you've achieved a healthy weight, it's downright wonderful.
i totally agree with all of this. And it really does depend on how you go about it. If you look at it like 1.OMG i have all this weight to lose i need to go on a diet. then yes it is going to be very hard or 2.WOW i am pumped in starting my new way of eating and living. then yes it is going to be easier.
As for friend number 1. I agree with her attitude. I dont go around saying how easy it is because i have had my own struggle in the past year or so. But like her when i learned about how *MY* body works and what numbers works for *ME*. It became very easy and almost fun!! Yes i said fun. I look foward everyday to see how my meals manifest into some healthy feast that i consume eagerly. You noticed i said feast. One fabulous thing i discovered that when i eat healthy i get to eat just as much as i did before and sometimes even more all while staying within my numbers (which are extremely lower than before my life change) for the day.
So no i dont get mad at people who have discovered that being healthy is fun and exciting and show it by telling people thier experience. I give them my congrats. I do however feel bad for those who havent found thier sweet spot and struggle from one day to the next for the rest of thier lives. yes it is a life long commitment but it shouldnt be a struggle.
365/221/200
Looking foward to maintaining my new way of life
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Author: Lesleybird
Date: 01-27-04 11:50
Well, I think that for some people it is easier than for others. Not everyone has the same metabolism so some people can eat a few hundred extra calories....say maybe 400 or 500 and stay the same weight as someone who weighs the same. This same 400 or 500 calories may be what the other person has to struggle (hungry) to do without to maintain the same weight as the other person. No matter what they say, some people's bodies waste a few more calories than other people, and some people's bodies extract every last calorie.
Another thing that is different between people is that some people's body reacts differently to food. There are many different components to what turns on and off hunger in a person including hormones, different chemicals in the stomach, neurotransmitters in the brain etc. Some people are lucky that their bodies hunger center gets turned off with less food. I have been on both sides of the problem, so I know that this is true. When I was in my early twenties I could eat and eat and eat, and was always hungry, and tended to binge. I could eat much larger quanties of food than I do now without being full. I started to take medicine for depression when I was about 27 (now I'm 42), which keeps the level of some of the neurotransmitters in one's brain at a higher level (including seratonin which increases when one eats carbohydrates) and I no longer binge, and no longer need to eat huge quanties of food to get full. I still have to go a little hungry at times to stick to 1500 calories, but some people really do have it easier than others as they really do get full with less food.
Then there some people who are fat that do not use the necessary dissapline to be thin. They want to be thin, but do not want to give up anything or learn to stop eatting with a smaller portion, or learn to live with a little hunger at times, or make themselves exercise regularly. Most normal people do not get a free ride when it comes to being thin, and have to watch what they eat carefully, and exercise regularly. If someone says it is easy, it may be easier for them, but for most of us it is not easy, but do able. Lesley
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Author: miranda
Date: 01-27-04 12:18
Informative post! I agree with everything you say--it's basically what I've read in medical articles and what my doctor has told me--except for possibly the first paragraph. People's metabolic rates do indeed differ, but it's my understanding that two healthy people of the same sex, weight, age and height generally won't have a difference of more than a few percent, so we'd be talking about a lot less that 400-500 calories a day--more like 200, except in the case of heavier people. (The solution, though, is simple--eat that much less.) What I've read is that the problem is that those few percentages points really add up over time. Even severe anorexics decrease their metabolic rate by only about 10-15%. What I've been told is that it's like body temperature--most people come in pretty close to 98.6F, with minor variations. I'm really interested in this topic, so if you can provide further information, that would be great.
I think that most weight problems stem from the appetite factors you mention, both physical and psychological, rather than metabolic rates. What my doctor has told me is that in order to maintain a healthy weight, some people have to learn to manage chronic hunger, the same way other people have to learn to manage chronic pain. I think this is a pretty darn depressing theory, and I'm hoping that the theory that you can "reset" your appetite level proves to be true. I have been on medications which drastically increased my appetite, so I understand what kind of willpower it takes to fight off that kind of hunger. I was successful, losing about 30 pounds on this stuff, but I was relieved when I changed meds and dieting got easier.
Again, thanks, and looking forward to any other information you can offer, if you're so inclined.
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miranda
230/169.5/145
"I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway."--Bill Watterson, "Calvin and Hobbes"
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