Losing weight is "counterintuitive"

[spring]

From browsing the "Weight Loss" and "How to Gain Weight" sections, I have come to the conclusion that losing weight is counterintuitive for the majority of us. We've all been brought up to believe that we should eat less than we want to ie. deprive ourselves, in order to lose weight, and we don't question that theory because it seems to 'make sense'.

So the result is that the fat people stint on food (initially) and then without really realizing it overeat at some point later as a compensatory mechanism in our bodies kicks in, and then this bingeing causes one to gain weight. It doesn't help that we are surrounded by bad food choices so we fat people think it's better not to eat at all when there isn't good food around rather than eat the bad food and consume calories we don't want. Somehow the mind seems to forget the calories we consume later when we have access to 'decent' food and also forgets that the amount of calories tends to be excessive and that's how we gain fat or find it hard to lose fat.

For the skinny people, it seems counterintuitive to starve oneself for long periods when trying to gain weight. Although this is an unhealthy way of gaining weight, little do they realize that it is a very effective way of gaining fat as the body will overcompensate for the deprivation and overshoot the mark. The body remembers periods of fasting and prepares itself for another episode especially if the fasting periods are frequent and prolonged.

Fat people need to make sure they're satiated at all times - with food on Wai's diet of course - and with a little raising of the level of daily activity, they will eventually get there. They need to stop believing in the "food deprivation=weight loss" paradigm because forcing the deprivation doesn't work unless one lives in a situation where one has no choice i.e. lives in a country affected by food shortages. As I've said, it appears counterintuitive at first but with a reading of the explanation on Wai's site, there is logic behind it. It's like the earth is flat/round controversy. I suppose one reason why it took a long time for the "earth is round" theory to gain acceptance is it sounds so counterintuitive at first especially if you lived in a time when gravity etc hadn't been discovered ....

And because of imperfect knowledge we stick to ideas that are dead wrong but on superficial examination appear to be right. Like people who didn't know about planets, gravity etc, people who think that eating as little as possible (ignoring hunger signals in the process) works to lose weight overlook factors like the body's mechanisms that maintain homeostasis and that the body doesn't recognize a self-induced fast as different to one that is forced on one, and therefore interprets it as interprets it as a famine.

And it doesn't help that there are lots of foods with addictive chemicals in our environment. By eating a small amount of addicting food and then depriving ourselves (initially) of that food when we feel hungry so that we can try to lose weight, we are stressing our bodies and making it harder for ourselves to lose weight. We should just keep away from the addicting food altogether and stick with non-addicting food. It's hard to deprive oneself of food, let alone deprive oneself of food that is addicting as well when we already have had a taste of it, enough to get hooked on it.

And so every time we do that, i.e. starve, we make it that much harder for ourselves to lose weight. And we gain fat. And then we try the same counterproductive remedy ("go on a diet" - meaning go on a deprivation diet but which ends up being an overeating diet in the long run) to lose weight and so the vicious cycle continues. The 'cure' is the problem, and when we don't get the results we want, we apply the cure even more intensively, exacerbating the problem.

For skinny people, it's the opposite - because they eat every time they feel hungry and are anxious not to skip meals or be late in eating, they are telling their body that there is no longer any need to hang onto excess body fat. And so they remain slim.

I am not recommending that skinny people start to starve themselves or anything like that in order to gain fat. In fact I really don't have advice for skinny people ....

.... But being a fatty, I know what I've done wrong and what many other fat people do wrong and that is to deprive oneself of food.

I have to continually remind myself, "eat more, keep eating until you don't feel like it" - of course eating only food in Wai's diet plan - fruits etc. Eat like a 'typical' skinny person trying to gain weight (ie. a skinny person who hasn't read Wai or knows about the concept of managing one's energy levels and keeping it constant as much as possible for optimal weight.) Try and think the opposite to what you normally do. How would a 'typical' skinny person think?

It's hard to let go of these old paradigms; a little scary to take the plunge and think differently.

So to summarize the important elements in weight loss are:

1) Energy management - never let yourself go low in energy - don't have long periods where you are not consuming ... because your body will make up for it later big time and you will be continually raising the bar every time you do that making it a little bit harder to lose weight.

2) Stick to food that do not contain addicting substances i.e. consume mainly fruits, nuts, oils and raw animal foods.

[claireelis]

nice post! good explanations and very motivating

[ellen]

I second that!

Eat like a 'typical' skinny person trying to gain weight (ie. a skinny person who hasn't read Wai or knows about the concept of managing one's energy levels and keeping it constant as much as possible for optimal weight.) Try and think the opposite to what you normally do. How would a 'typical' skinny person think?

But then, thinking like a skinny person without knowledge of the Wai diet I would just eat junk food until I can't eat anymore. Which I have done so far and I'm not sure if to agree with you or disagree with you on this.
Since I've been going out to eat almost every weekend I have gained a substantial amount of weight, which is what have gotten me into this mess.
However since I've gained it my weight has stayed exactly the same for over 6 months and I've been eating just as much.
Maybe I'm missing s/t that has happened in between.

I can't say your theory is unappealing; eating whatever I want until I'm full...
Ah, but there's a catch! For fatties like me it has to be fruits.

[Marrrianne]

This is so true. Also, I am working on not calling myself a 'bad girl' if I eat something that is not wai'ish. BEcause that's why you get fat and unhealthy and anorexic/bulim.. You deprive yourself to 'make up for it', for what you ate and then it all gets worse and you maybe start overeating or whatnot. I just want to make better choices that I enjoy really.
Good post there..

[rawfoodhealth]

I am going to experiment. I am going to eat like a skinny person trying to gain weight. They always tell thin people eat more cream, peanut butter, nuts, nut butters, milkshakes, ice cream .... I will do the same. Though not strictly Wai's diet because I might be taking in a lot more protein than I should be and peanuts are not true nuts but legumes, I am going to eat these fatty foods as much as I can, just like a thin person trying to gain weight (although not necessarily in the most healthy way), and see if I am going to lose weight. (They also tell thin people to eat more protein too but I won't be doing this.)

To be honest, I have already started doing this (for two weeks) but it's too early to see whether I am losing weight. I am not counting calories, but I am drenching olive oil over everything, including fruits. I do not like the taste of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil on a lot of foods because the taste is too strong, but I cannot find pure olive oil or walnut oil or avocado oil where I am located at the moment, so I have to just use evoo for the time being.

I also am trying hard to add cream to foods as well. I add it to a morning roll I have occasionally.

I find that eating a high-fat breakfast does help control my appetite for the rest of the day. I do not want to eat a big lunch afterwards and only have a small dinner. Overall, eating a lot of oils and creams has reduced the VOLUME of food I've eaten over the course of the day (I don't know about the calories, whether I've taken in less or not--and I am not counting calories). And reducing the overall volume of food will help shrink my stomach, I hope--I used to eat until my stomach was bursting. But time will tell if that has any effect on my weight. It's done a lot of good to my skin. I have never suffered from acne as an adult but my skin is extra-clear and soft since I have added cream and oils to my diet.

I munch on nuts (and raisins) when I am out and about.

I was never someone who liked oily food (nuts, cream, oils, peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream) so this is a new experience for me, pouring olive oil and cream over so much food. I do not like olive oil in orange juice so I do not consume my olive oil this way.

This again is not Wai's diet (I am eating way too much cooked foods and too much protein than is allowed on the diet) but I am following the aspect of it where she says do not let the body think there is a fat or glucose shortage.

This is not NATURAL for me. I do not naturally incline to eating a high-fat diet. I am just testing this counterintuitive thing (eating close to how a skinny person trying to put on weight would eat) and seeing whether it works or not.

They also tell skinny people to eat often and never go hungry. I am trying to do the same (carrying snacks when I am outside) . Also, skinny people say they eat whatever they like (they don't worry about calories or fat content), so I am trying to do the same thing. I am trying to eat whatever takes my fancy for breakfast, lunch and dinner (but trying to add extra fats). So that takes what I am eating out of Wai's diet realm, but once again, it is an experiment. Thin people report that they eat whatever they want whenever they want. Usually they also eat breakfast. (Of course there are always exceptions and there are skinny people who skip breakfast etc but I am talking about the majority of thin people--from what I have gathered from reading about them on the net).

Normally I would go for months without eating peanut butter, nuts, cream, ice cream, chocolate, cream cheese or yoghurt because these are foods I do not like very much (I repeat).

I also walk for 1 hour a day, sometimes 1.5 hour. I find that exercise like walking decreases my appetite so even though I have skipped breakfast I do not want to eat it after my morning walk and eat it very late. I am trying though to force myself to eat something before I go for the morning walk even if I do not feel like it.

[Oscar]

The downside is that you're ingesting addictive and appetite-enhancing foods as well.
Why not just use the extra-virgin olive oil (which is the 'pure' olive oil), extra-virgin coconut oil, and avocados?
Also, eat less per meal, but eat more frequently.

[panacea]

there is no such thing as 'extra' virgin coconut oil, only virgin, and there are no set rules on what makes it virgin, either. so it's a wide spectrum of different methods for different brands of virgin coconut oil. extra virgin coconut oil is the same thing with a marketing label on it to increase the price.

i'm not saying this is true for other oils, as I know olive oil has set standards for determining these labels, coconut oil process does not though