Only two months until I see my husband again...

stefa711

My hubby has been in Afghanistan since December and he comes home in two months (yay! finally!).

I've lost about 30 of the 35 lbs I've lost total since he's been gone and I'm REALLY close to my goal (9 lbs away). The problem is that the closer I get to my goal and the slower the weight comes off, the more I eat. I'm not sure if I've run out of motivation or what but I really want to step it up and meet my goal before August, or at least get close to it.

Mostly I want to look (and feel) really damn good when I welcome him home.

Any advice on how to re-motivate myself?

retiree2006

How exciting! I know when I used to have a particular goal in mind and a timeframe, for some reason it kicked in the old self-pressure that made things more difficult. I used to decide to just go for maintaining and adding in more healthy things to fill up, take an extra walk or a few more minutes of exercise...and reduce the pressure. The results were that I still lost a bit more and it was all good! Thanks to both of you for serving our country in different ways.

stefa711

Great ideas! I've been thinking about trying calorie cycling and eating 2100 everday (with the amount of exercise I usually do, it comes out to .5lb -1lb a week defecit).

It seems like my non-exercise days are the worst because I don't get to eat as much.

determinedbutlazy

Change your routine! Two months til he comes home? What about 6 Week 6 Pack on DVD and running? I'm down to my last 15lbs and finding it really hard to shift.
My other half is going on a short deployment in a couple of weeks and I'd love to be closer to goal when I see him again, too.

MyJourney1960

No advice but just wanted to say thank you to you and your husband for the sacrifices you are making. I cannot imagine the stress and difficulties you are each going thru. Wishing him a safe return!

stefa711

No advice but just wanted to say thank you to you and your husband for the sacrifices you are making. I cannot imagine the stress and difficulties you are each going thru. Wishing him a safe return!

That's very kind of you! Thank you

determinedbutlazy

No advice but just wanted to say thank you to you and your husband for the sacrifices you are making. I cannot imagine the stress and difficulties you are each going thru. Wishing him a safe return!

That's very kind of you! Thank you

Also, I know you want to feel good for YOURSELF as well as look great for him... But I'm betting after being away so long he wouldn't notice if he came home and you were wearing a brown paper bag and shoes made out of live fish! Whatever you decide to do, don't let your hangups on your appearance ruin your fantastic reunion!

wannabpiper

I would worry more about the fact that your end goal is his return. What happens to your whole new healthy lifestyle once DH returns? My husband and I were both in the Air Force for many years, and typically when a friend took a remote tour and left the spouse home she'd get toned and fit with his return as the end goal. Once DH returned, the new "diet" was forgotten and the weight came back on.

I don't tell you this to demotivate you; I'm hoping that this story will change your motivation in some way. Maybe consider learning new recipes and workout schedules/routines the new motivation (one that you can sustain after his return), with a healthier and even more exciting love life as the goal (I'm sure it was fine prior to his leaving; just thinking everyone would love to take it up a notch)? I don't really know the answer, but I'm truly excited for you that you'll be together again, and hope that you can find a way to have it all. And as always - thank you both for serving!

Katla49

I would worry more about the fact that your end goal is his return. What happens to your whole new healthy lifestyle once DH returns? My husband and I were both in the Air Force for many years, and typically when a friend took a remote tour and left the spouse home she'd get toned and fit with his return as the end goal. Once DH returned, the new "diet" was forgotten and the weight came back on.

I don't tell you this to demotivate you; I'm hoping that this story will change your motivation in some way. Maybe consider learning new recipes and workout schedules/routines the new motivation (one that you can sustain after his return), with a healthier and even more exciting love life as the goal (I'm sure it was fine prior to his leaving; just thinking everyone would love to take it up a notch)? I don't really know the answer, but I'm truly excited for you that you'll be together again, and hope that you can find a way to have it all. And as always - thank you both for serving!

This is good advice for anyone who is losing weight. Speaking from experience, I dieted and lost the weight, then resumed eating with the family. Of course the weight crept back on, and brought many extra pounds with it. In order to stay slim, you need a permanent dietary change. Maybe your DH will enjoy your new way of cooking and eating. And remember portion control as the magic wand that lets you eat what you like without gaining all the weight back.

zornig

My hubby has been in Afghanistan since December and he comes home in two months (yay! finally!).

I've lost about 30 of the 35 lbs I've lost total since he's been gone and I'm REALLY close to my goal (9 lbs away). The problem is that the closer I get to my goal and the slower the weight comes off, the more I eat. I'm not sure if I've run out of motivation or what but I really want to step it up and meet my goal before August, or at least get close to it.

Mostly I want to look (and feel) really damn good when I welcome him home.

Any advice on how to re-motivate myself?

If I were you, I'd already feel pretty awesome about accomplishments so far! Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That being said, I think changing things up always helps. Try a week of something new, exercise-wise or food-wise: like cut out dairy for a week, or do 7 straight days of zumba.

Another thing is to build yourself an outfit that you feel totally hot in and then just visualize yourself in it--and how awesome you feel wearing it--when you're working out, or when you're tempted to eat badly.

paintlisapurple

I've heard that as you get closer to your goal the weigh loss does slow down. Congratulations on your success thus far and on seeing your hubby again after such a long time!

Take care! :flowerforyou:

stefa711

I would worry more about the fact that your end goal is his return. What happens to your whole new healthy lifestyle once DH returns? My husband and I were both in the Air Force for many years, and typically when a friend took a remote tour and left the spouse home she'd get toned and fit with his return as the end goal. Once DH returned, the new "diet" was forgotten and the weight came back on.

I don't tell you this to demotivate you; I'm hoping that this story will change your motivation in some way. Maybe consider learning new recipes and workout schedules/routines the new motivation (one that you can sustain after his return), with a healthier and even more exciting love life as the goal (I'm sure it was fine prior to his leaving; just thinking everyone would love to take it up a notch)? I don't really know the answer, but I'm truly excited for you that you'll be together again, and hope that you can find a way to have it all. And as always - thank you both for serving!

These are all very valid points!

We've already had a few conversations about how much my eating habits have changed and he says he's really excited to join me in my healthy journey. I think the fact that they don't really have any healthy options over there has made him pretty sick of junk food.

He is the type who can eat whatever he wants and not gain weight. Well, I took that as a reason to eat just as poorly and just as much as him. I stopped cooking healthy foods and started cooking foods that were more tailored to his tastes. It didn't work out so well for me as I quickly became the heaviest I've ever been.

He's going to be training for the Disney Marathon with me, so I'm hoping that helps motivate him to eat healthier. All in all, I'm really excited to take the journey together. He's never really focused on healthy eating before so it will definitely be a challenge for both of us

stefa711

No advice but just wanted to say thank you to you and your husband for the sacrifices you are making. I cannot imagine the stress and difficulties you are each going thru. Wishing him a safe return!

That's very kind of you! Thank you

Also, I know you want to feel good for YOURSELF as well as look great for him... But I'm betting after being away so long he wouldn't notice if he came home and you were wearing a brown paper bag and shoes made out of live fish! Whatever you decide to do, don't let your hangups on your appearance ruin your fantastic reunion!

I think you are correct! Honestly, he's never been concerned about my weight, even when I gained a lot last year it didn't bother him. It's more just me wanting to feel good about myself and for myself! But also looking good for him certainly is good motivation.

stefa711

If I were you, I'd already feel pretty awesome about accomplishments so far! Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That being said, I think changing things up always helps. Try a week of something new, exercise-wise or food-wise: like cut out dairy for a week, or do 7 straight days of zumba.

Another thing is to build yourself an outfit that you feel totally hot in and then just visualize yourself in it--and how awesome you feel wearing it--when you're working out, or when you're tempted to eat badly.

I've never done Zumba but it looks like fun! And I love your idea about the outfit