Getting control of my life

ralenz

I'm at the highest weight I've been in life and I'm FINALLY grabbing control of my life! Wish me luck!

queenliz99

Hi! best wishes!!

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

Rebekahl87

Good for you! My quality of life greatly improved when I finally decided to do the same. Get connected with people that will inspire and support you and you'll be successful!

jcorbett812

I'm in the same boat. Need motivation to stay focused.

WendyLaubach

I know what you mean. For many years it seemed that my eating was out of my control. It was strange, because I'm not usually out of control in any other aspect of my life, but this felt different somehow, impossible. Then I came here and put myself on a calorie budget. Management expert Peter Drucker says "what gets measured gets managed." That sure was true for me. No more vague promises to myself to do better: instead I had a specific budget to meet every day. I pre-logged my food and, if it wasn't in the budget, it didn't go on my plate, period. It works.

I read a lot of comments on this website almost every day, to the effect of "I'm not sure what happened, but I ended up eating a bunch of stuff." That's the kind of approach that doesn't work. You don't "end up" eating something unexpected if you have a budget. As soon as I switched over to the program of eating only what I decided to eat (and had previously written down and calculated the calories), there was no such thing as "discovering" that I'd eaten too much--again. Don't let eating be something that happens to you! Let it be something you do. The sudden realization that you really are in control is amazing. After a few weeks or months of this, the realization that you're getting smaller is even more amazing. After that, nothing can hold you back.

By the way, you may be hungry at first, but your stomach will shrink up. You'll also get used to the idea that it's not unpleasant to feel a faint appetite all the time between meals. If you feel truly hungry, as in, "I can't stand it, my stomach is gnawing at me and I'm about to collapse," that's different--you may have to eat more high-fiber low-calorie-density foods to fill up. But if you just feel like, "Hey, I could enjoy eating," you can wait until your next meal and get used to that not-unpleasant feeling in the meantime. After a while it will be completely normal, just as your new smaller portion sizes will get to seem normal. Then you can buy all new clothes. :-)

newereveryday

WendyLaubach wrote: »

Then I came here and put myself on a calorie budget. Management expert Peter Drucker says "what gets measured gets managed." That sure was true for me. No more vague promises to myself to do better: instead I had a specific budget to meet every day. I pre-logged my food and, if it wasn't in the budget, it didn't go on my plate, period. It works.

I cannot even put into words how helpful this perspective is for me!!! I love budgeting financially and am masterful at it. If I think about calories the same way I think about money (ie, a budget), I think I'll be worlds more successful this time around than I have in the past. Thanks so much for sharing!

Smile72

Good luck! You can do this.

jenhasit

You've got this!

I agree that thinking that you have X number of calories to spend and there is no overdraft is helpful. For me, it's about looking at food as fuel... and if it's not good for me it won't get me very far

WendyLaubach

That's the trick, isn't it? Food is fuel, but because it's critical to survival we're also hard-wired to experience it as pleasure. But there are many pleasures in life, and there are good reasons to be in control of how many of them we "grab off the shelf," so to speak. What helps me is to substitute different kinds of pleasure for the undeniable pleasures of food. Far too often in the past I ate too much because I felt down and nothing else appealed to me or seemed as easy as eating a pile of popcorn as big as my head. If I have a calorie budget, I'm forced to think of alternatives. Lately it's shopping for new clothes. :-)

StacyChrz

Welcome, I think you'll find there are a lot of very helpful people here who are on the same journey. Take it one day at a time, formulate a plan and stick to it. In the meantime, don't let a slip up derail you. We all have them, the only thing that really matters is how you react to it. Dust yourself off and get back on track right away. You're going to do great.

I agree with Wendy, shopping for new clothes has become such a great pleasure, even if I'm not where I want to end up. I like showing off all the hard work I've done so far.

brenda13green

Same here... I said i'd never weigh more than 270 when i was that and lost 40lbs but some how i got all the way to 280lb and i had to change things... I started MFP just a few weeks ago and already down 13lbs..
So feel free to add me and we can take control together.