I have high triglycerides and low HDL which both suggest that No Grains might be a good approach. It also doesn’t leave me much to eat: my wife’s Ethiopian and we eat a lot of injera (and the kind that they make and sell in the USA is invariably cut with wheat and/or barley flour). When I cook something, it tends to involve rice (brown rice), or less often these days, pasta (whole grain).
My wife’s religious background means that for most of the year (sometimes weeks at a time) we eat a vegan diet – which leaves us with pulses, grains, fruits and vegetables, which (according to some) are no good because they consist of a lot of carbs. It also leaves us with soy products, which (in addition to often being heavily processed) apparently mimic estrogen – speaking of Kenny Rogers’ man-breasts.
So at this point I’m about to throw up my hands and say fuck it, and simply eat Crisco with a spoon until I’m no longer hungry.
Seriously, though: I started jogging on a regular basis – again – and I’m down about 10 pounds in the past year. About half of that loss seems to have been in the past month or two. I’ve been through this before and I know what happens when I stop jogging.
You found something that works for you! Congrats on that. If your post has a point (and it does), its that it just adds credence to the fact that everyone is different, has different internal (and external) requirements, and needs to find their own solution. The government, and to some degree the science community (by the time we read about it) still wants to preach a one-size-fits-all solution.
What Cory has written and what a lot of people in this thread have posted matches with my own experience and opinion: Unless there is some other sort of health issue involved, weight loss is sustainable. The problems that many people face are these:
• Accepting that weight loss or healthy living is now your new lifestyle and not something you slog your way through until you can finally stop and go back to how you used to live before. You have to get used to the idea of working out, eating healthy, enjoying it and never stop for the rest of your life. At some point you won´t even be able to imagine living like before, but until then you have to keep pushing yourself. It took about two years for me to truly reach the point of no return.
This kind of lifestyle change is extremely difficult to implement successfully (took me several failed/uninformed attempts) and I suspect that this is the reason it´s “nearly impossible” to do.
• Weight loss alone is too simplistic a concept unless you are really terribly overweight. The goal should change to getting an overall healthy, fit body at some point, since weight loss alone has its limits as far as health (and aesthetics if you´re into that) goes.
For the record, I never did much cardio at first since I hate running and cycling and still do. I started with lifting weights which helped me transform my body and getting healthier much more (e.g. my triglycerides and cholesterol values went down from heightened to ideal). Once I really got into that, I got an urge to eat healthier without having to force myself, quit smoking and reduced drinking dramatically. Later, I started doing martial arts and with it various forms of cardio conditioning that I enjoy.
Oh god, these comments are so boring. What a sad culture, where everyone feels the need to obsess over such boring things. I lost weight once. It sucked. It took all my willpower and left me with no energy to do anything interesting. I realized then that, even if I put on some pounds, my quality of life is way higher not worrying about that shit. We’re meant for better things than counting calories.
TLDR, but everywhere I’m reading is “weight, weight, weight, weight…” Even if you get thinner, but put on muscle, you could be gaining weight. For that fact alone, this article seemed a bit second-rate.
That aside, realistically, if someone wants to stay in shape through exercise, they’re going to need to do something they can keep doing for a long time. Bikes and ellipticals and treadmills and blah blah are so freaking boring to me. If that is largely what someone does, it wouldn’t surprise me that they burn out on it quickly.
I can’t say I’m perfect about it, but I’ve been swimming pretty regularly since last summer; and I’ve seen a difference. That said, I looked at “before” photos I took of myself about a year ago; and it was kind of depressing. While I’ve gone done several pants sizes, I can’t see any visual difference. Le sigh.
I have both a diabetes and stroke risk, so my obesity is a significant health risk. It is reasonable to be concerned about one’s health, and to take steps to improve it.
Will I enjoy that, probably not all the time. However, I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it more than diabetic complications or a stroke.
Yeah, it’s difficult, but not impossible. I’ve been working the weight-loss battle for the last 4+ years. Driven by Type-2 diabetes and blood pressure issues, I’ve stuck to a strict-low carb (with weekly cheat days) diet combined with resistance training (kettle bells) 2-3x times a week (plus 5-10 minute of interval training every morning when I wake up). It’s a constant fight, but is definitely doable.
The daily interval training is a relatively recent addition, but seems to be driving noticeable strength gains, allowing me to break through some plateaus in my longer sessions.
Feel free to tell us about all the great things you´re doing with all the time you´re saving by not caring about your body. Especially the kind of great things that other people are unable to do with their good-looking, healthy bodies, focused minds and added physical energy that comes with a sensible long-term health and exercise regimen.
Cory, you realize what you do takes a significant amount of self dicipline? That’s our core problem when combined with easily available high calorie diets filled with stimulating variety.
The part of this that interests me is the cultural problem of most professionals ignoring statistics like these and by rote handing out diets and exercise. No need to quibble over if sustained weight loss is “impossible” or very difficult (for most people).
I’m not saying give up on weight loss, but unless we face the apparent results that most (not all) people gain the weight back, we won’t come up with solutions that are effective on a broader social level.
It’s a cultural blindness or profound contradiction, not unlike most women’s magazines preaching love yourself, offering sugary recipes, and preaching diets. What’s wrong with this picture?
I am there with you. Slow march of weight gain, Type II diabetes on the horizon and rising blood pressure. For me, when I’m doing well, it’s finding physical activities that I like. Sometimes I just get bored doing the same old thing. I love swimming, but it’s a solo endeavor. And I’m not waking up at 4:30 am just to swim in a masters’ group: that’s nuts! But there are lots of other things to try: martial arts, yoga, hiking, biking, stuff like that.
I’m sure they could, but it’s rather less socially necessary. People are rarely bullied and belittled for not being professional writers, nor is there a massive industry selling sure-fire techniques to become a pro writer.
What part of “It took all my willpower and left me with no energy to do anything interesting” sounded like “focused mind and added physical energy” to you?
It’s lovely for you that your experience has been more positive. Don’t imagine that every other human body works the same as yours.
Periodic dexa scans? Isn’t that really expensive? Have you found an economical provider of such a service?
For a while I was really fond of the idea of getting into a study where I could try immersion weighing, but alas, I was never successful in finding anything.
Congratulations for the rare and wonderful blessing of being MORE healthy and happy when you’re careless about diet and exercise. But unfortunately some of us fall within the spectrum of having to care about that diet and exercise shit to be able to live healthy lives and have a fraction of your delightful “willpower and energy to do anything interesting”. You’re the one who’s boring and shallow, not us, if you think it’s all about being Cosmo-thin when most people in this thread have clearly been talking about something more important.
That would be my response, at least. And I even agree rote, passionless exercising is the dullest possible way to spend one’s life.
That’s understandable, but I think any doctor would tell you there is a big difference between dieting and staying fit. The former is usually unsustainable because (as you point out) everyone’s body goes through fluctuations, sometimes naturally and sometimes because of unavoidable life changes, and this can instantly under years of work. But the best way to maintain weight is keep up an active lifestyle and stay healthy. Exercise, consistent sleep, and healthy food.
I’m sure you know this but I feel it’s always worth pointing out the different. Dieting is hard, stressful on your body, and something that will always be so. But staying healthy and fit is something that the body can (and will) adjust to with time.
Unfortunately it has the bad side effect of making you live longer, get sick less and generally feel better. It’s a hard knock life.
Why do they need original research when almost all the research out there shows it’s incredibly hard.
It’s really problematic and while I think you are right to question this as people do it, particularly people seem to be more successful on low carb diets acoording to some studies (in the 3+ year not the 5-10 year bracket though) I also think it’s worth raising loudly because it shows what we are told to do now doesn’t work.
Getting that message out there is really important because people need to know and alternatives that work better like fasting and low carb are out there (even if they aren’t really good enough).and doctors should recommend them because what they are doing now is just failing.
