Why Diet Anyway?

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:00 am

I was reading the topic about being a fat girl in a skinny world and it got me thinking about why I'm dieting, and why I wish some people weren't dieting.

I got to thinking about why any of us are here doing No S anyway. It strikes me now that I read the No S book and don't recall seeing any argument about WHY anyone would be dieting - it's all about how - the "why" is taken as read.

My personal motivation is twofold: for the sake of pride/vanity/aesthetics and for health. I don't personally think skinny=good, fat=bad ; for me it's an aesthetic thing - I just don't like the kind of fat I am - a hideous bulging mass round my mid-section and fairly skinny everywhere else. Added to that there's the statistical evidence pointing to the danger of a waistline above 37" if you're male.

My aesthetic judgement seems to be "apple bad, pear good", when it comes to women's bodies, and, speaking personally, I find myself out of step with the current proclaimed values - generally more attracted to a full body than a thin one.

I wonder how the rest of you view all this?

Wishing us all bodies we can enjoy,

Graham

Swarah · Post by **Swarah** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:20 am

Hi Graham, for me it's that my 'natural' shape by default is slim. I was always slim as a child and younger woman and its only by constantly overeating that I now weigh at least 40lbs more than I'd like. Some people suit extra weight and it sits in an evenly distributed layer on their bodies (just look at the gorgeous so called over-sized models). For me, I've got lumps and bumps and rolls and dimples, and like you, skinny arms and legs. So, yes vanity here but also, more than weight loss, a real need to get a grip on my eating habits and gain control again.

Sarah

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 11:09 am

I hear ya. If you are willing to look at the other side, even the health claims are controversial. However, as I've gotten older, and my waistline has increased out of proportion, I've thought I might not want to push it. I fought even the vanity reason for a long time, too, indignant that I should have to meet some imposed ideal, but here we are.

I think many of us are here because Reinhard's basic idea that moderation is the ticket makes sense. I know I was eating way more than I was hungry for way often. It turns out I feel better and food tastes better when not doing that, though the freedom to pop food into my mouth whenever and eat too much still has enough of a draw to want to allow it on weekends. I do feel that subsiding, too.

RJLupin · Post by **RJLupin** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:47 pm

I think being overweight is unhealthy and aesthetically displeasing. People were NOT always fat; it's only in the past 30 years or so that our gluttony has turned us into a nation of porkers. Many European countries are still quite slim, since they haven't (yet) adopted American ways of eating. So, despite all the stuff fat acceptance people try and throw out there, it's not genes or such making us fat.....it's just because we eat too much, which is a learned behavior and can be changed.

In my own case, not only has being overweight pretty much ruined my love life (and I am only about 30 pounds too heavy) but it started to get to the point where it was making me sick, too. I have chronic pain, and being fat puts more pressure on my bones and joints. My blood sugar was getting high,and I just felt huge and sluggish all the time. Worst of all, I had pretty much lost control over my eating, and was binging on junk food and sweets more or less 24/7.

I am dieting to regain my looks, and to get control over my eating habits. Good health comes along with that.

oliviamanda · Post by **oliviamanda** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:55 pm

Like Swarah, I was a very thin child and young adult. I was unhappy with my frame then. But for the many reasons why I gained a substantal amount of weight in my 20's and 30's, I have gained too much for my satisfaction. I want to undo what I've done to myself to a point of being "comfortable" with my body. I don't need to be what I was and if I look good and the scale says some ridiculously high number, I am just right there accepting it nowadays.

Prior to No S, I gave South Beach Diet a try with not much success. But since discovering No S I have not done any other kind of diet because this is the only one that makes sense. If we could all drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, have multiple servings of fruits and veggies, and eat only whole foods, and burn more calories than we are taking in, then there would be no need for "diets"... but we all want to eat our cake and lose weight, too. So, No S fits right in as the perfect diet.

I just read an article in the news today about people that are heavy and lose weight feel tricked because they don't have the perfect life when they get skinny. They are the same as they were but with less butt.

I feel that my self esteem is boosted when I lose some lbs and fit into clothes that I wasn't fitting into. Who wouldn't be happy to feel comfortable in a pair of pants without the button digging into your belly and your belly fat poking out under your shirt? I never wanted to diet, and some people would tell me that I don't need to, but I want to get back to my comfortable place. That's all.

Aleria · Post by **Aleria** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 6:17 pm

Mine is 90% aesthetics - I'm just a little bit chubby, and if I slimmed down I'd look better in more formfitting clothing, etc.
10% is a slight fear as my maternal grandfather has diabetes, but I don't know what type exactly.
I chose to go on No S as my first diet ever because all the other diets I'd heard about seemed stupid and gimmicky. No S is smart and gimmicky, but the gimmicks are free and amusing so it's okay.

Too solid flesh · Post by **Too solid flesh** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 8:46 pm

Aleria wrote:I chose to go on No S as my first diet ever

You're in a better place than many of us! Lots of us went through some terrible diets before finding our way here.

babyprrr · Post by **babyprrr** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:24 pm

After reading your post, I took a good look at myself today. I'm one of these skinny 'fat' people, who look quite slim at a glance and with the right clothes but I'm carrying quite a lot of central weight at the moment.

I decided that even if superficially I seem slim and my BMI is within normal range, excessive fat around the middle will still increase my risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease later on in life. I have such a weird body shape..rather slim arms and legs but wide hips , love handles and a tummy. It just seems so unnatural. It's like I'm genetically meant to have a small frame ( I was always rather scrawny as a child and teenager) but I've screwed with my genetics by binge-eating.

clarinetgal · Post by **clarinetgal** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:08 am

Some of it is aesthetics for me. I'm at the point where I'm at a healthy BMI and waist to hip ratio, but I wouldn't mind losing a few more pounds (although I'm starting to think more and more about being happy with where I'm at). Some of it is from fear. My father has Mulitple Sclerosis, and one of my younger sisters has stage 4 cancer. Also, my doctor found some inflammation around my ankle last year, and he had my tested for arthritis and lupus. Thankfully, I didn't have either condition, but it definitely scared me (especially as I keep reading how sugar causes inflammation). The last part comes from developing a real desire over the past year to eat foods that bless my body and make me feel good.
As for body shape, I'm one of those 'lucky' people whose weight is distributed fairly evenly. I have (fairly) flat abs, and I put on weight in my thighs and upper body.

RJLupin · Post by **RJLupin** » Sun May 02, 2010 3:35 pm

Too solid flesh wrote:
Aleria wrote:I chose to go on No S as my first diet ever
You're in a better place than many of us! Lots of us went through some terrible diets before finding our way here.

And how! I have starved on diets of 900 calories a day, gone weeks without a singe carb except for lettuce, had shakes 5 times a day along with one meal of plain chicken and veggies, taken various prescription stimulants, smoked cigarettes, and (I'm sorry to say) taken over the counter laxatives and caffeine pills in my quest to be thin. Some of it worked for a while, but not forever. No S is working just as well (though maybe not as fast) AND is so much more human and easy to stick with.

leafy_greens · Post by **leafy_greens** » Mon May 03, 2010 7:40 pm

babyprrr wrote:After reading your post, I took a good look at myself today. I'm one of these skinny 'fat' people, who look quite slim at a glance and with the right clothes but I'm carrying quite a lot of central weight at the moment.

I decided that even if superficially I seem slim and my BMI is within normal range, excessive fat around the middle will still increase my risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease later on in life. I have such a weird body shape..rather slim arms and legs but wide hips , love handles and a tummy. It just seems so unnatural. It's like I'm genetically meant to have a small frame ( I was always rather scrawny as a child and teenager) but I've screwed with my genetics by binge-eating.

We are like the same person

I'm a "skinny fat person" with flab around the middle... it really is aggravating.