sirfrogsworth:

continued… And of course 95% of “diets” will fail. “Diet” implies that the person is going in with the attitude of making temporary changes, when permanent weight loss takes permanent habit changes. Diets fail, permanent habit changes do not.

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*sigh*

Have you ever been fat? 

You’re writing sounds awful thin to me. 

Some things are just better understood once you’ve experienced them. 

I’ve been fat a very long time. 

I’ve been to doctors, specialists, dieticians. I’ve been trying to solve this puzzle for quite some time. I have done my research. I think if you know me, you know I do quality research. I know what a good source is and I know what is nonsense. 

I said nothing pseudoscientific. 

I specifically said that metabolism does not typically cause exaggerated weight loss or gain. 

I did cite a specific circumstance that can cause a metabolic slowdown. I also linked to a well-researched article that expands on that information. You can also google that and find sources for yourself. 

You keep trying to simplify a very complex topic. And I’m sorry, but you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. 

Yes, you can lose weight if you eat fewer calories. But you are ignoring psychology, hunger responses, sustainability over time, and risks. 

If it were as simple as you think, dieticians could take a ten-minute class on thermodynamics and get certified directly after.  

You are talking about counting calories. WHICH IS A DIET. I’ve done exactly what you are talking about. When you go from eating a lot to eating a little, you feel hungry ALL THE TIME. Perhaps you are conflating actual starvation with a starvation-style diet. There is a difference. 

You can call it a “permanent habit change” but you still need to eat certain things to make sure your calorie intake is right. Again, that’s counting calories. 

*whispers* Which is a diet. 

I mean, technically, I guess a “permanent habit change” would always succeed. But how the fuck do you know if it is going to be permanent? 

You can say “I’m going to do this forever” and then a month later find it is not sustainable. There is no way to predict your circumstances years down the road.

If you look at all the people you know who have lost a significant amount of weight, I’m willing to bet most of them have only lost it for a year or two max. Ask yourself if you know anyone who has done it for 5 years. 10 years. I’m not saying it never happens. It’s just rare.  

People say things like “lifestyle change” and whatever the nonsense thing you called it… but it is still diet and exercise. Eating less and moving more.

The statistics do not care what you call it. Everyone who tries to lose weight has only about a 5% chance of having long-term success. 

Some people are much better off not focusing on the number on a scale. They should try to make healthier meal choices and get more active if they are able. But without the pressure of trying to shed tons of weight as fast as possible. If they do lose weight, it should be slow and steady. Improving health and reducing risks should be the goal.  

Feel free to read this article. If you are skeptical, follow up on the names of the experts. Check their credentials. Read their research. Google the claims that are made. If you are going to call me pseudoscientific when the only thing you seem to know about is counting calories, then maybe you need to expand your knowledge a tiny bit. 

I’m not discouraging anyone from trying to lose weight. But I do want people to know the realities and even some of the dangers. Yo-yoing can be dangerous. Sometimes obsession over weight can lead to eating disorders. Failure can lead to depression. Depression in combination with poor body image can even lead to suicide. I just want people to be careful and make smart choices. 

The best thing we can do is help our kids stay healthy and teach them how to make healthy choices. We need to improve school lunch programs. Eliminate food deserts. Make P.E. much less lame. And educate parents on how to help their kids stay fit and active. Not gaining the weight in the first place is our best hope at curbing this epidemic. 

I’m going to tell you the absolute truth now. 

One more time. 

I’m going to make it as clear as possible. You can believe me or you can tell me I’m a pseudoscientific delusional fat person. Up to you. 

Due to several debilitating illnesses, I am physically unable to do any sort of activity. I cannot burn additional calories. 

This means I must eat very small amounts of low fat/low calorie food to lose weight. I know this because I have done this. Several times.

It was very challenging. Even the slightest moment of weakness would erase tons of progress. I felt hungry all the time. It was miserable. It was so fragile that I could not sustain it. 

Weight loss is hard. 

Not everyone can do it. 

If people have physical limitations, they might consider focusing on healthy choices instead of a number on a scale. 

Okay?

OK, I told myself I wasn’t going to be a nerd and bring up the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, but I’m going to have to point out that the subjects, during the “restricted calories” part of the Experiment, were living on 1,560 kilocalories per day; so a 2000-calorie/day diet is only 440 calories more than the diet that volunteers in 1944-45 were going to pieces on.