Can't get started...

hermightychelle

I consider myself a yoyo dieter. Have been for a very long time. I'm getting older and I'm tired of all that. Ready to settle into something I can sustain long-term. I'm pretty sure I know what works for me to lose weight and feel better. I just can't seem to get on track and stay on track. I am so very very unmotivated. Can you share with me your get-up-and-go tricks?? I'm pretty sure it's my horrible eating habits that are slowing me down. My thinking is fuzzy and I have a hard time getting out of bed. It's not depression. I have an almost 3 year old that keeps me going. It's more like my body is moving so slow and I'm dragging to get the day started.

I just need some "thinking out of the box" ideas that can help me move and be committed to eating healthier and staying busy.

Thanks for your input.

stmokomoko

Personally, I think that the easiest, most sustainable way of going about it is eating the same things, just LESS.

Demonizing food and depriving yourself of things you want from the get-go makes it so much easier to fail for most people.

Incremental, not drastic changes.

Ninkyou

You know what works for you yet you can't get started? Doesn't that mean it's not right for you? IMO, you're still looking for fad diets and such when you ask for "get up and go tricks". There are no tricks. There's no special diet. There's just eating less and moving more. Log your food on MFP everyday and follow your calorie goal. That will provide you with a calorie deficit which you need to lose weight. That's it. If you want to do exercise, do things you truly love. Dancing, swimming, sports, running, whatever. Make whatever it is you do sustainable. Eat the foods you love, do the activities that are fun.

kbishoprn

Mom of a 2 year old and one on the way. I understand the not being able to get up and go, especially in the morning. Have you had your thyroid checked? I know this isn't a medical forum, but I had the same issues and move was way out of whack. I'm trying to maintain/not gain too much weight with the pregnancy and since I am overweight to begin with. I wish you luck. Like others said log your food, if you're more of a pen and paper person start a food journal. Try putting your little one in a stroller abs walk around the block or to the park to get started.

MikeAV8s

What I did was make incremental changes to my regular diet and started to do a little exercise. Walking at first, then running then weight lifting. Took a while and I had to get to the place mentally that it was a permanent change in how I lived and not a diet. Start by going for a walk every day perhaps. Make just one small change in your diet. Initially, I knew I was eating too fast, therefore I would eat too much. So one of my early changes was to purposely slow down. Those two things helped a lot to get me started.

ElizabethOakes2

MikeAV8s wrote: »

What I did was make incremental changes to my regular diet and started to do a little exercise. Walking at first, then running then weight lifting. Took a while and I had to get to the place mentally that it was a permanent change in how I lived and not a diet. Start by going for a walk every day perhaps. Make just one small change in your diet. Initially, I knew I was eating too fast, therefore I would eat too much. So one of my early changes was to purposely slow down. Those two things helped a lot to get me started.

This!!!
Don't try to change everything at once, don't immediately throw yourself into 1200 calories with nothing but veggies.
Start with current caloric intake, and then cut down 100 calories per week until you're in your target weight-loss range.
After you've logged your food for a week or two, look at your meals and see where you can make healthier choices, then change one thing at a time, maybe, for example, have an apple instead of cookies for an afternoon snack, or whatever. When that habit becomes commonplace, change the next thing. I think the number 1 reason why I've failed on 'diets' before is that I considered them 'diets'. This time, I looked around and asked myself what would be a good change for this moment, then just took one moment at a time. "Getting started" is as simple as just logging your meals for a week so you can understand what you're eating. You can do this! Just have faith and leap in!

dbahelenparr

All of the above and I would add making sure that you're choosing nourishing real foods. I'm finding that I can eat a satisfying amount of food, which gives me plenty of energy, when I prepare real foods for myself rather than relying on heavily processed convenience foods. I too consider myself a yo-yo dieter, not that I ever did fad diets, but because I used to eat whatever I pleased (usually things from the store, often labeled as healthy, I could just heat up, or restaurant food, plenty of soda, and regular treats & snacks) and then would try and exercise it off. The problem with that was that I'd always hit a road block, usually an injury, bad weather, busy schedule, or just a total loss of motivation. Then, whatever I'd lost would eventually come back and a bit more each time, so looking back over the last ten or so years it has basically been a steady weight gain the whole time even though I was regularly losing weight.

More recently, I've come to realize that I'm not going to be able to do massive amounts of exercise, especially the high-impact kind, when I'm 60, 70, 80 years old and that I need to start now eating and exercising in a way that I can continue doing for the rest of my life. I walk every day, pick up some light, 5 lb, weights once in a while and eat real foods that I prepare myself as much as possible, nothing crazy restrictive. It's a slow and steady approach that I think I can commit to permanently, but friendly support is key in locking this down. Anyone on a similar path looking for support and motivation, please feel free to add me.

Rocknut53

I just turned 62, a yo yo dieter all my life. After almost losing my husband in September due to a ruptured colon I realized that I need to get motivated if I have any chance of helping him achieve good health. It still took me until January to get going. I am fixing healthier meals for the both of us, exercising daily (hiking and downhill skiing mostly), and trying to make him see how all these good things can benefit him as well. You're still young, you can do this. Don't wait another 20 years, it will be harder. How to get started? I just got totally disgusted with myself and on January 6th, exactly 3 years since my first attempt at doing this with MFP, I made the decision to go for it and to not look back. Good luck to you!

thatthingyoudoula

I do intermittent fasting. That was first. Just moved food time to six hours everyday and ate what I wanted in those hours. Then I decided it was time. I have an easy exercise plan. I walk 45 min., 10k steps and 25 squats. The 10k steps are easy with the walking and often I just walk around the house to get to the full amount. Optionally, I just walk 45 min. one way, then 45 min. back. Not even briskly. Just walking. I follow MFP and track every calorie. Intermittent fasting made eating easier. My stomach shrunk after a while and I feel satisfied everyday. I now eat in a 4 hour window.