Why is it so hard to lose weight ?
By tamsuder610
@tamsuder610 (157)
Jamaica
August 1, 2009 12:36pm CST
This is a question that baffles me so much because, there are so many diets, exercise programs and still we can't lose weight. My observation has to do with being consistent. How can we really motivate ourselves to lose weight ? Need you input on this
2 people like this
24 responses
@divkris (1156)
• India
2 Aug 09
I think we should first and foremost accept and be happy the way we look. This way you can stop people to hurt you when they say - oh! you seep quite out of shape.
Next stick to a routine say regular exercise, good-fresh foods and drink lots of water/liquids. Don't worry about your weight. Remember the more you fret about it, you will end up stressed out that will agina add to your weight. All the best
@radx682 (327)
• India
2 Aug 09
I agree with you divkris...this is the right way...also when you start exercising daily...you cannot miss doing it next time...so less calorie food and regular exercise will keep you fit permanently than following some crash diets and hard, tough exercises that will spoil your health after a while...
@bingchen (1119)
• China
2 Aug 09
as what you said,there are some reason for some people could not easy lose weight,we have some habits that could not easy change and adhere to do it,so we could not lose wieght.for example exercise programs,we know we hope to keep healthy and lose wight,exercise is very important for us,but this often need us adhere to exercise,some people could not do like that and often give up it and it is hard to lose weight,there is not easy to do it and need to change bad habit,so a few people can do it.
@sathish2018 (575)
• India
2 Aug 09
If you are so lazy it will be so hard to lose your weight as much as you could do ,Better go for jogging everyday in in every morning it keeps you healthy and fat free and also if you get time better go for swimimng it keeps your body more healthy and more stronger than ever it more and much beter than the jogging execrises that you do in the morning it always good to be slim thna more fat, happy mylotting
@tundeemma (894)
• South Africa
2 Aug 09
i do think there are several reasons why people find it hard to lose weight and most importantly genetic factors may be responsible but i do believe that some little starving work best, exercises are no doubt difficult but when you reduce your food portion by one third you will definitely lose weight
@ChrysanTflower (1607)
• Indonesia
2 Aug 09
You really need something that can make you really really wanna lose your weight.. But I wonder. Is it really necessary to lose your weight? Why you wanna try to lose it? If it's because other person opinion, I suggest you not to care about them, because the true friends and lover will accept you as what you are. But If it's because of your health, of course you must lose your weight. The best way is to follow diet program consistently. That motivation must come from yourself. "If there's a will, there's a way"..
Or, maybe you must check about body type. There are people who have endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph.. I guess if its' related to body type then I'm afraid not much you can do about it..
@madamenihao (117)
• China
2 Aug 09
I agree with you.The most important for lost weight is do with being consistent.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
2 Aug 09
Part of the reason it's hard to lose weight is because the body is designed to conserve energy, so that when you start eating less the body compensates by lower its metabolism (burning fewer calories). So you want to cut back on the calories you eat, but not by so many calories that your body goes into this kind of calorie-conserving starvation mode.
And exercise is an important component of losing weight. Try to lose pounds simply by eating less is a lot harder.
@robert19ph (4577)
• Philippines
2 Aug 09
hello tamsuder610,
There are some people who are working so hard just to lose some weight but no effect at all. There are also some people who are not doing anything but they are losing their weight. And because of this, others are so frustrated for they were doing a lot of things - exercise, diet,taking pills and the likes but still not happy with the result.
I think you really need to aim that you can be this much within the time frame too. And that you can picture yourself with the expected result. This way, you can be motivated.
@celebratelifeh (1142)
• China
2 Aug 09
talking about lose weight i have my personnal exprience and opinion. i lived together with my girl friend since 2007. that year she prepared on exam and she cooked for us. we ate together everyday then we both getting fat soon. then 2008 she got one job and we seldome ate together . we all became slin soon and now she again to cook for us. one month's passed and we gain weight again..i think more experience would be helpful to you.
@Butterfly007 (182)
• China
2 Aug 09
I think this is a problem of physique. Some people eat a lot meat and sweets but they are still slim. Some do much practice and eat a little but they can't lose much fat. The only thing we can do is have a good habits.
@stricken43 (347)
• Philippines
2 Aug 09
it's not really that hard to lose weight..if you say, you lack a motivating factor, then, just put in mind the negative things that a heavy person has to bear everyday of his/her life dealing with people who criticize him/her, then i think you would be motivated to do losing weight because of course, you don't want that to happened to you..hihi
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
1 Aug 09
The key to loosing weight is that you have to totally change your lifestyle. You have to drink lots of water (way more than the recommended 8 glasses per day). You need to find a workout that both challenges you and that you enjoy. I have also found that I've had better success with not cutting foods totally out of my diet but eating those things that I like with moderation.
@Flowerpoddess (11)
• Singapore
2 Aug 09
Are you overweight or just wanting to shed some pounds? I had a friend who once had issues with her weight not coming off and it was caused by illness, have you had yourself checked out for any underlying causes? The other thing is when you exercise you have to increase your pace, if the level you're at feels comfortable or "easy/normal", then your not doing right. When, you do diet do you binge or starve yourself? Eating at the right time and right amount makes a huge difference. Those who eat loads at the start of the day and starve till evening might start eating loads of "snack" inbetween and go to bed with a huge amount of undigested food. Eating couple hours before bedtime is important. Good luck!
@scott21493 (30)
• United States
2 Aug 09
People I've known that have lost weight have always had some sort of goal in mind. You have to think of why you really want to lose weight and shoot for something very specific. Don't let your first goal be too big because then you feel like you haven't accomplished something. Say you want to lose a pound for your first goal, when you hit it you feel more like you accomplished something than saying "Hey, I want to lose 50 pounds" and seeing how slow it is to get to that.
I found another thing that helps is to reward yourself one day. Don't get too overboard but pick one day a week and eat something you really enjoy. Say you have 300 extra calories on one day because you eat something you like. That isn't going to ruin your whole diet and it makes you feel like you have a little break from it.
@Valenas (1507)
• United States
1 Aug 09
My biggest problem is that I choose to eat the wrong foods. I naturally tend to have a hard time losing weight, and my poor choices are obviously counterproductive. I did find something that, despite my difficulty, has managed to work (and it would work much better if I would just stick to it!). I think dieting really has to do with finding the method that best suits your interests and your goals, and sticking to it despite temptations.
@maikarumike (458)
• Malaysia
1 Aug 09
Well you can motivate yourself to lose weight sometimes, give it a goal and also a reason why you need to reduce weight. Be it the reason for courting girls or being healthier or even to fit small size shirt, you name it and focus on reaching that goal. At the same time, reduce the food portions and also exercise. this 2 are hard to achieve since we are not well disciplined.
@tamsuder610 (157)
• Jamaica
1 Aug 09
Motivating yourself I find is the hardest thing ever but, you do have a point. Thanks.
@lelin1123 (15595)
• Puerto Rico
1 Aug 09
My daughter at this time is trying to lose weight and how she got motivated is because she is going on a cruise at the end of September and she wants to have energy and look good in a bathing suit. She started by putting pictures on the fridge of how she looked before when she was thin. She is watching everything she eats plus using portion control,she just uses a smaller plate when eating and no seconds. My daughter is not eating greasing foods, no carbohydrates, no cakes. She eats Special K cereal,fruits, veggies, chicken, turkey, 100 calories snacks,low fat yogurt and drinks plenty of water. She works out on Wii system that she has, plus goes to the gym 4 times a week for 1 hour. Exercising at home is very easy. Put your favorite music on and do situps, leg lifts, crunches, use weights for your arms. You can also just dance to the music you will be surprised how this will all help you lose weight. She has lost 10 Lbs and now that she is losing that is whats keeping her even more motivated. You definitely need to be consistent each and everyday. You can cheat maybe one day with a couple of bites of whatever you are craving but don't eat the whole thing. Once you have lost all the weight you want, then once a week you can cheat and eat that special thing that you really like, but only once a week. Good luck to you!
@desteny114 (886)
• United States
1 Aug 09
I have always had a problem to lose weight and the accord thing is that I lose more wait when I am not in a diet. To me I think that the problem is that when I want to exercise and get on a diet I would be more tempted to eat junk food and just sit around. The good thing now is that I have my kids to run after them so I get some exercise. Since I have some cavities I am trying to eat less things that have sugar since it hurts a lot when I eat a lot of sugar.
There has been times when I need to lose weight and fast and what I do to motivate myself is to know that I would feel better if I look better. I would try to look nice every day so I see myself looking better every day and knowing that I would look a lot better and be healthier if I lose some weight.
I hope that you can find the perfect way that will motivate you to lose weight.
@OceanLady (136)
• Canada
1 Aug 09
My solution? Don't worry about it.
I grew up watching my mom go through countless weightloss programs, and she constantly tried to get me to join her in them eventhough I avoided them like the plague. I've seen her try different diets, different pills, different exercises, over and over again... and even the ones that worked for a little while didn't make her happy.
So I don't worry about losing weight, I worry about maintaining a healthy weight. When I eat properly and get exercise, my weight is exactly as it should be for me. There is no magical number that everyone should see on the scale, and trying constantly to make your number go down (or up, for that matter) is more likely to make you less healthy, because you aren't supposed to suddenly lose or gain huge amounts of weight.
I eat what I want, when I want... I follow my cravings, but I also make sure that my meals are healthy ones. I don't mean that I count calories or fat content, just that I stay away from obviously unhealthy things and cook real meals whenever I can. I go for walks every day as just part of my routine - if it will take me less than half an hour to walk there, I don't bother taking the bus.
My body gets the energy it needs, as well as the oportunity to burn off that energy, which makes me healthy and happy - and in my opinion that is more satisfying than following a strict diet and spending all my time worrying about my waist line... and I can have a freezer full of ice cream without feeling guilty.
Honestly, eventhough I don't worry about it, my weight doesn't change much. It goes up and down slightly from time to time, but it's usually when I've been less active for a while or haven't been able to afford the healthier foods I prefer. I'm 5'9", usually around 150lbs, and happier than I ever would be on any diet.
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
1 Aug 09
In my opion, diets aren't very effective (as in diets where you starve yourself, that's bad). Exercise is the best way, you can lose weight and build muscle and whatnot. It feels good, too.