How to lose weight - it's simple

When I restricted myself, my body craved food, my brain craved food, as in its survival instinct

But you didn't have to binge. If you were hungry, you could have just had something healthy to eat rather than overdose on food to compensate.

The problem is, the more you eat, the more you crave it (like most things!), so yes, your brain (mainly) and your body (out of habit) was asking for more, but that wasn't out of NEED but out of HABIT. It goes back to what I was saying, it is about re-educating your brain and body to what is right for you, whatever this right is.

Prior to dieting, I never thought of foods as good and bad, I ate what I wanted (what my body wanted) and it kept itself 'healthy'.

How long ago was this? My experience (myself and people I speak with) is that age impacts a lot on how much we can get away with, and what we can eat in our early 20s whilst still managing to stay the same weight, and what we need to do in our 40s is very different. That doesn't mean that the way we ate at 20 was right and therefore that it's not our fault if we put on weight in our 40s. It means that we need to accept that we can get away with murder as we did then.

That led to the behaviours I described where I felt like I was no longer in control of my own body. I don't profess to know what the answer is, but I do know it isn't calorie restriction or dieting..at least not in the long term.

And indeed, it might very well be that it doesn't work for you, but there will be a way for you to lose weight. My way is unconventional, hence why I tried other methods, but I have certainly come to accept that it is what works for ME. That means no breakfast, a very small lunch (300 calories) but whatever I want to eat between 4-5 pm. What I have found is that I do NOT need food to keep me going in the morning. I know a lot of people think they would faint without it. Maybe they would and I'm just different, or again, it's just habit. I've learnt that not only do I not need it, but I actually feel much much better without food in my stomach, including if I do high intensity exercise. Amazingly, I will feel much less hungry throughout the morning than I do if I have something soon after getting up.

I then get all the mental pleasure of eating without counting quantities once a day. I do tend to eat quite healthily anyway, but just had too much of it. It now doesn't matter so much because that's all I'll really have. I then found myself quite stuffed so don't feel the need for any more food until the following day. It works for me because if feel that I eat without restricting myself, but when I do count how many calories I have taken on during the day, I realised that it is usually around 1800-2000, which means that I maintain my weight.

The only restriction I had to impose on myself was giving up cakes and other sugary things, however, I have found that once you do give it up, so do the cravings. I rarely long for a cake, and one I do have the occasional one, it doesn't change how I feel.

This works for me, but it certainly doesn't mean it would work for other people. It's about trying different things and going with your instinct. However, the fact remain that whichever method you use, if you eat more than what is the correct number of calories for you over a certain period (be it 24 hours or a week), you WILL put on weight, end of.

If weight loss really was that easy, why is the obesity epidemic growing?

The theory of weight loss is very simple, the applying it is hard, and the less willpower you have, the harder it will be.

fairy_lights wrote: »

If the parents weren't bought up with the tradition, then I don't know why you'd see it as a shame that their kids have never had a roast. There may well be other dishes the families regularly cook from scratch.
As for deep fried pizzas and cheesy chips, those are both things that are fine as a treat once in a while, it's pretty obvious that both are high in calories and low in nutrients, if people chose to ignore that and eat them too often then it's not the fault of the inventors.

Some people are just not interested in cooking. One of the parents told me they wouldn't know how to go about cooking chips from scratch. Another mum told me she'd eaten scrambled eggs but had "no clue" about how to make them herself. They just know about different things, I guess, like fashion, which labels to buy, getting their nails done, which hair colour works best.

FBaby wrote: »

Losing weight is a personal decision so sympathy should be irrelevant. What is the point of comparing losing weight and cutting down smoking? Both are hard in their own ways and one will find one harder then the other. What they both have in common is that success will only come with will power. There is no cutting corners hoping not to have to follow the rules rigidely but still gain the benefits. It won't happen.

Not that I want sympathy, because I am happy with my own way of thinking, a lot of people (judging by posts on here) think someone who is overweight just needs to sort themselves out, or that they're lazy and greedy. And it seems like fat shaming is still acceptable.

Also, smokers can abstain completely from smoking without it causing them harm. The same can't be said for people wanting to lose weight.

I still don't agree with this willpower guff. I have said many times before, most people who have lost weight and gained it and lost it and gained it have masses of willpower. Biology takes over at the point of restriction. And just because there is a small minority that can control their weight by calorie restriction, doesn't mean it's 'simple'..the point I have tried to make numerous times.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1765639640365420&substory_index=0&id=1578310945764958

http://peacefuleating.co.uk/what-to-do-when-everyone-around-you-is-talking-about-diets/

http://peacefuleating.co.uk/why-diets-dont-work-the-brain/

Money_maker wrote: »

I do not agree with this at all. Both can reap many more health benefits by using choice and will power.

How can you not agree with fact. A smoker can completely give up smoking without detriment. People can't completely give up eating without killing themselves.

And I will say yet again, will power has chuff all to do with it long term, and therefore in reality. I (and 95% of dieters) have had 'willpower' many times before and lost weight, but then biology and the brain take over. If I am so wrong, why is the amount of obese people rising?

In addition:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment