The weight is coming back...

Hey there.
Here’s the gist of my situation—I'm pretty sure this has been discussed a million times already.
At the start of the year, I started following a UN diet, and honestly... I dropped 11 pounds in just two months. Everything was going great, too. The weight stayed off until I started my new job. Since the work is so repetitive and I'm mostly glued to a computer all day, the pounds have started creeping back on.
😕
I actually love cooking, but I just can't find the time. My schedule is a mess—I don't have set hours, and I never really know when I'll be heading in or getting home. I think that's what's really screwing me over... because I end up just grabbing some random sandwich, then a coffee, then a cigarette... so what am I supposed to do?
🙂

Look, there isn't some secret magic formula out there 👎
you have to cut out the sweets, the salty snacks, the bread, and basically everything that actually brings you joy😁
The real trick is training yourself to crave vegetables and making exercise a habit, while switching to smaller, more frequent meals; instead of white bread, I opt for whole grain crackers—I usually grab the Wheat Thins, and they get the job done well enough👍 sure, they don't quite hit the spot like a fresh sourdough loaf would, but what else can you really ask for? 😉
That’s the only way this works, though there is absolutely no guarantee you won't slide right back if you revert to your old ways, and TRUST ME, I know how easy that is🤣

Amy Morgan34 said:there isn't some magic pill 👎
you just have to cut out the sugar, the salt, the bread, and basically everything that actually makes life worth living😁
you've gotta get used to eating greens and working out, doing smaller meals more often, and swapping bread for whole grain crackers—I eat those Wheat Thins ones and they're alright👍 I mean, they aren't exactly a warm sourdough roll, but whatever😉
that's the only way it works, though there's zero guarantee it sticks if you go back to your old ways, TRUST ME🤣

Exactly.
If you ask me, no diet on earth is going to save you unless you actually overhaul your lifestyle—what you eat, how much you eat, and ESPECIALLY that sedentary couch potato habit.
Get moving, find a sport, go hiking, hit the gym, or go for a swim... there are endless options out there, so just pick one. You'll feel better, be healthier, actually enjoy real food, and the weight will just drop off naturally while you sleep better, have more energy, and maybe even see a boost in your libido...
Also, any "diet" promising you'll lose 25 pounds in two months 😱 😱 is anything but healthy.
Real, sustainable weight loss is about 1 pound a week. Anything faster than that means you're burning through muscle along with fat, which is a disaster. One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, so to lose half a pound a week, you need a daily deficit of about 250 calories. And don't try to do that by starving yourself; just move more and eat better.

Exactly. Trying to drop weight without actually exercising is just asking for trouble, and honestly, those pounds always find their way back pretty quickly. It’s the thing people refuse to wrap their heads around—because, let’s face it, starving yourself is much easier than actually getting off the couch and moving a lazy butt...

You really have to watch your step here, because there's a massive risk you'll just end up gaining all those pounds back, plus some extra on top. I'm telling you, I know how this goes.
I lost 16 pounds only to gain 24 back.

cosmicotter52 said:Hey there!
Here’s the gist of my issue—I'm pretty sure this has been discussed extensively already.
At the start of the year, I started a UN diet—and wow... I dropped 24 pounds in just 2 months. Everything was going great until I started working. Since my job is super monotonous and I'm mostly sitting at a computer all day, the weight started creeping right back on!
😕
I love cooking, but I just don't have the time. I don't have fixed hours, I never know when I'm heading in or coming home, and I think that's what's screwing me over. I end up grabbing some sandwich, then coffee, then cigarettes... what am I supposed to do!
🙂

Diets are the biggest scam of the 21st century. They exist just to help people shed extra weight, but not the kind of weight that actually helps you recover from illness. If you've gained weight as you've gotten older, it means your entire way of eating is wrong. You won't fix anything until you change your diet from the ground up, and that has to be for life. The easiest path is also the most dangerous: going on a diet once in a while to lose a few pounds and then going right back to your old ways... the weight will always come back... and you'll definitely end up with some diet-related health issues as you age... blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol, kidney stones... depends on your genetics... but you'll just blame it on getting old....
I don't mean to scare you, but just look around at people over 50 or 60; so many of them are sick because they've eaten poorly their whole lives...
...I got lucky and dealt with gallbladder and liver issues in my 20s, so I have time to fix things... and don't think this happens overnight or in a few months.... think about those eating habits ingrained in you since childhood... and then slowly, little by little, change things from the roots...
...as for the coffee and cigarettes.... I'd better stay quiet on that one... I don't know how it works for everyone, but for me, it's easier to quit coffee and cigarettes for a week than to go the other way... just so I don't get cancer before I can kick that habit too.... I've already developed a mild case of bronchitis...

Losing 11 pounds in just two months... I mean, come on, that sounds totally impossible... You could basically starve yourself and just flush a bunch of water weight out of your system, but that isn't actually losing any real fat at all...

That’s way too much weight to pack on in just two months, which explains why it keeps coming right back—your body just isn't used to the shock. Honestly, you've got to cut out the white bread, pasta, sugar, salty snacks, potatoes, and soda. Stop eating after 7 PM and make sure you're actually working out; if you aren't hitting the gym, nothing else is going to work.👍

I mean, you can definitely eat after 7 PM; just maybe skip the carbs...

redjackal5 said:Losing 24 pounds in just two months... that sounds impossible. You could starve yourself or just lose water weight, but that isn't actual fat loss...

Let me repeat myself... 24 pounds in two months... whether it was water or whatever else, my scale showed I was down 24 pounds. That was my diet plan.
As for being sedentary—honestly, I’d love more than anyone to not be sitting around. It's just boring, and my back is killing me. But, I can't exactly go jumping around the office...😁
And another thing, I have such a hard time eating anything in the morning. It's awful.
I guess now I'm wondering why I even started this thread in the first place... all of this is just swirling around in my head, but I can't seem to actually put it into practice!!
The whole point of this thread was to clear my mind... but now I think I'll try to lighten the load on my body too, by about 50 pounds...😍 👍 🙏

Look, I’m not even going to try and tell you what to do regarding the UN, or all those fad diets out there 😠

I know a few women who went through those absolute tortures and total nonsense, and the second they switched back to eating "normally"—if you can even call what they consider normal food "normal"—they ended up packing on 30 to 40 pounds in record time. 😲

Just get this through your head: dieting just wrecks your metabolism. Period.

Eat your veggies, grab some fruit, don't overdo it, and walk instead of driving or taking an Uber for every single little errand. Drink tons of water, cut out the bread and the sugar, and the weight won't stick.

Trust me, I've seen it happen!

They aren't coming back from thin air 😁

quietpilot87 said:They aren't just magically appearing out of thin air.😁

It 🙂

My absolute favorite people are the ones who claim, "I honestly have no idea how I stay this way, I barely eat anything!" 🤷
Well, in that case, let's go grab dinner together! She’ll end up polishing off her own meal, half of mine, and then some third plate too (because why waste money when we already paid the 🤣 bill?)

The reality is that she isn't eating nearly enough during the day to leave any room for later.
It's called gluttony.

I can already see this heading in the wrong direction...
It hurts that some people think I’m just being gluttonous..😢 That isn't it. It's not like I'm eating at weird hours, or having low-quality meals two or three times a day—I don't even eat at 10 PM—it's just... life happens. When I'm sitting at work, my body just prepares for food because I never know when I'll get the chance to eat again.😁
Thanks, everyone.
Let's just close this thread.

cosmicotter52 said:I can already tell this is heading in the wrong direction...
It honestly hurts my feelings that some people think I’m just some glutton.😢 I’m definitely not on track anymore. My eating schedule is all over the place, and I’m hitting meals two or three times a day consisting of nothing but junk. It isn't even like I'm snacking late at night—it's just... whatever, life happens. Since I spend my whole workday sitting at a desk, it’s only natural that my body tries to store everything the second I eat. It’s like my system is constantly bracing itself, thinking, who knows when the next meal is actually coming?😁
Thanks, everyone!
Honestly, let's just wrap this thread up. It's time to close this one down.

Tia, I wasn't trying to take a shot at you or anyone else personally. My point was simply that the way you guys are handling the kid isn't doing them any favors; constantly shocking their system like that is just going to wreck their health in the long run. I’m sorry if it felt like an attack on you—that really wasn't my intention at all. 😢

cosmicotter52 said:I can already see this heading in the wrong direction...
It honestly stings a little that some people seem to think I’m just some glutton. It’s one of those things where you realize people are making these snap judgments about you based on nothing more than a few observations, and it feels a bit shallow, doesn't it?😢 I’m definitely not doing it right. My eating schedule is all over the place, and I usually end up grabbing low-quality junk two or three times a day. Honestly, I don't even wait until 10 p.m. to eat—it’s just one of those things, you know? Since I spend my workday sitting at a desk all day, my body basically goes into survival mode every time I grab a snack; it's like it thinks, "Better store this away now, because who knows when we'll actually get a decent meal again?"😁
Thanks, everyone.
Honestly, I think it’s time we just pull the plug on this thread and move on.

You hit the nail on the head. Your body basically goes into survival mode and starts hoarding everything because your eating habits are all over the place. If you want to break that cycle, you really need to find a rhythm—think more frequent, smaller meals throughout the day rather than those massive, erratic feasts. But honestly, the real game-changer is just staying consistent with exercise. It’s all about teaching your system that it doesn't need to store every single calorie for a rainy day.