"'Your brain doesn’t know you’re trying to lose weight on purpose... it thinks that something is wrong.'... First of all, you become hungrier, obviously. And not just because you want to eat as much as you did before; you actually want to eat more than you did prior to losing weight. 'With every one kilogram you lose, your appetite goes up above baseline by 90 or so calories per day'.... At the same time, your body looks for ways to conserve energy. Your muscles work more efficiently... so walking that normally burned 100 calories might now burn only 90. By making you want to eat more and burning fewer calories, your body is eventually able to slow weight loss down to zero. Here is your plateau. This is, all told, a remarkably elegant and robust system, if what you wanted to do is to maintain your weight."
From "The Ozempic Plateau/Everyone hits a weight-loss plateau, but the race is on for next-generation drugs that can help patients lose even more weight" (The Atlantic).
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With “starvation”type diets, your body thinks you’ve been stranded on a deserted island and it will do all it can to survive. It will go into an extreme conservation mode and try to hang on as long as it can.
Weight or fat? The former can be lost through aerobic exercise. The latter can be lost through judicious consumption of carbohydrates. A caveat: don't starve yourself. Body fat is not the same as dietary fat.
Also, little birds follow you around, pelting you with invisible calories. The atoms making up your body take on extra electrons, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology redefines the kilogram, so that you weigh more. Trust Sarah Zhang, she knows about things.
Medical drug intervention will almost always be a cruel game of wack a mole unless the gut bacteria is fixed and people stop eating garbage. This includes interventions for obesity, cancer diabetes heart disease dementia Parkinson's hashimotos depression anxiety the list goes on.
Eat fewer carbs and more protein. That's how I lost 40-lbs, from 200 to 160. Carbs really put the weight on for me.
You can lose unlimited weight by counting calories, easy if you eat the same thing every day pretty much so you know the calorie values for all the items. Write them down and keep a total.
Easiest to start hard and gradually increase calories so long as weight keeps coming off.
for those that are keeping track.. I saw my doc this week..
My A1C was down to 5.1 (was 5.3 six months ago, and was 6.6 eighteen months ago)
and they weighed me at 269lbs (was at 274.5 eighteen months ago).. So A HUNDRED POUNDS DOWN!
{technically, 105.5 lbs down}
Things i did:
Was TERRIFIED at being declared diabetic..
Religiously counted my carbs (the dietitian lets me take in 75grams PER MEAL.. Plus 30grams PER SNACK
{which you can see, isn't "low carb".. But it's been doable, and i DO}
the Maximum daily dose of metformin.. (THIS has been the real key)
since last March, i've been walking..
at least 3 times a week (usually 4+), each walk 2+ miles (now often 4+).. Now with Steep hills..
That's it.. But you can Still cheer me on, if you want
(truth is: i'm STILL a lard ass, hope to lose 50 More lbs by the end of the year.. We'll See)
You don't need Ozempic.
https://www.amazon.com/Case-Keto-Rethinking-Practice-Low-Carb
The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating
Gary Taubes
Mike of Snoqualmie said...
Eat fewer carbs and more protein. That's how I lost 40-lbs, from 200 to 160. Carbs really put the weight on for me.
Congratulations on your weight loss. Watching carbs - and calories is my only method for taking a few pounds off. But with a Type 2 Hubby, most of that protein (eggs, bacon, sausage, steak) is absolute death on his cholesterol.
Not easy.
You can lose unlimited weight by counting calories, easy if you eat the same thing every day pretty much so you know the calorie values for all the items. Write them down and keep a total.
Easiest to start hard and gradually increase calories so long as weight keeps coming off.
But how very boring.
I've never taken any weight loss drug or supplement or anything like that. I love to cook, so I look for recipes that are high in protein, have lots of vegetables and some fat, and are low in starchy carbs; then I tag the ones that work especially well as "fast," or "delicious," or whatever, in our family online recipe file so our kids will have that resource if and when they want to use it.
My challenge is that I really don't like most forms of exercise, so I tend to do the same few things all the time. My body gets very efficient at doing those things and I see diminishing returns. If someone could come up with a drug that would make me enjoy exercise, THAT I would take.
Sarah Zhang:
By making you want to eat more and burning fewer calories, your body is eventually able to slow weight loss down to zero.
Anorexia says otherwise. Sarah has a degree in sociology, she's writing things she's heard. Normal people have varying degrees of tolerance for hunger. Personally, I've not had issues with any fasting. Yeah, I got hungry, it was expected.
Others do. I had a friend, Robbie, a three hundred pounder. He was a nice guy. He once said "I didn't get this big by not eating."
As others have said, find a way to intake enough energy to sustain yourself then exercise above that. Entropy will kick in.
Persevere.
Invest in lettuce. :)
I lost 60 lbs in a year, then stalled on One Meal A Day (super low sugar). I had let a bit too much creep back in. I took out more of the bread and even did a bit of carnivore. Lost another 25, but now have stalled. But likely need to trim an extravagance of browned butter bites. I eat quite little compared to most. But then I could up my exercise. I haven't exercised really any.
What happens is you let bits sneak back into your eating.
But then these days, I can put on 10 lbs simply by eating what most people eat in a day. But if I'm disciplined most of that drops in a few days as the food mass and additional water is lost.
Makes more than a little sense. Long-term obesity hasn't been a problem humans had to face until pretty recently.
I'll second an emphasis on cutting carbs and eating plenty of lean protein. Lots of evidence that pushing 'low-fat' has been a dietary disaster. Watch out for the sneak carb intake from fruits, fruit juices, and low-fat products that substitute HFCS for oils. Go 'lower sugar' and 'low fat' rather than fat-free.
Exercise is good, even necessary, but you can't exercise away bad eating habits.
Don't eat processed foods, limit sugar intake (severely), and also limit carbs such as white rice, pasta, and bread. Carbs are necessary, but get them by eating fruits and vegetables. Also, eat plenty of lean protein. Then get some exercise every day, a brisk walk is fine though you probably should do some kind of resistance training so your body won't use muscle for fuel instead of fat. Resistance training doesn't mean you have to slave over barbells. Bodyweight exercises work just as well. Additional tips, drink lots of water and exercise in the morning before you eat if that is possible. If you exercise in the morning before eating your body has to burn fat for fuel.
None of this is new knowledge. I have seen diet plans from the 1700s that advocate these steps.
The hard part is, of course, doing this consistently. Oh, and a two to four pound weight loss per month is sustainable and healthy, but you will reach plateaus and might even go up on occasion. That is natural, weight loss isn't linear. The most important measure of weight loss isn't the scale, its how your clothes fit.
Of Course, NONE of this a relevant..
In Today's Brave New World.. 320 lb, 5'2" women are to be considered, not just Healthy; but SEXY!
https://bodyliberationphotos.com/2021/07/02/40-larger-fat-instagram-accounts-you-should-be-following/
https://influencers.feedspot.com/plus_size_instagram_influencers/
Think these are fringe things? Here's one from goodhousekeeping:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/g35564820/body-positivity-instagram-accounts/
Good Housekeeping will be exploring how we think about weight, the way we eat, and how we try to control or change our bodies in our quest to be happier and healthier.
Our goal here is not to tell you how to think, eat, or live — nor is to to pass judgment on how you choose to nourish your body — but rather to start a conversation about diet culture, its impact, and how we might challenge the messages we are given about what makes us attractive, successful and healthy.
We have met the enemy.. And they are fat and disgusting.. And, They are Winning
or, we could just listen to Dave Edmunds and Rockpile..
You let the Knife and Fork dig your grave
I'm down a few more pounds--227 yesterday--and that mostly from just not eating as much.
Congrats to everyone who is on the path to declining weight!
CONGRATS, gilbar! Keep it up!
You and a few others are going to help keep me on track, at least for a few more weeks.
I have lost 7 lbs since Jan 2, down to 257. All I have done is cut carbs, and I limit myself to eating between 10 AM and 8 PM. I don't count calories or carbs, though I do have an idea of how many carbs are in the items I eat and either forgo them, replace them with a lower card alternative, or eat less of them.
I walk the dog more, and hope to keep that up and take longer walks.
My main motivations: Lose weight and keep my A1C down.
Thanks for the inspiration, all!
I'm losing on Mounjaro. Not hungry. Counting calories. Still too fat. Onward!
I had a good friend named Bill. 400-lbs, at least. Nicest guy. He was talker, but always entertaining. He died of a massive stroke over a Christmas break, about 10 years ago. He'd be alive if he'd been 200-lbs. He was a month older than me.
So, this fat acceptance movement is really a die by massive stroke/heart attack movement.
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