There are so many diet plans and fads and food supplements on the market aimed at people who want to loose weight. The simple truth of the matter is that if you want to lose weight then you need to eat less calories! Very simple. You need to eat less calories then then the total calories required for your daily maintenance. You don't need fancy diet foods or supplements. Sounds to good to be true? And yet it is very very simple!
The issues many people have is their mindset, their will power and their life styles.
You need to decide what you want to achieve.
Do you want to lose weight?
Do you want to lose weight and be healthy?
Do you want to lose weight and be fit and healthy?
Do you want to lose weigh, be fit, healthy, feel good and increase your chances of living longer?
The above choices require different amount of lifestyle choices and responsibility from you.
Written by
xeb22
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Completely agree , anyone can lose weight (unless they have medical issues that completely prevent weight loss). I have so far lost 1 stone 5lbs since July 1st. I have completely shaken up my lifestyle and am committed to getting fit!
The real issue is willpower and determination. I would also add that eating lots of veg, fruit, basic carbs in moderation and little or no processed food works!
It is not rocket science, but we all want immediate results and that is why some find it really hard, because you really have to work at it.
If it was as simple as 'calories in/calories out' no one would have a problem. This is the conventional view but modern research suggests that the type of food you eat makes a difference to the outcome. Especially if you want to be healthy.
This article is by Professor Robert Lustig, who is an American obesity expert, and describes the idea that 'a calorie is not a calorie'.
Actually it is as simple as calories in and calories out. Eating good healthy food and by that I mean nothing that is processed does help. And that will go towards making you healthy. You can eat rubbish and lose weight if you eat less calories then your body needs to maintain itself. It just is not wise to do so. So many people kid themselves that the answer is not simple. I don't mean easy, I mean the solution is simple.
If you are willing to educate yourself, eat decent food, eat less calories, exercise, then you will lose weight. It requires effort and the correct mindset. Many people often use food as a substitute for something else, something that is missing in their lives or something that has gone wrong. If your mind is not in the right place then proper food control will not happen. Many people often need help with their mental health first before a change of life style can occur. There is no shame in this.
This simple solution does not explain why certain medications can cause weight gain. There are no calories in medicine to cause weight gain, but it can affect the brain and hormones and drive our calorie requirements. Different foods can also affect our hormones and brain in the same way.
If you reduce calories, you will lose weight for a while until your metabolism adapts. You will then be into a spiral of attempting to eat less and less, unless you change what you eat. The type of food you eat is extremely important.
Agreed calories and the sources they come from are not all the same. Sugar is not good for you when it comes from processed foods. 30 grams of chicken or steak is always going to be better then 30 grams of reformed chicken nuggets, or 30g of biscuits. However the basic truth does not alter, if you eat less calories then your daily maintenance needs on a daily basis for long enough you will lose weight. There are good ways to do this and not so good ways. To be healthy avoid processed foods and fizzy drinks. Eat good quality protein, lots of vegetables, sales and fruit, good quality complex carbs. If you want to be lean fit and healthy then exercise. It is a holistic lifestyle.
So, if it is as simple as calories in vs calories out, how come Sam Feltham can eat over 5000 calories low carb high fat a day for 21 days and only put on 1.3kg? live.smashthefat.com/why-i-... Yet when he ate the same amount of calories high carb low fat he put on 7kg live.smashthefat.com/5000-c... ? It is about biochemistry and more importantly the hormone that causes fat to be laid down - insulin. So in order to lose weight, it is necessary to minimise insulin levels. That means eating less of the things that cause insulin levels to rise- bread, pasta, starchy vegetables and sugar (including fruit). Eat more good fat and non starchy vegetables.
Even if it is as simple as calories in < calories out, food and excercise affect how we behave. Some foods leave us longing for more, others leave us satisfied. Until we learn which is which, it will be hard to control our eating. Some hormonal processes leave us desperately craving sugar. I get migraines that can only be short circuited by a blend gradual and immediate sugar release (bacon roll with white bread, sugary creamy porridge).
All the fat people in the world cannot be written off as lacking self control, will power and determination. I work tirelessly for my community, reared extremely challenging children, am highly educated and well informed. I am not lazy and have the self control not to swear, do drugs, lose my temper. I see many thin people who show lack of self control, laziness, little determination...
Stop shaming fat people and accusing them of poor moral fibre!
Weightloss is science. I did WL Challenge at work learned about protein & fiber. I get bloated which is how it came to light but I don't give up. I now do Zumba DVD every evening, Pilates Weds & exercises every morning. Until I'm sorted health-wise I am a fitness fanatic:))
OK, so in reply to you all so far. The theory that to lose weight you need to eat less calories each day, then you need for maintenance is proven science and nutrition is a science as one of the replies pointed out.
What I am trying to get across is that the above fact is a simple statement and a simple truth. And help people to avoid the pitfalls of paying for diet sheets, supplements etc that they do not need. The human mind often has a habit of making things more complicated then need be.
"The issues many people have is their mindset, their will power and their life styles."
This statement that I made is also very true. It is not about blame and it is not about pointing at individuals. It is about recognizing that although the ultimate solution to losing weight is a simple truth and fact, that fact being you need to be in calorie deficit in order to lose weight, the path, journey, struggle, adventure, self discovery or what ever you want to call the experience is not always easy.
Mind set and will power. If you are not in a good place mentally with your relationship with food then your will power and your ability to eat in a manner that will be healthy and lose weight will be difficult. People who are not in the 'right place' are there for all sorts of reasons and often need help and support. There should be no blame aimed at these people for being over weight, they often are not even able to recognise their issues. We all ought to support those folks.
Lifestyle. This is also a minefield. There is a lot to be said for keeping life as simple as possible, yet we are human and as a species we like to make things complicated. There is so much written about this by life coaches, I'm not going to repeat it all. For me life is a search to be whole person.
Certain foods are better to eat then others, without a doubt! Talking about someone who consumed 5000 calories a day and putting on weight is frankly missing the point. Was this a controlled study? You will put on weight at different rates eating different types of food. You will lose weight at different rates if you eat different types of food! There are lots of reasons for this such as digesting protein will burn up more calories then digesting carbs.
So I maintain that the basic premise of eating less calories then your body needs to maintain itself and you will lose fat is true. I am not talking about weight that is a result of proscribed drugs, I'm talking about fat gain that is a result of poor lifestyle choices. And no I am not blaming anyone, life throws horrible stuff at us all, I can assure you all that I have first hand experience of that.
The mind is the most important tool you have when it comes to losing weight / fat. And this why I say you need to have the right mindset. That is the block for many.
To back up my theory I would point out that the millions of starving people in the world are that way because they have not eaten enough. The prisoners of WW2 who were mulnourished, people who are held against there will and fed low calorie poor diets. All these people lose weight and they lose fat. Extreme examples, and none of these people were thinking about the GI value of what they were eating or if one type of food is better then another for losing weight or any other complications that so many of us put in the way. They just wanted or do want any food.
The science of nutrition is unfortunately full of mistakes and assumptions, a lot of correlation and not causation. Just take a look at the row over saturated fats and health, the originator of the hypothesis, Ancel Keys, was "economical with the truth".
Starvation will indeed cause you to lose weight, and if you look at the studies on severe calorie restriction, once people were able to eat normally many of them put on a lot of weight. Permanent calorie deficit is not a sustainable way to control weight.
Scientists are still contesting whether obesity is caused by how much we eat or what we eat. Studies on human populations are difficult and expensive. Currently there is a study in the US looking at this problem, to see if there is a definitive answer.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
How to stop cravings and succeed in your weight loss plan
Worried about maintenance after the weight loss…
Serious about losing weight
