The "C" Word. . .

To be honest I'm mostly writing this to see if the forum still works. It's been a month since the last post and I'm quite curious. The "C" word in weight loss is CALORIES. I'm shocked when the subject comes up and people I respect say something like " I refuse to pay attention to calories". Seems like ignoring the biggest FACT about weight loss - ALL THAT MATTERS ARE CALORIES. If you use more calories than you take in you lose weight. If you take in more calories than you use you gain weight. PERIOD. THE END. NOTHING EXTRA! You get the idea. People love to try and gray that over, "I'm on a new med", I've got a medical condition", "My dog has fleas", Whatever. Sorry boys and girls, it doesn't change the calorie fact one dang bit. Even the AMA and the FDA with their food groups and lobby bs have finally conceded to the calorie FACT. So where does that leave the, "I ain't never gonna count no stinkin calories"? Fat, probably. It's just not that hard to get a grip on calories. Nothing should pass your lips that you don't have a pretty good idea about. You should have some rough guidelines for how many calories per meal is acceptable and how many calories per day is acceptable. If you don't better read my notes on the "F" word because 85 percent of the people having bariatric surgery are putting the weight back on and the reason for that is not making life time changes in their habits. If you wanted to be fat why in the heck did you have surgery? If you don't want to be fat why in the heck aren't you doing the things you need to be doing to not be fat? Is it really that complex a process? Doesn't seem so to me. . .

Mike

Well, we answered one question - The forum still works. . . Now question number two - Why is it so quiet here. . . Hello? Is anybody out there?

Mike

I also am glad to hear from the group. I was wondering who would start posting again. Mike you are so right about counting calories. I thing if we want to be sucessful we will also watch what we eat and how much.

See you tonight.

Susan

Hey Mike & Susan
yeah it has been quiet on the blog front...I spend some much time online with my classes that when I am done with posting and homework the last thing I want to do is come in here and see if anyone has written. I am trying to get better at writing on here....I guess if you ignore the problem long enough then you will maybe think it isn't there....You are right Mike about the calories. I still watch the fat and carbs because of sugar issues and I am careful to stay within a certain amount of calories too. But I am finding out after actually sitting down one day and writing what I actually ate and was shocked that I hadn't eaten anything that day. I was sure I had protein somewhere that day but I hadn't. I didn't realize just how much I was letting my stress keep me from staying on track and doing good...I kept seeing the numbers go down and was happy...but at what expense? Vanity or my health? This is so hard to admit, but I have really been liking the compliments that I get and it kind of was feeding my "vanity"...but I am back on track and even if I have to gag them down, I am back to drinking protein shakes at least 2 times a day...I am hoping to get back to actually eating protein on a daily basis..
Well hope to see you all at support group

Mike Lindsey wrote:If you use more calories than you take in you lose weight. If you take in more calories than you use you gain weight. PERIOD. THE END. NOTHING EXTRA! You get the idea. People love to try and gray that over, "I'm on a new med", I've got a medical condition", "My dog has fleas", Whatever. Sorry boys and girls, it doesn't change the calorie fact one dang bit. Even the AMA and the FDA with their food groups and lobby bs have finally conceded to the calorie FACT.

ok, while I do agree it's a very simple theory and it's factual, I will have to say there are other things that have to be considered. The equation is very simple... You must have a deficit in the calorie department to lose weight.

But also do keep in mind that it's like comparing automobiles and miles per gallon. The same make/model of car could get 40 mpg for me and 35 for Mike. There's alot of variables in there. How we drive, what kind of fuel, how we maintain our vehicles, tire condition, the roads we drive (in town versus highway), etc, etc.

I agree with Mike. It is simple, but each body is different, so maybe it just needs proper motivation.

Weight loss is still the simplest equation on the planet. It's people that are so dang complicated. I guess what I'm saying is the fight is not to take our own personal complexities and use them to color the simplicity of the issue. 99.9 percent of the time what I hear from people is "I'm putting weight back on because I have this personal issue and I have this medical issue and I have this pet issue and I'm eating a bunch of stuff I shouldn't be eating". There is only one issue there and it can be identified with one word - calories. The silver lining in this issue is everyone has some control over the calories they use. If you eat something you shouldn't have you can do an extra couple of laps and make a difference. But at the end of the day, for those of us with obesity issues, it will always be a lot easier to take in way more calories than we can ever use. It's because of that fact that I think it's critical for us to understand just how many calories we take in with everything we eat.

Mike