Extreme Fad Diets don't Work - Lifestyle Changes Do!

[Vine Abider]

I have never been one to diet to loose weight.  One reason is I have seen many, many people around me try various diets over the years.  Sure, they usually loose a substantial amount of poundage, only to gain it all back (and often more)!  What I have seen work well in myself and others, over the long-haul, is lifestyle change.

For instance, a church bike ridding buddy did an extreme keto diet.  He was seriously overweight and lost close to a hundred lbs. in about 4 months, on a doctor directed low carb diet.   But I was grieved to see him gain it all back and more, which I've seen happen so many times over the years.

I was once over 260 lbs. for a number of years in my thirties.  One day I had enough, and thanks be to our merciful God, I was able to change my lifestyle.  I became much more active, took various classes around physical activities, and found people who were into interesting outdoor activities.  And I started watching portions of what I was ingesting - mainly to reduce excess carbs and processed foods.  Over the course of about two years I dropped 70 lbs. and have kept most of it off.  As I've aged and my work has changed, I gained a little back, but have been able to keep most of it off through regular exercise.  It is just a habit now . . . a lifestyle.

So how to convey what I think is a healthier wisdom to others?  When I tell others that fad diets don't often work well long-term, and that it really needs to be an overall lifestyle change, heads often nod, but then they just go into the fad diet yo-yo thing . . . 

 

[Marathoner]

I was given an excellent reason to radically change my diet, brother: Barrett's Esophagus. When there is a palpable, motivating factor such as the guarantee of esophageal cancer if I don't alter not only what I eat, but also when I eat it and how much I eat at a given time, it's much easier to effect permanent change. 

Of course, the above does not constitute an ambiguous reason to change diet and lifestyle. Yes, changing how we live and/or eat because it's better for us is doomed for failure as a general rule. Fad diets fall into this vague, "I ought to do this" mode of wishful thinking.

It's so much easier doing that under duress! Truly. In a nutshell, my eating habits combined with lifestyle and an unknown medical condition (a hiatial hernia) all contributed to that imperative for change. A long time ago, I told the Lord that it's the greatest honor to be a good steward of what He has entrusted in my care.

That's a far cry from the way it used to be, and it's all because of our Lord and His work in me. So, it's sensible to follow the directions of those doctors. It has born much good fruit! 👍 

[FJK]

Small changes add up to large changes over time.

Whether you're still gaining weight or overweight but stable it is hard to look at your future as being a thousand calories less and eating foods you really don't like so when you reach a goal you just quit the died and go back to what your were doing before in your eating habits since you never really intended to make a permanent change to them to start with (just wanting to get rid of extra weight instead).

But can you make a very small change, one you probably won;t really notice but can easily make a part of your daily diet?

Most people can, it's easy, just decide to make a small change only, ask yourself "can I give up a hundred calories a day?".

Can you do that?  if you can't go on a major diet and sustain it, can you give up a hundred calories a day?

Do it that way and you end up changing your diet long term with almost no effort or sense of loss involved, just try it and see.

Big things are the cumulative result of little things, whether for the good or the bad.

[RdJ]

Normally I was just one or two kilo too fat. Eat a week mainly bread and almost nothing else and zjoot it was gone. Then I stopped with nicotin chewing gum and I'm over 50. I went from 60 to 73 kilo in a year. I got an app, a calorie count app. How much do you weigh? 73 kilo. Are you sure? You gained quite some weight. Stupid app. Yes I am sure. Oh don't worry says the app. This is normal. You just gained a bit of weight because you are still growing. Maybe you're not even overweight. Growing??? I'm in my 50s. LOL My son had used it a year before to gain weight. He was way too thin. He weighed around 50. Hilarious. Then I changed my age and no sweet talk anymore from the app trying to not hurt my feelings. You're obese. Eat less. LOL

Edited April 6 by RdJ

[Marathoner]

6 minutes ago, RdJ said:

Normally I was just one or two kilo too fat. Eat a week mainly bread and almost nothing else and zjoot it was gone. Then I stopped with nicotin chewing gum and I'm over 50. I went from 60 to 73 kilo in a year. I got an app, a calorie count app. How much do you weigh? 73 kilo. Are you sure? You gained quite some weight. Stupid app. Yes I am sure. Oh don't worry says the app. This is normal. You just gained a bit of weight because you are still growing. Maybe you're not even overweight. Growing??? I'm in my 50s. LOL My son had used it a year before to gain weight. He was way too thin. He weighed around 50. Hilarious. Then I changed my age and no sweet talk anymore from the app trying to not hurt my feelings. You're obese. Eat less. LOL

I've always been slim considering my height. 73 inches (185 cm) tall and 200 pounds (90 kilos) is pretty good for a man over 50. However, I topped 230 pounds (104 kilos) after I stopped smoking. Why? I was always hungry during the nicotine withdrawal phase. It was nuts! 

Nothing like being so sick that you almost kick the bucket to lose a radical amount of weight, right? A year after I stopped smoking, I weighed 230 pounds. That's when the sickness started. Two years later, I weighed 140 pounds (63 kilos). My clothes were too big to wear.

These days, I'm at a decent 200 pounds. That's great for my height and age. It doesn't change much. 

[Vine Abider]

53 minutes ago, FJK said:

Small changes add up to large changes over time.

 

And that's really a key to it - the small changes done consistently over time.  We live in an instant gratification culture where high value is placed on big, immediate changes.  But even looking at God's nature - what life is about is small but steady growth.   It's just like His life in us - slow but steady.  (something that grows and changes too fast we usually call a weed or cancer . . .)

[Marathoner]

Definitely. It was easy to stop consuming spicy food, tomato sauces, and anything high in saturated fat. It was also easy to eat four to six smaller meals because that's what I was already doing during the day, at least. The problem I had which contributed the most to Barrett's Esophagus?

Working until the evening hours, I developed the habit of eating a large meal right before I went to sleep. I've never been the sort to eat much at work, something that became ingrained in me during those days when I worked in construction. Ah, how I can forget how things went whenever we left a job site to pick up materials in town?

Calzones at Sam's Club on our way back to the job. Contractor lunches at the lumber supplier with burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and so on. That time we decided to pick up a half gallon of ice cream (we each had our own) and demolish them on the drive back. Once we pulled up at the work site, what happened to us?

... right in the cab of the truck. Both of us passed out. We would wake up an hour later and laugh about it.

Lesson learned: eat lightly on the job. Sleep less. Accomplish more! 

Eating a big meal before bed time was a huge mistake. Overnight is when acid reflux inflicts the most harm, and I had been doing for several years.

Edited April 6 by Marathoner