Fate or Destiny

We all hear about the 95 to 98 percent failure rate of diets. I wouldn’t be counted as a success or failure by most since I had only 11 pounds to get into the ‘normal’ weight range. My weight loss even to a BMI of 22 would still be less than the 30 pounds required the weight loss registry. I suppose I could push it to over 30 pounds if I used the weight at the doctor’s office of 155 as a start point. I would only need to maintain a weight of 125 with clothes on, most likely shoes and with a full stomach. Not bloody likely.

Most people that are successful on diets lose less than 20 pounds. I have a little more to lose, but still. I was one of the few people to become a lifetime member of WW and I did maintain that weight loss for more than three years. Divorce, moving, new bf put weight on me about 4 years later.

I really hope that all the people that I meet in the blogosphere will be successful on the weight loss. I suspect it isn’t so. There are many people that stop writing their blogs; I know it doesn’t mean that they regained the weight that they lost. There are people that are at a plateau on their blogs. There are so many people that quit weight loss programs. I think one study stated a 77 percent drop out rate.

I suspect that I’ll lose the small amount of weight that I want to lose and keep it off until I’m no longer about to exercise (excessively). Top Ten Tips suggest that overweight and obese people may need to exercise as much as 90 minutes a day to keep the weight off. If you have a job and/or young children, that is nearly impossible. It means to most of us that we need to make exercise a lifetime commitment. I mean there are ways to squeeze it into your life. I worked out about 60 minutes a day with two small children and a full time job so it can be done. It’s just that it’s not as simple as the ‘diet experts’ would like us to believe.

One of the nay sayers has a very well written article explaining that fat people aren’t likely to become thin people. As I said, I hope that everyone reading this is one of the few to successfully lose weight and maintain a weight loss.

I suppose after all the abuse I suffered from classmates, my father, grandmother and health professionals about my weight as made me fascinated with the subject of weight control. I learned to accept me after reading Stop the Insanity by Susan Powter. I wasn’t obese or even overweight at the time. I could relate to her feelings of her life being out of control. It empowered me to take control of my life. I started working out, taking pride in my appearance and feeling that my life was worthwhile. I also decided that I hated the taste of meat and to look into being a vegetarian.

Susan Powter at the time avoided the dreaded ‘v’ word. Even the vegan diets at the time used words like ‘plant-based’ diet. It didn’t matter if their diet recommendations didn’t including eating any animal products they weren’t going to use that dreaded ‘v’ word in their health or weight loss books. By the way, not all vegetarians or even vegans are thin although most ascribe to a healthy diet of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

My father’s idea of weight control is not to let yourself get fat in the first place and if you gained even the smallest amount of weight immediately starve yourself to lose it. It doesn’t help people that are already ‘overweight’; besides, it’s lousy advice.

In my man’s case, I think losing his extra mass and keeping it off would be a full-time job. Since he has to support his family and he wants to learn more science, create projects on the internet, read more, take more time to enjoy his family, etc. Losing weight and keeping it off isn’t a high priority. I tell him that he needs to keep his diabetes in check and try eat as healthy as possible. I would like him to exercise more, but he has so many other things that take up his time. He has a subscription to Nature and he’s lucky if he has the time to read one article a week. I’m saving them all and it’s scary how many we have so far.

Why do I say it would be a full-time job? Because you need to focus on everything you eat, exercise as much as 90 minutes a day, and feel miserable because your body thinks it’s starving which it is and is doing everything in it’s power to try to get you to eat.

Anyway, in the The Case Against Weight-Loss Dieting

there is a point made that losing weight in itself isn’t a healthy choice. Ampersand sums up “1) No weight-loss diet has every been scientifically shown to produce substantial long-term weight loss in any but a tiny minority of dieters.

2) Whether or not a weight-loss diet “works,” people who go on weight-loss diets are likely to die sooner than those who maintain a steady weight or who slowly gain weight.

3) For fat people (or anyone else) concerned with their health, the best option is probably moderate exercise and eating fruits and veggies, without concern for waistlines. In other words, Health At Every Size (HAES).

4) The model on which most weight-loss diets are based - in which fat people eat like fat people and must learn to eat like non-fat people - is probably a myth.”

I figure the best I can do is eat healthy and exercise and ignore the pounds. If I’m not at goal by May, I’m going to try to limit my weight loss to less than 2 pounds a month. I’ve read in many locations that fast weight loss is unhealthy. The internist I saw last November suggested that I try to lose no more than three pounds a month. That where my goal for three pounds in March stemmed from. I’m lost 4 so far in March. We’ll have to see about April.

I did my lower body workout and I’m about to go for my run. Still, I think that I can lose the weight since it’s a small amount and I’m not using a traditional diet. I try to keep my calories only low enough that I can lose weight. My doctor recommended no more than 3 pounds a month. It might take 3 or 4 months before I can get my weight loss at the low rate without fear of gaining it all back.

Most people can’t maintain a long term weight loss. There has never been a study that has shown effective long term weight loss. Drop out rates are over 75% on most diets. Many people that have blogged on SparkPeople disappear. They stop losing weight and no longer actively participate in the program. It takes dedication to continue.

I admire anyone that comes back after weeks, months, or even years of not dieting. It’s so hard not to eat what one is starving for. Our bodies want food, need food and will do everything they can to stop us from self-imposed starvation.

It’s not easy to lose weight. People the succeed are the rare ones. Just remember that when you think about giving up. Maybe you need to take a different approach or even a break from dieting. Even if you gain a pound or two back, you won’t be starting from square one.