To add to the excellent answers above:
People just don't want to change permanently, period. To really have to give up certain things forever because of a dietary need can be so hard!
I have food allergies to wheat and dairy. Do you know how hard it is to never eat a donut or a piece of pizza ever again? I have dreams of chocolate donuts and really good sandwiches, all foods I cannot eat in real life any more becuase of my allergies. It took me a long time and several health problems before I finally stopped saying "Yes" to foods that make me sick and started saying "No" instead. And I can tell you right now, there is no such thing as a substitute for real wheat bread. Amaranth flour is amaranth flour, Potato flour is potato flour, and rice flour is rice flour. You can make some interesting things with such wheat-free flours, except really good bread. There is no substitute for real chocolate, carob is carob is carob and nowhere near the same thing. I eat plenty of vegetables, rice, and some meats, but I can't go to certain fast-food places anymore because the only thing I can order from the menu is a green salad and how boring is that?
Most people want to be skinny and eat whatever they want. They don't want to deny themselves the good things in life for the sake of anything, regardless of the health benefits. NutriSystem makes sure each spokes person mentions chocolate in their ads because no one wants to give up chocolate in favor of plain fruit. Diets to too many people are a trial and a tribulation and a source of guilt rather than an expedition to a healthier life.
But the other thing is the lack of a clear goal. The end of the diet regimen is so fuzzy and unclear. Yes, the weight is gone, the clothes fit better.........and then what? Most people who lose the weight gain it all back because their real goal is lose the wieght in order to be granted carte blanche to eat whatever they want all over again. I know of so many people who had stomach shrinking surgery who ate the exact same unhealthy food as before the surgery and gained back more than half the weight lost. But life as a healthy person without all that food is vague and cloudy as opposed to life as they know it including all that food. When you are not a physically active person and don't like sports to keep active, changing to someone like that is near impossible. Like the obese people on their motorized wheelchairs, hey, they are mobile and can get to the store to buy their cravings by themselves.
I saw the obese woman in the motorized wheelchair at the store buying nothing but bread, cookies, sweet coffee cakes, and frozen potatoes and made the connection. I now don't buy any of that stuff except for the bread for my husband and daughter's sandwiches. I saw the skinny lady buying nothing but a few vegetables and lean meats and again made the connection, now I load up my cart with vegetables, fresh or canned, and lean meats.
It's hard to go to family gatherings and not eat all that food. I'm tired of birthday parties with nothing but chocolate cake. I' tired of BBQ parties where they only cook hotdogs or hamburgers (Can't eat the buns). But the same foods are offered again and again because it is so hard to really make a change. Different foods are too much of a change. One girl I know is 10 years old and 20 pounds overweight. She eats bread, candy, pizza, and all that stuff. She already quotes the excuse, "I did eat my vegetables, I ate my fries. Fries are made from potatoes. Potatoes are vegetables." She claims she likes spinach when she nibbles on one spinach leaf after eating a whole pizza. Already she sees giving up eating pizza in favor of a salad as a trial and a tribulation, and she is only 10.
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Making a change, any change, is near impossible to too many people. How many people prefer to cuss someone out on the freeway instead of let them go? How many people prefer to send hate e-mails rather than let somebody be? How many people go out of their way to tell you exactly what they think of you, and not one bit of their opinion is nice? It never ever occurs to people that they can STOP.
So if you really want to lose weight, you have to get off the seesaw of trying to make a negligible change and clarify your ultimate goal. Make that final goal clearer than just, "I need to lose 50 pounds". (Really, I do) Your final goal should be something like, "I want to be able to do ______ without getting tired." Such as getting up on the wakeboard behind the boat at the lake this summer. Or Being able to switch from skis to snowboard this winter. (I'm getting a long board skateboard and pulling out my old rollerblades to start training now in July for a trip in December!) "In order to be able to do ______, I need to start training NOW every day doing things I enjoy." So I have been swimming laps at the college pool to exercise and keep cool. I want to start taking my dogs out on longer distances when I take them for walks this winter. I think I would like to find a good rock climbing wall this winter and work on my arms and grip for hanging on to the towrope next summer.
Instead of the blanket phrase "Diet and exercise", be more specific. What foods exactly? I finally bought some vegetarian cookbooks with really good pictures and step-by-step picture instructions so I could make vegetables taste really good. I now eat out at primarily ethnic restaurants such as Japanese, Thai, Chinese, and Indian where there are much more vegetable options and very few "meat and cheese on a bun" selections. I have discovered rice noodles and really good olive oil. As for exercise, I hate running and indoor machines. I prefer to ride my bicycle outside and get distance instead of riding a stationary bike that doesn't go anywhere. I like jumping on my mini trampoline but never lost the weight as promised by the sellers. My next goal is to walk my dogs double the distance instead of walking on a treadmill. I prefer learning to ride a horse instead of lifting weights in the gym. And I am saving my money to buy a snowboard and a kneeboard (I can ride a kneeboard behind the boat - easier than trying to stand up). Make your goals much more specific than diet and exercise. Learn to DO, like ride a horse, learn to sail a boat, or surf, rather than go to the gym and operate a machine. Seek out GOOD HEALTH rather than just deny yourself food. Then changes will happen.
earlybudget5120 Community Member 
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