Why is sticking to weight loss so hard?

incisron

Why is it so hard for me to stick to weight loss? I keep failing. It seems to be harder than other stuff I try to improve on. It's weird.

queenliz99

How steep is your deficit. You could eat 100 calories below your maintainence level.

LivingtheLeanDream

are you depriving yourself/eating too low calorie as that's the biggest culprit.

seska422

Don't try to change everything at once. The closer you stay to your normal way of eating, the easier it should be to stick to a calorie deficit.

Track your intake for a couple of weeks without making changes. You can then go back through to see where you might eat smaller portions or make satisfying substitutions.

VintageFeline

I recognised the username so did a little checking out of your posting history. It seems you may try to go too hard and are hard on yourself too. The cutting out fat post (that, to put it not so nicely, was a ridiculous idea) and the one where you berated yourself for not doing better despite the fact you were going through a really stressful time personally shows that you need to relax about it all a bit.

Set a small deficit, say 0.5-1lbs loss per week and just start tracking again. And when you "fall off the wagon" for a day or two, try not to let it spiral into weeks and months. Basically, just be kinder to yourself. You're young, if you can get this figured out now you're setting yourself up brilliantly for the rest of your life.

leanjogreen18

^^^ This

I have a mantra I tell myself often "make up your mind and your body will follow". This helps me to remember I'm in control of my food intake and my negative thoughts (only I can change them).

Dont restrict yourself from foods you love, work them in your calorie goal. Eventually you will play with your foods and find the right combo that keeps you satiated on lower calories. For me it was having a carb, protein and fat in every meal.

After all these years of being there for my family I decided I needed to show up for myself. Show up for yourself and don't give up. It does get easier.

ahoy_m8

It does get easier. The quickest route to failure, IMHO, is undereating. Sure, everyone trying to lose weight tries to avoid overeating. That's obvious, but less obvious is how important it is to eat enough to sustain you. An appropriate calorie goal really is the key to long term success. If you're having a hard time, re-evaluate your calorie goal.

incisron

Thanks, everybody. I will retry and will take your advice.

Coughlin691

I don't know what IMHO is, but I do feel there are days that I do not eat enough. I then fall into the horrible cycle of eating too much in the evening ~ stress eating. Too tired to exercise and just want a glass of wine to unwind from stressful day.

ahoy_m8

In my humble opinion

Azdak

Long-term, we (and I include myself) tend to focus mostly, if not exclusively, on the physical, and not as much on the psychological/behavioral component of weight loss. Over time, the same factors that drove you to gain weight in the first place reassert themselves.

KrazyKrissyy

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

are you depriving yourself/eating too low calorie as that's the biggest culprit.

Depriving, yes. Low calorie, no. They are two separate things. I've been losing weight on low calorie without even trying (while not feeling deprived) and my weight is already on the low end of healthy. Just saying.

adamyovanovich

Most people that get in the mood to diet, they do it extreme, they cut all their favorites, eat only rabbit food and go low calories. Then you hate it and give up.

The alternative, is eat what you like, but change up how you make it a little and try to cut some calories out of it, and watch your portion.

This is my 3rd big weight loss attempt, my first time i did p90x, busted my butt, didn't change my diet, once i quit doing the program i gained it all back. My second attempt i cut my calories hardcore, only ate rabbit food, drank smoothies, i hated it so i failed. This time im eating what i want, i just stay under my goal and ive been on it 176 days now!!!! The most i lost before was 15-20 pounds and i did it for 30-60 days and quit. Ive lost 55 pounds this time and feel confident that this is my path to success.

cwolfman13

I think for most people it's because they run huge and unsustainable deficits and they have a very myopic view of what constitutes proper nutrition so everything they're eating is boring.

VintageFeline

KrazyKrissyy wrote: »

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

are you depriving yourself/eating too low calorie as that's the biggest culprit.

Depriving, yes. Low calorie, no. They are two separate things. I've been losing weight on low calorie without even trying (while not feeling deprived) and my weight is already on the low end of healthy. Just saying.

Deprivation is about more than a feeling. The body is pretty good at sending signals to the brain encouraging us to start replacing all the things we are lacking. And yes, even on a plant based diet, at too low calories you will be lacking in something, even if it's as simple as adequate fuel/calories for the body to function properly. Lack of protein will lead to muscle loss.

So everything has to be considered, psychological deprivation and real, potentially harmful actual food deprivation.

And eating in such a way as to lose as much as you did as quickly as you did is nothing to be bragging about.