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It does not surprise me that weight watchers clients are less likely to lose weight - they are already looking for a miracle diet and miracle foods that don't h

It does not surprise me that weight watchers clients are less likely to lose weight - they are already looking for a miracle diet and miracle foods that don't have points to make them skinny. Instead buy a kitchen scale, keep track of how much you eat in a journal for a few weeks to find your maintenance caloric intake, and drop it by 10% and add some physical activity like walking. If you still aren't losing weight you're probably eating calories you aren't tracking. The problem with ketosis for people who struggle with diet control is that its easy to come out of,and then you're eating a high fat diet and not on ketosis. Id rather a balanced diet that allows me to go out and eat with friends occasionally without worrying about ketosis. Once you track and measure your normal food for a few weeks you get a better understanding of what 100grqms of pasta or 4 ounces of beef is, and it becomes easier to understand how much food you should be eating. If the goal of a weight loss diet is compliance then weight loss should be fairly slow 1% a week without extreme caloric or food type restriction.

arcticbull 6y ago
> If the goal of a weight loss diet is compliance then weight loss should be fairly slow 1% a week without extreme caloric or food type restriction. Again there is no evidence caloric restriction diets actually lead to sustained weight loss, and a lot of evidence that they simply do not. Kind of mind blowing, right? In fact this meta-study showed people would actually be better off not going on a diet in the first place. [1] Remember, your metabolism will slow down when you start restricting your caloric intake by a small quantity (while it increases when you do it by a large quantity) and you will start compensating for the food you don't eat with reduced desire for physical activity and cravings for food. You also start compensating for increased physical activity the same way. This is a natural evolutionary response: your body wants you to stockpile fat for a rainy day. The thesis for fasting is it tells your body it is that rainy day and it's time to dig into the larder. If it was that easy, there simply wouldn't be fat people. Caloric restriction diets don't do anything, and it's time we stopped pushing that narrative. > Id rather a balanced diet that allows me to go out and eat with friends occasionally without worrying about ketosis. And for what it's worth with intermittent fasting you're welcome to go to town when you're not fasting. That's one of the selling points. Another thing people don't really understand about fasting is they assume you're going to be hungry. This isn't the case. After a few hours your hunger goes away, and it doesn't really come back. Not for a long time. Like, days. It's hardly a challenge to not eat. Certainly not with some practice. [1] https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832 https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCL...
- LegitShady 6y ago
  I have tried keto, intermittent fasting (18/6), and Omad. Both were fine for short-term losses. The thing that stuck was: - finding my maintenance calories by journaling and meal prep (weighing food in advance). I found my maintenance calories to be about 2800 per day. - reducing my caloric intake by about 250 calories net. - replacing some of the fats and carbs in my diet with more protein (actually above the 1gr/lb lean body mass suggested but I find proteins more filling and delicious). - walking for about 3-4 hours a week (super important). If I can't walk due to weather I use a stationary bike. I do relatively low intensity cardio this way that isn't hard on joints but I do it for an hour at a time. - resistance training with the periodization strategy seriously 3-5 times a week (4-5 hours a week total), focusing on progressive overload and training everything. - making it a permanent lifestyle decision. Not "I'm doing this for 3 months to lose weight" but finding an exercise routine, permanent diet, and foods that aren't calorie dense so that I can feel full and get the right amount of calories. -adjusting my food intake by tracking a weekly rolling weight average and dropping calories if required (something that hasn't really happened since I picked up so much exercise) I don't know what the studies say but I can tell you this is the only way that has been successful for me. Ive lost about 50 lbs, 6 pants sizes in a year and gained a lot of muscle as well. I don't think you can permanently lose weight without committing to a new lifestyle. My old lifestyle made me fat. Temporarily dropping weight and returning to it will just yoyo my health. Instead you have to find a new permanent lifestyle that is on the trajectory you need. That why weight watchers will almost never be a real weight loss program - everyone is there to look for zero point foods and eat cake. Perhaps by accident they will arrive there but not by following weight watchers Anyone could implement my strategy on weight watchers or intermittent fasting but I found I could not sustain the exercise if I was fasted and I felt terrible. My way seems to be a good solution for me. I still eat bread, I occasionally have ice cream (although within my caloric deficit), i eat delicious foods that I enjoy eating but that aren't dense with calories and I don't see any reason to stop - this is just how I am from now on. Eventually it all becomes habit and the discipline required drops. I still hate cardio but doing sustained steady state makes it bearable and weight training is now something I look forward to.
  - arcticbull 6y ago

arcticbull 6y ago

> If the goal of a weight loss diet is compliance then weight loss should be fairly slow 1% a week without extreme caloric or food type restriction. Again there is no evidence caloric restriction diets actually lead to sustained weight loss, and a lot of evidence that they simply do not. Kind of mind blowing, right? In fact this meta-study showed people would actually be better off not going on a diet in the first place. [1] Remember, your metabolism will slow down when you start restricting your caloric intake by a small quantity (while it increases when you do it by a large quantity) and you will start compensating for the food you don't eat with reduced desire for physical activity and cravings for food. You also start compensating for increased physical activity the same way. This is a natural evolutionary response: your body wants you to stockpile fat for a rainy day. The thesis for fasting is it tells your body it is that rainy day and it's time to dig into the larder. If it was that easy, there simply wouldn't be fat people. Caloric restriction diets don't do anything, and it's time we stopped pushing that narrative. > Id rather a balanced diet that allows me to go out and eat with friends occasionally without worrying about ketosis. And for what it's worth with intermittent fasting you're welcome to go to town when you're not fasting. That's one of the selling points. Another thing people don't really understand about fasting is they assume you're going to be hungry. This isn't the case. After a few hours your hunger goes away, and it doesn't really come back. Not for a long time. Like, days. It's hardly a challenge to not eat. Certainly not with some practice. [1] https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832 https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCL...

LegitShady 6y ago
I have tried keto, intermittent fasting (18/6), and Omad. Both were fine for short-term losses. The thing that stuck was: - finding my maintenance calories by journaling and meal prep (weighing food in advance). I found my maintenance calories to be about 2800 per day. - reducing my caloric intake by about 250 calories net. - replacing some of the fats and carbs in my diet with more protein (actually above the 1gr/lb lean body mass suggested but I find proteins more filling and delicious). - walking for about 3-4 hours a week (super important). If I can't walk due to weather I use a stationary bike. I do relatively low intensity cardio this way that isn't hard on joints but I do it for an hour at a time. - resistance training with the periodization strategy seriously 3-5 times a week (4-5 hours a week total), focusing on progressive overload and training everything. - making it a permanent lifestyle decision. Not "I'm doing this for 3 months to lose weight" but finding an exercise routine, permanent diet, and foods that aren't calorie dense so that I can feel full and get the right amount of calories. -adjusting my food intake by tracking a weekly rolling weight average and dropping calories if required (something that hasn't really happened since I picked up so much exercise) I don't know what the studies say but I can tell you this is the only way that has been successful for me. Ive lost about 50 lbs, 6 pants sizes in a year and gained a lot of muscle as well. I don't think you can permanently lose weight without committing to a new lifestyle. My old lifestyle made me fat. Temporarily dropping weight and returning to it will just yoyo my health. Instead you have to find a new permanent lifestyle that is on the trajectory you need. That why weight watchers will almost never be a real weight loss program - everyone is there to look for zero point foods and eat cake. Perhaps by accident they will arrive there but not by following weight watchers Anyone could implement my strategy on weight watchers or intermittent fasting but I found I could not sustain the exercise if I was fasted and I felt terrible. My way seems to be a good solution for me. I still eat bread, I occasionally have ice cream (although within my caloric deficit), i eat delicious foods that I enjoy eating but that aren't dense with calories and I don't see any reason to stop - this is just how I am from now on. Eventually it all becomes habit and the discipline required drops. I still hate cardio but doing sustained steady state makes it bearable and weight training is now something I look forward to.
- arcticbull 6y ago