Always planning but never doing

jennyannenguyen160884

Help!
I'm addicted to planning my weight loss but always fail to actually begin. I spend hours creating low calorie meal planners and exercise schedules, but I am yet to actually follow any of them. I understand that this is something I need to address for myself but I wondered if anyone out there also had the same start. Any insight as to what it was that actually clicked and got you motivated to begin? I have all of the tools to succeed (maybe too many??) but there is just something holding me back. There is always an occasion that seems to slip me up (a party this weekend and then a family meal the following week). Any advice on making that first move and how to not let general life get in the way is greatly appreciated

tapwaters

Follow through is the hardest part, do you make plans to start tomorrow or to start right now?

jennyannenguyen160884

It's always tomorrow, maybe even next week depending on plans!

tapwaters

There's a big problem! Start now. Right this moment. Your inertia never hits the "go" moment because you keep living in your hairs, not actually changing. Start right this second with your lunch or dinner plans, depending on time zone.

hpacaro

I can relate so easily! There is a great Ted Talk called the 5 Second Rule. It's all about how we subconsciously pull the emergency brake on change and keep ourselves from moving forward. After so many aborted missions, you start to convince yourself that living healthy is just not "your thing" so pay attention to the conversations happening in your head. You can choose to shut them down vs. make them your reality. Then remember that diets never work. There will always be things that will get in your way, so don't view it as an either/or - Either I'm eating perfectly or I'm failing. Know that 6 good days and 1 bad are better than 7 bad. Aim for at least 80% good days and it will keep you moving forward. It will also keep you from giving up when you have one bad day.

jennyannenguyen160884

That is absolutely me!! I've pretty much already convinced myself that I will not get to goal and so have an almost why bother attitude, despite the fact I feel miserable in my current skin. I will try the new attitude of 6 good days/1 bad day is better than 7 bad because at the moment I'm the opposite. I definitely think that 1 bad day will ruin any progress and so never begin. I will start now and take each meal as it comes, making good choices as much as I can. My all or nothing attitude seems to be what's possibly holding me back!

cory17

Call it "NO EXCUSES". I do best with significant motivation, last year did a dietbet so had $ riding on it, that motivated me to start/stick with it. Now am back at beginning again as well. Think about the emotional side to it, what or how does eating reward you or bring relief. Or is this a reaction to boredom or procrastination. Or is this how your family socializes? What are the rewards, consequences both ways? I think people all do better with a carrot in front and something poking us out of the rut.

marie9910

I will try the new attitude of 6 good days/1 bad day is better than 7 bad because at the moment I'm the opposite.

I'd say this is the right idea but think of it as 6 good choices and 1 bad choice is better than 7 bad choices. Thinking of it only in terms of days could lead to the mindset of "Well, I've already messed up today, so I'll forget about making healthy choices until tomorrow." Take it decision by decision.

pamfgil

I found the best way to do this is start slow, change one thing, then wait at least a month before making the next change

estherdragonbat

That WAS me. Right up to the point where I developed a serious medical issue that was exacerbated by my obesity. I was heavier than I'd ever been. My dad was telling me to get on the wait-list for bariatric surgery. I was getting depressed buying size 3X and realizing that the store I was shopping at didn't carry much in higher sizes.

And then I got cellulitus which led to lymph edema, which got me a referral to a vascular surgeon and a diagnosis of refluxed veins in my legs. Caused in part by their having to support more weight than they were designed to do. So now, any time I have a cut or scrape on my leg, it runs a heavy risk of infection. Said infection usually needs multiple courses of antibiotics (which puts me at risk for developing a resistance to them). It's slow to heal; the last one needed months of daily visits from home-care nurses.

At this point, I guess I've been scared straight. If I don't take the weight off, bad things will happen. Not 'might happen at some point in the future'. Will.

On the upside, I saw my doctor yesterday and blew his mind when he saw I'd dropped 43 lbs in six months. I've still got a ways to go to get to a healthy weight, but it's going to happen. It has to. I don't want to face the consequences if I don't.

GrayRider61

https://goo.gl/photos/BpqG6dPGNfJdgxJLA

I love motivational quotes. Just get started and have fun with it.

Lizzy622

I only plan 5 days (Monday-Friday or Sunday-Thursday). Try sticking to a 5 day plan first. Also make the plan with the intention of sticking to it. Don't pick foods that are complicated or difficult to make or that you don't like to eat. Once you do it a few weeks it gets easier.

samuelgina91

Just start. One itty bitty step forward. Like more water, and less sugary replacement not water alternatives. There that is step one. Start. Go. Do it. Yes you can.

jen_092

I agree with the above! ^

It's interesting to me, because I study a theory in school called the stages of change or transtheoretical model. Behavior change is not as instant as we'd like to think. First you have to contemplate it, do some planning (which you are). Then action, and maintenance.

So next try doing some preparation. Sign up for a gym class, you'll probably go since you've signed up. Buy the ingredients for your recipe, you'll probably make it if you keep seeing the ingredients in the pantry. Buy new gym sneakers if they are needed, things like that. People move between stages in all different kinds of ways, not always linearly, and not all at the same speed. Keep up the good work you've done already by acknowledging you want to make change. To be honest, that's the hardest part, and the fact that you are having some hesitation between preparation and action is fine. You got this!

YAMIFAT81

Hahaha. I can relate to this!

secondtimearound03

I feel like I was reading something I wrote! Like you said, I spend SOOOOO much energy planning making cute little charts and it would work and I still don't understand why I can't stick with it. I love structure but I feel like if someone else challenged me to follow it, it would work but I don't have anyone that would be strict enough for me. I'm half way to being on track and I've been 'planning' weight loss since July of 2016.... seriously frustrating but I'm happy I'm not the only one that does this!

CovetedRebel

I do the exact same thing! I'll literally spend a week planning and then just keep procrastinating

cgvet37

Plans are nothing without execution. Focus on doing, and the rest will fall into place.

MomReborn

I like to think of the weight loss journey as being similar to Bloom's Taxonomy:


Creative Commons credit: Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/


Learning phases are not linear, and many of us are more creative than others. Creativity is where many of us accidentally start with, and become stuck on. We want to create workout routines, and diet plans. That would be great, except, we haven't learned what our bodies need, and how they react. We haven't established any sort of baseline, or stuck with anything to move forward through the learning process to get to this point.

You can easily start today, just by writing a simple note after you eat or workout. How many calories did you take in/burn? Try using the MFP tools. We all need to take baby steps, and simply get into the habit of just being mindful. If we are willing to learn, and just jump in, we can finally see some progress

Seffell

Then try not planning at all.
Wake up, weigh your breakfast and log it.

tapwaters

gebeziseva wrote: »

Then try not planning at all.
Wake up, weigh your breakfast and log it.

Yes.

pinuplove

Quit trying to plan and overhaul your whole life! There's a reason a certain athletic brand that shall remain nameless (given our current partners at MFP ) says 'Just Do It'

Just wake up tomorrow and eat less, move more, and start making incremental changes along the way.

Nikion901

What you describe about your weight loss innitatiion struggle sounds like me when it comes to housework. I've gotten into a terrible catch-22 with it over the past couple of years. It started with me getting behind. Then it evolved with me wasting time on making plans instead of doing the work. I think some of it had to do with having a hard time making a decision. And, there was so much that needed doing it was overwhelming. I knew it would take a lot of effort and a lot of time. Oh, I made rudimentary starts and gave it momentary effort, but nothing consistent.

The end result is that I am still 'working on it'. And, I am still losing precious time I could be spending happily in my home surrounded by company I want to keep and doing things I am yearning to do ... but am not able to do, yet.

The important thing is not to make too many copious plans. Not to try to make all the decisions at once, before even starting. It has to be like an onion, or a cabbage or head of lettuce ... it has to unfurl, one layer at at time. Then the deicisons come easier because they are just one of many, and are small instead of being a hinge-pin.

That's the same with weight loss, for myself, and possibly for you. Just start. I'm not finished losing weight. It's been going on for a few years now. There have been set-backs and stagnations ... but the small life-changing habits I have replaced with new ones are enduring, and so is it is that today I find myself 17% thinner than i was when I started. I still have another 14% to go. It's like some advise my brother once gave me when I was unsure how to proceed or which way to go. He said ... "Ni, it doesn't matter what you do first ... just start. The next step will reveal iself."

Ariliz23

I'm finding that I feel I need to do it perfectly or not at all. That's a fatal flaw when it comes to this stuff.

I'm going to screw up. I'm going to fall off the wagon - repeatedly. I'm going to be disappointed. I'm going to hit obstacles. The thing is to keep going. This past week I've fallen off the wagon after a disappointment. I need to start over. What I do is to just keep going and do something now. Go for a walk or make a pot of soup. Anything. But right now in this moment.

Any progress is a step in the right direction. Each night I try to do a little check in about what I did right and what I want to try to do differently tomorrow. Today I went over on calories and had too many sweets (pot luck lunch) but I got in a lot of fruits and veggies, I met my protein goal and I had soup at lunch rather than a burger and fries, so that's good. Tomorrow I'll walk on the treadmill (I'll have to tell myself it's just for 5 minutes or I won't do it. Then I'll go at least 30 because I'm there already), eat fewer sweets and cook some meals so I have them ready to go on busy days.

wilsonsprom

Maybe think about perfectionism. Often I get stuck in this: not starting because it's all too big.

amtyrell

Pick one tiny habit. Start now. Follow that good habit for several weeks then add a second good habit ect.
Start with logging everything before you eat it. Change now. Log everything best you can from now on. Once that habit is engraved add a second good habit like replacement of junk snacks with a healthy one. Just pick one new habit at a time that you can start immediately and stick with forever.