> People who gain it back did not learn the lesson and did not effectively change their habits. You need the discipline
This is deeply misguided. I’m glad that the little assist was enough for you, but if “healthy habits” were enough then people who’d lost weight the traditional way would keep it off.
Further, unless you’ve been off it for more than six months, I’d hold your judgement on this one.
I have been off since Oct 2024. Also, I did continue to lose weight the traditional way.
After I stopped, a coworker told me about Vida which my work offers as a health benefit.
Using the Vida service where I got a registered dietician to show me what to eat, I tracked my food and water intake and tracked my exercise. I had protein and fiber goals to hit.
You can’t do it all on the medicine - it is a lifestyle change. The medicine was the catalyst but not the reason I kept the weight off. I wanted it. But because I wanted it, I wanted to use the support system that my work paid for.
I know some serious cases where there were non-habitual problems but... "healthy habits" is nothing to laugh about. People literally are what their habits are. All of our behaviour is habits, and changing behaviour takes time and effort.
The good news is that it is not impossible, and it really is possible to change bit by bit for most people suffering from obesity.
I don't think somebody who walks 10k+ a day, maybe goes to gym a couple of time a week, limits calorie intake to a comfortable and reasonable 2000 kcal per day, would suddenly bounce back to 130kg!
Some people DO keep it off. Ive never been obese but ive been overweight, extremely unhealthy, pre diabetic, couch-potato for years at a time. For me, it's always a matter of getting into the mindset that these things are not just "not good," they are literally poison for me!
I've seen a few obese friends of mine lose weight and gain it back. And while I can't put words in their mouths, I have never noticed them have the attitude that "being obese will kill me."
> but if “healthy habits” were enough then people who’d lost weight the traditional way would keep it off.
That's because a lot of the "traditional way" methods are pseudoscience at best, outright quackery that's going to send you into serious malnutrition issues or eating disorders at worst. Every two or three months you see a new diet fad pushed through the yellow press rags, and none of it anywhere near being considered scientifically valid - usually it's some VIP shilling some crap story to explain how they lost weight, of course without telling the people that they have the time for training and the money to pay for proper food, 1:1 training and bloodwork analysis.
The problem is, most people aim way too high in their weight-loss target and sending their bodies into starvation mode, which will lead the body to reacquire the lost body fat as soon as possible - aka when people are happy with their body weight and scale up their food intake to caloric neutral again.
This is deeply misguided. I’m glad that the little assist was enough for you, but if “healthy habits” were enough then people who’d lost weight the traditional way would keep it off.
Further, unless you’ve been off it for more than six months, I’d hold your judgement on this one.