If at first you don't succeed, how many times do you try again?

bunnye20

I have never worked out or stood on a healthy diet for any longer than 2 months. Something always happens. I get sick and can't exercise or it's a holiday and I've got to try that cake or it's too hot to workout. I want to get to the point of not making excuses and just sticking to it once and for all. Definitely want to keep myself accountable and motivated! Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed!

Lounmoun

Moving to just watching my calorie intake has made it pretty easy to stick with for almost 2 years now through all kinds of life stuff. I eat regular food which is really sustainable. I eat cake sometimes and it is okay with my goals.
I set my goal for 1 lb a week. I maintained for awhile and then started losing again.
I'm not relying on exercise to lose weight. I try to exercise for health but not to knock out huge calorie burns.
I watch my calorie intake in the same way I brush my teeth. I wouldn't give up brushing my teeth if I fell asleep without doing it one night. I wouldn't be dramatic or feel guilty about it. I'd just brush my teeth and move on with my life.

sceleratis

Life is good at getting in the way of what you want. The key is to not let it stop you. You have to make the DECISION to change (not just be motivated to change but really decide) and make this is your new lifestyle. That being said, this lifestyle does not mean never eating cake at a birthday party or never indulging a little on vacation. It means finding balance. One meal will not make you fat, just like one meal won't make you skinny. It doesn't work that way. It's all about time + consistency. It's a bit cliched, but this is a marathon and not a sprint. When you trip or stumble or even fall down, you get back up and keep going.

TeaBea

bunnye20 wrote: »

I have never worked out or stood on a healthy diet for any longer than 2 months. Something always happens. I get sick and can't exercise or it's a holiday and I've got to try that cake or it's too hot to workout. I want to get to the point of not making excuses and just sticking to it once and for all. Definitely want to keep myself accountable and motivated! Any ideas or suggestions are welcomed!

You never have to be perfect. It's okay to have an off day. Don't look for (temporary) radical changes. Look for small(er) permanent ones.

You can eat your cake & lose weight too. Just work it into your day, or give up something the next day. You need a calorie deficit for the week, not every single day. Perhaps look at zig-zagging your calories. A sort of on/off way of dieting. I eat lower calories during the week than I do on weekends.

Find an exercise plan that you can be consistent at. I will give in to any excuse not to exercise...it's rainy, it's cold....I don't have cute workout clothes. So my workouts are walking videos. I can't use rain or cold as an excuse. The only excuse I have left is "I'm lazy." I'm not a jock, I will never be one. But I know I need some method of staying more active forever.

divcara

I saw a quote the other day that said: When a child is learning how to walk and falls down 50 times, they never think to themselves, "Maybe this isn't for me."

Habits and routines help a lot, even when life starts getting in the way. It's almost more important than ever when you are busy to make time to take care of yourself first. Carve out your own time for yourself to plan your meals, get in your workouts. Consistency is key. It's okay to have an indulgent meal or miss a workout, and enjoy life or there is just no point to doing all this, but then get back on it the next day, don't let a day turn into two or three or more.

lemurcat12

Like everyone said, don't think of it as being on (perfect) or off (it doesn't matter), but think of what you are doing (calories at X, planned workouts) and why. If things come up and you want to be more indulgent in your food choices and have the option of just eating at maintenance for a while, those 2 months (or whatever) don't go to waste. If you have your life go crazy and just don't think you can do your workouts, add in walking or just eat less. The ability to adjust and know you don't have to be perfect is the key. Pie on Thanksgiving isn't a problem (or even eating whatever you want that day). Using that as an excuse to say "I knew I couldn't stick to it" and spending the rest of the year eating as much as you feel like and not exercising at all is a problem.

Also, I have found it helpful to try and reframe prior struggles not as failures but learning experiences that make me know more what I am doing now. When I mess up and don't get in my workout or over eat on a day, I don't beat myself up -- I think about whether it was needed (sometimes I needed to sleep more than run, say) or if not, why I didn't stick with the plan and how I can make it easier going forward.

With workouts, when I get the argument in my head as to why I shouldn't, I sometimes just say 15 minutes (and end up doing the whole thing once I get started, of course) or okay, don't want to run, I'll do a walk halfway home (from work) or go to the gym and do 30 minutes on the bike while reading or something that seems easy. The idea is just to be consistent with activity.

Having a specific goal beyond weight loss helps me too sometimes -- a race to train for or something like that. Or working it into daily life -- walking for errands, biking to work, whatever is possible.

upoffthemat

How many times do you try again? One more time... every time.

sllm1

Fall down 7 times, stand up 8.

Just keep trying. What's the benefit of quitting?

RoseTheWarrior

makingmark wrote: »

How many times do you try again? One more time... every time.

This exactly.

Sara1791

I will get healthy or die trying. See what I did there? Seriously, setbacks happen but I'm in this for the long haul & you can be too!

AdamAthletic

If today doesn't go well, tomorrow is a new day and you can take the lessons from what didn't go so well today to make tomorrow better!

As stated above, fall down 7 - get back up 8!

Keep your eyes on the prize and you can do this!!!!

fredericktambunan

Until I win. Don't quit. Just win

CameronKinder

Whenever I think I may be putting something in my face that is "not good" I ask my self... Is this piece of (insert food here) more important than reaching my goal? If it is? Fine. Eat it and don't beat your self up. If it's not? Then put it down and make a better choice.

amusedmonkey

Indefinitely. that's because I don't look at it as "trying again". First, I try to make the diet itself as easy as possible with as few unnecessary rules and forbidden foods as possible, then if I feel I need to maintain a higher calorie allowance for a while I go on a "maintenance break", and if I have even higher calorie days I just dismiss them as "*kitten* happens" and move on.

I think of my diet as an extended long term thing with a few hurdles here and there and I don't seek perfection. perfection can be pretty tiring. It's much gentler on the mind than the "fail and restart" mentality, so I'm less likely to get frustrated.

jennifer_417

As many timestudents as it takes.

JustMissTracy

Try again...and again...and again....until you can't get up anymore.

bunnye20

Thanks everyone! You all really motivated me to keep on. Guess it's easier to be hard on yourself than to keep going!

Melysa1988

When nothing helps I watch food documentaries on netflix. It gives me motivation to eat better.

Gimsteinn

Here's how I did it

1. Find a sport you think is fun
2. Enjoy your sport
3. When you're at the point working out gives you endorphin so much that you feel like you have to work out, add to your work outs

In my experience the diet follows.. I didn't start to watch what I was eating and eat healthy until I realized how much my poor diet was effecting my performance. So I started eating healthier and my performance got better.

jennifer_417

jennifer_417 wrote: »

As many timestudents as it takes.

Sigh...autocorrect strikes again...

lauracups

The world doesn't stop just because you are trying to change a habit. Each day you must make the conscious effort to do what does us well or does us harm. That's where moderation comes in. Can you enjoy a smaller amount of things you want? Or do you decide to be a slave to it. It is a choice. People hate that word as it implies we can control something, guess what, you may not control the world around you or even your ability to exercise, but you sure can control the amount of any given food.
I say this not to be harsh, but to share what I learned. 65lbs gone, took forever, bad days good days, a lot of plateaus, a lot of stress, a lot of reasons to go off the rails, but I get back on the next day because I made the choice to do so.
Wishing you luck!

teetertatertango

There's degrees, too. Don't have to throw in the towel altogether, maintaining sure beats gaining, even if I would rather be losing.

Dmaster1214

The key is allowing yourself to eat that piece of cake, but just having a small amount.

Restriction psychologically creates stronger desire.

If you tell yourself you can't have something, your will power will run out.

It's not about eat perfect, it's about moderation.

I started losing weight effortlessly when I allowed myself to eat certain "guilty" foods but instead of completely removing them, I just had a small amount to satisfy myself and not feel like "oh my god I need to fight every desire I get" that's not the right way to change your life. It's only temporary.

And finally, if you do overindulge, don't see it as a failure and suddenly give up, just get right back on the wagon and find those triggers that make you overeat.

I eat a piece of brownie almost every day after dinner and in 3 months I've never felt like I was on a a diet and my cholesterol and health results improved dramatically.