Was going to link to the National Weight Control Registry, thanks! I'll just add that all those studies in GP seem to prove is that A) weight loss programs (especially fad diets) don't work and B) it is a psychological issue. There are plenty of people on MFP, /r/loseit or just counting calories themselves that have successfully kept off weight for years. I'm one of them.
Many times I'll read a story of someone who lost weight and kept it off. And then they detail their pre weight-loss diet and I think, well of course you were overweight. You were inactive and had a terrible diet (sugary drinks, processed foods, etc). You started getting some exercise and learned a few things about nutrition and the weight fell off.
But then there are others who seem to do everything right and are over weight in spite of that.
For example. I was never overweight as a kid and relatively active. In college and for the start of my career, I stopped being active and my diet was awful (e.g. I thought a large Jamba Juice smoothie and a carrot cake was a healthy breakfast choice). My weight ballooned up to almost 190 lbs (20+ lbs overweight), my blood pressure went up, I started having rosacea.
I started running and fixed my diet. Quickly my weight dropped down to 150 and I've kept it in the 140-150 range for over a decade. The other health issues cleared up as well. But it wasn't hard work for me. Being thin is my natural state if you will, and I had to do everything wrong to stay overweight.
My wife meanwhile continues to struggle with her weight. She's successfully lost weight through extremely diligent calorie counting, but after a year or so she starts to put it back on. I have never counted calories. Our diets are similar (in kind, not quantity of course, she eats much less than me). She is active, but not quite as active as me. So similar diet and life styles, but my weight stays off and hers does not.
Hereditarily, no one in my family is over weight. There is obesity on both sides of her heredity.
And I see this playing out in our kids. My son has an athletic build and will probably never have weight issues. My daughter takes after her mom and it will take a life time of diligence for her to remain at a healthy weight.
It seems that some people are optimized for famine, and some for feast. :-(
Obviously there are a lot of factors involved in the growing obesity crises. But I feel for people who struggle with their weight despite doing all the right things, I really do.
The food tastes too damn good! I've only been overweight because of binging and poor eating. I've never eaten in a normal, healthy way, and gained weight.
Calories are such that if you screw up once per week (birthday party, company event, family dinner) that could mean you gain weight if you eat regularly the rest of the days.
> "It seems that some people are optimized for famine, and some for feast. :-("
You're actually onto something there! I don't know if you've read much about epigenetics, but if a person experiences a famine, it can "switch on" prepare for famine genes in their descendants. It's fascinating stuff.
> Our diets are similar (in kind, not quantity of course, she eats much less than me).
Maybe. I've heard this sort of story before, and I don't tend to believe it. It's hard enough to estimate how much you are eating yourself, and comparing against others is even more error-prone.
I'm facing a similar situation, but I'm loathe to start counting calories just to confirm my hypothesis. Being forgetful and apathetic about meals almost certainly contributes to why I've maintained a healthy weight. I worry that the rigor required for proper observation will change my behaviour.
Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, says that while the 10,000 people tracked in the registry are a useful resource, they also represent a tiny percentage of the tens of millions of people who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. “All it means is that there are rare individuals who do manage to keep it off,” Brownell says. “You find these people are incredibly vigilant about maintaining their weight. Years later they are paying attention to every calorie, spending an hour a day on exercise. They never don’t think about their weight.”
That just described reddit subs focused on weight loss.
> they also represent a tiny percentage of the tens of millions of people who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight.
They also represent an unknown number of people who do keep off weight successfully, but never report in, for whatever reason. As just one example, I asked for an application and when it came I realized I did not qualify for the registry as I don't have a before photo.
> “You find these people are incredibly vigilant about maintaining their weight. Years later they are paying attention to every calorie, spending an hour a day on exercise. They never don’t think about their weight.”
Anti-dieters love to trot this out, but they have no evidence to back it up. There are plenty of people who log in MFP, check to see if what they are contemplating ordering fits their budget for the day, then go about the rest of their lives. It takes all of a couple of minutes. There are other people who just more carefully mind what they eat, listen to their body, have changed habits (eg, cutting out soda) and never even track calories. I'm one of them.
As for spending an hour a day on exercise, that's not unreasonable. Most people spend multiple times that amount of time on things like TV or web browsing. It's also not mandatory for weight loss.
Rather than just positing the question, share with us why you think it shouldn't have been downvoted. And explore reasons—even if you don't agree with them or think they're groundless—why someone might downvote it. Of course there are those out there who downvote for reasons we think are frivolous: they're not likely to respond to your comment anyway.
The guidelines ask us not to comment on being downvoted: I think in general this should extend to commenting on other's downvotes as well: it makes for boring reading. You mention this yourself—it's a broken record. If you are going to do so, put some effort in to make the comment worthwhile. It's also a good exercise in improving discourse, if that's something you're interested in.
I kind of agree with you but doing that would turn a a genuine question into a high school hand-in complete with a discussion of the results.
I will likely consider your opinion next time I'm tempted to point out that someone is downvoted for seemingly no good reason and with no explanation.
But I am not sure of the outcome - I would like others to defend me when I am accused or picked on for no good reason. Basically I'm doing to others what I hope they would do for me.
But I am not sure of the outcome - I would like others to defend me when I am accused or picked on for no good reason.
Right, and by providing a explanation than just posing the question, you're doing a better job of doing exactly that—showing why you think it shouldn't have been downvoted—while also contributing to the conversation. In my experience, the people who are responding to such questions are not the people who have downvoted—they're doing some version of what I've outlined above. If you have no idea why something might be downvoted, it likely would be good for you to stretch a bit and imagine how someone else might read or take the comment you're referring to. It'll likely make you a better comment writer and reader.
In case someone out there is serious about losing weight and not making excuses, here's how you calculate your actual TDEE: https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/comments/2rv09z/this_is_h...