Maintaining......

Our GP told my friend who always struggled with her weight that women either 'put on a lot of weight' or 'get very thin' at the menopause.

I can't say I noticed either but it certainly piled on when I went on necessary medication and it has been a struggle to lose it since.

MOnica I too think that there's more to it than simple calories in v calories out. I wish I'd heard that programme as I love Fureidi.

There's another theory that explores gut bacteria and the importance of this in propensity to weight gain. In one experiment, a woman (slim) was given a faecal transplant from her (overweight) daughter in a desperate attempt to cure a condition she had. It cured the condition, but the weight piled on! She claimed it was because her gut bacteria had changed due to the faecal transplant and she became very overweight very quickly. Not sure how scientific this conclusion was, however.

I agree weight control becomes much harder at the menopause. I've no idea if this is a proven fact or not. However, it's not impossible, as you, Monica, have proved!

And the fact that some people have no idea about nutrition is not an excuse either, imho. We all have access to the same info, regardless of how we choose to use it.

Losing weight is simple. Just stop stuffing your face!! Nobody's holding anyone down and force feeding them, are they?
Just had a change in medication and my weight has gone back up again; however I am stilleating healthily and no more than I was when I lost 6lbs over 3 weeks recently.

I mentioned on another thread a programme on Radio 4, one in the series 'The Life Scientific' where Frank Fureidi interviewed an eminent scientist who had spent her life researching the genetic basis of obesity.

I am not talking about extreme genetic conditions but ones that occurred much more often. Her research showed very clearly that while some people have genetic markers that make appetite control difficult, many more have genes that affect how food is metabolised that both makes them prone to weight gain and makes it difficult to lose weight.

There are also still many people who despite all the publicity know absolutely nothing about nutrition and who do not eat much but subsist on calorie dense foods. All of us could probably produce two meals of exactly the same size, one with a 200 calorie value the other coming in at over 1,000 calories.

It is also well proven that hormonal changes lead to weight gain in women around and after the menopause. I did not have a weight problem before the menopause but in the five years after it I put on nearly 2 stone, despite my every effort to keep my weight down and it stayed on despite everything I did. I was even reduced to trying freak diets like the Atkins, which made me very ill. After about 10 years I tried a modified version of the 5:2 and I lost it very quickly.

Anya your ideas of an immutable straight line relationship between food consumption and weight is both simplistic and old-fashioned.

I'm with you, anya, on most of what you say. I appreciate it's not quite black and white, but I too get annoyed at people who find someone else/something to blame for their weight. Fine if they're being honest. But whilst there are many, many reasons why people overeat, those reasons are excuses. At the end of the day, the only person for putting food in your mouth is you.

Another thing that really annoys me is people saying how "lucky" slim people are to be slim. No-not lucky, just bloody-minded, disciplined and focussed. And staying slim is the hardest part, in my experience.

Oh dear! I must admit to being over-frank on this thread, but to be honest, I'm sick and tired of biting my tongue in real life, when I see grossly overweight people insisting they don't overeat, when I've witnessed for myself them stuffing their faces over-imbibing on a regular basis. I'm more inclined to respect the chubby person who admits to eating too much, at least they're honest about it.

Re your arguement, a valid one I admit, that you can easily gain 20lb in 20 years by simply putting on an extra pound every Christmas, that's true. But it's equally true to ask just how easy would it have been to take off that whole pound over the course of the following year? Pretty easy I'd say.

I'm glad you acknowledge that your weight gain is your own fault, and that you are doing something about it. I've heard all sorts of excuses, call them reasons if you will, for gaining copious amounts of weight, I've watched alcoholics drink themselves to death and smokers who apparently can't stop even with heart disease.

I've walked in my own shoes too Baden and come through situations you couldn't even begin to understand, just in case you think otherwise.

I'd hate you to feel disappointed Anya so:

It's not that simple.

It must be strange living in a world so black and white. I'm surprised you've got to your age without realising things are rarely that simple if you actually dig a little. Yes there are those of us who stuff our faces or whatever you said, just as there are those of us who have that extra drink when we've had enough or those of us who smoke even though we know how bad it is for our health. Those who haven't been there don't know how hard it is to change. Thankfully I haven't, but I can at least begin to understand the problem. I am overweight totally from my own fault, I agree, but it wasn't continually stuffing my face, as you so elegantly put it, but by the kg or so put on at Christmas or birthdaysomething or holidays over the years and never taken off - and now I'might doing something about it. But what about a friend of mine, very overweight, who finally admitted to me that she was overweight because she had been raped and this was her way of feeling secure because she would now be unattractive? Or the person who is desperately lonely and unhappy who comforts themselves with something sweet.

We are all complex creatures and our behaviour is often difficult to understand, but at least occasionally try to walk in someone else's shoes, rather than inhabiting the moral high ground.

i try to maintain my weight by weighing my self every morning and if i have gained i cut right back if i am the same i go easy on myself. I do just over an hour of aerobics three times a week and walk as much as i can. I also play indoor bowls 2 times a week which involves lots of bending for three hours. Once the weather warms up there will be the garden to attend to as well, plus swimming at the local outdoor pool. I try not to eat carbs and find this helps with weight. It is hard as i love bread cakes biscuits etc but what is the alternative, if you want to be relativly healthy and fit you have to do it.

I agree Monica that 'diet' starts in the head. We're obsessed with food these days. In days gone by we were grateful to just have enough to eat. Now some people's lives seem to revolve around food.

Losing weight is simple. Just stop stuffing your face!! Nobody's holding anyone down and force feeding them, are they?

When I've seen these obscenely obese people on TV who now bed-bound and the house has to be dismantled around them to get them out to hospital (or to bury them) I wonder 'who is feeding them so much and why?' because they certainly can't get the food themselves.

expecting posts telling me it's not that simple

As a retired diet counsellor I would say that it doesn't matter how fast or slow you lose weight it is realising that if you go back to eating the way you ate before your diet the weight will go back on. Instead of thinking "diet" it is better to adjust your eating to something that can be ongoing and not just for a period of time. When you have reached the weight you feel happy with (ignoring BMIs) you can add in the occasional treat. That is why the low carb high protein "diet" is so good. Very good for those with type 2 diabetes too.

I thought that once the fat cells had been produced they are always there, shrunken after weight loss and just sitting waiting to be filled up again.

I think that putting on weight is much more complicated than simply how much you eat. The cause of a lot of weight gain, especially in yo-yo dieters is in the mind and not in the mouth.

All efforts to get people to lose weight are aimed at what they eat, rather than why they eat it. I think far more effort should be put into the why. We have eating disorder clinics to treat people with anorexia and bulimia and psychological support plays a major part in the treatments they offer. We should be doing exactly the same thing for those who are over weight.

I'm reading "Escape the Diet Trap" Dr John Briffa - why diets don't work, got it from the local library as I'd stopped smoking and then started eating, lol! I also found him on youtube, I did laugh when he said "Yes - Carpet is all fibre, but would you want to eat it?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSg772-Hh6o
The first part of the book is all about the studies done on diets and how much people usually lose before their metabolism kicks in... are calories all the same etc... I've now stopped feeding my "face" and my weight has steadied, I'm not counting calories and I don't feel hungry. I'd recommend reading about his ideas as he is a doctor and also runs diet clinics... hope that helps.

There is a sense that 'going on a diet' means that at some point you can 'come off' the diet. That's not really how it works.

If you weighed, as an example, 12 stone you need to eat more than a 10 stone version of yourself. The fatter you are, the more you need to eat just to maintain that weight. If you slim down to 10 stone then you cannot go back to eating like an 11 stone person or the weight will pile back on.

And this is what happens. You just start allowing yourself that little bit more because you're 'off the diet' .

Actually you're NOT. You have to keep well below a certain intake which is pretty close to your dieting plan.

I have been on/off diets probably from the age of 14. At my heaviest 15.10 and at my lightest 7.8 - massive differences. I'm also short 5ft so the heavy weight was obviously very,very unhealthy. Ive dieted and lost 3 stone but I've also lost 8 stone. I am a total yo-yo when it comes to weight . Controlling your weight is a life long commitment and sadly for all my good intention when slim I've yet to crack it. I'm two different people as well quiet retiring fat me and quite outgoing social slim me.

I dont believe in diets, just sensible eating, and exercising in my case walking. Really think it's impossible to follow diets they get so boring. As long as you are eating good healthy food why stress.

thats fantastic playermojo , you must feel great......
Thanks for all your replies, lots of great tips as well....

NanMacGeek I was interested to hear that being on the 5:2 diet has resulted in you resetting my 'eyes bigger than my stomach' syndrome! because I did the same diet and found exactly the same. Now I eat smaller portions, turn offers of food down and watch other people eating more than me with or ordering extra courses with indifference.

I lost 2 stone three years ago and have maintained it until this Christmas, when that plus a holiday, led to a 7lb weight gain but I will go back on the 5:2 on Monday confident that within about six weeks the regained half stone plus another 5lbs will have gone.

I find the maintenance so hard I lost the weight one and a half stone over 3 or 4 months so roughly 2 lb a week give or take but since reaching target I m seeing how easy it is to go up I ve only gone up 2 lb at the moment but I can see more on the horizon very hard to get the equilibrium just right

Well done playermojo007,that's amazing.i forgot to mention in my earlier post that I do have a diet yogurt and a little fruit after dinner.Also go to aquarobics once a week, I've always hated the gym,but I seem to have found something I enjoy.
Kim19, you are so right about the small portions,I am eating about a 1/3 rd of what I used to eat.Its a way of life.

You probably need to maintain a low calorie diet, not go back to the one which put weight on you.

The only things you NEED to eat are a serving of protein (egg / cheese / yogurt / meat)with as much fresh fruit / vegetables (of any sort but if cooked, no sugar) as you want each day.

This will give you good health and keep weight stable. If you add biscuits, cakes, rice, pasta, bread etc. you may put weight on again (depending how much you eat).

Gosh Playermojo007 hat's off to you. Amazing.

The only way to not gain weight is DO NOT put in more calories that you won't burn off. I sound strict and abrupt but I used every excuse not to lose weight. I.e depression ,thyroid, medication and any other excuse I could think of . Until I finally had a stroke 4 years ago.
So then I never worked but had to go to rehabilitation to learn to walk and balance etc. I went into a class in mt local gym. Filled with amputees or heart atracks or strokes . So I had no excuse not to try any light activities. I soon got to really enjoy these meeting up with people no different to me. I wasnt aware but the pounds were flying off and my strength was getting better . I ended up going each day either for light swim or aqua exercises or even light badminton .
I can now proudly say I have lost 12 and a half stone. I maintain my weight because I changed how I thought about food. Instead of living to eat now I eat to live.
Boredom makes people eat so I keep busy. I have a glass of iced water or brush my teeth it gets rid of the hunger thoughts. We have a nice group of people and do walking now. You can start by just walking in the local park. It is good fun releasing those feel good.endorphins . There is no excuse one of my friends who comes has no legs . (He lost them with diabetes).

Lost 3 1/2 stones over THREE years. It's staying off and I eat whatever I fancy whenever I fancy. HOWEVER....... my portions and quantities are minescule compared to what was my norm years ago. No, and I don't feel deprived. It has become a way of life and just exactly as all the gurus said and whom I chose to pooh pooh after many years of 'panic/rush/painful' attempts of successful failure. If I go out for a lovely lunch (which I do regularly) there's no breakfast other thank few walnuts to tell my system I've not died and then there's very little in the evening unless I get the urge whereupon usually a slice of buttered toast suffices. I think this must sound pretty awful to many of you as it would have to me all these years ago. Honestly it's not. I weigh myself roughly once a week which is simply a (bad?) habit of many years. This is peppered with plenty coffee and water. I'm not overly exercisey (is that a word?!) but try to walk briskly for the 15 mins to the shops and that's it. My motivation is mostly to try to elongate my life since my son decided to indulge me with two lovely grandaughters at a pretty late stage in my life. This is no guarantee of course but I'm trying. I guess the message is don't be put off if you've 'ONLY' lost 1lb. Just keep that one off and go for the next one. Success, better health and a bit of
fitness is the aim and NOT the calendar.

I just remember when I am eating what a nurse told me " your stomach is the size of your fist" look at the portion size you eat. Can you fit that choc bar, crisps into your fist after eating your dinner. All the excess goes straight to your hips!! Does make me stop and think before I raid the fridge.