how do you hunker down for the long haul?

tandabuss

So. Like my 5th time restarting MFP. Had an excellent week--logged every day and ended up loosing 3 lb. So I'm down about 13 from when I first started years ago. Which is great. Except: I've got like 85 to go. And while normally with big goals I am all about the "break it down into manageable steps" I confess that when it comes to weight loss I feel overwhelmed and terrified. It is a LOT of work to lose even one pound. It is so very hard to log food and not feel in some sort of mental prison. I don't know how to keep doing this…..any words of wisdom out there?

obscuremusicreference

One day at a time, one foot in front of the other. Concentrate on the process--weighing and logging every bite accurately--and the results will follow. You got this.

arditarose

Well...what do you find difficult about logging? Perhaps you're thinking about it too hard. All you have to do is eat less, and hit a few keys on an app to keep you accountable. And weigh your food. I'm not saying it's easy, per se. But it's all laid out for you. Go get it!

bukowski25

I too have felt overwhelmed by the amount of weight I have to lose. I have lost 24.7lbs since April 2014 and it has been very slow going for me. With 100lbs left to go, sometimes I feel like it will be years before I get to my goal. With that said, what does it matter if it takes years to get to your ultimate weight loss goal? You will learn so much through the process. Try not to look at this process as a mental prison. Instead, look at it as the key to your freedom -from extra weight, negative feelings about yourself, and the health consequences of carrying extra weight on your body. Feel free to add me if you are looking for encouragement. Have faith that you will get where you want to go.

CariJean64

I've turned it into a personal challenge. Almost a game. I set myself smaller goals (this much weight gone by this date) and celebrate milestones (getting below what my drivers license says, weighing less than my husband, etc.).

I log my food, and play around with the choices I have and the amounts to get myself under goal. The motto around here is "You bite it, you write it."

I haven't ever liked having to log my food, either. The thing is, though, I didn't have any long-lasting success unless I was logging. That alone makes it much more tolerable. And trust me... some regular success is very motivating! I've been at this for about 13.5 months now, and it's second nature. The weight loss has slowed, but I've seen it WORK, so I keep going.

Hang in there!! You can make excellent progress in just a few months. I started out with 180 to lose and have lost over half of that now. In just one year, you could be where you want to be... but ONLY if you stick with it.

Jolinia

Celebrate and reward goals along the way. Both weight loss and fitness, even if it's merely going up and down stairs without getting out of breath at first.

volvo03

I am new to group. From Connecticut!! I have 50lbs to lose!!

eemmerson929

The thing to remember is this is a done deal. If you burn more calories than you take in, it happens. You lose the weight. You are just deciding at what rate and tracking just tells you the rate. It is so natural for me to take a minute after a meal or snack and pull out my phone and enter it. I have been told that you can make something a habit if you do it for 30 days.
This is as much about changing habits as much as anything and I don't mean particular habits. I am talking about realizing that you can make things habitual. Once you realize that, you are more willing to change . If you need to prove it, pick just one thing. I tell people not to change anything they eat at first if they want to do MFP, just track. Then read about nutrition; alot! Then map out your goals. Google "SMART goals". Then start making the changes to your diet the way you think you will best adjust. It could be just quantity or it could be changes in the food itself. Find the low hanging fruit, no pun intended, and start there. Make that change a habit. When you have a couple of habits that you like and are healthy, then add complexity. Changing quantity, quality, adding exercise, tracking, researching can be overwhelming if you are starting from scratch. But my recommendation is to make tracking your first habit.

caitconquersweight

One day at a time. It eventually becomes a habit, and when you skip a day (or week, or month, we're not perfect), something feels inherently wrong.

tracyqc1

I've actually come to 'welcome' logging in my meals. I especially feel the *need* to log in a meal when I know I will be eating out or indulging. I will log in the 'no no' meal in the morning and see what calories I'm left with. I will either find an exercise (even house cleaning) and/or watch my caloric intake for the rest of the day to offset the extra calories I'll be having later. Nothing makes me happier and more satisfied than to have had that rich dinner while still keeping within my daily goal. I also don't beat myself up if I go over by 100 calories or so.....and I will try work harder the next day to get those 100 calories back.
I hope that you find the support and determination to stay on track. Just set your one big goal in to smaller ones, like when you go down a pant size....how satisfying is that??? IDK yet but I can't wait!

jessietrumble

You have to remember losing weight is work. You can take small steps and make them less painful. It is life changing we didn't end up overweight by making good choices and good habits. The obstacle that I find the hardest is when I want to make a quick meal or grab take out. The choices that fit within my eating plan are limited for quick. I really think that you are really just kidding yourself if you don't think its going to be hard. It can even border on embarrassing because you have to say. I can't eat that or no pizza for me. And society makes such a big deal out of it. Set small goals and thoroughly accomplish one before trying to conquer the next. You can do it. I started December 26th and slowly started cutting the refined carbs from my diet. I am down 19 pounds. Every day is a battle.

tandabuss

Thank you all. Really and sincerely. I am going to re-read these every day for awhile!

skinnyD2308

I know staring down a certain number of pounds feels insurmountable. I was for me when I started 260 days ago, but instead of focusing on the weight I focused on the daily math and one daily habit: logging the good the bad the ugly. I also have my setting set to maintaining my weight and my goal is too simply eat less than that number more days than not. I honestly didn't know 260 days ago if this would work but figured if I'm creating a deficit, even a small one, I'll lose weight given enough time, so I set out to follow these rules for 365 days. I'm 260 days in and 37 pounds down. Slow but steady weight loss without feeling deprived has been the results of a daily habit and moderate caloric deficit. I also only get on the scale when I feel like it (about 2-4 times per month), after all I'm focusing more on my daily habits, and the scale is only a small bit of feedback on my progress, looking at my logging streak and counting up my overall daily deficit usually tells me which way the scale is going.

mamadon

I have been maintaining for almost a year since losing 123 pounds. It can feel overwhelming. I took it a day at a time sometimes a minute at a time lol. It really helped me to remind myself that time was going to pass whether I did it trying to lose weight or not. I was fortunate in that I rather enjoy counting calories, being the control freak that I am. I also told myself that as long as I never quit, there was no way I couldn't be successful.

sodakat

bukowski25 wrote: »

I too have felt overwhelmed by the amount of weight I have to lose. I have lost 24.7lbs since April 2014 and it has been very slow going for me. With 100lbs left to go, sometimes I feel like it will be years before I get to my goal. With that said, what does it matter if it takes years to get to your ultimate weight loss goal? You will learn so much through the process. Try not to look at this process as a mental prison. Instead, look at it as the key to your freedom -from extra weight, negative feelings about yourself, and the health consequences of carrying extra weight on your body. Feel free to add me if you are looking for encouragement. Have faith that you will get where you want to go.

I like this. Recently, after reading the "odds" of maintaining weigh loss over time, I decided I'm not in a big hurry to reach goal. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have all this excess weight gone now, but I figure the longer it takes me to lose, the more I will learn and hopefully the more likely I'll have established new eating habits that stay with me.

Of course, the good thing about reaching goal in a reasonable amount of time is that my calorie goals will increase a bit.

Or I could just move more and eat more now!

MiaRachel2015

"Don't let fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of you doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put the passing time to the best possible use." - Earle Nightengale

Identify what is your best use of time and effort in achieving your goal and have confidence in being consistent and not letting yourself talk yourself out of doing what you know you need to. You can do it!

palwithme

I never think about the end goal. I just think about today, sometimes the hour. Just work out each day, eat right or better each day. If I think about it I get down because it is so much work to think about.

4leighbee

for some, it may be variety - trying new foods and exercises - never getting bored ...

But for me, it is routine, planning snacks carefully (I eat all day long at work) and being excited for the workout. Small goals are also key for me - a 5K race can keep me motivated for months. I can't think of the scale or it stresses me out. Intellectually, I know weight loss is not linear, but it doesn't matter - if I see the number go up, it upsets me. Also, I don't know - in my 40s with new-found muscles and a totally different workout routine - if I am even capable of reaching my goal weight of 140. So - the hunkering down is downplaying the role of the scale and making sustainable choices that provide me with routine and predictability (that I crave) without permitting hunger (which would wreck me). And finding reasons every single day to be proud of what I'm doing for my health.