Losing weight without being obsessed?

[Deleted]

Is it possible to lose a large amount of weight without being obsessed with it?

I've always struggled with weight, but put on a ton of weight in law school due to stress eating (75 lbs).  I was already overweight before gaining that amount.  I've lost a bit of that just from no longer binge eating like I did in school, but have 75 more that I would like to lose.

I've started and stopped diets many times.  I'll start and be hard core about it, start losing weight, but I just can't keep it up.  When I read weight loss inspiration stories online where people lost a significant amount of weight, it seems they had to be completely obsessed about it.  They had a very restrictive diet and a very intense workout routine.

I don't think I can keep that up long term.  I've tried low carb, and I just get ragey wanting a potato.  I've tried very restrictive diets like Medifast, and end up caving and binging at social events and work lunches.  And I don't have the time or desire to work out for an hour a day six days a week.

Is it possible to get this much weight off just by making healthy lifestyle changes?  I started weight watchers and have been at it for a week, and I really like it. I love that nothing is off limits, that I don't feel hungry, and that I can make modified versions of things to satisfy my sweet tooth that actually taste really good (like WW chocolate cupcakes I just made using cake mix and pumpkin puree).  As of Thursday I had lost two pounds, so I'm hoping that when I weigh in tomorrow it will be a 3 pound loss this week.  The diet seems reasonable and I think I can keep it up long term.

As for physical exercise, something that I can keep up is probably a water aerobics class twice a week and a walk with the family once a week. 

Is it likely that I'll be able to get the weight off by making these doable lifestyle changes rather than being obsessed with it?

[al320]

What you to do lose weight need to be something sustainable, because youre going to have to maintain (imo weight maintainence is much harder than weight loss) overly restrictive diets are completely not sustainable long term. You dont need to cut all carbs, or anything that extreme. Youmdont have to be obsessed. You need to make good choices, pay attention to calorie intake, and stay active. Small changes at a time, so youre not changing everything at once. Small goals too, otherwise youll feel like youre so far away from achieving success.

[derbycitycook]

First of all, congratulations on your -2 and your goals! that is awesome!

You can absolutely lose weight without being obsessive, large or small amounts. Being obsessive just makes it happen faster. 

I agree with PP that you have to lose doing things that you can continue after you have met your goals. Those fad diets just make you gain once you veer away from them.

Keep making small changes and just focus on making healthy choices and being as active as possible.  You can always get more intense if you don't see results that you are happy with.

This board is a great source of inspiration--come over more often!

[gncorman]

I agree with PP. I lost over 100lbs using WW. Small changes and small goals are the way to go. What I ate at the beginning is not what I eat now as I evolved this into my lifestyle and my taste buds changed and expanded. The more "better" choices you make, the better you will feel. Example: grocery shopping hungry would lead me to eat a candy bar or bagel. Now I grab a banana as soon as it is scanned and eat it. Do I still eat cake, carbs, etc? Yes. But all in moderation which is what I have learned is the healthy lifestyle. As for exercise, I focused on the food for the the first three months and then started walking and finding other exercises I liked. It sounds like you already have exercises you can start right away which is great.

This board is so wonderful for help and inspiration. The daily food postings give me ideas on what to have for meals. Keep up the great work you have already started!!

[amesmarie]

Completely agree with pp. Its not about becoming obsessed but it is about making lifestyle changes. When I began losing weight I decided I would not diet because they simply don't work over the long haul. You have to make lasting changes to your eating and exercise lifestyle in order to have lasting weight loss. That means making changes you can live with for a lifetime. Sounds like ww might be a good fit for you, its a good program.

[carilyn]

I agree with pps as well. I also wanted to stear you toward a couple blogs. Roni @ ronisweigh.com has lost that much and kept it off using WW and Katy @ runsforcookies.com (lost over 100lbs) also using WW. While both are very active now, neither of them incorporated tons of exercise at the beginning.

[amesmarie]

I would have to second Katy at Runs for Cookies. I love her blog.

[sadlebred]

I would also recommend going to a therapist that specializes in eating disorders if you are binging. It's close enough to one. She may be able to help you work through your issues with food. There is NOTHING wrong with seeking assistance. Plenty of people do, and it may help you to realize that the lifestyle changes you talk about will help you lose weight.

I used to weigh 200 pounds. Over the course of several years, I took up mountain biking and slowly made lifestyle changes. I lost 70 pounds and maintain a healthy lifestyle to this day. I gained 20 of it back as my body settled into it's "happy weight," and I've maintained that for 15+ years. It is VERY doable!

[estrellita]

I've lost a little more than 25 pounds since last summer. Not a TON but a good amount. I have to admit, I half assed it. I recorded my food on MFP and tried to work out more here and there. But I would still eat fast food, have lazy days, stuff like that. From tracking the food, I became more aware of what and how much I was eating. I went over my calories here and there, and I still lost weight. I still eat pretty much whatever I want - I just try to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.

Another thing that's helped lately is my Fit Bit. The one I have is the more expensive one (got it as a gift), but it really does a lot for me. I like seeing how active I am on a typical day. I realized I overestimated a bit on how active I thought I was.

So overall, I think just being very aware of everything is the best thing you can do. The more you understand and know about your food intake and your activity level, the easier it is to find out where you need to make those changes. I think WW is a good place to go. I haven't used them, but I've heard good things as long as you stick with it!

[Deleted]

I've lost a lot of weight making small changes at a time, never did I just jump into it. As long as you're patient, it can work.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all of the responses and support.  I'll check out those blogs!  I would actually love to see a therapist, but I don't have coverage under my health insurance policy.  I did change to a different policy recently, so I'll double check to be sure.  I'm hoping that Obamacare may have made some mental health coverage necessary.

I'm glad to hear that other people have had success by just focusing on making better choices.  I grew up with obese parents, and I'm used to being obsessed about the number on the scale and trying crazy things to get the scale to move - but this obsession and extreme behavior always ends up in frustration and binge eating.  This time I want to focus on just making healthier choices and feeling better, and hope that the number on the scale happens to go down as I do this.

gncorman, amesmarie, lessel, and sessalee - This is a personal question, so feel free to tell me to mind my own business, but do you mind sharing if you have had any lopse skin issues with the large amount of weight you lost?  I've been this overweight for about 10 years now, and I worry that I'll work hard and then end up not being able to wear sleeveless shirts and being self conscious about loose skin on my stomach.

Thanks to all of you for being so helpful and supportive.  I didn't know there was a daily food thread, and I will definitely join in.  I'll be hanging around here a lot more!  

[amesmarie]

The loose skin thing just depends on the person and their build. I have some loose skin on my arms but nothing that keeps me from wearing anything sleeveless. I do have quite a bit in the stomach though. Its something that bothers me but most people don't notice anything. I would like to eventually get skin removal but that wont be till down the road. Oh I do have a bit on my thighs that bothers me a little from time to time but again nothing anyone else would notice.

[amesmarie]

I do have a friend that had gastric bypass and she had a lot of extra skin. She did the whole skin removal over her whole body. I think it was worse for her because she lost the weight so quickly and her body didn't have to time to adjust, whereas I took my time. She does look amazing though.

[Deleted]

I am still working on weight loss but as of right now I have no lose skin to speak of. My main areas of remaining concern (lower stomach and inner thighs) may end up being issues.

[spunkypenguin]

It's completely possible to lose significant weight without obsessing!  I've lost 165lbs in a little over 2 years w/o surgery or any kind of pills/supplements/"magic tricks."

I started out on WW and I am still a huge advocate for the program!  Points made sense to me - giving everything a value and then making your choice based on that worked for me.  I got to the point with it, that I could pick something up and pretty much figure out how many points it was by looking at the nutrition label.  It requires tracking, which can be a pain, but it just became part of my routine and I never felt like I was obsessing.  It was nice to be able to go out to a restaurant and make a choice - even if it was a little over, there are those "bonus" points built in.

As far as exercise, I lost the first 35 (in ~4months) without adding any exercise.  After that, I started walking a couple times a week and it did seem to come off faster by adding exercise, but I still was not doing 6days a week for an hour at a time.  Once it got hot that year, I switched to an elliptical in my basement.  Basically, I gradually built up to my current fitness level and I only choose to keep this schedule because I'm a little crazy (see my post from yesterday )  At this point, I do workout 6 days a week (sometimes less than an hr, sometimes more), but that's about my fitness - not so much losing weight.  My weight loss has actually slowed down a bit since increasing my training for distance running.

I started a blog last year, but then realized that I'm lazy and blogging isn't really for me, so I quit.  You can go back through and see some of my earlier posts about my journey at fatnesstofitness2012.blogspot.com

[katinthehat]

I think you do have to be obsessed, but not necessarily about a magic pill, or a diet plan, or a number on a scale. Maybe not obsessed, but observant. I put on 20 pounds of what I'd lost when I stopped being observant. When I stopped thinking about what I last ate and what I planned to eat at the next meal and what exercise I had lined up to go along with my food intake.

Overall lifestyle choices, small changes, bits of exercise, things like that are much better than quick loss promises and fad diets but I think you still have to be aware and have a plan with follow through to see results from that. Like I said, maybe not obsession, but definitely observant and awareness of it.

[lauren170]

Don't let the extra skin concern stop you. I still look and feel 100x better with my extra skin that with the extra pounds. When I started out losing weight I was not obsessed. I am obsessed now, but in a good way. I love working out and cooking healthy meals and love my new lifestyle. I'm what other would call obsessed, but I enjoy spending so much time on these activities. Before I was watching TV every night, now I'm at Crossfit or in a group exercise class, reading a book about the food industry, cooking a healthy meal, or blogging. I'm happier now than I was watching hours TV every night.

[sockerheel]

What has been working for me is asking myself "Will this food/drink benefit my body?" That way my food choices come from a place of wanting to nurture my body, rather than "OMG I have to get rid of this fat ASAP!" LOL. I feel more sane, and it's a lot of easier to make healthy choices. However, I'm still really struggling with my Coke Zero consumption!

[sadlebred]

If you are worried about the extra skin, cosmetic surgery can be done to remove it. Been there, done that.

[Susie]

You can do it without being "obsessed," but your post makes me wonder whether you're being totally honest about what you mean when you say "obsessed."

Losing weight is HARD. It's frustrating, it's slow going, and it's hard to immediately see results. Then once you accomplish it, there's the maintenance. It requires sacrifice, of tasty things and of ease and comfort when it comes to the exercise. There's just no getting around the fact it that does take hard work. Willingness to do hard work can look unpleasant and spartan, but it's not exactly the same as "obsession."

Not being "obsessed" is certainly laudable, but it sounds like you want it to come easy: no food restrictions, very modest exercise. If it were that easy, nobody would be overweight. Two water aerobics classes/week and one "family walk" is a perfectly good place to start, but if you're setting that out there as "this is what I'm willing to do, full stop," I think you may be disappointed in the results. That you've lost two pounds is great, but keeping that going, and keeping it off once you reach a goal weight may require a greater departure from your comfort zone than you describe.

That is not to say radical changes are the way to go, just that you need to be honest about whether the "small, sustainable" changes are significant enough.  My dad is the king of making tiny changes that feel like ongoing sacrifice - giving up wine and beer, giving up taking seconds at dinner, eating "healthier," albeit in too-large portions - and when his small sacrifices don't amount to meaningful weight loss, he gives up and defaults back to the usual.  It frustrates me for him.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2013 10:58:15 GMT -5 Susie said:

You can do it without being "obsessed," but your post makes me wonder whether you're being totally honest about what you mean when you say "obsessed."

Losing weight is HARD. It's frustrating, it's slow going, and it's hard to immediately see results. Then once you accomplish it, there's the maintenance. It requires sacrifice, of tasty things and of ease and comfort when it comes to the exercise. There's just no getting around the fact it that does take hard work. Willingness to do hard work can look unpleasant and spartan, but it's not exactly the same as "obsession."

Not being "obsessed" is certainly laudable, but it sounds like you want it to come easy: no food restrictions, very modest exercise. If it were that easy, nobody would be overweight. Two water aerobics classes/week and one "family walk" is a perfectly good place to start, but if you're setting that out there as "this is what I'm willing to do, full stop," I think you may be disappointed in the results. That you've lost two pounds is great, but keeping that going, and keeping it off once you reach a goal weight may require a greater departure from your comfort zone than you describe.

That is not to say radical changes are the way to go, just that you need to be honest about whether the "small, sustainable" changes are significant enough.  My dad is the king of making tiny changes that feel like ongoing sacrifice - giving up wine and beer, giving up taking seconds at dinner, eating "healthier," albeit in too-large portions - and when his small sacrifices don't amount to meaningful weight loss, he gives up and defaults back to the usual.  It frustrates me for him.

I admit that the exercise part will be a challenge for me.  I'm going to start out slow and will evaluate if I need to do more.  As for food, I don't mean that I want to be able to eat absolutely anything that I want.  I'm tracking everything that goes into my mouth using WW online and am staying within my point limit.  I just mean that there is no type of food that I can't have.  For example, I really wanted some type of bread for lunch, so I'm eating two small slices of Ezekiel bread with 2 tbsp low fat peanut butter and a cup of 1% milk - and tracking it all.  I feel that is making a good choice.  I like that if I'm craving something sweet (I love chocolate), that I can make something like WW haystacks made with Fiber One cereal, peanut butter, and chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Before I would grab a pint of Ben & Jerry's and easily eat half of it.  Unlike more restrictive diets that I've tried like Medifast or Atkins, WW just seems to allow me to eat the type of food that I'm craving, but the difference from how I ate before is that I make a smarter choice (whole wheat vs. white bread, smaller portion, etc).  These changes seem doable for me.  I'm really hoping that this (meaning staying in my WW point limit while making healthier choices) will be enough to lose the weight.  I guess I'll find out.

[katinthehat]

WW is really good for that because all they really care about is portion control and that works for an awful lot of people (including me!)

However, the thing I would caution you about and my biggest problem with WW is that they don't pay any attention to the quality of the food and often, what you are eating is just as important (if not more) than how much of it you are eating.

Yes, you can make cupcakes with a box of cake mix and diet sprite and it's 1 point each, but is that really a good overall health choice? A portion of 75% dark chocolate and a cup of strawberries is a better health choice but you'll pay for it in more points. That's my biggest problem with WW.

[flamingemu]

I agree with all the PPs. It is totally possible, but you have to be honest with yourself. I lost 65lbs over the course of a year. About half of that was before I started exercising. I tracked calories for a few months, but once I got a handle on portion sizes, I stopped tracking officially and just eyed it. I tracked for a couple of days here and there just to heck in with myself.

It sounds like WW is a great option for you. You have to know that the weight will not fall off in a short period of time. Stick with it, make healthy choices and it will work. As far as skin, I have some loose skin on my arms, but not enough that I don't wear sleeveless shirts. Everything else snapped back into place for the most part.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2013 12:48:40 GMT -5 katinthehat said:

WW is really good for that because all they really care about is portion control and that works for an awful lot of people (including me!)

However, the thing I would caution you about and my biggest problem with WW is that they don't pay any attention to the quality of the food and often, what you are eating is just as important (if not more) than how much of it you are eating.

Yes, you can make cupcakes with a box of cake mix and diet sprite and it's 1 point each, but is that really a good overall health choice? A portion of 75% dark chocolate and a cup of strawberries is a better health choice but you'll pay for it in more points. That's my biggest problem with WW.

This is exactly the issue I had with WW. I tried it for 3 months and quit, went back to cal/macronutrient counting and had much more success.