TotalDetermination's journal
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the last few days have been good.
I have now managed 2 weeks of being around or below maintenance each day.
I feel like I have a good routine which works for me and I am eager to start to improve on it.
Its funny that breakfast is usually the meal that I can most easily do without and yet looking back over the last couple of weeks of entries it is the one that I am most likely to eat over. The breakfast that I have been eating the last couple of weeks is not very satisfying which could be why I am eating something else so I want to see how it goes to not have any breakfast and stick to just coffee. It should be quite easy for me, because on mornings when I am in a rush I tend to skip breakfast anyway. Also I have found that breakfast is not a meal that I particularly need - I tend to eat it from habit. oh, and because I like to eat.
I'll wait till Monday to start because the other thing I noticed looking back is that its mostly weekend when I struggle so I don't want to make this any harder.
I actually feel quite excited that I get to start losing weight. Its good motivation to get through the weekend on track.1 -
Glad things are still going good! You're doing awesome!0
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Saturday was not so good but I managed to turn it round in the evening and in the end it was probably around maintenance.
Sunday went quite smoothly and was also around maintenance.
So I am going to start to reduce calories monday to friday but for the weekends I am just going to eat at maintenance because even that is a challenge.
I feel fairly confident. Although eating at maintenance is easier than eating at a deficit, I have gotten used to having to follow a plan and sometimes half the challenge is just sticking to the plan. So now all I have to do is slowly change the plan.
I am going to start by skipping breakfast and see how that goes - in the past it has been quite easy to manage my days without it. Also, looking back, on days when I stray from my breakfast plan, it can affect the whole day.
Also, I think I have lost some weight. Quite a few of my clothes feel loose. So I think that my current 'plan' actually puts me at a deficit, anyway. So reducing it should really start to make a difference
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good first day.0
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Glad things are going well! You've got this! 0
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good few days0
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I have a routine that works for me and I am sticking to it reasonably well. I have a slight deficit on weekdays and am eating at maintenance on weekends. I plan to gradually improve on both of those.
The challenges now are the impulse choices that I make. Grabbing something on my way out of the supermarket or coffee shop. If I go into the coffee shop having made the decision in advance not to buy anything other than coffee then I am usually ok. But if I don't then sometimes I buy something extra as well. The same applies to all the other impulse purchases we are constantly bombarded with. I also work in an environment with so many snacking options available which I help myself to almost as a matter of habit, and without any real thought.
What I have realised is that even if make one bad choice, I absolutely can control the second choice and not let one bad choice result in a string of bad choices. After the one bad choice I often think to myself that 'I wish I hadn't done that'. This at least brings me some awareness to myself and my actions. So I might have made the first choice without really thinking, but the next choice does not have the same excuse. I can make a firm decision at that point to stop. and I can follow through with that decision. I know that generally the longer I wait and the more bad decision I make, the harder it becomes to stop and the more I regret my choices. So that second choice is a really important one.
I think with time I'll get better (as I have in the past, during my 'healthier' periods), and I will no longer automatically help myself but I'm happy for this progress and having the power to make a smart second choice.
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Its been a good week.
Weekdays are easy and the plan is working well. i'll do one more week like this and then reduce slightly again.
Weekends are a challenge. I don't really have a plan for weekends and it shows. I still get by eating at maintenance but I end up having to stop eating after lunch on Sunday or go for a really long walk or something to make the numbers work. Its not really sustainable this way. I have to find something better. I don't mind if I don't achieve a deficit on the weekend but I at least want whatever I am doing to be sustainable. At the moment its a struggle each time.
But in all I am pleased. I feel I am finding something that will work to help me lose the weight and then keep it off.2 -
good few days2
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good few days - even with the Halloween candy !0
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@totaldetermination Awesome job! 0
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still going well
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Feel like I've found my groove. Even the weekend was ok - not through a specific plan, just by making smart choices and limiting my snacking.0 -
Glad things are still going well! 0
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another weekend...
another chance to control my snacking.
weekdays are doing well. I feel that my meals are about as good as they are going to get. I don't think I can sustainably reduce my calories to anything less. If I am going to increase my rate of weight loss then it will have to come from exercise. But even if it stays as it is then that is ok. I am losing 1/2 pound a week, some weeks a bit more. which is fine.
weekends are still a challenge because its harder to find a routine that works when every weekend is different. but at least i am able to get back into the flow on Monday morning.0 -
I definitely relate about the weekends, so glad to hear that you're getting into a good groove! 0
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@totaldetermination Keep that groove going, you've got this!0
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still doing well.
occasional hiccups but thats ok.
received a lovely compliment that Id lost weight. 1 -
started to slip on the weekend, and still slipping now.
not good. but i dont feel motivated to change.
i remember one time writing in here all the reasons why i wanted to do this.
I dont have time now but might come back to do that as i think it helped.
*sigh*
must shake myself out of this.0 -
Are you happy where you are? Are there reasons you WANT to change? Looking at past reasons might be a reminder, but people change over time, what do you want to change in your life right now?1
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Ive been busy which makes it easier as I'm more active and have less time for mindless snacking.
Im Still slowly losing. I would like it to be faster - I feel like I am going to so much effort, and I want to see results !!!
But ultimately as long as the scale is going in the right direction then thats ok.2 -
Slow and steady wins the race! (not that there is a race =P)0
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Life is still very busy so the weight is still going down. I could try to improve on my weekend snacking but in all im happy, and i dont really feel motivated to change because its just too much effort and the improved rate of weight loss would not be big enough to justify the effort. I guess that the current plan is good (if not perfect) and seems to be sustainable (which perhaps makes it perfect )
Ive started to feel a little bit less uncomfortable about the way i look.
Not actually comfortable but not so ashamed to see people who i havent seen for a couple of years. Im really happy about that.
I wish everyone a great new year and hope that we can all support each other to continue on our journeys.0 -
A good and sustainable plan sounds perfect to me! I'm glad to hear that things although busy are still good!
I hope you have a great new year! 0 -
so far so good.
When it comes to weight loss, being busy seems to be an easy way to go for me.
Except that I actually prefer a slower paced life. oh well ! just do the best i can each day.
At least the scale is going down.1 -
I also like a slower paced life haha but it's definitely easier for me to eat less when I'm heavily distracted. =P
I'm glad thinks are still going good! Awesome job! 0 -
life is slowing. yay !
The habits I developed are sticking and I continue to be on plan. double yay ! (is that a thing ?)0 -
I just looked back on my weight records:
In May 2016 after losing over 80 pounds on mfp and maintaining for over a year, my bmi was 21.
I injured myself which affected how active I could be. I then stopped watching what I was eating.
I gained about 40 pounds and in may 2017 my bmi was 28.
I came back to mfp and lost a few pounds and then left mfp and gained it back and in mid June my bmi was back to 28.
i came back to mfp and i have been losing weight very slowly since then and my bi is now 25. Just a few pounds to go before it is in the healthy range.
i have lost 15 pounds in 7 months - approximately 1/2 pound per week though the rate has not been consistent.
i am comfortable with how i look and feel but it is not as 'fabulous' as it felt when my bmi was much lower.
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Losing the weight has been much harder this time because i haven't been as active. Also it hasn't been practical to weigh my food. Although i have a better knowledge of the calories in food, it has been like the old (pre-mfp) days where I just tried to eat less.
Although I have managed to find eating plans that worked it has taken a constant effort to follow them. They didn't really become effortless habits the way they did the first time. I think this is partly because of the uncertainty of how many calories i was actually eating. So my eating pans weren't strict and i was tempted by the flexibility.
The first time i lost the weight I really felt like I had changed as a person, especially becoming more active. Unfortunately now I dont feel that way at all. I feel like I can easily gain all the weight back and that even just maintaining is going to require an effort. My weight loss has been so slow that i have been almost maintaining, anyway. And it has been a constant effort.
I know that i don't have a choice. I would rather make an effort to watch what i eat, than gain the weightback.
Ideally I would like to find a way to develop habits to make it easier but i don't even know what concrete habits i need to develop. I know what i need to 'not' do. Eg no mindless snacking but that's not really a habit.
i am going to keep going as i have been. I would be happy to lose another 20 pounds, but more importantly than that, i want to also try to find ways to make this more sustainable long term.0 -
Two habits that I know work
1. Keep updating my journal here.
2. Weigh myself
At leat these keep me accountable.1 -
The last few days have been good.1
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