I've been thinkin' again............

[BeeBee]

I hear all this talk about how to be careful that we don't take in too few calories when we go on a diet because doing so will cause our bodies to go into starvation mode and hang on to all our fat.....or something similar to that. I know you all know what I'm talking about here. So we carefully plan and practically jump thru hoops to ensure that we're doing all the "right" things to "properly" lose weight the "healthy" way and the fat barely budges. Back in the day, and that was a really long time ago, when I went on a thousand calorie diet, I lost weight and I felt good about it. Today, with the lap band and other surgical procedures that dramatically reduce the amount of food the stomach can hold and therefore dramatically reduce the amount of calories we take in, I certainly do not see obese people running around after having these surgeries saying, "Undo it!! Undo it!! I can't lose the weight!! My body has gone into starvation mode!!!!" Are you getting my point here? So have we all been fed a GREAT BIG lie about dieting and why would we have been lied to?!! These surgeries do the very thing that we are told not to do on our own to lose weight. I'm beginning to think that all this crap we've been handed about diets and nutrition are just a great big lie so that the medical industry can improve their profits. And we're so damn niave and desperate that we've bought into all of it! I'd like to hear a big Amen from Big Sis and I'd like to hear others opinions and points of view as well.

[BigSis]

I'd probably subscribe to a few more conspiracy theorys, but I just don't think people are that smart.

Starving children in 3rd world countries convinced me long ago that our bodies cannot hold onto weight forever... I think the "starvation mode" theory is a temporary state the body goes into when it is starving.... a slowing of the metabolism. I also believe that exercise can help maintain a higher metabolism despite the lowered calories.

In fact, I think some of the terrible side effects of the WLS, including lap-band, are in part due to too few calories. I also read where folks who remove the lap-band gain back ALL the weight - just as you and I do when we stop dieting. Also, after two years, many who do NOT reverse the surgery still start to gain weight!! In part because the "pouch" gets stretched and they slowly start to "eat around the band" - taking in high calorie liquids and high carb foods.

Good discussion, BeeBee. It is always, ALWAYS good to talk about the things "everybody knows".

[Nina Kay]

BeeBee,
I don't really think that I know enough about it to get in on this conversation, but I do see what you're trying to say. I personally feel that all of these theories are only true when it's taken too far. Happy mediums are always better. Extremes either way and for long periods of time is when I think that it does the damage. One thing that I know is that when you don't get enough calories for a while, you don't get the vitamins and minerals and fluids that your body needs and that affects us in so many ways negatively. I also know that if you do that for very long or often, it throws off your chemical and hormonal balances and that can do bad things to your body, mind and spirit.
I guess that if you do skip meals and your body stores the fat because it's in starvation mode, if you keep starving yourself by not getting enough calories, then your body will start to use all of the stored fat until it's all used up. I guess that's what BigSis is referring to. Sorry that I couldn't be of any help. I really think that it comes down to the fact that if we don't take in more calories than we use up, we won't be overweight. We will be able to lose weight if we use up a little more calories than we take in each day and we'll still be able to maintain our health. It comes down to moderation, of which is hard for me, being an extremist.
This is a good subject and I'll be interested to hear what everyone has to say.

[gratefulgal]

I don't know about any one else, but diets never worked for me, and the reason they never worked is because I have the deadly disease of food addiction. Since addiction is a physical/emotional/spiritual disease, diets only address the physical and do not address the reason why I am eating. I am not here to say that the surguries are right or wrong, I just know that I am a food addict and my disease is more than just physical. I need to address it with the 12 steps. I'm very grateful that I am a member of a spiritual program and not just another diet club.

[Pony]

BeeBee,

This is my first thoughts on this topic......I might have more later after thinking on it some more...lol...but,


I hear what you are saying and think to myself....yeah, what about that...???? but then I realize that there are dangers to ones health on both ends of that scale. Take Anorexia for example. These are people that DO starve themselves by maintaining a very low calorie intake.... pretty down to nothing. Bulimic's that do eat but perge it back out.....have many medical issues resulting from lack of nutrients getting into the body.

So.....what's the answer....????? I don't know !! Moderation !!!??? It's the only thing I can thinking of that has worked for many american's....but what about those of us that have an addiction to food and just can't control that overeating....???? I don't know.

Sometimes I think alot of what it boils down to is impatience. Sticking to a healthy food plan and adding in a regular exercise program into our daily lives seems like that healthiest way to go but it takes so long and we are an "I want it now" society. We want instant results and when we don't get that we become discouraged and give up..... saying that it doesn't work, and there has to be a quicker way.

Well, for me I have to remember that this weight did not go on overnight....it's not going to come off that fast or faster either. Not in a healthy way anyway, and I don't believe it would stay off either. As soon as you stop the so called "dieting" you run the risk of putting most that weight back on if not more at that point....why?? Because in depriving your bodies of the food and calories, you have not really dealt with the behaviors and emotions that had gone on along with the eating disorder in the first place.

It's a life style change. It's an attitude change.