I mean - do any of you just choose quality of life vs. endless watching of food?

[Anonymous]

I choose quality of life for the duration of my life. I don't want to be in my 60s and 70s with limited mobility due to my obesity and poor fitness. So I will step away from the donuts, pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, etc while I'm young so that I can get the most out of my later years. I don't want to be one of those fat grandmas on the rascals at Disney World if I can help it.

Nor do I want my kids on a site like this wondering what kind of vacation they can take me on because I'm so sickly and out of shape. So, short term pain for long term gain. I'm trying to stay healthy now to avoid problems in the future. I have a home ridden morbidly obsese aunt-in law who can't visit her grandkids, that's no quality of life.

[Anonymous]

To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

[Anonymous]

Whatever you are comfortable with. I dislike extra fat and was never that enthusiastic about food. I have relatives who really savor food and it means a lot to them to indulge. The extra pounds are worth it to them. I think that’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

Wow! Good call!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I choose quality of life for the duration of my life. I don't want to be in my 60s and 70s with limited mobility due to my obesity and poor fitness. So I will step away from the donuts, pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, etc while I'm young so that I can get the most out of my later years. I don't want to be one of those fat grandmas on the rascals at Disney World if I can help it.

Nor do I want my kids on a site like this wondering what kind of vacation they can take me on because I'm so sickly and out of shape. So, short term pain for long term gain. I'm trying to stay healthy now to avoid problems in the future. I have a home ridden morbidly obsese aunt-in law who can't visit her grandkids, that's no quality of life.

Well this hits home for me, because I am trying to plan a vacation with my parents whose mobility and health are affected by obesity (I haven't posted about it here). I've seen how their lifestyle choices are affecting them now in their 70s and dealing with diabetes, and I am trying to make healthier choices.

[Anonymous]

As a healthcare provider I have to chime in. OP, the posters telling you to change doctors are in denial. There is so much prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, etc. in this country and it is all directly related to the overweight/obesity epidemic. I think it’s great that you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly but as you age, you are more likely to start developing health issues like diabetes and heart disease (especially if you are overweight). Losing the 10 pounds as recommended by your doctor will help prevent those illnesses.

[Anonymous]

Totally disagree with the PP. The BMI calculator and the public health metrics are based on averages and generalities. If you are eating bowls of broccoli and so forth and are still a bit overweight, that is fine. That is just your body. You do not need to cut back on your broccoli consumption in order to avoid diabetes. Geez.
Eat real food. Mostly plants. The rest will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I choose quality of life for the duration of my life. I don't want to be in my 60s and 70s with limited mobility due to my obesity and poor fitness. So I will step away from the donuts, pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, etc while I'm young so that I can get the most out of my later years. I don't want to be one of those fat grandmas on the rascals at Disney World if I can help it.

Nor do I want my kids on a site like this wondering what kind of vacation they can take me on because I'm so sickly and out of shape. So, short term pain for long term gain. I'm trying to stay healthy now to avoid problems in the future. I have a home ridden morbidly obsese aunt-in law who can't visit her grandkids, that's no quality of life.

Well this hits home for me, because I am trying to plan a vacation with my parents whose mobility and health are affected by obesity (I haven't posted about it here). I've seen how their lifestyle choices are affecting them now in their 70s and dealing with diabetes, and I am trying to make healthier choices.

NP. My mom isn’t even 70 and I’m so worried. She’s obese. She’s already used a cane. The weight on her ankles has damaged the. She tripped a couple weeks ago. Fell straight forward. I weigh 1/3 of what she does. I was helpless to give her much help as she struggled for a few minutes to get up. Could have been much worse if she broke her wrist, landed in the street, or worse, on my daughter. She loves her granddaughter. It made me so sad last week when she turned us down to go to the arcade and play air hockey with my daughter. She said she couldn’t stand up long enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally disagree with the PP. The BMI calculator and the public health metrics are based on averages and generalities. If you are eating bowls of broccoli and so forth and are still a bit overweight, that is fine. That is just your body. You do not need to cut back on your broccoli consumption in order to avoid diabetes. Geez.
Eat real food. Mostly plants. The rest will be fine.

No one is fat from eating broccoli. It's the cheeses, chips, alcohol, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

If you’re a size 4 trying to get to a size 2 with those 10 pounds, then yes, you will almost surely have to deprive yourself of a lot of food pleasures. Moving from “thin” to “skinny” takes a lot of work—your body isn’t going to give up those pounds easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am on the lighter side of normal but have health issues, such as high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol/triglycerides that decrease when I lose weight and exercise to reach a BMI that’s below normal. I am also very fine boned and a petite Asian, and I believe that the BMI scale just doesn’t fit my profile. I feel as I’m overweight and going back to normal weight. Normal for me.

So that also means calorie counts are off too. A healthy daily intake for me is 900 calories or so. I gain weight when I eat more.

I LOVE food. I just mustn’t eat a lot of it.

There are numerous studies out there showing that negative health effects begin at lower BMIs for Asians than for white people. My BMR isn’t quite as low as yours, but yes, I had high BP and cholesterol and borderline blood sugars at higher side of normal BMI. At technically slightly underweight, all that disappeared. For me, health = quality of life, which means watching what I eat and exercising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

If you’re a size 4 trying to get to a size 2 with those 10 pounds, then yes, you will almost surely have to deprive yourself of a lot of food pleasures. Moving from “thin” to “skinny” takes a lot of work—your body isn’t going to give up those pounds easily.

I am similar stats to OP - moving from a size 8 to a 6 (for me that’s roughly 10 pounds) takes me from my current healthy eating to feeling starving much of the day. As you say, your body wants to hang on to those pounds for dear life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

If you’re a size 4 trying to get to a size 2 with those 10 pounds, then yes, you will almost surely have to deprive yourself of a lot of food pleasures. Moving from “thin” to “skinny” takes a lot of work—your body isn’t going to give up those pounds easily.

OP's doctor suggested that she lose ten pounds. There are real health benefits. It's not about vanity dieting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the last two PPs: isn’t that serious all or nothing thinking? Do you think there’s nothing between morbid obesity and restrictive dieting? I’m very fit and strong, and can physically do whatever I want, but I’m also not skinny. It sounds like there are a lot of us in that camp: not much benefit to starving ourselves to lose 10 pounds, given that we don’t really need to lose them other than to meet some absurd ideal.

NP. The real black and white thinking here is believing that losing ten pounds means you will have to starve yourself and live the rest of your life deprived of the pleasures of food.

If you’re a size 4 trying to get to a size 2 with those 10 pounds, then yes, you will almost surely have to deprive yourself of a lot of food pleasures. Moving from “thin” to “skinny” takes a lot of work—your body isn’t going to give up those pounds easily.

I've lost ten pounds, and kept it off for three years now at my current size, which is a 4. It required counting calories and it took two months, but I don't count calories to maintain and I don't go hungry. I ate an ice cream bar after dinner tonight. Maintaining weight loss is not about deprivation.