What made you stick to it?

motivatekait

I've been a yo-yo dieter for many years (maybe you can relate). I'd follow some extreme diets, lose a couple pounds, and then go crazy after feeling restricted and fall off the wagon. Or I would follow something reasonable and when results didn't show immediately I would begin to question whether or not I was doing enough, and I would drive myself crazy trying to always be better, and then get completely overwhelmed and quit.

Recently I just had a paradigm shift. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it was like something switched in my mind and all of a sudden I chilled the hell out. I decided to just count my macros and workout. That's as simple as it needed to be. I realized that if I wanted a career in the fitness industry, I need to set an example and I need to live what I'll be preaching. So for once in my life, I trusted the process. I was super consistent, eating foods I loved within my allotted macros, and for weeks the scale still didn't budge. I started to have those doubts again, worried I wasn't working hard enough, but I reminded myself to trust the process. Chill out. And then all of a sudden, within the past couple of weeks, I've dropped four pounds (I only have 10 to lose).

Honestly now that I've overcome that constant battle in my mind I feel like a completely different person who's living according to their values. I genuinely want to eat and live like this for the rest of my life because more than anything I just enjoy it.

So my question for you yo-yo dieters, what finally gave you that 'paradigm shift'? What made you stick to it?

capaul42

Sheer stubbornness tbh. But really, I started my journey not looking to lose weight. I entered a fitness challenge because I wanted to get fitter, be healthier. But I started losing, which I didn't think I could do since nothing else seemed to work. That's when the stubbornness kicked in

nursecasg

Making the commitment. I was on MFP years ago and lost my weight. I did not maintain in the least and actually ending up putting more on than when I originally began. The same that was true then and is true now is that I feel I actually made the commitment. To log in every day. Every food, good, bad and ugly. I can always tell when I am interested in something vs. actually making the commitment. All I need to do is ask myself if I am truly commited. If I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve a goal I know I'm good. If I'm just interested in getting to goal, it never happens for me. This is something I have learned in my 40 years of life as I look back.

codybluee

The trick for me wasn't dieting at all. I eat the food I want to eat so long as they fit my caloric needs. Plain and simple.

hrosssm

For me, joining an accountability group. Having support so that you can lean on others in the same situation when you're tempted to overeat or to skip your workout made/makes all the difference to me.

KateTii

I never tried, so I never failed. It was only "vanity weight", but it was certainly creeping on! I have grown up watching my mum try cleanses, diets, fads etc. always failed, always gave up. Losing weight was not a big enough priority for me that I thought it was worth to go through what she was going through. It certainly wasn't worth giving up pizza. I was going to the gym for strength building, kinda half-assing it. Then I found MFP. I learnt it wasn't about eating "diet food" it was about eating the right amount of food. I could lose weight and still have the foods I liked. The rest is history & i'm now looking at a bulk/recomp.

TnZMom

Seeing the effect of lifestyle on people as they age. I grew up in a place where everyone eats meat and cheese and beer. Now I live in a place where everyone eats fish and rice.

You don't notice the difference when you're twenty. You can eat junk and your skin is still smooth and your hair is still shiny and your body bounces and jiggles.

But when you're forty, if you have been eating badly for years, the skin and hair aren't so hot anymore and your bouncy jiggly parts kind of droop.

I look around at my friends and coworkers, and the difference in lifestyle adds years to the chubby friends from my hometown, and drops a decade off the slim friends from here.

Fifty-something coworkers where I live now would pass for thirty where I grew up. My one co-worker's 90-year-old grandma walks half a mile into town to buy fresh produce.

So... Now I try to walk more and eat more produce.

akerra27

Pure determination

gothchiq

borderline diabetes took the choice away. Either I maintain a decent weight or I go full blown diabetic. The symptoms I have now are quite crappy enough as is!

ARGriffy

As soon as I lost the bulk, I genuinely became more successful I got a better job, got engaged, stopped moping and re evaluated my social life for good. Amazing the changed confidence and control of your life and body can make. This was all my motivation to keep going!

dramaqueen45

I stopped dieting - diets work but are very temporary. I started eating the way I wanted to eat for the rest of my life- and just ate less and kept track of the calories until I met my goal.

MaxT370

Pure necessity. My weight had gotten out of control. An injury revealed how much arthritis I had in one of my hips and I know if I didn't get the excess weight off it would get worse quicker. Being only 30, I have no plans for needing a hip replacement at 50 or 60.

Also just finding how I want to eat for the rest of my life. Clean foods, less processed junk, good fats. That's sustainable long term to me instead of dieting and restrictions.

RoseTheWarrior

If not now, when? That's what I keep asking myself whenever I feel tired of this. I was Obese Class III, and have arthritis in my back. Should I wait until I'm in a wheel chair? Nope! I'm 47; I can't keep saying "tomorrow".

paymentm

I threw out my scale and started tracking activity mins/cals burned/steps, while counting calories and staying in my goals. I was so focused on getting the number down that the tiniest fluctuation would throw me off the wagon. I'm focusing more on fitness, rather than weight since I am a fairly tall and muscular female (5'7 and big legs due to years of gymnastics) so weight isn't the best quantifying measure. I take pictures of my body once a week, I'm on week 5 and starting to see a difference.

That being said I am going to weigh myself in August (4 months since starting this) to see how/if the number has changed.

pzarnosky

I realized I'm an adult now and I don't want to jump on the heart disease/diabetes/cancer train that my family is on. I decided to do it because while we all end up worm food, how I feel on my way there is important. If I can avoid the issues above, as well as arthritis and many other chronic diseases, I'd be much happier because I'm a wimp and I hate pain.

kuftae

First time I caught a girl 'mirin, I was hooked.

cwolfman13

I didn't go on a "diet"...I started making better decisions in regards to my overall nutrition which in turn resulted in me eating less crap and overall fewer calories. I also started training again...I grew up involved in a number of sports and competitive athletics and I missed being fit. Good food and training go hand in hand...better fuel, better workout, better recovery.

Hyperbum

What got me was results. I always sat back and thought about trying to lose weight and trying to be a healthier person but never was motivated to do so. At work they started a weight loss challenge and that cash prize was motivation enough to start. I have a tendency to show myself I can beat everyone, at games, at saving, even things like completing my work quicker. It's an internal thing and I never tell anyone or come off like "I'm going to beat you". When that competition started and I got a taste of weight loss I researched more and have just found myself in my own competition for the best. It's hard work but to me it's crazy how I could've been making these changes all along. Counting calories takes effort but it's not hard. Walking more is effort again not hard. Going an extra mile to get something healthy as opposed to junk isn't hard. Pushing myself daily isn't hard, it's become rewarding. I'm not starving and still indulge in things I like but to "win" I know I have limits. I only have myself as competition now and I can't lie to me. If I slack off I don't get that reward of weight loss. My mind has really got around this and since I'm not starving or using some fad diet I am able to accomplish what I wanted.