so fat people have more carbon footprint too  geez we're perfectly irredeemable, too much medical, too much money, too much disease too much food, fat etc.now too much carbon dioxide

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/where-does-your-fat-go-when-you-lose-weight

this is too much she said exhaling sharply  

this is so boring.........

ACalorie counting only works for people who are commited, can handle the math and remember to write down everything they eat. I have seen it numerous times where people fail to write down everything, miscalculate their "portion" of a meal, ect. Then there's the issue of "no set amount of calories works for everyone". Like I said previously I don't count calories, I don't believe it to be necessary if you have discipline enough to change your lifestyle. Vegetables have very little calories, so do a lot of salad dressings (especially if you make your own). You would be amazed at how much food you can actually eat in the run of a day if you stick to veggies, fruit and simple proteins.

If you change your eating habits and move a little more you will be amazed at how much better you will feel. Pounds will naturally drop off. Too many people are on a yo up diet. Follow a diet, drop the weight they want then start regaining and you repeat the process. Often times they end up gaining more then they lost. I appologize if I sound preachy, but this is one area of life I'm very passionate about. I am studying to become a nutrionist. I was sick for a VERY long time... Then one doctor came along and found out what was wrong... I won't bore you with that, but long story short, a few changes to my diet has fixed everything. It took a year to get there but I feel 99% most days.

K8... smoothies are an excellent choice, add some protein/greek yogurt and you can use them as a complete meal replacement...I always keep protein shakes on hand for an easy meal if I go somewhere, where I would have normally bought takeout. I also always have snacks in my purse. I love chocolate so I cheat often... But I will often whip up mug cakes made with banana, eggs or almond flour, cocoa powder, ect. I also don't punish myself... If I want a piece of cake I'm going to have it... But it's gonna be a small peice and I will probably throw in an extra hour of cardio.

Bottom line is, no specific diet works for everyone, and some of them are downright dangerous. I just highly suggest that you stop looking for a "diet". A diet is something that ends, you can't live on them for ever. When they end you enter maintenance and that's where people mess up. Just a little bit won't hurt....but those little bits add up.

wow that was way too long!

AYou know cardio is not fun at all when you first start out... Even just moving from one form of cardio to another. It hurts, it's hard to breath, you feel like you could pass out or die at any moment. It is however very rewarding if you keep at it. It's never easy, if it is then you're doing it wrong, but when you notice your endurance going up and your energy increasing, that's when you realize it's worth it.

ALol, I read it, I just couldn't remember all you had listed... Other then the almond butter and kale... I love almond butter especially on Granny Smith apples. Kale is super healthy, I juice a lot of it in the summer (especially since it's so hard you can barely chew it raw lol), if you can get past the look of juice with kale in it, it's really yummy.

Not to get into too much depth, but you should aim for .5 g of protein per lb of body weight a day, .75/lb when doing moderate exercise. Protein keeps you feeling full longer and your body burns more calories to digest it.

Almond butter is like natural peanut butter only made from almonds

AThis is such a sensitive and difficult topic. I was just thinking, losing/maintaining weight is like cake decorating - one person's must do is another person's never do!

I do think the diet mentality is a difficult one - my mother welcomed me to the world of dieting when I was about 13 years old - and I swear I won't do that to my children! For me, on/off diets mess with your mind (and probably your body too) - you're better off to find a healthy balanced lifestyle and stick with that - because when you 'cheat' on your diet the only person you cheat is yourself. Our bodies are better at mathematics than our brains it seems!

A

This is the point I was trying to get across... But in nicer, easier to understand terms. I honestly don't mean to sound preachy. I also didn't mean I was passionate about my weight... I meant I was passionate about nutrition and how each type of food affects the body and in which way. I will stop posting on this topic now before I find myself in hot water with some people and that is not my intentions at all.

A@Cazza1: I was not talking about obesity! I wrote "as long as it's healthy". But how do you determine what is the "right weight"? If you are skinny and tall you admire women who have curves and don't struggle finding trousers in 34 when you are 6ft8"! As long as you are within the normal range of the bmi it's okay in my opinion... And I agree with...who wrote that?...the issues obesity brings with it. In the EU someone just won a lawsuit against his former company for being sacked for being obese. Now obesity will have the same status like any other disability. And that means for some people they lean back and get fatter. I think some sort of reward system (from where? Government? Health insurance?) should motivate people to loose excess weight or help them find a way. Education all starts at home with your own children! And as yourself being a good example... Very tricky topic although some fellow bakers are obviously bored by it

Julia, they ran a trial in England whereby they paid overweight people to lose weight as they figured it would be cheaper than the drain on the health system.  They then got another payment if they kept the weight off for a year.  Most of them took the money and then started eating too much again and gained their weight back.  Very few received the second payment.

I am not particularly tolerant of people and their weight issues for two very good reasons.  My back has been stuffed for 30 years because of an inconsiderate overweight patient.  I got her a stool to hop off the X-ray table and gave her my arm to steady her and she jumped off without using the stool and put all her weight on me.  I have been suffering ever since and do not have a day without back pain and never will again.  I also go to an awful lot of trouble to keep my own weight off.  It is not easy, I know.  And how often do I hear overweight people telling me that it's alright for slim people they can eat whatever they like.  A few might be able to but most people I know of my age who fall within the correct weight ranges work at it.  It doesn't just happen.

Australia is trying hard to catch up to the US and England.  We have now reached 60% of the population being overweight.

That's not to say that I don't have friends who are overweight.  It's almost impossible not to, in this day and age.

AThat's true! I have some overweight friends too, that's why I know how hard it is to loose weight for some. It's a life long, life changing thing to diet, almost like going to rehab and then back home with all the temptations around... And for some, eating is very comforting too, so it's more like a "I change my habits" thing than a diet. But I guess this post was not only about obesity (at least that's how I understood it), and I still think that a HEALTHY bit of extra fat here and there is a matter of like or dislike. Some of my friends have very womanly figures and they pull it off in such a brilliant way. Now the UK study with the money reward gone wrong shocks me! Why would people purposely put their life at risk? Loosing weight AND getting paid for it? I don't know, don't get it. Sounds good to me, but obviously doesn't work. I'm not over weight and like I said more struggling on the other end of the scale. I don't like super sweet stuff (except my sodas) and don't like deep fried either. My grandma had a farm and I'm obsessed with fruits, veggies and meat since I was a child. We even made our own cheese and butter, had chicken,cows, pigs etc. And I was brought up eating fresh and healthy. I love my pizza, don't get me wrong, but would always prefer some nice sea food with steamed veggies over a burger if I have a choice. The only "problem" (I was told) is my reversed , not healthy) eating pattern of coffee (tonnes) for breakfast, a snack for lunch and 2-3 massive portions for dinner with dessert before bedtime :-D

I must confess Julia (though it's no secret on this site or to anyone who knows me well) that I am an absolute sugar addict.  We eat very healthily, apart from that, HA, HA.  We do eat our main meal in the middle of the day, however, and I do exercise every day to try and keep up with my sugar intake.  Still have times during the year where I have been excessive and have to diet to lose extra weight.  No sugar drives me bonkers but I do it.  Have had to lose 12-15kg a couple of times in my life and swore I would never do it again.  Get it under control when I put on a couple nowadays.

The tricky and controversial discussion of over-weight is interesting, as it is one of the only things that we must do to stay alive. We must eat, drink and breathe.

Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food; or we die. Well, rule of thumb.

However, No One has to smoke, use one of the multitude of recreational drugs, drink alcohol, jump out of perfectly good airplanes for an adrenaline rush, gamble their paychecks, or even drive a car.  You don’t have to dye your hair, paint your nails, or put on make-up.

One may walk away from those things and never engage in them again, or be around people who obsessively do (at least most of the time.)

Not so with eating.  What to eat, how much, and how often are the business of life that each person chooses for themselves.  Is it a mental choice? is it a chemical biological directive? is it emotional driven?…….who knows.  If I did know, I’d be pleased to share all the knowledge of good health and happiness with all of you.

I bet your cakes are super delicious!  

Stop the dieting unless you have a serious medical issue.  Eat the carbs, enjoy your life.  We deny ourselves good food in the US and constantly think about weight.   This is a terrible obsession, particularly given since as a nation we are getting bigger.  If you don't deny yourself you will not continually make yourself feel guilty and your self-esteem will go up.  High self-esteem will make you feel confident and then you might actually stop thinking about your weight.  And if you stop thinking about your weight and get busy doing other things you might be pleasantly surprised about what happens….  But still eat the cake!

It might work to lift weights.  You won't "bulk up."  I lost 50 lbs lifting weights.  Cardio did nothing.  I spent an hour a day sweating on the elliptical for an entire year and didn't see results.  Then I was told muscle burns calories all day long.   I lifted very light weights at first, and even then I saw some results, without changing my high-calorie diet.    At first I hated it but just like cake decorating, it takes practice!

So everyone reading this, if you want some cake, EAT SOME CAKE!!!

AOkay, a tip from my side: Scuba diving! Most relaxing sport ever, but the "cold water" burns calories in no time! When I was training for my padi owd instructor license, I lost 10kg (20lb?) in three month. And was eating like a pig on top -literally! Pizza for breakfast etc cause my body was at war, trying to keep up with my new "hobby" LOL

They did a survey, either late last year or early this year, where people looked at a series of people who were underweight , normal healthy weight, overweight and obese (the underweight and overweight were considered unhealthy in medical terms).  The unfortunate findings were that most people considered the overweight people to be a normal healthy weight.  People are so used to seeing overweight people that they now consider it the norm.  What hope have we ever got of becoming a healthy weight society when this perception exists.

And I disagree with you Norasmum.  I talk to a lot of ladies in my job, as a mammography, and women who have lost a lot of weight also get an enormous boost to their self esteem.  Most of them admit that they would tell people that they were perfectly happy being overweight when they weren't really.

And did you know that your risk of getting breast cancer (and most other cancers) goes up if you are overweight and do not exercise? I continually hear how dreadful it is, all the cancer going around nowadays, but people will not give up 'that bit of cake' to lower their risk. there, my harp for the day.