How Do Some People Have The Self Discipline To Always Stay Thin?
How do they do it?
You have to make sure you don't eat too many calories every day cut back on all the high calorie foods that everyone enjoys, along with keeping up formal exercise.
Anyone who just eats what they feel like every day is gonna be obese. It takes a hell of a lot of effort and self discipline to be thin.
So the statistics for the number of obese people doesn't surprise me at all. It actually surprises me that so many people aern't overweight.
Original Post by xavier7:
How do they do it?
You have to make sure you don't eat too many calories every day cut back on all the high calorie foods that everyone enjoys, along with keeping up formal exercise.
Anyone who just eats what they feel like every day is gonna be obese. It takes a hell of a lot of effort and self discipline to be thin.
So the statistics for the number of obese people doesn't surprise me at all. It actually surprises me that so many people aern't overweight.
I think it's totally untrue to say that everyone enjoys the same food, and people who eat what they feel like are going to be obese.
I enjoy healthy food, therefore I eat what I feel like and am not obese. Formal exercise is not a requirement so much as some kind of activity - an active job, for example. But even when I am sedentary I am a healthy weight, because of the kinds of food I like to eat.
Original Post by dkenworthy:
- They are incredibly disciplined -- they love to eat, prefer healthy foods, and only allow themselves occasional treats. Probably "naturally" behave like those of us who are successful on CC have to learn to behave.
If you prefer healthy foods, staying slim doesn't require incredible discipline. Good choices, yes.
Also, I find that I'm not even tempted to eat junk food or fast food. It honestly grosses me out to see someone eating a hamburger from McDonald's, or a huge burrito from Taco Bell. Don't you feel sick when you eat unhealthy foods anyway? I know I feel like crap and have bad stomach problems when I eat junk food. It's just rarely worth it to me.
When i first lost thirty pounds I was just in a mindset to lose weight. It was like nothing was going to stop me I was so determined. I was never a skinny child. When i was 11 i was clearly overweight. By the time i was 18 i was 5'4 and weighed 115 pounds. Watching my calories and eating healthy was just a way of life. I couldn't imagine it any other way. Well, i gained some 40 pounds and Im finding it very difficult to lose the weight and get the motivation back. Its just very odd to me how I can go from being healthy to being so unhealthy. And i realize now that i overthink losing weight way too much. I obsess about it everyday whereas before i just let it happen. I think that is a major problem. Naturally thin people dont obsess about their food or when they can eat next. They live thier lives and food is just apart of it. Food isn't their lives. I truly believe anyone can be a "thin" person. You just have to adopt to thier ways of life. Just realize food is there just to keep you alive. Thats it. Its not for fun
Original Post by ibez:
Original Post by carolally:
Original Post by ibez:
Getting there is harder than maintaining though.
Nope, afraid not
Certainly is in my experience. Naturally, you have to be more strict to lose weight than you have to be to not gain it. Maybe some people fall into complacency, but I maintined for 6 months at one point and didn't have any trouble with it. I guess it all depends on whether you've gone on a diet or actually made a lifestyle change.
Really, if you have the discipline to lose weight, maintaining should not require a lot of willpower.
Do not talk to me about discipline and willpower, you have no idea!
Original Post by fooledbyfaith:
Just realize food is there just to keep you alive. Thats it. Its not for fun
I love good food the way I love other sensory experiences -- smelling a rose, swimming in the warm ocean, making love, walking in a beautiful garden. So, for me, it is fun, we are, after all, physical beings.
But, I also enjoy having a healthy, fit body, so I am willing to eat less and exercise more than comes "naturally" to me. But I will never give up the pleasure that comes from great food artfully prepared.
I stopped at a local stand yesterday and bought fresh strawberries, rinsed them off, and ate 2 cups with great pleasure. Great sensory experience, 100 ish calories of great nutrition, good for my soul as well as my body. Why would I give up that kind of pleasure to only view food as fuel?
Mindlessly eating a bag of Kettle chips because I got too hungry and grabbed them at the store -- that is something that never needs to happen again. But, other "fattening" foods that are actually healthy in reasonable quantities, bring it on!
Personally, I think its all about changing you habits to support a healthy lifestyle. While dieting if you eat junk but still stay under you daily calorie limit, you are going to lose weight, but as soon as you stop you'll balloon back up or if you portion control to lose weight, once you stop the control, there is no mechanism to stop gaining the weight back.
I think staying slim is about learning portion control and making better choices and also embracing physical activity as a hobby, not as a job, also being able to monitor your weight, having cheat days but also the ability to rebound without a cheat day turning into 'well I've already gone this far", and learning about self reflection, self esteem and self worth.
I think it is by no means easy, and takes dedication and a true desire to maintain your goals, but its all about you. :-)
Original Post by carolally:
Original Post by ibez:
Getting there is harder than maintaining though.
Nope, afraid not
Im with you, Im maintaining and it was harder than losing....I find it takes more willpower to maintain than to lose :-)
Original Post by chotzee:
Another thing that may contribute is the portion sizes that different people were raised with, or that they have become used to. In other countries, portions are just habitually smaller than in the US, so people can still feel that they're eating whatever they want--they're not stepping outside of anything normal--and they're simply accustomed to thinking of a satisfying amount as smaller. It's not JUST "other countries," though. Regions within the United States differ in this way, also, as well as offering different fare.
All that to say... it's not always a straight-up matter of self-discipline and willpower, with human beings in one corner of the ring and food in the other. A lot of it is simply environment and habit for the "thin" people you're talking about, and not a battle at all. For them, the statement "Anyone who just eats what they feel like every day is gonna be obese" simply isn't true, because they may not be in the habit of thinking of food constantly, or as rewards and comfort, or eating much when they do sit down for a meal. In many ways the modern middle-class appetite is a matter of programming instead of honest hunger.
Applying that to general weightloss, then, means putting thought into those elements: environment and habit. And in that sense, for many of those "thin" people, exercise is the same way. You don't have to be raised that way to think of it as simply something that you do, but many people are, so it's not too far out in left field to think of it as simply part of their culture.
I couldnt have said it better chotzee! A great thought and expression.
Original Post by ibez:
Original Post by carolally:
Original Post by ibez:
Getting there is harder than maintaining though.
Nope, afraid not
Certainly is in my experience. Naturally, you have to be more strict to lose weight than you have to be to not gain it. Maybe some people fall into complacency, but I maintined for 6 months at one point and didn't have any trouble with it. I guess it all depends on whether you've gone on a diet or actually made a lifestyle change.
Really, if you have the discipline to lose weight, maintaining should not require a lot of willpower.
im obese still, but i find it very easy to maintain my weight. it seems to be the only thing i can do right. ive been maintaining 220-221 for about 4 months (im actually trying to lose, but thats a whole different story). last year i managed to maintain 230-231 for 6 months. im obese but i havent gained any actual weight in years. i seem to be some kind of master of maintaining.
Original Post by carloil:
i think where you live kinda features.....
if you live somewhere hot,or has good summers(unlike here,haha)......near a beach your gonna be more concious because youll be in bikini alot..,..where as if ya live somwhere where u wear hoodies all the time....its easier to put on a few extra pounds....plus whenever i go away somewhere hot....because of the heat i completely loose my apetite
my friends that are thin either dont eat that much, or are really active.....
hmm. i live in south florida and there are many many fat people walking around in their bikinis.
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