lack of motivation to get started and keep going, the works.

jannice4

I am struggling to get started - (age 55) have 59lbs to lose.

I plan to start on Jan 2nd as realistically STARTING mid- holiday is not going to happen. But it is so hard to get my head in gear for the change. Plus, my record is poor. Last New year/Spring I lost 32lbs then piled it all back on again by Nov. Very depressing. Exercise too, did loads, now none.

I KNOW this is stupid, but I can't get going OR keep going... any support/suggestions gladly received.

ashdawg8790

Well, what worked for you last spring? Did you enjoy the activities you were doing? Did you get bored of them? Did your life suddenly get busier, leaving you less time for meal prep or exercise? Did you eat the same foods for 3-4 months and get burnt out eating them? 32lbs is something to be really proud of! Take a look at what was working for you and try to figure out what it was that knocked you off-track. I know for me, boredom will get me, as will a change in a different routine in my life - for example, eating salad with chicken every day for a week will make me want to jump off the nearest bridge, and after the fall I couldn't get outside as much as I had been before, which really dropped my general activity level (I do better with being active when I'm being productive - for example, push-mowing the lawn, gardening, walking my dogs, or shoveling rather than just going out for a run). Do you enjoy structured workouts that follow a specific schedule (like c25k) or would you rather mix and match, or just walk around the neighborhood? It also sounds like you might have made a lot of drastic changes fairly quickly last year - perhaps you got overwhelmed? Would it be easier to focus on one thing at a time rather than everything at once?

jannice4

I am retired so I have as much time as I want.
I was power-walking 5.5miles a day 6/7 but I got bored and eating well, but not counting calories as such. I checked for a few days and it averaged at 17000 cals a day. Which was really good and should have been easy to maintain. That was with eating meat and veg, no potatoes.
Thanks for the advice to make changes slowly.
Last spring I followed an annual health check with nurse, dangerous high cholesterol and BP. As my brother died of heart attack age 47, I was jolted into action. But probably burnt out as you suggest.

catdoc1

Janice, will you please watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix? It shows how you can lower your cholesterol very quickly with diet (and no drugs, mine dropped 80 points in 2 months) and your blood pressure. It's very interesting and motivating. If you decide to watch it, then have questions, let me know. Laura

kbmnurse

First lose the word can't it is more like won't.

jannice4

Thanks, I will look up netflix suggestion. I really don't want to go onto meds for it.

liznotyet

Learning to eat more vegetables before you start controlling portions of other foods really helps me stay on track. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks must all contain some vegetables or at least fruit. Adding balance exercises and walking barefoot or with minimalist shoes occasionally may diminish boredom and increase benefits of power walking. Happy new year!

jannice4

Thanks, the shoelesss walking sounds interesting, don't you worry about stones etc?

goldthistime

catdoc1 wrote: »

Janice, will you please watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives" on Netflix? It shows how you can lower your cholesterol very quickly with diet (and no drugs, mine dropped 80 points in 2 months) and your blood pressure. It's very interesting and motivating. If you decide to watch it, then have questions, let me know. Laura

Forks Over Knives is controversial at best (I'm not a fan personally). Search here in the forums for a good discussion.

OP, if you are struggling to get going and keep going, aiming for extreme changes (like Forks Over Knives advocates) is probably not for you. What you need to do is to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible. The goal is to develop habits that you can maintain for the rest of your life.

jannice4

Thanks goldthistime, i will watch it with that in mind. Especially as I gave up so completely last time.

CynthiasChoice

I'm constantly trying to get re-motivated. For me, after a few days of eating processed foods and sugar, I feel like my willpower gets kidnapped. I think it's a brain chemistry/leptin/ghrelin hormone thing that goes haywire, and makes me feel food-obsessed and eating correctly again seems impossible.

Last time, I straightened myself out by switching the sugar-carb binge to a meat-fat binge. And lots of water. After a few days, my brain seemed sane enough again to eat appropriately. The two days of extra meat and fat might not have been super healthy, but certainly healthier than continuing on high carbs indefinitely.

As a side note, I found the (Forks over Knives) vegan, whole food diet really rewarding on a mental and emotional level. But after a year, even though my total cholesterol was down, the HDH/LDL ratio was really out of whack. After I added meat back to my diet and limited grains, my ratio was in the healthy range again.

Some people thrive on a vegan diet, but I didn't. The vegan diet is high carb - there's no way to get around that - and it's pretty well established that a high-carb diet leads to heart disease (in susceptible people) even if the carbs are coming from whole foods. Just something to think about if Forks over Knives inspires you to adopt a vegan lifestyle.

Rincewind_1965

The two questions that arise from your introduction:
1. When, if not now? There is absolutely no reason for not starting today.
Sure, it's mid-holiday and it's hard, but on the other hand, after New Year we have Valentine's Day waiting bringing tons of chocolates, next is Easter, so what would be the point. After this it's already too late to get a decent shape for the beach in 2017 so probably better to start in October ... Nope, from September on you will find Halloween and Christmas already in the stores ... Thanksgiving is no good starting-point neither ... You see, we have about 364 dates a year when starting a transformation doesn't make sense at all ... only one on which it does: TODAY

2. Who, if not you?
We might tell you what worked or works for us and you will get a lot of suggestions that (in all likeliness) will not work for you at all ... and if you are really lucky they will not even damage you more than your overweight.

So first of all get rid of the idea that there is something like "One-Size-Fits-All" plan of weightloss.
For me (-100 lbs within 10 months) it is a constant process of self-observation, entirely changed nutrition combined with a lot of sports. None of this is mandatory.
-Sports allow you to eat more and help you to get through High-Energy-Intake times (e.g. Christmas) without too much damage. But "Sports" is absolutely useless if you don't love the exercise you have chosen.
-Changing your nutrition (by reducing the intake, and/or by actually changing what you eat) is usually the best starting point for all transformations (Note how I try to avoid the evil word "Diet"), but will very soon become pointless if you don't like to eat the stuff.
-Self-Observation is my multi-purpose-fast-response weapon. Transformation for me had a lot of "Trial-And-Error", SO allowed me to notice the errors faster and significantly raised the efficiency-level. For me it wouldn't have worked without, but if you are more the type that needs a pre-configured diet (E.g. WheightWatchers) SO for you is not required (except for the weekly Weigh-In, of course).

But, as I told you, what worked for me will, most likely, not work for you. We are two entirely different people after all. You will have to find your own way and the best advice I can give you are this three:
1. Whatever you chose: Make sure that it fits into YOUR life
2. The time after a diet is the time before the next. So try, instead of dieting, to find a way that will bring you through the rest of your life. In this regard extreme nutrition-concepts as Keto, vegan, Low-XXX or whatever new label they are trying to sell us are to be seen as what they are ... Concepts, they may, or may not, work, but for most people surely are more a temporary episode.
3. Make sure to have fun while reducing your weight. Don't be overly dogmatic ... one "spoiled" day will not ruin your project, 360 will. So find the way that works for you.

I wish you all the best with your project

jannice4

So many kind and helpful responses. I plan to take on board the TODAY mantra but I have grown up kids visiting till 1st. I don't want to be cooking two lots of food and drooling over theirs.
So I plan to start on the 2nd. I have already started putting my walks back in place. SoOooo depressing how much energy and flexibility I have lost in 5 months. But, starting small then build up, no guilt this time round about what I can't do.

leanjogreen18

You don't have to eat different, just less. I eat the same as my husband but within my calorie goal.

jannice4

yesterday had bad a fall, and broken my fingers, 5 hours in a&e, very painful straightening procedure, splint and sling, i am feeling sorry for myself and hit the chinese takeaway last night. :-( trying to type left-handed is challenging too. want chocolate :-(