Maintaining motivation is the WORST

jennyi27

Good morning! Every time I try to lose weight, I start out really strong. I lose a bunch of weight, and I feel great. After awhile (typically about 3 months) of doing really well, things start to get difficult. I can't suppress my cravings, I get lazy with tracking, etc. I feel myself slipping into that now. Does anyone else have this problem, and if so, what do you do to snap yourself out of it and get back on track?

scolaris

Stop relying on feels and instead put in place good routines, habits & firm expectations that you can't wriggle out of.
When was the last time you left the house without pants?
Are you 'anti tooth brushing'?
Do you ever spontaneously skip a work shift, a parent/teacher conference, or a medical appointment in the last half hour because you just 'don't feel like it today?'
If you answered no to those...

Wicked_Seraph

Motivation is less of an emotional thing than people think it is - it's more about commitment and doing what's necessary.

If you're absolutely CRAVING something, have it. I find it's better to eat something and satisfy that need versus obsessing over it and overcompensating. I was randomly craving eggs like crazy (I'm vegan)... so I had an egg. Craving settled, I'm happy, and I can move on. If you're craving chocolate? Have some chocolate. If it's for something problematic (for me, an entire effin' pizza), substitute. I'm weak in the knees for salty and savory stuff, so instead of ordering myself a pizza I made some ramen and added in eggs and some vegetables. Not the healthiest thing, but it's certainly better than most of a pizza. It helps to recognize that sometimes you're not craving a specific thing so much as a flavor or texture. It's totally possible to work in those cravings and still hit your calorie limit.

Remind yourself of what motivated you to lose weight initially. What made you realize that enough was enough? What was your goal? Have you reached it yet? No? Then keep at it. Set mini-goals so you constantly have something new to work towards. My BIG GOAL is to lose 100 lbs (25 down!). It's discouraging to be so far from it. Instead, I try to break it down into small goals: now that I'm in Onederland, get to 180 so I'm "just" overweight instead of obese. Run 5K. Try to set goals that aren't 100% centered on food and eating.

I've had this problem before - March was rough between hurting my ankle (so running was a no-go), getting sick, and subsequently falling into old habits. I recognized that I was and worked to correct these problems instead of doing what I normally do: cursing my failure and quitting. You're allowed to have imperfect days, weeks, months... just as long as you keep trying.

johnnylakis

Have you tried eating fruit? Low cal and they suppressed my cravings

jennyi27

scolaris wrote: »

Stop relying on feels and instead put in place good routines, habits & firm expectations that you can't wriggle out of.
When was the last time you left the house without pants?
Are you 'anti tooth brushing'?
Do you ever spontaneously skip a work shift, a parent/teacher conference, or a medical appointment in the last half hour because you just 'don't feel like it today?'
If you answered no to those...

I get your point. This is something that I think I have better addressed this time around, but mostly in terms of exercising. My time is very limited (my daughter is in a LOT of activities for which I must be her chauffer while my husband is in another state in med school), so I really try to make the most of the time that I actually DO have - running to the gym (even if it's only for about 45 minutes) while my daughter is in dance class, dragging her with me to my 2x/week water aerobics class, going for walks with the dog while she's in piano, etc. I need to find a way to be just as rigid with my diet as well. Like I said, in the beginning it was super easy (relatively speaking, of course). I'm just finding it difficult to maintain. Sustaining that kind of discipline is rough. I don't eat like total crap all of the time. In fact, during the week I do a pretty good job. On the weekends, things start to unravel a bit.

jennyi27

johnnylakis wrote: »

Have you tried eating fruit? Low cal and they suppressed my cravings

Oh...if things were only that easy. I have a major sweet tooth. I can pass up a bag of chips without blinking an eye, but put a cookie/cake/ice cream treat/pie/any other dessert or pastry item...and you better watch out, because things may get ugly! Hahaha!

I try to make better choices in terms of desserts - like choosing the non fat, no sugar added froyo at the frozen yogurt shop.