Have you ever been on a diet?

[Harrison]

Just wondering if any here has tried going on a diet, and if so did it work?

[Stephen Coates]

I have never been on a diet. Not needed to.

*feels like eating some chips*

[Harrison]

Do any of you believe the theory that some people are more susceptible to weight gain than others? That different people have different pre-set metabolisms?

I'm personally not so sure about that. I think it is more directly related to daily exertion and exercise. Many people claim they are very active and always on the go, but cannot understand why they don't lose weight, or even worse keep putting it on. The truth is that in most such cases they are not actually exerting themselves enough to force their body to burn more energy. Unless the bodies heart rate is increased dramatically and the person starts to perspire they are not going to burn much extra energy than if they were just walking between the living room and kitchen all day.

In contrast I think that diets can work if done correctly. I don't believe in silly diets where you can only eat certain food types or combinations, believing that they react together to force the body to shed fat. Instead I believe that a diet that controls and restricts the balance of calories and Saturated fat intake can work very well if the person on the diet monitors these levels of intake correctly and sticks to the daily limits set. This is how Weight Watchers works, and when I've tried this method in the past, combined with exercise, it has worked very well, allowing me to lose a stone in weight in under 2 months. And in maintaining a more relaxed monitoring of the same calorie and fat intake after this keeping the weight off.

[Teho]

I said, "No, I never needed to". But I almost went for "No, But I should do really". I've never been really overweight, but ever since I quit smoking three and a half years ago now, I've been gaining weight little by little. Still not a problem, but I do have a belly now that wasn't there before.

And it's not because I'm eating more now either (most popular reason why quitters start gaining). I ate a lot before I quit and never gained, and I eat just the same now. So I do think people can have different metabolisms, and that they can change. Because I'm pretty certain mine has, and I'll probably have to do something about it eventually.

[TiredOfLife]

There is no need to diet if you are getting enough exercise.
Problem is, that isn't as easy as it sounds.
Time and money are certainly factors.
What you do for a living also has an impact.
Not a fan of diets because the are only a temporary solution.
To get your weight down and keep it down, you need a life style change.
That could be always being carefull with what you eat or having more exercise or a mixture of the two.

[Harrison]

That is very true. Using a diet to initially lose the weight is all well and good, but not if you then go back to as you were before the diet. The weight will just go back on. A lifestyle change is definitely needed, looking at why you were gaining weight in the first place and changing that aspect of your life to stop it reoccurring.

I think the problem is the many people do work in quite inactive jobs, sitting at a desk and not doing much physical movement during the day, then when they get home they are too tired to do some exercise to make up for the inactivity in the daytime. In such circumstances you just have to force yourself to.

Giving up smoking is definitely one of the biggest triggers for weight gain, and I think I remember reading that smoking does effect your metabolism. I expect with the public smoking ban coming into effect in England at the beginning of July we will see a lot of people gaining weight as they give up smoking due to it no longer being a part of their social life.

[StuKeith]

Im on the LitghterLife Diet as we speek!

I am in my 5th week and have lost almost 2 stone so far! I am to loose at least 3stone in 8 weeks but possibly more If I can.

It would be nice to get back down to around 12-13stone

[Demon Cleaner]

What's stone?

[Buleste]

I'm on the idon'tgivea****whichiswhyi'msingle diet. As for exercise i get out of breath making a post.

[Stephen Coates]

What's stone?

Unit for measuring weight.



Speaking of diets, there is a poster outside the canteen at college saying 'There is no healthy or unhealthy food - It's all about getting the balance right'. I quite agree with that. Have a good balanced diet and then chips will not make you fat.