scary statistic

alright, so if any of you checked out that youtube video 'a fat rant' -- which is pretty inspiration, fyi, so you might want to :) -- you might have heard the terrifying statistic:

95 - 98 % of people who lose more then 70 pounds gain it back within the next five years. 

Then I googled it, and found it to be true.  Along the way I found a hundred more statistics about how diets fail... does this SCARE anyone else?

Am I doomed to weigh this much, and why do SO many people fail?????

Don't be scared!!!  Stick to your maitnence after you have lost your weight, and get some exercise and eat well.  Most people that lose weight and gain it back are crash dieting, and go off of it completely and eat the way they used to eat...

You can do it!!  Don't worry about it! :)

I believe the statistics to be true. HOWEVER, you don't have to be a statistic. NO, you are not "doomed" to fail! Don't even put it in your head that you will fail. So many people fail because for one they are on all these fad diets and for another they don't get to the ROOT of WHY they overeat.

That's all this is... a statistic.  A study done on X number amount of people and the percentage taken of those that failed.

I do not think you are doomed at all... But if you go into this with that mentality then you are setting yourself up for failure before you even begin.

The first key to losing weight is to be positive and to have a healthy outlook on your weightloss journey.  Be realistic and realize that you did not gain the weight overnight and are not going to lose it overnight.  Sometimes you will hit a plateau but don't give up.  It is just another detour in your journey.

If this statistic was true, then why are there so many successful people losing weight and counting on CC alone.  Imagine how many more are out there that are not on CC.

You are the only one who can decide if your diet is going to fail or prevail. 

Good Luck and keep us updated!  I know you can do it : )

:))))) thanks guys.  i love you!

lol. have you ever wondered (and i totally have), if your overweight secretary, or your grumpy bus driver could be one of the people on CC -- one of those people who just make you feel good, and loved, etc??? 

i mean, where are all the understanding, amazing people in the real world?  i only ever feel okay about being fat/insecure when i log on to this website!!!!!!!!

Yes!  I have wondered the exact same thing!

That is too funny!

lol --- they're all over the place, whisful, but they're mixed in with all the not so understanding, adoring people, so you don't know WHO they are...

moral of the story: always be nice to the grumpy bus driver, because they may go home after and be a great mom/dad, or make some insecure person on CC feel better.

**Grin**

Diets fail.......BUT, life style changes don't!

If you think you are going to lose weight and then go back to all the old bad habits it won't work. Most of us have a lifetime of unhealthy eating behind us and to succede we need a lifetime of healthy eating in front of us. This never means that we can't have some of that yummy food. I will have noodles and mashed potatoes and oyster dressing for Thanksgiving like I do every year. I just won't eat the left overs for 5 days afterwards!

The problem with this statistic is that it doesn't break it down by how they lost the weight.  So all the Atkins people who go nuts on bread after they lose the weight are factored in.  And honestly, I know very few people who diet the way we do here.  I tell them that that is what I'm doing when they ask and then immediately I see their attention is gone as they want a quick fix, not a true way to eat healthy.

So I'd love to see some stats on how someone who eats a balanced, sensible reduced calorie diet does after losing a lot of weight.  I'm sure that a high percentage gain it back, but I bet it's a lot less than 95 to 98%.

94% of all statistics are made up or inaccurate. ;)

so all the people at CC make up the 2-5%! ;)

The way I look at it....well, what do you expect? Once you go off of your 'diet' then you pack the pounds back on...I look at my diet as a permanent one...because after a while, when you don't eat sugar/crap...your body loses dependence on it.

I watched that video and when she said that, I thought: "That's why I don't diet!" 

I'm doing this to be healthy.  Yeah, I would like to drop a few more lbs and then tone up... but really, I'm trying to learn to eat healthily and change my diet, not be "on a diet".  If you are treating this "counting calorie" thing as being "on a diet", then yeah it might fail.  Because when you stop and start eating the way you used to... you'll just gain it all back!

I'm retraining myself to eat a good amount of healthy foods and to work out.  That way, I'm not on a diet and don't have to fear the dreaded... diet failure!  Or worse... gaining it all back and then some!  Because the way I'm eating IS going to be my "normal" for life.

It's another reason to STEER CLEAR of those stupid fad diets and pills, etc.

I just want to live healthy, active, and balanced!  YEAH! :)

edit: LOL azileflute ... is that one of the 6% then?  Hehehe....

I'm not afraid of those statistics, 'cause I know why most people fail.  They think once they've lost the weight, they can go back to eating how they were before and everything will be fine.  But of course, eating that way was what got them fat in the first place, so they get fat again.  I have no plans or desire to go back to the way I was eating before (especially not all the greasy fast-food! *shudders*), and have no plans to stop exercising, either (giving up on exercise was one of my big diet downfalls before), so I know I'm not gonna gain it all back.  I'll do the right things, and be fine ^_^ .

It's because a huge amount of people lose weight the wrong way or the fad diet way. Calorie counting isn't a diet.. it's changing your life. It teaches you how to eat correctly. That knowledge is something that you can keep with you forever. A fad diet is a short-term plan that teaches nothing and causes people to go back to their old behaviors once they lose the weight.

Not all research is on people who gain the weight back.  The National Weight Loss Registry surveyed around 800 people who had lost a considerable amount of weight (I think that it was at least 30 lbs) and kept it off for at least 5 years.  Almost all of them said that that their secret was daily activity and portion control. 

No pills, no eliminating food groups, no expensive vitamin shots in the butt, no magic juices or "cleanses".  I'm sure that a lot of them didn't lose the weight as quickly as people did with all the fad diets and infomercial miracles, but they're the ones who've made it work for the long haul.

Keep your eye on where you want to go, not on where you're afraid you'll fall.  It's tempting to look at the number of people who gain the weight back and think, "If they all gained it back, why won't I? What hope do I have?".  Instead, look at the people who have had real long-term success, and ask yourself, "They've kept it off because they move their bodies and eat sensibly.  Is there any reason I can't as well?" (answer: of course there isn't).