Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

The response to this will be that you are thinking about all this every waking moment. That’s what people here will say. It is therefore “part of your identity” - or even more extreme - all of your identity.

In reality, you made significant lifestyle changes and don’t eat piles of junk all the time. Heaven forbid you actually have some sort of plan for what you are going to eat with all the garbage around us everywhere.

Except that I'm not. I didn't cut out anything, and I still have a big sweet tooth. I didn't change much, just less. I don't eat out 3x a week - once, at the most. I still eat cookies, ice cream, chips, etc. But less. I try to fill up on fruits and veggies, which I always ate - but I eat more of now. The only thing that's change diet-wise, is the ratio.

And no, it doesn't consume your brain. If you make small changes slowly, even one at a time, it's not surmountable. And it does not consume your brain like it does when people make big changes and go on diets.

Exactly! I’m the poster you responded to.

People here otherwise won’t like your answer and will still say it’s impossible. Or you are some kind of rare earth anomaly. Which is ludicrous of course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

I don’t know what to tell you. This hasn’t been my experience. Most fat people do not have an emotional void, and most do not “feel nice” when they make these changes. For most people, a 5% weight loss over the course of a year is associated with feelings of depression.

I’m glad that this worked for you, and it sounds like you had some disordered eating habits, but I don’t think your experience is generalizable, attainable, or even desirable for most people.

Bullshiat. No one is overeating significantly (enough to become obese) just because they like food. There's something else going on, even if they haven't mentally untangled it yet. And of course it doen't "feel nice" immediately when you make (small, consistent) changes. But after a little bit, you do notice the positive effects of eating better quality food and moving more. That is biology, not exceptionalism.

But there's a mental hurdle pushing them to go back to the food that gave them comfort or security, and that's the thing you have to do to achieve success.

But please, go ahead and continue to make excuses. Trust me, I'm familiar with all of them and the stories we tell ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shoes are bad for your health. They enable you to move in ways nature didn’t intend. That puts stress on the entire kinetic chain which leads to long term orthopedic problems.

You might like to read Born to Run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

I don’t know what to tell you. This hasn’t been my experience. Most fat people do not have an emotional void, and most do not “feel nice” when they make these changes. For most people, a 5% weight loss over the course of a year is associated with feelings of depression.

I’m glad that this worked for you, and it sounds like you had some disordered eating habits, but I don’t think your experience is generalizable, attainable, or even desirable for most people.

Bullshiat. No one is overeating significantly (enough to become obese) just because they like food. There's something else going on, even if they haven't mentally untangled it yet. And of course it doen't "feel nice" immediately when you make (small, consistent) changes. But after a little bit, you do notice the positive effects of eating better quality food and moving more. That is biology, not exceptionalism.

But there's a mental hurdle pushing them to go back to the food that gave them comfort or security, and that's the thing you have to do to achieve success.

But please, go ahead and continue to make excuses. Trust me, I'm familiar with all of them and the stories we tell ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:Shoes are bad for your health. They enable you to move in ways nature didn’t intend. That puts stress on the entire kinetic chain which leads to long term orthopedic problems.

Anonymous wrote:Cardio is BS and nobody actually needs it. Especially as you get older it's a waste of energy.

Healthy eating means picking one of the two - eating whatever you want or eating whenever you want. You can't do both. If you want the former, you need to do IF. The latter requires limiting what you eat and the quantity. Finding the one that works for you and sticking to it 80% of the time won't always help you lose weight, but it will make you healthier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

The response to this will be that you are thinking about all this every waking moment. That’s what people here will say. It is therefore “part of your identity” - or even more extreme - all of your identity.

In reality, you made significant lifestyle changes and don’t eat piles of junk all the time. Heaven forbid you actually have some sort of plan for what you are going to eat with all the garbage around us everywhere.

Except that I'm not. I didn't cut out anything, and I still have a big sweet tooth. I didn't change much, just less. I don't eat out 3x a week - once, at the most. I still eat cookies, ice cream, chips, etc. But less. I try to fill up on fruits and veggies, which I always ate - but I eat more of now. The only thing that's change diet-wise, is the ratio.

And no, it doesn't consume your brain. If you make small changes slowly, even one at a time, it's not surmountable. And it does not consume your brain like it does when people make big changes and go on diets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

I don’t know what to tell you. This hasn’t been my experience. Most fat people do not have an emotional void, and most do not “feel nice” when they make these changes. For most people, a 5% weight loss over the course of a year is associated with feelings of depression.

I’m glad that this worked for you, and it sounds like you had some disordered eating habits, but I don’t think your experience is generalizable, attainable, or even desirable for most people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

The response to this will be that you are thinking about all this every waking moment. That’s what people here will say. It is therefore “part of your identity” - or even more extreme - all of your identity.

In reality, you made significant lifestyle changes and don’t eat piles of junk all the time. Heaven forbid you actually have some sort of plan for what you are going to eat with all the garbage around us everywhere.

Except that I'm not. I didn't cut out anything, and I still have a big sweet tooth. I didn't change much, just less. I don't eat out 3x a week - once, at the most. I still eat cookies, ice cream, chips, etc. But less. I try to fill up on fruits and veggies, which I always ate - but I eat more of now. The only thing that's change diet-wise, is the ratio.

And no, it doesn't consume your brain. If you make small changes slowly, even one at a time, it's not surmountable. And it does not consume your brain like it does when people make big changes and go on diets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+

The response to this will be that you are thinking about all this every waking moment. That’s what people here will say. It is therefore “part of your identity” - or even more extreme - all of your identity.

In reality, you made significant lifestyle changes and don’t eat piles of junk all the time. Heaven forbid you actually have some sort of plan for what you are going to eat with all the garbage around us everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Permanent weight loss without surgical or medical intervention is mostly a myth.

Yep. As a person who has done a million diets and not one that stuck, and now five years out of weight loss surgery that has stuck, this is a fact.

There are millions of people who keep weight off without surgery. Just because you can’t doesn’t mean it’s not true for the rest of us. Stop denying our lived experience.

x10000

NP sand actually there aren’t millions of people who lose weight and keep it off permanently. They have studied it and the people who successfully do this are the exception and not the rule.

It's not because it's not possible, but it's because those people aren't willing to do the work and make the long term changes.

Because newsflash, most people in life don't want to do hard things or uncomfortable things.

Okay. That’s fair. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you have to not only do the work to lose it, but to be willing to commit the rest of your life to working on it. Whatever else might be going on with you, this has to be one of your main priorities.

I would say this is true of the people I know who had lost weight and kept it off. It is part of their identity.

Or you could just more normally. That’s also a possibility. Once you learn how not to over eat and what works for you it might just happen without thinking about it.

Yeah. I don’t know anyone like this. I don’t know anyone who was just like, “I was overweight all of my life, and then I just realized that I was just eating an abnormally large amount of food at every meal for absolutely no reason. So, I quit doing that, the weight fell off, and now I never think about it.”

That's not how it goes. It goes something like this.

Something in your life gets to you, and you are forced to reckon with your emotions/past/feelings/etc. You realize that food has filled a void for you, and you learn that exercise is an awesome outlet for releasing feelings and emotions. So you eat a bit less. Move a bit more. You begin to feel better mentally, and that helps your body feel better physically. You keep it up, consistently, because it starts to feel nice. And slowly, you lose weight.

And your body even finds a new set point, after you cultivated some new habits. And you do it for a year. Then 2. then 5. Then 10. To break the old habits, you need to make new ones.

Of course diets don't work. To keep weight off, you need sustainable (NOT extreme) long term changes. It's completely and totally doable.

- lost 60 lbs, kept it off for 10 years after being obese for 25+