Is dieting necessary

Actually that healthy bit isn’t absolutely true. I have a spot of sun damage in my face which it turns out is Pre-cancerous but I have been prescribed cream for 3 weeks.

I am very fair and use factor 50 but the damage was almost certainly done when I was a child. No factor then!!

I think dieting is a waste of time. The people I know who diet lose weight them put it back on twofold.
I think if you eat healthily and not too much that is sufficient.
We all have different body shapes!

Whitewave, check out Smart BMI. GGirl put me on to it. A revelation, I sound a similar “overweightness” to you. Smart BMI says not to worry!

alima thank you

I'm not sure of the answer to this. I have always been, within a few pounds, the same weight until the last couple of years when I have gradually put on 2 stones.

I am having another go at dieting to try to get to the weight where I feel happiest and where all the clothes hanging in my wardrobe will fit. This is, however, the final go. If it doesn't work I will give in and buy clothes 2 sizes bigger.

The other wake up call is I am now pre-diabetic.

framilode

My husband was diagnosed pre-diabetic last year I think it was.

He got back to normal within 3 months.

Cut out ALL carbs.

So

No rice
Bread
Potatoes
Pasta
Flour
Sugar
Etc

Dr Mosley’s book (about £6) will tell you exactly what you need to do

Job done!!

He lost a stone as well and has largely kept it off. This years check was clear so it works.

He is back on the carbs now of course, but always ensures he doesn’t overdo it. He doesn’t drink alcohol.

We never have cake or biscuits etc in the house, or a pudding, but do when we go out to eat and high days and holidays etc.

At my last health MOT I was convinced I'd be ticked off over my weight - I'm couple of stones too heavy, so was pleasantly surprised when my doctor said it's more important to be overweight and happy than underweight and depressed. Many years ago I was anorexic and suicidal and am now a few stone overweight, healthy and happy - I know which I'd rather be....

A healthy attitude indeed but I still find it hard to feel comfortable being a couple of stones over healthy weight.
I am currently trying alternate days fasting. Not really fasting just a careful day followed by a normal eating day. I hate the idea of a poor nurse breaking her back turning me over in the old peoples home!

I avoid the word diet and use the words eatingplan. I initially lost weight calorie counting but now I eat what I want but in much smaller proportions. So if I go out for coffee and cake with DH I have a half or third of his cake which he is happy to do. I have wine at the weekends. I never feel I’m missing out. For me it is all to do with portion control.

If I feel hungry I have some fruit or a cup of coffee. Also I have a bag of sugar free sweets available when I need to eat something sweet.

We all need to find what suits our own personality.

boheminan exactly I think that’s the way to go.

I am thinking that dieting is only necessary if as like my DH he found himself pre-diabetic, or some other health issue. But apart from that feeling happy with yourself is so much more important.

I was rather hoping to be ticked off when I went for a health check. A good 2 stone overweight, very high cholesterol. They were totally unconcerned.

I suppose I must tick myself off and try again. Fram, what method are you using?

I maintained a weight of between 8 to 9 stone for about thirty years, due to fairly constant dieting. Post menopausal, I’ve gained about two stone, I
did everything I could think of to get it off, but it seemed hopeless. So I threw away the scales, and stopped dieting, I’m still probably about the same, but I’m fairly sure I’ve been static for the last few years, I rely on me clothes to tell me otherwise.
I’d love to be back to around nine stone, but I’ve accepted that’s probably not going to happen.

I could certainly do with losing a few pounds. The thought of fasting is not a pleasant one and I don't think I could live without potatoes. When I go out for a coffee and cake I want all the cake. I'm sort of muddling along IFSWIM.

Dieting necessary? No! Far better just to concentrate on healthy eating and exercise, with occasional treats just fine!

bohemianan

Just thinking about your past health issue.

My sister is a recovering anorexic. She went through a very bad period when her marriage broke down. The really sad thing was that everyone congratulated her on her thinness saying how they wished they could look like her etc. It was ridiculous, her head seemed far too big for her body and she barely ate a thing.

Pleased to say she is a normal weight. Well slightly overweight I would think, but much happier and a whole lot healthier.

I’m not being sanctimonious about this but I’ve lost two stone over the last 10 months by drinking less (I used to have a large glass of wine every night as I cooked dinner!) and by eating less. In particular, when we go out for dinner I will order two starters and not a main and if I take my mother out for lunch I won’t eat dinner, just a snack of raw salad. It isn’t always fun or easy but I feel more energetic, I look loads better and I’ve gone down 2 whole sizes which makes me feel really good.

Wow, nice result Humbert. I think 10 months is realistic. I would prefer 10 days.

I do not diet, I eat everything in moderation. I have just finished a diabetes prevention course where we discussed food and exercise at length. What was repeated to us that we must not cut food groups from our diet especially going without carbohydrates. If you only eat protein you burn muscle tissue instead of fat for energy.
Portion size is more important and exercise must at least equal the calorie intake.

As far as I'm concerned, Twiggy and ilk with their emaciated body images gave out a dangerously impossible target to attain. She maintains she never dieted. On the other hand there's Dawn French - overweight, tried dieting and became very unhappy. It seems there's many layers to the body image myth, which women in particular have become enslaved to, but overall surely being larger than convention dictates shouldn't be a problem as long as you're healthy and healthy

Grrrr....HAPPY and healthy....

I can only speak for myself. I’m a ‘healthy’ weight, whatever that is.
I diet all the time. It’s AKA healthy eating, something of everything, well not oysters and mussels -ugh!, Sometimes a bit too much!, sometimes a few calories too little. Seems to work.
I have a friend who is always on a diet! She does need to lose a couple of stones and if she goes away, she likes cruises, she puts on more.
Portion control in restaurants, cafes ect. make it very hard.
EG. scones are huge, if I have a whole one then it replaces a meal.
If you are overweight and happy and healthy I can’t see your problem.
My DH has a big fat tummy and I’M not happy so he is now on a regime. I quite like him, I want him around for a lot longer. His tummy is indicating his internal organs are encapsulated by fat and are a health hazard. It has to go.

The only reason I try, every so often, to lose weight, or at least not gain anymore, is nothing to do with looks.

It's more to do with the extra weight on my knees (which are beginning to wear out), and, I think your "down there's" are more inclined to sag with extra weight on your stomach. I am desperately trying to put off any kind of treatment with the latter.

I find it i diet and lose weight , when i start eat normal again i put twice the weight back on . I think as you get older to keep the weight it's a life style change and never going back to the diet you used to have .