It’s recently occurred to me that I am a complete freak when it comes to dieting. Why? Because I’ve never actually been on one before now. I somehow reached the ripe old age of 24 without ever once attempting a diet a.k.a. lifestyle change. See, I told you – total freak. Freakier than a two-headed turtle.
How does someone go nearly a quarter of a century, reach a weight of 372 pounds and never once go on a diet? At my age most fat people have tried at least a dozen diets. Heh, I suppose one could argue that I got to 372 pounds because I never went on a diet.
Basically, I assumed all diets were full of crap, so why bother? I think this is one of the biggest problems with the dieting industry in general. Probably 95% of all products, diets, etc. are bullshit so it’s nearly impossible to sort out the accurate information from the flotsam. Nearly 95% of statistics are completely made up by the people citing them too :) As soon as you read one fact somewhere you can find an opposing study that contradicts it.
So, I concluded no one knew anything. I think this has worked in my favor because I never became a yo-yo dieter, a habit that most people agree screws up your metabolism and makes it even harder to lose weight. However I did become a yo-yo exerciser. Just because I was never on a “diet” doesn’t mean I never tried to lose weight. Whenever the urge hit me I’d just start walking a lot and try cutting most of the junk food out of my diet. This never worked well in the long run though. I really needed a more specific plan than “don’t eat crap.” That’s about equivalent to telling a failing student to “do better.” The general sentiment is correct, but it doesn’t tell you how to attain that goal.
It’s odd that it took me this long to try an actual diet because diets are all about rules and I’ve always been good at playing by the rules. Risk taker? Fly by the seat of my pants? Not me. My mother says the only reason I started walking on my own instead of cruising around by holding onto the furniture was because I hurt my arm.
When I first entered the work force one of the strangest things for me to learn was that I could start my own projects. If I saw something that needed to be done, I could just do it instead of waiting for someone to tell me to do it. I’ve spent a lot of my life playing by invisible rules that I seem to have made up in my head. It’s strange it took me this long to find some rules to apply to what I eat.
Kate says
November 2, 2005 at 1:29 pmHi! I wanted to take a moment to say congrats on your amazing success. I just began my own weight loss blog today and wanted to invite you to read it. Take care!
Daisy says
November 2, 2005 at 5:52 pmHello,
I want to say congrats…
PastaQueen says
November 2, 2005 at 8:36 pmThanks, guys!
Kate – I’ll be sure to check out your blog. Good luck with your own effort!
christie says
November 3, 2005 at 10:49 pmHi there – I just discovered your blog.
I think its great you haven’t dieted a million times – your body will be able to do this so much better. I’ve heard that lots of dieting makes it harder for your body to let go of the weight (such is the story of my life)….
Kirsten says
November 4, 2005 at 3:38 am‘I really needed a more specific plan than “don’t eat crap.”‘
Touché. So do I. I’ve been at this since February and have lost about 12 pounds, mostly through exercise. (If I’d had a loss of even one pound a week, which was what I was hoping for, I’d have lost almost 40!) I know I’ve gained muscle, but it’s still a bit frustrating.
I’m like you – I’ve never actually followed a diet. I feel I know quite a lot about nutrition, but perhaps it is time to think about adopting a plan.
The snag is most diets aren’t designed for vegetarians (and I can see why – it does take more work to get enough lean protein without meat). I keep meaning to do a blog entry about this problem…
Anyone know any diets that are veggie-friendly?
Veronika says
November 4, 2005 at 2:49 pm“If I saw something that needed to be done, I could just do it instead of waiting for someone to tell me to do it. I’ve spent a lot of my life playing by invisible rules that I seem to have made up in my head. It’s strange it took me this long to find some rules to apply to what I eat.” That is SO me!
You’re awesome!
mimi says
March 11, 2006 at 5:15 pmYou are like me I got to 400lbs and thought about surgery but it asks how many diets have u tried and failed and I hadnt really seriously done any. Took diet pills once and lost like 70lbs, but didnt change my eating habits i was just never hungry. Started jan 2006 and have lost 27lbs so far…on WW.
PastaQueen says
March 21, 2006 at 9:13 pmmimi – Good luck on your weight loss!