Living the Lifestyle - Thurs 10/20

Calvin2008Brian

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday –- Podkey (Bob)
Tuesday -- Misterhub (Greg)
Wednesday -- Beachwoman2006 (Cindy)
Thursday -- Calvin2008 (Brian)
Friday -- Al_Howard (Al)

Today's Topic: success breeds success in many endeavors, but what about with weight loss?

Does success breed success, or does it too often lead to complacency and failure?

leeless511

My personal experience, success bred success. After losing about the first 5-8 pounds, I was so thrilled with that success as a result of what I was doing to follow the WW plan that I just wanted to keep doing it more.

In maintenance, that success of hitting goal does wane at times and makes keeping the right lifestyle focus become unfocused occasionally. All the good things I gained by losing (successes) do get me to re-focus when I stray pretty quickly.

Rachel0778

I think it depends on whether I'm self sabotaging or not. When I used to be on weight watchers and I would get close to goal, a lot of times I feel like it's "good enough" and I stop being so strict about my logging. Soon I stop losing weight, get frustrated, and give up. This time around feels different because I'm focused on my habits and not on what the scale reads. I picked habits that are manageable and easy to comply with so it's easy to keep being successful in meeting them, which then breeds success in other areas of life (fitness, weight, etc.). So, I guess my answer is both depending on what your mindset is

88olds

The trend is your friend.

Now, do you want to get to goal or not? If you do, take the long view, and ride the trend. If you don't, tell yourself you've got this because you've lost 15lbs and your knees don't hurt.

That loss last week was, well, last week. You have to decide everyday that you're going to stick with it.

gadgetgirlIL

Not sure why I wasn't successful at maintaining earlier in my life, but this time around, how good I feel after shedding 50 pounds of excess weight is a strong motivator to keep it off.

I truly was miserable in June 2011 with the extra 50 pounds that were making my knees hurt and making doing my job hard (I stand a lot in lab). I felt like I was 80 years old rather than just turning 50.

There also was a mental component that was missing earlier in my life. Too often I put others' needs before mine (typically work related). Now, I'm very selfish with my time away from work. I no longer feel that I have to be connected all the time. Really, the world will not come to an end if a student has to wait for a response to email until Monday.

gadgetgirlIL

ION for those who were eagerly awaiting WW Black and the ability to earn Fitpoints via hanky panky:

http://wwmessageboards.freeforums.net/post/65645/thread

Calvin2008Brian

If any of you know a foolproof means of countering success-breeds-complacency, I'd suggest consulting with a patent attorney.

I suppose it comes down to core motivation. If losing weight is sufficiently important, we'll recognize a short term gain for what it is and not as a sign that WL is easy-peasy and we're suddenly bulletproof.

Jimb376mfp

On the way down the scale seeing all the small amounts add up to bigger losses definitely stoked me to keep going. Then when I hit the Minus

Jimb376mfp

Just lost a LONG reply to LTL

goldenfrisbee

I have to admit that I have some success and then I start to get complacent. I really need to stop this cycle.

minimyzeme

I vote for both. So far for me it has bred success, but I don't consider a year sufficient time to judge. Knowing myself, I have little doubt that if I let my guard down, I could easily go to complacency and failure. That is the primary reason I'm still measuring and tracking food. It provides the bumpers on the bowling lane of weight loss for me. I like to think I could make intuitive maintenance work and I might give it a shot down the road. But for now, I know my weight loss is about eating less and to do that for the time being means I need to know (and limit) how much I'm eating.

Good question @Calvin2008Brian . Ask me again in another year...