Motivation, Success and Frustration Sharing!

VeronicaA76

Motivation: results, every time I hit a goal or see results it keeps me motivated as I know that even though it takes time, I am progressing

Success: measured myself today, I officially have a 30" waist!!!! I haven't had that in 20 years.

Frustration: when people ask how I lost so much, so I explain "through proper nutrition, both calorie monitoring and macros/micros and regular exercise" and they still say..."no seriously, what are you on?" Or worse "don't lie, you had surgery". Sometimes I just want to say "the Nutella and waffle diet" because that's what they want to hear anyways.

HGSmith0920

@Rachel0778 The DH and I are going away Friday night for a couples conference with m church. I'm super excited...The DH not so much. And the DH is taking the 20-25 off as well so we will have some really nice time together. We are that kind of couple that never seems to get sick of each other. Even when are together for days at a time. We are best friends as well as husband and wife. So all the time we get to spend together feels like I'm spending it with my best friend.

@gymprincess1234 That's awesome about the stomach issues! I'm so glad to hear it! You enjoy that cocktail! You deserve it! And that is a great loss as well! You'll be back on track in no time!

@karencau Welcome! This is a great group here! We keep each other accountable and are always encouraging and helpful!

@BabyBear76 My main motivation and frustration are the constant questions about "When are you due?" or "I didn't know you were pregnant!" I try to laugh it off but it can be pretty hurtful. I've lost 15 pounds and no one seems to have noticed and I still get asked that.

HGSmith0920

I think my main problem right now is my total lack of control and discipline when it comes to late night snacking. Either I stay up late and snack a bunch at night or I wake up in the middle of the night when my cat is being a butthead and grab a protein bar or something. I feel like I have no control over it and I dont know why! It's just so hard for me! It seems to be a bit easier when I'm not up really late but it's still hard. I started doing IF a few weeks ago and did pretty well but I just seem to have lost all discipline to get back into it! I dont know why! Any ideas on how to maintain discipline? Lol

Sorry for the ramble and complaining!

Evamutt

Gymprincess, so glad you're doing great. I lived in my home country, Hungary when I was a teenager for 9 months. I bet there are a lot of changes by now. Karen, volunteer with a local animal shelter & walk dogs there. They really need it & you'll be doing something good.You can ride a bike also. I have 6 dogs so we're out every morning for hour+ either dog park and/or walk plus I'm a volunteer with a no kill shelter. I just can't get myself to do exercise at home, that's why I go to the gym. Occasionally I do ride my bike without a dog, but I feel bad if I don't take them, or him, since my other dogs are older & don't want to run. As great as I did with the cookies, I must confess that last night hubs said to get rid of chocolate coated vanilla ice cream bars he wanted me to get for him a few days ago. He does this a lot, he eats sweets then he wants me to take the rest away so he won't be tempted. I looked on the package & it said they're low cal bars, I didn't know so I had one & it was delicious. They're 110 cal. So I ended up having 4!!, Yes 4!! & I usually don't crave sweets. Oh well, glad tonight's my HIIT class. HGSmith, just try different things till you find what works best for you. What works for me is to have the most calories at dinner & eat later, around 7-8. I have my snack right after dinner then I'm full & not snack at all before bed. Before ,I had dinner around 5-6 then snack around 8 but once I tasted something at 8, it was really hard to stop. So now I have ice tea/water & when it's cool I have hot tea. My dtr in law divides up all her snacks into 6 containers in the morning & just grabs one as the day goes on, I may try that myself.

VeronicaA76

HGSmith0920 wrote: »

I think my main problem right now is my total lack of control and discipline when it comes to late night snacking. Either I stay up late and snack a bunch at night or I wake up in the middle of the night when my cat is being a butthead and grab a protein bar or something. I feel like I have no control over it and I dont know why! It's just so hard for me! It seems to be a bit easier when I'm not up really late but it's still hard. I started doing IF a few weeks ago and did pretty well but I just seem to have lost all discipline to get back into it! I dont know why! Any ideas on how to maintain discipline? Lol

Sorry for the ramble and complaining!

@HGSmith0920 I used to have problems with late night snacking as well. So I did something really strange and a bit disturbing. I put a full length mirror in my hall... I could have all the snacks I wanted to, so long as I would eat them in front of the mirror, naked. After a month, I no longer even wanted the snacks.

I know that sounds really strange, but it worked.

HGSmith0920

@BabyBear76 That is a GENIUS idea! I absolutely love it! I am definitely going to try it! A lot of the snacking I do is right before bed. I guess subconsciously I feel like if I dont eat before bed then I'll starve to death over night or something strange like that! Lol. But I am definitely going to go buy myself a mirror! Lol

@Evamutt I think I am going to push dinner time back an hour. We are the same way you were, eating around 5-6. So I think I am going to have a piece of fruit or a handful of almonds on my way home from work and then not start dinner until around 7. I usually go to bed around 10 so hopefully this helps!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Rachel0778

Congrats @BabyBear76! As far as other people go, just ignore them. Your journey is your own.

@HGSmith0920 I usually have oatmeal and protein powder around 8pm. That last snack is my signal that the kitchen is closed, and it works well as my workout recovery fuel too.

@Evamutt Ice cream is hard for me to resist too! At least it was only 440 calories of damage?

@karencau Do you have any gyms near you? I find I have better motivation when I have a group to workout with, such as group fitness classes

Work is crazy busy so I just wanted to pop in to say hi! I hope everyone is having a healthy week. I'm on day 4 of recording my daily weight to stay accountable, especially since my work shirt today is tight, eek! This weekend a friend invited me to all you can eat sushi, which I'm a little concerned about. I'm hoping to just stick to a seaweed salad, sashimi, and 1 roll. Wish me luck! Any tips to send my way?

HGSmith0920

I wanted to get up when the DH did this morning but I ended up sleeping a half an hour later than I wanted to but I did get up with enough time to make the DH lunch to take with him to work. Am I weird that I enjoy doing that? Lol. But I got up and had a cup of coffee and enjoyed my quiet time but now I am having a really hard time keeping my eyes open! I have to get ready for work in a half an hour and I have to keep telling myself that I can't go back to sleep! Maybe I'll do the yoga routine for the Harry Potter challenge. I had planned to go to the gym after work today but Mom needs me to run an errand on the way home so I dont think the gym is going to happen, but maybe a short walk or a work out video tonight instead. Just something! I'm really trying to get myself into a plan and teach myself discipline! I figure that if I can give myself the discipline to quit smoking than I KNOW that I can put other things into place if I just stick to a plan! No matter how much I dont want to do it I know that I need to! I mean I got up when I didn't have to, read my bible, prayed and didn't go back to sleep like I normally would so that's a plus in my book! Lol.

Have a great day everyone!

gymprincess1234

@Rachel0778 At least to me it seems like Americans are way more family oriented and selfless, but us Europeans just want to travel, a career and maybe kids after 30 just so it wouldn't be lonely in retirement. Or maybe it's just me comparing my life with all of yours, which are completely different, but then again we are at diffrent ages as well. Would love to go to US one day.


Hello!
I've been naughty, had a cocktail night yesterday, way too many ice creams today and just 4h of sleep.Feeling bloated but I'm always better on the weekends, more active and the puffiness will go.
Have a lovely weekend girls, hopefully on Monday I will be able to report another -0.5kg

Rachel0778

@gymprincess1234 Considering I'd rather have a career and travel than be selfless with kids I may be more European than I thought I love visiting Europe, and there are definitely locations in the US I'd highly recommend too! I'm amazed you're able to do better on the weekends, that's usually when I fall apart!

@HGSmith0920 I think it's sweet you have a morning routine with your husband. I always like to start out my day with some activity too, I feel like it starts me on the right foot.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!! I'm heading up to my friend's house for a long overdue girls night tonight and then tomorrow I'm meeting up with another friend for lunch. I've already pre-tracked so I know what I'm ordering. I'm committed to doing better on the weekends because I can see my gain and it's not pretty. No more being in denial! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

rlarkin591

I keep having bad days and I can easily see me going back to the old ways. Not good, not good at all.

velocity60

I'm so happy to have Lost this week because look at that table of fried food . This is at Evelyn's drive in in RI . One of my dads summer visit favorites . I've been hitting the gym hard to compensate for vacation favorites . But I'm so blessed that this 86 year old traveled from CA to visit me . Big all day pizza party for him tomorrow at my house . So the cleaning & shopping today will help again balance what's going on calorically . Come Tuesday no more of this regional food madness ! It's clean eating time .

velocity60

I still hate my arms in photos ! I'm hoping that another 5 pounds lost might help make a visual difference . Might have to look up how to pose arms in photos until then ! LOL

skymningen

Ask your dad how to pose arms... because, wow he is going strong for 86 years!

Edit: Also, don't push your shoulders back too much. ;-) Too me it looks like you were sitting at an awkward angle for the picture and trying to keep upright by pushing your shoulders back, which then brought your arms in awkward angles.

Evamutt

Yesterday I felt pretty good so had a busy day. Lunch with a few ladies from dog park(we lunch once a month), visited a friend , stopped at costco to get my yogurt, dinner at home then gym class. I am SO tired out today. Don't' know if I'll make it to volunteer at animal rescue. Didn't even want to go to dog park today, but my 6 dogs were ready to go so we went. Actually had a good time & ended up staying 1 1/2 hrs.Going to gym tonight too. I admire my trainer, who teaches the group gym class. She lost 65 lbs & got off depression medicine. She's very inspiring.I've been cooking different things for hubs but it's been upsetting his stomach so he's back to eating simple with me. I'm going to stick to veggies, salad & ground turkey/chicken for a week to boost wt loss, good luck to me

gymprincess1234

Actually, I don't even know your weight loss stories- how much have you all lost and how far down the line are you?

Evamutt

I started June 2016 & lost 42lbs by May 2017. I still want to loose 12 more lbs to get to my wt goal of 145. So I haven't lost any more since May 2017. I started the HIIT classes June 12, so I did lose some in measurements. It's just so hard to eat little enough to keep losing but it's been easy to maintain & I believe I won't gain any back. Every day I plan to eat less but end up eating just a little below my maintenance calories. This week I'm sticking to ground turkey patties & veggies for my main meals for the most part except I'm having grilled chicken thighs hubs just finished on the grill but with veggies. How about you gymprincess? Would love to hear from everyone else too as I don't know all your stories

gymprincess1234

@Evamutt, then we have lost almost the same, I had lost 50pounds and gained 6 back.

I started in mid-November 2016. Started by doing cardio 4x/week. I didn't track food or anything, I naturally just couldn't physically make myself buy anything unhealthy till at least January, and I weirdly lost appetite and was eating probably around 1200kcal even on cardio days. Then from January till June I added weight training and additional cardio, so ended up having 10 trainings per week. A bit mental, but loved it so much. In June I started running in the park too.
Food wise, as I went from 4 to 10 workouts, my appetite grew and in January I hit my first plateau. My trainer showed me food tracking apps and I started logging and losing again.
I lost 12kg just working out and then 11kg with tracking.
And now, from the end of June I've been struggling, appetite grew, love for working out didn't, moved countries, don't live alone anymore, so I'm exposed to a lot of junk food and lifestyle is not even half as active. Have gained 3kg back.

In 2 weeks I'm moving to France, starting my favorite cardio classes again, the area is hilly, so will go for hikes again, back to uni, so a lot of walking and living on my own - healthy fridge again.

I have the gained 3kg +8kg to lose till goal weight. The first months were the easiest, literally felt like the weight and cm are just melting away week by week without much effort, but I'm optimistic, if I could get rid of 23kg, I can do 11kg more.

rachelcalsbeek

@gymprincess1234 I am down almost 26 lbs, and I started in April of this year. I am getting married next month (OMG, that is insane to say), so although I have been unhappy with the weight I have put on for a long time, that was a major motivator for me to get started and stick with it! My fiance and I signed up for a 10 week fitness program, where you commit to working out 6 days/week, alternating kickboxing and resistance band classes. After our 10 weeks, we ended up joining that gym. I really enjoy it!

I am down to 172 lbs from 197.6 lbs. My ultimate goal right now is 150 lbs, and I'll re-evaluate once I get there (or close to it).

Lately, it has been hard to keep my motivation going on the weekends. I have been eating badly A LOT on Saturdays and Sundays. Now that the wedding is 39 days a way, it's crunch time! Although I am really happy with my progress so far. I'm just kind of worried about how much my alteration bill for my dress will be!

mrack1

Hi! I'm Missy and although I've been using MFP for years, I just discovered the message boards. Yay!

I've had a lot of life changes in the past three months, and I've put on about ten pounds as a result. I moved to a new state for a new job, and my eldest leaves for college later this week.

My challenge right now is mindless grazing. I'm a professor, and I'm going a little crazy with the long summer and no sense of structure. I'm so happy we are all back to school and work next week! I know my eating will improve when I'm busier, but hope my workouts don't go to *kitten* as a result. I've been pretty consistent with daily workouts.

Things I'm proud of: Did my meal plans for the whole week, including eating out tomorrow night, did 45 minutes of cardio daily for the last 5 days, going to bed earlier the past few nights (to avoid late night snacking) and have done both my meditation and yoga the past two days (which helps with the stress).

Things I need to work on: Cutting back on sweets, staying within my calorie range, believing I can do it.

Best of luck to everyone. Believe in yourself. You got this!

Rachel0778

@velocity60 I agree that your arms look fine, it's all about how they're posed since you're sitting at an awkward angle. I hope you had a great time with your Dad!

@Evamutt You are doing great with your weight loss! I love that you have picked an easily maintainable goal

@gymprincess1234 Insane is right! It sounds like your poor body went through a bit of burnout after that regimen. It sounds like you have a plan for a much healthier balance going forward in France

@rlarkin591 I'm sorry to hear the bad days are piling up, what is your plan to get back on track

So my weight loss story:

I entered grad school overweight and out of shape. I got winded climbing stairs and couldn't run a mile. During grad school I found Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, lost 30lbs, and became an extremely fit person. However, I also developed an unhealthy relationship with food that lead to a binge, restrict cycle. In the years since, I worked to repair my relationship with food, re-lost the weight in a healthier manner, and am now working to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle. I still track my food and exercise frequently but the number on the scale is not my primary motivation.

I've been noticing lately more treats have been sneaking into my life, so my SO and I are starting another healthy habits challenge. I did extremely well over the weekend considering it included a girls night on Friday, all you can eat sushi lunch on Saturday, and a Game of Thrones themed potluck Sunday. I'm committed to stopping this gain in its tracks and getting back on the healthy train.

gymprincess1234

@Rachel0778 I see, thought you don't look like you have any extra pounds in your picture!

Morning!

Been having a very good few days, trying to eat as much greens and veggies as I can. My skin is thanking me too. Did a gym workout and 1h40min bike ride yesterday, think my legs deserve a break today, so beach day it will be.

velocity60

@mrack1 sounds like we have had similar changes . I'm retired , but my friends all work . Still trying to find/ fill my time in a new place with meaningful stuff . I can only do so much art ! Have a wonderful day

velocity60

Is anyone doing or heard of ToneItUp.com ? It's a fantastic force of nature ! They have the web site, are on every form of social media , all free ... you tube workout videos . I bought the plan ( don't judge , I'm sure I'm the oldest girl on their site ! But , I need something to get me back on track) I haven't joined the community yet . I'm hoping some friends from here are also over there .

Rachel0778

@gymprincess1234 Thank you for the wonderful compliment That photo is my goal weight, and while I'm only 6lbs up from that right (summer overindulgences) I'm working to get back down to it.

@velocity60 Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to take a look. What is the plan/what does it give you/how much is it?

Today is crazy busy at work, but I just wanted to pop in to say hi! My SO made me lunches for this week so I'm feeling extra spoiled Last night at pole I was able to swing around using just my arms with my feet off the ground, which is huge progress for me! I also feel like my climb is getting much stronger. I hope you all have wonderful, healthy days!

HGSmith0920

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you are all well! Had a rather large hiccup at work yesterday. I let someone walk out of the branch with an extra 3K in cash! Thank goodness the woman was honest or I would have been in SERIOUS trouble. I thought my managers head was going to explode. She can be kind of cold and unfeeling at times. I went to break almost immediately after. Ate my lunch and fought the desire to cry my eyes out. I figured I was going to get a serious write-up, if not fired. But they didn't do either although there is still Friday. But I'm off today and tomorrow so I'm going to use the next two days to just relax and do some things around the house. I already have food in the crockpot for dinner and dishes are already done(for now). I'm fighting with myself if I want to go to the gym or not. Lol. It's raining out here. I have an umbrella so I can go for a walk if I want, but I'm not sure I want to put out that effort. Lol

Hope you all are having a great day!

Rachel0778

@HGSmith0920 Oh my goodness, what a stressful day! Thank goodness that lady was honest.

My stressful presentation this morning is over and it went well I'm looking forward to shutting myself in my office for the rest of the day and just doing paperwork. Last night at crossfit went well, we did a rowing WOD and I placed middle on the leaderboard which I was proud of since I have only used a rower once and I'm new to crossfit! Today is pole class again and I can't wait to work on some new moves I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

HGSmith0920

@Rachel0778 I'm glad your presentation went well! I actually love paperwork. Lol...yeah I know I'm weird. Lol. I have never been on a rowing machine. I'm not even sure how it works. Lol.

I've had a great day and a half! I didn't end up going to the gym yesterday but I did a pretty thorough cleaning of my bedroom and wiped down the bathroom so I guess that equaled a pretty decent workout. At least according to the cleaning workout that MFP has. Lol. I have the afternoon all to myself, so I'm gonna clean the kitchen/living room and probably either go for a walk or go to the gym. Not sure yet, but I have to do something active!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

gymprincess1234

Hello! It's the hunger games in my mind this week. Really hate PMS

Evamutt

there's a cleaning workout on mfp? I'll have to look for it. I love the rowing machine. I'm pooped so just wanted to read how everyone's doing & say hi. I'm back from my HIIT class. It was really hard today but I made it through. The trainer always says "it's your class & do the best you can, not try to keep up with anyone else". I like her, but she does have tough workout assignments. Have a good night all