My co-worker, Bill, has started a new diet. I've mentioned Bill before. He's big man...I'm going to say he's maybe around 400lbs. In an effort to not be such a big man, Bill has taken to drinking two shakes a day and having one meal at night. It's a been a week. I'm sure he's lost some weight, but when you're that big, you can't really tell that quickly with the naked eye.
I'm really conflicted about this diet approach. I'm just not a believer in fad dieting. Yes, I think it will show you quick results and yes, they "work", but, in the long run, not so much.
I asked Bill if this was his first time trying this method and he responded by saying no, that he had tried it once before and well, while he lost 130lbs in 3 months, he has since gained it all back plus some. Isn't that always the case?
I just know in the deepest part of my soul that these quick solution diets DO NOT WORK. So, why even try them? I refuse to lose all my weight, only to stop drinking shakes and gain it all back. And, let's be realistic, drinking shakes all day long is no way to live. I keep telling him to eat those Progresso soups if he's looking for a 100 calorie meal, because I've seen those commercials and those ladies make eating soup looking like they're eating a five star restaurant.
I guess what my point is, is that, if I'm going to go on a diet, (finally), it's going to have to be a lifestyle change I can stick with. And that lifestyle change is going to have to include french fries and chocolate in large doses...and yes, I've tried Weight Watchers.
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I totally agree too. I've tried both Weight Watchers and diet shakes, and they both suck. I just wrote a long-ass rant about it that wouldn't fit in the comemnts at http://womanincomfyshoes.blogspot.com/2006/02/good-doc-bad-doc.html
Yes, yes, yes! The only way to permanently lose weight is to permanently change your lifestyle. Each time I've stepped up my exercise routine to lose weight, I've had to permanently commit to exercising at that new level. Each time I've altered my food intake to lose weight, I've had to permanently commit to eating in that new way. I'd say, don't make drastic changes you can't imagine living with for a long time to come. I CAN'T IMAGINE living on shakes for the rest of my life, so forget that one.
I agree. You have to change your lifestyle. I lost 90lbs by just eating less. I am not into exercise and could not live without chocolate, but in the long run a few calories not eaten here and there add up.
I still fall for the shake fad diets though and am about to start one in an effort to get the last remaining lbs off. I know, I know....I'm a sucker.
I love love love you fatty. You're the one for me.
Go Bill... but yes, those shakes will probably not work in the long term. But anypoopers - GO BILL! YOU FUCKING ROCK, FATMAN.
I've "put it back on" about 3 times, and each of those times was "put it back on and more".
But now that I have better physical fitness it's the best it's ever been. Don't get me wrong haters, I am not some kind of sports freak and I will NEVER EVER set foot in a gym. NO WAY. But somehow walking my dog and playing hockey a couple of times a week has made a huge difference in my life. But it took about 5 years to be able to walk more than a km without passing out and having a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack...
I gotta tell you all again. If you have heard of hoodia, you know what I'm talking about. Look it up. It kills your appetite without making you batshit crazy. Lets you eat less without being hungry.
And for the record, I am not a choco person, but I could eat a whole loaf of garlic bread by myself, followed up a few pounds of pasta in some sort of artery-clogging sauce, washed down with a bottle of red wine, followed by a couple of Maralboro Ultra Lites, and don't forget the guacamole muthafukkas.
Then again, if a months of drinking shakes is what it takes to make him say "Hey, healthy weight is in sight, maybe maintenance is possible." and then make those lifetime changes... you never know.
For me, I hit the wall when I realized that, as a telecommuter, my exercise involved walking the 5 steps from bed to bathroom to computer and back. Plus another 5 steps to the kitchen to nuke a couple of burritos for lunch. I was getting soft, and it pissed the Hell out of me. I considered myself a strong person and realized I no longer was. So I started walking a half hour on "lunch". And I lost 7 pounds in 3 months. Which isn't much, but apparently my looks changed enough for friends and family to comment. And THAT is what inspired me to make lifestyle changes to lose weight: the knowledge that it was possible, that I could DO this.
I hope that this is his time, that he'll like "the new self" and do what it takes to maintain the 130 pound loss this time.
As for a diet that involves chocolate and french fries, check out the Body For Life for Cheaters and Binge Eaters Over at skwigg. That lady is a badass. The diet involves lots of exercise :->
Yep -- read "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole. Diets don't work.
I think people figure if they can lose a whole bunch of weight quickly, then they will be motivated and inspired and somehow find it easier to stay on a healthy maintenance diet once the weight is gone and thus remain at that weight. Then in reality, they go back to their original eating habits and of course they gain it back. The good part about gradually changing your lifestyle to healthier habits is that it becomes the way you LIVE, not a lifeSTYLE. Slow weight loss gives you the time to learn what works and doesn't work for you and find eating and exercising plans that fit with your goals and personality and such.
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