95% of Diets Fail

There is a widely quoted statistic out there that "95% of Diets Fail". A little bit of research will uncover that this fact comes from a small study of 100 people done in 1959 by  Dr. Albert Stunkard and Mavis McLaren-Hume.

This statistic is absolutely everywhere in the current dialogue on weight, and the study is anything but strong scientific evidence. 

However, just because the study isn't suitable for the massive citation it receives, does not mean that "Diets don't fail" or indeed that we have any idea how to lose weight or change bodies on a grand scale.

The many wonderful ladies in the Health At Every Size movement have excellent insight into this.

They point out that while the statistic is based on just one small study, there is absolutely nothing out there to refute it. In decades and decades of research, we have yet to produce ONE large scale "weight loss success" story to refute the claim that diets do not work.

It would be more apt to say that "We have no idea". We have no clue how to lose weight.

Pretty depressing.

But what about the people we know who've lost weight and kept it off? The inspiring stories of people in the National Weight Loss Registry?

Its easy to write them off as a statistical anomaly, as a collection of "freaks of nature". Its even more fun to silence those voices by dismissing them in this way.

If you know me in real life, or from my youtube, you know how irritatingly positive and optimistic I like to be.

As far as I believe? I'm not willing to use the fact that no one has succeeded yet as a way to claim that losing weight & keeping it off is impossible. I'm not even willing to say its improbable. Instead, I believe that we have yet to figure it out. OR that the way to lose weight exists, has been found, and has been discarded.

Why discard it? Duh, what if its completely impossible to turn a profit on it? What if its not something that can be neatly packaged for the masses? What if real weight loss is not only one of the most difficult endeavors, but also so complicated, so specific to each unique individual, that we can't possible make billions off of it?

Who is going to shout about THAT from every billboard? Yeah, nobody.

No, I'm not going to say weight loss is possible for everyone. I'm not inclined to believe anyone will find a way to make it easy, simple, and accessible to all. But I also refuse to say weight loss is impossible; only that we haven't figured it out yet.

From all the stories I've read, the people I've spoken with, and the research I've sifted through, I'm still not convinced its out of reach. I think the way to successful weight loss is likely to be super boring, extremely slow, and impossible to turn into a profit.  

~Love Tiff

Further Reading:

Do 95% of Dieters Really Fail?

95% Regain Lost Weight. Or Do They?

Too fat to wear a bikini

The following is a belief I had for a long time, that I changed once I used my goofy noggin to examine it!

I am too fat to wear a bikini.

Hmm. Last July there was a really adamant voice telling me that a bikini was not something I could wear unless I was properly "skinny". But was it the actual fat tissue that was stopping me from stepping one foot and then the other into bikini bottoms and tying on a cute top? I didn't have any trouble getting a bra or panties on my body, and the bikini doesn't seem super different from those things...

Would they stop me at the checkout line and say "We're sorry, you are simply too fat to purchase that bikini."? ...I'm pretty sure they actually just want my money.

Weren't there people in the world who would be totally grossed out by my fleshy roly-poly tummy? Wouldn't they say nasty mean things to me and about my body? Well yeah. But what kind of person would they be? They'd be the kind of person who thinks they're physical beauty ideals are more important than my bikini wearing happiness, right? I decided to take pleasure in their displeasure; to welcome their disgust while simultaneously causing it. If I could get that kind of person to actually vomit, then that would be the ultimate success! Trololololololol ;D

But what about the nasty mean comments? Well, from what I've seen on the internet, people leave nasty mean comments no matter what you do. They also seem to REALLY enjoy making those comments. Wouldn't it be nice of me to give them an opportunity to make nasty mean comments? I'm such a nice lady ;)

After thinking about it, I decided I really wanted to wear a bikini, though I had never ever done so before! What was really stopping me was my belief that so much of my flesh should not be seen by another person, more specifically, that the offensive flesh of my tummy must be hidden or else!

Well, 256lb Tiffy looked down at her soft, white, large and roly-poly tummy and it didn't really seem like it could be all THAT dangerous. So I went and bought a bikini.

AND THEN I JIGGLED IN IT.

I have this blog thing that I write in. I am a person that loses weight without paying anyone money for it. I share tips and things. I have a youtube channel also and I put videos on it that I have been told "will never go away"

Woman Under Construction

This is pretty obviously true for me, huh? I mean, I'm wearing my transformation for all the world to see! Weight gain and weight loss are so very visible, whether you want people to know you're on a weight loss journey or not doesn't really matter.

Every one of us is a work in progress. We're constantly changing, learning, and adapting. We go through periods of rapid and immense change and we go through periods of subtle or little change. This is true for every person on this planet! Neat! So many billions of humans learning and transforming, and constantly growing! I think it is pretty darned awesome.

If you're working on something like telling the truth more often, being kinder to your family, managing your finances better, or any one of the many goals we set for ourselves as we advance through life, you often have the luxury of deciding who you want to share your struggles and successes with.

Fat and the gaining or losing of it upon our bodies isn't so easy to hide from the world. While five percent of your total weight gained or lost may not be very noticeable, anything more than that will be fairly obvious.

No one ever said anything to me when I gained weight. I preferred it that way, and I may still prefer it that way. I appreciate it when people refrain from commenting on my body size without me asking them.

On the flip side, with weight loss EVERYONE has said something to me, and I've always known that losing weight would mean hearing a lot of comments about my body.

Knowing that losing weight would bring comments about my body from all over (albeit always positive and encouraging) was actually something that seriously hampered my weight loss efforts in the past.

Just hearing someone say something as plain as "You look great" would cause me to feel really hurt and angry. The reason is pretty simple. I had become quite adept at shutting out the idea that people may be judging me, but its not possible to believe no one is paying attention to your weight and your body size if they keep commenting on your weight loss.

Every positive comment, no matter the content, showed that people DID notice my body and my weight. Not only that, but every positive comment seemed to carry with it the implication that I was BETTER as a thinner person, which also implied to me that I was somehow WORSE when I was bigger.

I still have these conflicted feelings. I'm thankful that people are proud of me and happy for me, but every positive comment does bring a bit of bitterness out. ESPECIALLY when the comment comes from either my mother or my father. This is likely because I have a lot of unresolved anger in general towards my parents regarding my weight and that is a can of worms for another day I think : )

This is one of those weight loss issues that I haven't confronted yet, hopefully I'll find a way to resolve my feelings about it someday. I'll definitely share when/if I do!

Conflicted Fatty is Conflicted