Is dieting necessary

Ignore not ignite .

My mum has always been a couple of stone overweight and she is now 92 and healthy, so eating healthily and keeping active I think is more important. For those of you who are normal weight range you can ignite this article as research can always be wrong ha, ha. For those of you who are overweight you can take advice from this ?
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2010/feb/14/elderly-overweight-lower-mortality-risk

We ought to start a wellness thread. Not sure how it works, but believe it is the answer.

Anyone know?

I’m glad I saw you post whitewavemark2 this morning I was doing my regular search for the holy grail of diets - I never find it,but there’s always the hope that I’ll find the one, the magic wand that will effortlessly take away my extra two stone. I don’t think diets work all they do is make money for the diet and health companies and make us into dysfunctional eaters.
I’ve been on loads of diets and I’m still the same weight as I was when I started to diet. I’m convinced that dieting has contributed to my recent health issue - acid reflux, a hiatus hernia and inflammation of the oesophagus as I was trying fasting and 16:8
I try to eat whatever I like, when I want and to eat what’s right for me and to eat less of it. - I don’t always succeed with the eat less bit, but I try.
I don’t like how I look being fat but I don’t think dieting is the answer - it’s self esteem. Several of the women in my family have issues with how they look and dieting- my niece was bulimic and probably still is, my sister is almost obsessed with her looks - and mine!!
So for me, diets don’t work - but I still waste a lot of time and effort worrying about my weight and what I’m eating or not eating. What’s the answer?

Personally, I'm fed up of worrying about weight and health. It's making me miserable and afraid. I'm only a few pounds overweight but I have a roll around my middle which we are told is dangerous for your heart. I worry about blood pressure, cholesterol, eating and drinking this and that, not getting enough exercise, too much stress. In fact worrying about all this is spoiling my life so I'm just going to do what I do and get on with it. I've made it to 70 under sometimes very difficult circumstances. I'm doing my best.

I adopted a healthy eating plan about six weeks ago as I realised my tum was getting out of control. I simply cut out bread and anything else I used to smother in butter (scones, toasted tea cakes, currant buns, etc) and stopped drinking that glass of wine with my evening meal (or beer at lunchtime during the hot weather). I've never been a fan of sweets, cakes or biscuits so no problem there. Since then I'm doing up my belt four notches in and my jeans are not tight over my backside or thighs. Result!
I don't bother with scales as I don't think weight is that important ... it's more body shape and feeling comfortable in clothes that now fit. Of course, yesterday I was out for a big family gathering ... had my first piece of bread in weeks (half a roll with butter) and rather a lot of champagne and wine, but I don't regret it and will now carry on as normal. I have just one more pair of jeans I'd like to be able to wear again! ?

Hello, I don't post on here often but this thread caught my attention. A couple of years ago I started with Slimming World (SW). I too was pre-diabetic and riddled with arthritis, the SW plan is not a diet its a healthy eating plan for life! I lost 5 stones, 4 while attending every weigh in once a week, then I thought I would be clever and do it at home following the plan I knew so well. Needless to say I stuck to it for a bit and lost another stone but bad habits started and before I knew it I had put 2 stones back on so back I went back to SW and in 3months I have lost 1st 3 1/2 lbs and am on my way back to target.For me SW is the only way to get it off and keep it off and the most important part is to stay to group and get the support you need from other people on their own SW journey.

I’m mid fifties, post menopausal and have lost 3 and a half stone in 18 months. I am now a healthy weight and BMI. I followed the blood sugar diet initially. It isn’t easy. I don’t think any diet is easy. I basically follow a low carb diet during the week now ( no bread or potatoes) I eat very little sugar. At weekends I do eat carbs, but not too many. For me, this is what works. I also drink wine ocassionslly. I think you can certainly lose weight during menopausal years if you eat less/exercise and motivation certainly helps. I hated the way I felt and looked in clothes and how unfit I was. I would walk 10 minutes and feel out if breath. Not any more. I recommend anyone who is struggling to read Michael Moseley’s blood sugar diet ( you do not have to be diabetic or even pre diabetic, I wasn’t) it works....it’s hard, but it works.

I am done with dieting. I am happy as I am (about 20lb overweight) but whenever I go to the doctors they NEVER mention my weight so I feel that I must be ok. My weight hasn’t changed since I gave up diets but when I was constantly dieting it would fluctuate by a stone or more. I try to be healthy MOST of the time but I will treat myself if I want. Like today I have a terrible cold and I am going to have cake for lunch! It will obviously cure my cough and cold?

I eat carefully all week apart from what I call a 'piggy' day where I can eat what the heck I like and as much as I want. For example, last night I had a huge portion of fish, chips and curry sauce. It was glorious. Followed by a portion of peanut, choc and caramel cheesecake.

I've done this for years but it is only recently that I've noticed the middle age spread materializing and getting pretty hard to shift. I've promised myself I'll try to keep the same weight until my son's wedding next year (for which I've already bought the dress) and then let it all go to hell and spread whichever way it wants to!

Whitewavemark2
Thank you for posting your story.
I agree 100% .
If we focus on a false image and ideal we forget to see what really matters.
I have never dieted or consciously committed to an excersise\ gym routine.
Until my mental health told me that I should move more. I went from a sedentary lifestyle in work and free time to cautiously trying to move more .
For me the benefits were felt in the first day.
I walk more I see more I engage more with people and nature. My life and mental wellbeing took a series of nose dives in the past few years and I wanted to feel connected and happier. So for me physical and mental health are one in the same. I do find some days harder to move then others , but I am slowly on the move and it feels good.

I find it i diet and lose weight , when i start eat normal again i put twice the weight back on . I think as you get older to keep the weight it's a life style change and never going back to the diet you used to have .

The only reason I try, every so often, to lose weight, or at least not gain anymore, is nothing to do with looks.

It's more to do with the extra weight on my knees (which are beginning to wear out), and, I think your "down there's" are more inclined to sag with extra weight on your stomach. I am desperately trying to put off any kind of treatment with the latter.

I can only speak for myself. I’m a ‘healthy’ weight, whatever that is.
I diet all the time. It’s AKA healthy eating, something of everything, well not oysters and mussels -ugh!, Sometimes a bit too much!, sometimes a few calories too little. Seems to work.
I have a friend who is always on a diet! She does need to lose a couple of stones and if she goes away, she likes cruises, she puts on more.
Portion control in restaurants, cafes ect. make it very hard.
EG. scones are huge, if I have a whole one then it replaces a meal.
If you are overweight and happy and healthy I can’t see your problem.
My DH has a big fat tummy and I’M not happy so he is now on a regime. I quite like him, I want him around for a lot longer. His tummy is indicating his internal organs are encapsulated by fat and are a health hazard. It has to go.

Grrrr....HAPPY and healthy....

As far as I'm concerned, Twiggy and ilk with their emaciated body images gave out a dangerously impossible target to attain. She maintains she never dieted. On the other hand there's Dawn French - overweight, tried dieting and became very unhappy. It seems there's many layers to the body image myth, which women in particular have become enslaved to, but overall surely being larger than convention dictates shouldn't be a problem as long as you're healthy and healthy

I do not diet, I eat everything in moderation. I have just finished a diabetes prevention course where we discussed food and exercise at length. What was repeated to us that we must not cut food groups from our diet especially going without carbohydrates. If you only eat protein you burn muscle tissue instead of fat for energy.
Portion size is more important and exercise must at least equal the calorie intake.

Wow, nice result Humbert. I think 10 months is realistic. I would prefer 10 days.

I’m not being sanctimonious about this but I’ve lost two stone over the last 10 months by drinking less (I used to have a large glass of wine every night as I cooked dinner!) and by eating less. In particular, when we go out for dinner I will order two starters and not a main and if I take my mother out for lunch I won’t eat dinner, just a snack of raw salad. It isn’t always fun or easy but I feel more energetic, I look loads better and I’ve gone down 2 whole sizes which makes me feel really good.

bohemianan

Just thinking about your past health issue.

My sister is a recovering anorexic. She went through a very bad period when her marriage broke down. The really sad thing was that everyone congratulated her on her thinness saying how they wished they could look like her etc. It was ridiculous, her head seemed far too big for her body and she barely ate a thing.

Pleased to say she is a normal weight. Well slightly overweight I would think, but much happier and a whole lot healthier.

Dieting necessary? No! Far better just to concentrate on healthy eating and exercise, with occasional treats just fine!

I could certainly do with losing a few pounds. The thought of fasting is not a pleasant one and I don't think I could live without potatoes. When I go out for a coffee and cake I want all the cake. I'm sort of muddling along IFSWIM.

I maintained a weight of between 8 to 9 stone for about thirty years, due to fairly constant dieting. Post menopausal, I’ve gained about two stone, I
did everything I could think of to get it off, but it seemed hopeless. So I threw away the scales, and stopped dieting, I’m still probably about the same, but I’m fairly sure I’ve been static for the last few years, I rely on me clothes to tell me otherwise.
I’d love to be back to around nine stone, but I’ve accepted that’s probably not going to happen.

I was rather hoping to be ticked off when I went for a health check. A good 2 stone overweight, very high cholesterol. They were totally unconcerned.

I suppose I must tick myself off and try again. Fram, what method are you using?

boheminan exactly I think that’s the way to go.

I am thinking that dieting is only necessary if as like my DH he found himself pre-diabetic, or some other health issue. But apart from that feeling happy with yourself is so much more important.