We also know someone who diets and exercises and seemingly can never lose weight. I've got fat along my thighs that I simply cannot lose even though I've lost fat every where else on my body.

...and then bounce from fad to fad, stressing their bodies with rapid losses and gains.

What I've discovered is that the amount of stress I experienced in obsessing about the minutiae of what I consumed (when, what, precisely how much, which elements at which meals balanced with water/without water, how long after eating fruit to wait before consuming meat, etcetera) was submarining my health with cortisol and ATCH no matter what.

Knowledge is power.

It took me a long time to figure out what *does* work for me, and if we can develop ways for people to learn that faster, we will all benefit.

hopefully,
Bright

What worked for me was cutting out the sugar and carbs while doing more high cardio workouts. That combo worked for me, and I lost 43 pounds, most of it within six months.

Recently, I've plateaued. It's getting harder and harder to lose weight. I'm trying to lose 12 more pounds, but it's agonizing.

Calories in, calories out works very well and is generally what most people need to do. But everyone has their sensitivities. Also, age is a massive factor. It's just harder the longer someone has been overweight.

I cannot have carbs when cutting. Some people sit around and have brown rice with meals when dieting. It's worthless for me. I lose in a measurably slower manner if I don't knock out breads and grains (2 lbs a week on low carb, .5-1lbs a week with carbs, even though the calories and exercise are the same). I have friends who can drink and cut. I so don't understand how that works for them.

It's just a matter of tracking carefully and seeing what seems to be working for you. More and more, people are understanding the macronutrient effect (carbs/fats/protein) and how different percentages are required by different people. I lose best with a 60/30/10 PFC ratio. (I'm low carbing through the holidays. Missssery.) But I have a friend with similar body composition who finds he does better with a 50/25/25.

But, in general, calories are still important as is exercise. People should start their tracking there and adjust accordingly.

Also, I hate dieting books and the entire dieting industry with a seething passion. There is no magic bullet for everyone.

I've found that if you want to drop weight, you have to do a lot of cardio for a sustained amount of time. When you hit a plateau, you have to change your routine to doing more strengthening exercises.

(High Impact Interval Training). Current research seems to indicate it's better for long term weight loss, but it does require a bit more study. I did HIIT during my most recent bulk, and it did seem to keep gains under control, but sustained cardio feels better during a cut (both immediately after, and a general sense of cardiovascular health when doing activities like hiking, biking, or climbing). I also noticed my blood pressure and resting heart rate are at their lowest when doing 40-60 mins of cardio 4 days a week.

Plus there's the obvious - HIIT is hard for people who aren't already in decent shape or who have problems with joints or other conditions.

Pizza, fries, cookies, ice cream, soda, chicken nuggets,...
I think that covers what most of the kids I know will eat.

And home-made ice cream/gelato/frozen yogurt, or similar products made fresh in small batches by a local vendor, are "unhealthy" only in excess or if you have a specific intolerance for various ingredients.

We have friends who eat pizza several times a week and are extremely healthy and fit. The difference is, they make it themselves, from scratch, with their own ingredients, including cheese and meat.

Generalizing is perilous.

nitpickily,
Bright

but the items I posted are generally crap that people generally eat too much of.

which might result in the Holy Grail, a diet pill that actually works!

If I knew jack about biochemistry, this discovery could make me a very wealthy man!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3892434/

Young healthy Aussie guy spent a month eating the amount of sugar the average Aussie ate (and likely the average American, too), but he didn't eat any junk food (no ice cream, cake, candy, etc.). All the sugar he ate was in "healthy" foods (cereals, snack bars, juice). He exercised the same as always that month and took in the same amount of calories as he had before (@2400/day). He loved the sweetness he ate.

Result? Mood swings and energy swings, of course, but also his ALT levels shot up (leading possibly to fatty liver and diabetes) and he gained 15 pounds.

It took about a month for him to adjust back to his old diet (IIFC, 50% fat, 25% protein, 25% fruit/veg/grain). His ALT levels recovered, along with his mental health and energy.