Getting back in the saddle

whitej1234

I started my journey in May 2015 at 238 lbs (I'm 5'10' - female') and managed to go all the way down to 200 lbs by August, the first time "diet" actually showed results.
I didn't like much the way I did it, it included a very restricted diet (some would say too restricted) and quit a lot of exercise. I didn't feel too hungry, even though the numbers I were loosing and the calories I was calculating said otherwise. I honestly believed I could continue in that temp, but reason said otherwise and I started to concern I'm going too fast and hurting my health.
I stopped, not making a decision about weather I should go into "maintenance" or continue loosing. I liked what I saw in the mirror, people complemented, and all in all I feel much more comfortable in my own skin, and not wanting to hurt my body anymore. Life also got in the way with a lot of travel and changes not allowing me to plan things as much as I wanted. So besides feeling guilty while eating I didn't do much since.
I'm starting to gain some of the weight back, I'm at 213 as to this morning, and it is clear this will not stop if I wan't do something about it. But I don't know what to do? This thought is in my mind for a few weeks now, I know I need to restrict my self, but I don't want to go the the extreme as before, on the other hand going slow didn't ever work before, and only this did.
So I wander, those of you who believe in "slow and steady", how do you resist the urge of the "result now" and persist with continuing without seeing major results on an everyday level? How do you get back in the saddle?

I hope you know what I mean...

MyBoyG

I'm a big believer in slow and steady wins the race. Anyone can lose a lot of weight quickly, but they will never keep it off and yo-yo diet most of their lives. Yeah, it feels good to see the scale drop 4-5# a week, but 1) it's not that healthy for your body and 2) you don't change bad eating habits. The only way people lose and keep it off is by modifying their eating and exercise habits, and habits take time to formulate and become routine.

The key is to always keep the goal of where you want to be in front of you. Write it down, put it on the fridge. Put a picture of you at a lighter weight where you felt great about yourself. Now tell yourself that it doesn't matter if it takes you a year or more to get there, as long as you work toward the end goal. Set up small goals when you start back up...goals that you can reach easily. Things such as: Adding a new fruit or veggie into your diet, trying a new lower cal recipe, walk more, join a gym, etc. When you write down goals they have a better chance of sticking with you.

I average .3 - .6 most weeks. Sometimes I stay flat, sometimes the scale goes up. When it does I look back at my week and see where I derailed myself. Sometimes it was on purpose, but sometimes it was simple laziness.

Look at where you want to be and lay out a plan.

whitej1234

Thank you MyBoyG! I know the things you are saying are very true and I've read them a lot around here and in overall, but the thing with the 0.3-0.6 average is that it qualifies into the natural fluctuations we all have. The water you drank the day before weighting, the salty stuff, or even the accuracy of the scale! So it turns into a process that has nothing to do with the diet. Very discouraging! Because it looses sense in most cases, I couldn't been cheating for a week and "don't see the upscale" and could work really hard and don't see the results. And this is the most problematic about this process - it feels not under control, as apposed to the "fast" one that you actually feel your actions have consequences.