SmoothTalker said:
What both HandyAndy and Aragon seem to have missed about my post is the part where I said I'm not talking out of my ass, I'm talking directly from experience.
You seem to have missed MY point completely as well.
Yes, we can all lose weight, scientific fact. But i'm talking from the experience of the huge number of people i got to know as well. I used to be 220 pounds at 5'6''! even though i had alot of muscle underneath i looked like the pillsbury dough boy.
i'm now 175 and getting cut. But it's been hell to get here and i know that most of the reason i've been able to do it is because i had encouragement from my family (we're mostly pudgy but muscled. My brother is also a powerlifter so i had a wealth of knowledge there) having friends who were really into the nutrition game, and hours upon hours of study on the subject matter. the fact that i had a physical job didn't hinder any either.
I had the confidence to start and keep going even though it was torture. I had the resources to do it properly and proper positive encouragement. How can someone who's got none of that expect to lose weight?
Of course I know junk food is an addiction, I use to buy 12 packs of donuts and eat 4 with each meal for crying out loud. But I did something about it, and with the very rare exception of somebody with a thyroid problem, everyone else can too.
It's not just junk food that makes you fat. I'm willing to bet you know this. Hell, people are finally figuring out that those "health smoothies" you buy at teh grocery store are actually PACKED with carbs, and the single serving they recommend is actually 1/4 of the bottle!
About the Endorphins, you do realise that running is the LAST thing you want a fat person to do?
You want a fix of endorphins? Go run until you can't run anymore, then pick your ass up and keep running till you think you're going to die. Runners high >>> junk food endorphins.
It's comments like that that make a person decide they'd rather be fat than suffer to lose it all.
Hmmm do i eat a pizza? or do i run till i pass out and my knees are blown out from running with 200 lbs of dead weight?
How about instead of running, tell them about a sitdown bike program, somethign that'll burn calories, but isn't going to have their knees absorbing that kind of shock. From experience this has a much higher success rate.
Of course they'll tell you a bunch of other reasons why they're overweight, but as we all should know, people rationalize
You just answered your own statement there. How many people are capable of fighting their own rationalizations? Not a bloodly lot.
And its not just that I'm somehow genetically gifted, I've watched my dad lose 40 pounds over the last 6 months, and seen friends undergo complete transformations within a year with the proper effort
The human body doesn't want to be fat. this is why you see those jenny craig ads that say "I lost 7 pounds in my first week on jenny!" But it also doesn't want to change.
Unless surgery is involved, it's impossible to lose that much fat from your body. It's water weight that's been lost.
Case Study: 350 pound person loses 7 pounds in their first week on a diet plan. they're massively excited and think that at 7 pounds per week, they'll be able to fit into a sexy slim bikini/shorts by next summer.
Second week, they lose maybe 5 pounds. They are still happy because they're 5 pounds lighter.
Third week, they've lost 2 pounds. "What did i do wrong? i was doing so great before!" they up the ante.
Fourth week, they've lost 2 pounds. maybe not even that much. They're exasperated and feel useless. They keep hearing "That's ok, that's normal." from their trainers or nutritionists if they have them, but what about all the weight they've lost already? why aren't they losing it that fast?
Fifth week, they aren't noticing results, maybe another 2 pounds lost if they keep at their diet. Now they get desperate. So they do a crash diet with big cardio.
sixth week, They feel like utter crap,another 2 or 3 pounds this week, they've lost 25 some odd pounds in total but feel so lethargic, so hungry, and so utterly useless and weak that they order a bucket of KFC.
seventh week, they didn't really gain any weight despite the binge. they rationalize it and start eating the same thing they were before.
and by the eight week, they've fallen back into the same habit of eating before their diet, and gain all that weight back.
Why? Because
A: The average person wants instant results.
B: Fat burning takes months or even years.
C: They expected too much too soon.
D: They rationalized themselves into crash diet that only destroys any chance they have of losing weight.
E: If they're unlucky, they've got people saying "Wow you lost some weight!" that just draws unwanted attention to them.
A lucky few, the ones who say "anybody can lose weight" are the ones will the willpower and confidence to say "I will get there, Nothing will get in my way. And if you do get in my way i'm going to ignore you like the hater you are."
And HandyAndy, okay, when you're really a little kid if parents will give you any food you want, I can see how that would screw you over. But when you start getting older surely you realized what's bad to eat and what's okay.
Childhood eating habits don't just go away. If you as a child were fed alot of high fat high carb foods, then guess what? when you get older you'll probably love eating high fat high carb foods.
If as a child you weren't physically active, what are the chances you'll join a rock climbing group for a weekend hike? More than likely you'll instead do something sedentary.
It takes willpower to change, and i'm happy that you had that willpower. I'm really happy i had that willpower. But not everybody does, and us telling them it's easy/hard just makes them feel worse about themselves. How about from now on you tell them
"No matter how long it takes, i know you can reach your goal."
Don't we as DJ's say something similar?
DJVladdy,
Look at it this way, at a fat camp, they meet people with teh same problems, trying to solve it in the same way. They feel more confident because they aren't alone, and over time they build self-esteem. With both of those, they'll have the resources they need to mentally endure during a weight loss period.
You on the other hand, had enuogh self-esteem to be able to look in teh mirror and say "you fat ****, get healthy!" and actually follow your own advice.
Sorry for the long read folks. Can you tell i'm passionate about the subject?
