@Soupe du jour and all:
Well, i see my thread about terminology got moved here. That's okay, i know who is behind it and i'm gonna give it the attention it deserves. So i guess i'm joining you here!
I reject fad diets of all kind. There's a fascinating book called "No Fat Chicks" by Terry Poulton (a woman journalist) which exposes fad diets for what they really are: a cash-grab by the running-dog-capitalists.
I've had temporary success counting calories, eating a moderate diet according to The Canada Food Guide which is really heavy on the vegetables.
I'm 54 now and when i was 41 i dieted for a year in this manner and lost 65 pounds. I felt so proud of myself and it was so much easier to move around! I even went hiking!
Unfortunately, tho, i guess not ENOUGH had changed and over the next few years i put the weight back on. Now with COVID-weight i'm at the heaviest i've ever been 5'3" and 250 pounds, BMI 43.4. Ghastly!
I have a family now, a sweet dog and i'd like to be more active for her. I walked her by the river this morning with my neighbors and i was exhausted despite having brand-new excellent walking shoes.
I don't know tho. I'm in my fourth week of dieting and tho i've made some progress (my clothes looser, more energy, etc. [i don't weigh -- that's a recipe for disaster]) i don't know if i care enough.
I think of the actress Kathy Bates and how much i admire her and she is fat. I think Aidy Bryant on "Saturday Night Live" is so pretty and she is fat. I think of Melissa McCarthy who i so adore and she is fat.
So, how much do i hate being fat, really? I sit here on the balcony in a pretty sundress and i think i look pretty darn good! We have a young man in the building and his girlfriend is fat and pretty and he called me "friend" and wouldn't let me pay him for helping me with a task the other day even tho i am fat.
So, there are compelling health reasons to lose weight but vanity does not have such impact anymore. It's becoming acceptable to be fat now, in the media. And i admire women who don't worry about their weight.
I feel my passion for weight-loss is waning. I'll still keep up the good healthy habits i've developed these last three+ weeks, but i don't know that i'm down for a great deal of suffering just to be thin.
There's the Healthy at Every Size movement (HAES) and it makes a lot of good sense. A wise woman told me as a child that people come in all shapes and sizes. That woman was my mom.