The hardest stage/part

kittycat1116

For those that have succeded in staying on track, what was or is your hardest obstical to overcome and how did you get past it? Im having a ton of sugar cravings.

Okohme

Sugar cravings were hard for me, too. Fruit helped a lot. Also, fruit + yogurt, or fruit + cottage cheese. Carrots are great, you can steam them with cinnamon and nutmeg. Once apart from daily doses of the refined over-processed garbage foods, you may find you crave them less, I did. I still lose my everloving mind when it comes to cinnamon bears. I just can't have them around the house.

JeromeBarry1

My hardest thing was figuring out what I needed. By examining my dairy on days in which I ate too much, I realized that a common thread was that I had skipped breakfast. For whatever reason, I skipped breakfast on some weekends and every single time I lost control later that day. When I was happy to weigh 270+, this didn't matter. When I wanted to lose weight, this became a problem that I had to solve. I started eating breakfast every day whether I wanted it or not. That helped. I'm down 95 lb in 14 months.

fostersu

Burn out. Or really more likely a change of routine or schedule. I've been on the school schedule in grad school/teaching for the last few years and while I do great in the fall and spring all the breaks and holidays over winter and summer vacation really throw me off and make it hard to keep going without backtracking seriously

Lucy1752

Snacks. I am a grazer and the mental hurdle to not pick up snacks was/is difficult. Sometimes I still find myself in the cupboard in the evening and wonder how I got there? I don't remember deciding to snack but there I stand.

Mindfulness is something I have to practice every day.

@Okohme I really like frozen blueberries in yogurt!

I was not a breakfast person either @JeromeBarry1 but found myself not snacking at work if I incorporate it.

Schedule upheaval would not sit well with me either @fostersu . Some people call it being in a rut to do the same foods regularly. I call it consistency and calming. I have my plan, I work my plan.

Good topic @kittycat1116 !

livingleanlivingclean

Maintaining.

jen_092

fostersu wrote: »

Burn out. Or really more likely a change of routine or schedule. I've been on the school schedule in grad school/teaching for the last few years and while I do great in the fall and spring all the breaks and holidays over winter and summer vacation really throw me off and make it hard to keep going without backtracking seriously

Oh man I totally agree about this! I'm also a grad student. I'm teaching a summer course this year, though, so that might help me stay in somewhat of a routine. I spend most of my breaks sitting in my parents' house just resting my brain and visiting family and friends, which means stopping by old favorite restaurants, m and not moving as much as I should for weeks or months on end. Just being uprooted to go home is enough to throw me off.

For the OP, my biggest obstacle is that I'm nearing the end, funnily enough. So not only am I becoming kinda mentally sick of restricting my calories, but I also need to be extra careful to accurately log since losing the last 10 pounds or so will require absolutely hitting my small deficit every week.

NavajoGirl85

Salty or saucy foods definitely. Nothing tasted better than a bag of chips or pasta to me. Now I buy low sodium crackers, and eat black bean pasta.

caramel827

For me during my loss the hardest part was accepting that it was a slow process and would take over a year to get where I want to be.

After my loss while maintenance I wasn't prepared for losing the "high" of stepping on the scale seeing a loss. Yes it is a high to stay within my goal but I really was unsure about how to do that even with the calories allotted. It blows my mind now that my body can stay... stable (off word choice I know lol).

fostersu

caramel827 wrote: »

It blows my mind now that my body can stay... stable (off word choice I know lol).

This. I've been so up and down and everywhere that staying even...maintaining seems totally foreign

happysherri

Hardest thing for me was consistency!!! Exercising and eating. I don't always feel like working out and I don't always feel like making the healthier food choice.

Balance is key for me right now. I am not prepping for some competition or a particular date (like wedding or something) so I figure I don't need to be losing 1 to 2 lbs a week. I can do this at my own pace. I have my weight loss set to losing 0.5 lb a week (only have 15 lbs to lose). I eat pretty clean during the week and allow myself a cheat meal on the weekend, this has helped prevent me from binging. Before I would try the all or nothing and end up pigging out and get discouraged. My relationship with food has improved.

I do have a wicked sweet tooth, but through practice I have learned the above -balance. Sometimes I will have a couple pieces of chocolate or wait until my "splurge" meal and have half of an oreo brownie sundae! Hang in there

Chadxx

Honestly, the hardest part was making the decision to take responsibility for my health. Aside from that, the biggest hazard I watch out for snacks and portion control and people shoving them in front of me thinking that they are being nice. Sometimes, you just have to say no.

Chef_Barbell

Lack of sleep.

cwolfman13

I took the baby step approach to my nutrition and fitness and didn't really try to force whole sale changes overnight. I also didn't eliminate things or look to fully avoid certain things...I focused on just eating less in terms of "discretionary" calories and improving my nutrition overall, over time. I didn't really have much in the way of struggles other than not being able to eat as much as I would generally have preferred.

HaleCry

These last 20lbs are a b*tch!! Seriously, it is so difficult. I wasn't prepared for it being this hard, the first 40 seem like a piece of cake compared to this.

treehugnmama

the emotional roller-coaster. getting on tje scale after a great week and being up or the same. I learned that the scale is only one tool and it doesn't define my mood. Just because the stupid scale didn't move doesn't mean I failed this week. I jave learned to look at all tje nsv. I lost 65 pounds from may to Dec and have lost nothing from January 5th to now....sometimes I forget tje scale doesn't matter and my health trumps that son of a kitten scale

goalpeace

Alcohol I have too much of a social life revolved around alcohol!

NavajoGirl85

Hardest part for me is probably consistent excercise. I will go at it for 2 weeks and then I'll just be like blah. I stay under my calories especially on those days so I'm still losing weight even when I don't excercise. It's more of a mind thing when I don't excersice because even though I know I'll still lose weight I feel that I'm slacking. I usually only take a couple days off then get back to 4-5 days of excercise. If I had to name another one, when my family gets together they are big eaters. They get together and everyone brings a dish and they just eat eat eat. However, I have just started bringing veggie and fruit trays to the gatherings that way I have some choices.

DietPrada

Easily the hardest part for me was the first 3 or 4 weeks once switching to super low carb. But so worth it to finally conquer that gnawing hunger that comes with the carb rollercoaster (sugar spike -> insulin spike ->hunger). Now that I burn fat rather than sugar I am able to control my eating, after 20 years of being at the mercy of food. I'm 4 years solid low carb now, and I'd NEVER go back.

nowine4me

I'm in maintenance and sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's a challenge, but being mindful of your choices is key. And not letting those few pounds become 5 and then 10....

Overall, the toughest part of "the journey" has been just relaxing about the whole thing. Patience really pays off here. No need to white-knuckle it or put your life on hold. Relax, take your time and know that losing 5 pounds in a month or a year is only a win if you keep it off.

Best of luck. Have some fun along the way and set yourself up for success in the long run.

kittycat1116

Okohme wrote: »

Sugar cravings were hard for me, too. Fruit helped a lot. Also, fruit + yogurt, or fruit + cottage cheese. Carrots are great, you can steam them with cinnamon and nutmeg. Once apart from daily doses of the refined over-processed garbage foods, you may find you crave them less, I did. I still lose my everloving mind when it comes to cinnamon bears. I just can't have them around the house.

I feel ya! My favorite is gum drops. I did turn down cookies last night. Haha. Baby steps.right?

kittycat1116

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

My hardest thing was figuring out what I needed. By examining my dairy on days in which I ate too much, I realized that a common thread was that I had skipped breakfast. For whatever reason, I skipped breakfast on some weekends and every single time I lost control later that day. When I was happy to weigh 270+, this didn't matter. When I wanted to lose weight, this became a problem that I had to solve. I started eating breakfast every day whether I wanted it or not. That helped. I'm down 95 lb in 14 months.

Congrats! That's amazing! I have over 100 to lose and just starting out on my journey. I already miss being able to sit and eat whatever I want and not care, but I know that I need to be a healthier person, I just want to feel better.

kgirlhart

For me the first couple of weeks was hard just getting used to eating less food. I still eat lots of sweet things. I do try to get most of my sugar from fruits, but I have not eliminated anything. If I really want something I make it fit. I do find that logging things before I eat then helps. Most of the time when I see how many calories something has I am less likely to want to "spend" my calories on a candy bar or cake when I can eat maybe some Greek yogurt that will satisfy my sweet tooth and help me reach my protien goal. I also try not to snack. It is easier for me to work in a treat as a dessert at the end of a meal when I am not really hungry. If I eat a good amount of protien at my meals I don't really need snacks during the day.

maybe1pe

Plateaus.... i'm going on 4 weeks of no loss. and mentally i know i'm doing the right things my diet has been consistent (even on days when I don't take the time to log everything) my exercise has been going really well. I can tell I'm stronger but mentally that number not moving is starting to psych me out.

I know there are other measurements of progress and I look at those as well but it would still be nice if it would just move a little bit.

titotito48

@maybe1pe I lost 8 pounds and then nothing for 21 days. I looked online for ways to get the scale to go down and did three things. 1. Increased my water. 2. Cut way back on sodium. 3. Made sure to stay below my calorie allotment. Finally lost another 1.6

maybe1pe

@titotito48 Thanks. I have tried everything. I already drink as much was as physically possible. I average my calories over the week and am always under my weekly. And unfortunately I can't cut back on sodium because I get severe leg cramps if I do. I have also tried doing refeed days (since I lift) because some people suggest that can help your body release water, but that hasn't worked either. I've tried high carb days, higher sodium days, literally everything that people suggest when you get stuck like this and nothing has changed. My weight has been the exact same every day for the past month.

I've resigned myself to believe it will happen when it happens.

prattiger65

I have to be careful not to "get" hungry. If I get hungry, I tend to overeat.

Rivers2k

I gave up eating after the kids went to bed. Everyone knows Im not craving carrots and celery for evening snack. I would do good all day then add another 900 calories after the kids went to bed (ice cream adds up quickly). So I made a pact with my wife that I wouldn't eat after the kids went to bed. I craved and was starving every night around 9:30 or 10, I pushed through it and now 3 weeks later I don't crave at night nearly as much. some nights I don't even think of food after the kids go to bed, (new habit forming yay!)

I also changed the way I think about food someone brought to my attention its like any other addiction. I am telling my self I deserve this pizza or I deserve these nachos, I have been good or im in a bad mood which ever. In reality what I am eating doesn't give me the satisfaction it promises, furthermore it only hurts me. So when I say to myself I deserve this I remind myself that it is only going to hurt me and I don't deserve to hurt myself.

Cravings will leave or dissipate eventually.

Also I am not cutting out one specific food, that has never worked long term. If it fits in my calories and I am not emotional eating I will have some. I had 2 girl scout cookies yesterday (150 cals) they were enjoyable and I added them to my food diary. Tomorrow I know I am going out for pizza with some guys at work so I will count it and not going to over my calories allotted.

Wow this turned out to be a long post. Sorry. To sum up hardest part is not eating after the kids go to bed. What I am doing about it, total mind set change.

kittycat1116

@Rivers2k I like what you shared about this being like an addiction, as eating for me feels like just that. Very insightful!

mskimee

Plateau!! Especially when you'e had a "great week" in terms of work out/food and you see nothing in return and just want to say screw it and eat all the things!!

Rivers2k

kittycat1116 wrote: »

@Rivers2k I like what you shared about this being like an addiction, as eating for me feels like just that. Very insightful!

Glad I could help. If you truly feel like its an addiction look for a Celebrate Recovery group in your area. They are nationwide and no cost. They say its for people with hurts, habits, and hang ups. Isn't that all of us!?