The first part, portion control, is not the most effective way to lose weight. Reducing your portions to the point that you feel hungry at the end of a meal will not work. It is hard to force yourself to eat less. It is hard to stop eating when you are still hungry. It goes against human nature. In my opinion hunger is the most significant problem with weight loss and a diet that results in hunger will never be successful. Unless you are super-human, and hunger does not bother you. For the rest of us, when we are hungry, the feeling of an empty stomach is very difficult, if not impossible, to tolerate.
The second part, exercise more to lose weight, is simply not realistic. Some find it hard to accept but exercise isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. Even if you exercised every day, in order to achieve any noticeable weight reduction, you would have to do it for hours each day. Exercise is great for our physical health and state of mind, and for preventing weight gain in the first place, but it has a disappointingly small effect on weight loss.
The biggest misconception for me was always that it didn't just come down to calories in, calories out.
ReplyDeleteI was inundated with random information. No carbs, more carbs, don't eat after 8pm, don't eat before 5pm then eat everything, too many liquids will mess you up, do blah, don't blah.
No one ever just said "Eat less calories than you burn. You will lose weight".
Same here. I didn't even bother doing anything but starving myself because people always made it too confusing with all this talk of no carbs or have only a certain amount or WHATEVER.
DeleteOnce I discovered fitness pal and just ate whatever I want, that changed everything
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DeleteI came back to my blog after being away for quite some time, and I saw that you had posted a comment almost a year ago.... I just wanted to say thank you for those kind words.... I'm hoping to get back to blogging again more regularly.... hope you'll still follow.
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
You also have to take BMI into account. That is something you can't go off of anymore, not that you should of in the first place. I weighed 180 pounds a few years ago and I was considered OBESE but I worse medium/large in most of my clothing. To me, obese is xxl+ Yes, I was over weight but not OBESE! Your waist should be half your height in inches or less. That is the healthy way to measure your body health and fat. Fat around the stomach is the worst kind.
ReplyDeleteHmm...informative post! I will admit that I didn't know about these things, but I am glad that I know now. Surely a short but sweet post!
ReplyDeleteNo matter how well you follow your diet, there is usually some cheating and lying involved. Most of us have tried at least one quick fix to drop weight for good, only to gain the weight back, often packing on even more pounds. Unfortunately, myths about how you can lose weight can sabotage even the best efforts.
ReplyDeleteThese are so important to know!
ReplyDelete