To lose or not to lose...

cazbit

Hi,

My name is Caroline, I'm 34, 5ft 5, and 183lbs (13stone 1lb). I have been losing and gaining the same stone since my son was born, he is now 12! (Ps I was 9 and a half stone before I fell pregnant with him).

This time last year I was exactly 12 stone, after a couple of months of diet and exercise. I go from my clothes being loose to tight, the same clothes, same cycle, every single year.

I finally want to break that cycle and would love to achieve my goal of finally sticking to my weight loss and getting a new number on the scale that is below 12 or 13. I am great when I am motivated, I can decline the most tempting of foods, even when hungry, my problem is the motivation only seems to stay around for a couple of weeks and then disappear leaving me to go back to my old habits and the stone to creep back on.

I really want to succeed this time and it looks like a great community on here, I would love to hear from anyone, starting their journey, smack bang in the middle or at the end, and would be grateful for any advice offered, Ive learned that I can't do this myself.

So how is everyone getting on?

Caroline x

Afura

Read and educate yourself. Don't give up. You're going to make mistakes and that's ok. Make sustainable changes (things you can do all the time). IMO weigh your food as often as possible, as it helps understand portion sizes vs what you would portion. You don't need detoxes or fad diets.
And good luck to you!

cazbit

Hi Afura,

Thank you for the great advice, my biggest failing is that I always give up pretty much the minute the motivation has left the building.

In terms of my eating habits, I'm not a snacker, I do however seem to lack portion control, to the point where when I go to a family members house for dinner I look down at my plate disappointedly thinking imy dinner looks tiny. So I might actually start weighing my portions, as per your suggestion.

Thanks
C x

Afura

Quitting is easy, that's the truth. That's why it helps to make your changes sustainable. I still have spaghetti, and chocolate, I'm not eating tofu (no offense tofuians!), and starving myself on plain lowfat greek yogurt.

It was a sad sad day when I realized that the 2oz portion size of spaghetti was not the same that my head thought. I've taken to trying to remember to add a goodly portion of non-starchy vegetables (spices help, mmm smoked paprika) to help add both nutrients, but also make it look like I have a lot to eat for my brain.

streamgirl

The change that I made that had the biggest impact was to increase the fruit/veggies so that I was getting at least 5 servings a day. I shoot for half my plate veggies. That and getting smaller, luncheon plates. So my plate is still full, but the calories are much more reasonable.

Liftng4Lis

It's all about CICO. Eat less and move more and you'll lose. Welcome to MFP!

cazbit

Thanks folks, I'm def going to try to stick to it this time!