Is losing weight really that difficult?
Discussion
*goes off to have a junk food dinner and still maintain an excellent physique*Just build more muscle, increase your Basal Metabolic Rate and then eat your heart out 
I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
Art0ir said:
Just build more muscle, increase your Basal Metabolic Rate and then eat your heart out
I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
Pretty much my attitude these days. People who know me say I eat all the time and they shake their heads but then they add, "but you seem to be able to get away with it."I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
Art0ir said:
Just build more muscle, increase your Basal Metabolic Rate and then eat your heart out
I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
I too was 83kg last September! (although last May, I was well over 90!)I was 83kg last September with lots of fat and little muscle. Cut to 75kg then spent the past few months bulking responsibly. I'm back up to 82kg and have been for around 2 months, with not too much fat and am eating more than ever.
To increase my weight now I'll actually have to eat more than is comfortable.
I was shocked (and very happy) at just how fast the weight went down with a change in diet and weight training. Got down to just over 70kg by December, but now hover between 74-75kg. I have decided to start a calorie deficit again to remove the last vestiges of fat and my stomach - not much, and it's gone everywhere else, but it bugs me!
Theory = easy to undertand by all.
Practice = not easy for all.
In the same way that the OP says it's difficult to put on weight, for many it's just as difficult to consume the right amount of calories.
I've been very fit all my life but as I entered my 40's and now my 50's my sporting activity (football especially) has diminished so my calorific intake has become more crucial as I'm not burning so many.
I go to the gym 3/4 days a week but I still find it a challenge to consume the right number if calories.
Whilst it's true that some people are lazy lard arse scoffers and some are skinny runts who only eat to stay alive, most people are just trying to eat correctly and are succeeding or failing in equal measure.
Practice = not easy for all.
In the same way that the OP says it's difficult to put on weight, for many it's just as difficult to consume the right amount of calories.
I've been very fit all my life but as I entered my 40's and now my 50's my sporting activity (football especially) has diminished so my calorific intake has become more crucial as I'm not burning so many.
I go to the gym 3/4 days a week but I still find it a challenge to consume the right number if calories.
Whilst it's true that some people are lazy lard arse scoffers and some are skinny runts who only eat to stay alive, most people are just trying to eat correctly and are succeeding or failing in equal measure.
I lost 7 stone in my twenties , and it seemed easy when In the zone. Drastic changes in lifestyle, started weight training and was young. At 36 it's not so easy , lazy job , family etc. still train 5 times a week but don't burn the cals I need to . Too many treats too. It's amazing how many calories are in foods compared to the activity required to burn them off !.
I try to separate food and exercise now, insofar that I view diet as the way to control my weight, and see exercise only from a health perspective. Using the latter to control my weight simply doesn't work for me, so if I need to drop pounds I just focus on eating less, and if I have to not exercise for the duration, (exercise simply makes me hungry) then so be it. It only takes a week or two for ant uncomfortable excess weight to come off me, and my fitness doesn't really suffer during that period.
Food/weight
Exercise/health
Works for me, not for others necessarily.
Food/weight
Exercise/health
Works for me, not for others necessarily.
Is losing weight really that difficult? who cares?
The problem, as always, is the fixation with weight loss. I don't care if I weigh 14stone or 12 stone all I care about is health, performance and being reasonably happy with the reflection in the mirror. Weight loss can be a byproduct of these goals but it should never be the goal in itself.
Concentrate on performance and health (so eat mainly natural foods and train hard to reach your physical potential) and I assure you everything else will sort itself out.
This is the best approach. I have pontificated about this for a few years now but I really have thought this through. Give it some thought and I am confident that in the course of time you will come to the same conclusion - just don't leave it too late.
Life is for living, not weighing food, reading charts and standing on scales.
The problem, as always, is the fixation with weight loss. I don't care if I weigh 14stone or 12 stone all I care about is health, performance and being reasonably happy with the reflection in the mirror. Weight loss can be a byproduct of these goals but it should never be the goal in itself.
Concentrate on performance and health (so eat mainly natural foods and train hard to reach your physical potential) and I assure you everything else will sort itself out.
This is the best approach. I have pontificated about this for a few years now but I really have thought this through. Give it some thought and I am confident that in the course of time you will come to the same conclusion - just don't leave it too late.
Life is for living, not weighing food, reading charts and standing on scales.
Stoatman said:
I lost 7 stone in my twenties , and it seemed easy when In the zone. Drastic changes in lifestyle, started weight training and was young. At 36 it's not so easy , lazy job , family etc. still train 5 times a week but don't burn the cals I need to . Too many treats too. It's amazing how many calories are in foods compared to the activity required to burn them off !.
I lost the same & started at around your current age, so still perfectly possible 
. Diet is easy, once you know what's wrong and can change, but the other side is the harder part when stuff starts saying 'oi, no' However, having said that, the very black & white view of the more committed that hang around here just doesn't hold for most, even most of those who genuinely have the good intention of losing heft.
Lots of misinformation, confusing opinions and downright Dick Turpin abounds for those not clued up or who have some genuinely good support to fall back on. There is also a good degree of short-termism amongst those who would like to.
The one other thing I would disagree with is the view that anyone can. In theory 100% correct, but in practice, the theory may be outweighed by the wider picture, and/or harsh realities of life. For every X morons who do silly diet 1, 2, 3 etc, or do a week of pricey Insanity type thing (supported by pie & a pint reward inc), there will be some who just cannot do it, once the bigger picture (NPI) is taken into account. There can sometimes be mostly genuine reasons why people can't.
Sometimes I think bad eating habits, snacking at the fridge, over eating and perhaps not taking any notice of what your eating seems to stay with you . A little like a smoker, you stop but it's always in you !
You eat healthy all week but if a packet of cookies is around they all get eaten without a second thought .
You eat healthy all week but if a packet of cookies is around they all get eaten without a second thought .
Recently started eating a lot more healthily, eating only fruit, nuts and drinking water through out the day when ever I feel hungry then have a dinner when I get home with some sort of meat/fish with a plate full of vegetables or salad, this coupled with going out and riding the bike for 1 1/2 hours every other night has resulted in my weight going from 98.6kg's to 95.2kgs in the space of 11 days. I feel a lot better for it and my mind feels a lot more mentally alert!
Literally have cut out all the junk food crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks mainly. I used to eat a lot of cheese/dairy and bread too, I've never been a big eater of thing's like McDonalds and other take away foods since moving to Norway purely because it's so expensive, but when we do eat out I've started opting for dishes with healthier sides than diving straight in an eating a burger or pizza.
I think another problem for people trying to lose weight is that healthy foods are generally more expensive than the junk, take for instance fruit and veg, eat 5 or what ever portions of it a day, it's cheaper to eat 5 packets of crisps a day.
Literally have cut out all the junk food crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks mainly. I used to eat a lot of cheese/dairy and bread too, I've never been a big eater of thing's like McDonalds and other take away foods since moving to Norway purely because it's so expensive, but when we do eat out I've started opting for dishes with healthier sides than diving straight in an eating a burger or pizza.
I think another problem for people trying to lose weight is that healthy foods are generally more expensive than the junk, take for instance fruit and veg, eat 5 or what ever portions of it a day, it's cheaper to eat 5 packets of crisps a day.
SpunkyGlory said:
But is it really as difficult as some people seem to think? I'm a firm believer in calories in vs calories out for weight control, and whilst I appreciate there are variables to this simple formula there can't be much more to it than that, can there? Count your calories, avoid foods high in fat and sugar, exercise a couple of times a week and if you're burning more calories than you're consuming you should lose weight. So what am I missing?
You should write a book on it or do a DVD, you'd make £millions man 
TX.
Terminator X said:
SpunkyGlory said:
But is it really as difficult as some people seem to think? I'm a firm believer in calories in vs calories out for weight control, and whilst I appreciate there are variables to this simple formula there can't be much more to it than that, can there? Count your calories, avoid foods high in fat and sugar, exercise a couple of times a week and if you're burning more calories than you're consuming you should lose weight. So what am I missing?
You should write a book on it or do a DVD, you'd make £millions man TX.
Page 1: EAT
Page 2: LESS,
Page 3: MOVE
Page 4: MORE,
PAGE 5: FATTY!
Joey Ramone said:
I try to separate food and exercise now, insofar that I view diet as the way to control my weight, and see exercise only from a health perspective.
This would be a better message for the masses, however you state it:It is quite possible to be fat and fit. It is quite possible to be skinny and unfit. Or...
You get thin in the kitchen. You get fit in the gym. Or countless others...
But there is no money in this message, and it is up against the huge profits to be made selling colas and crisps, plus the profits to be made from gym memberships, plus those made in the diet industry, plus those in healthcare.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff