For those of you who have been doing this awhile...

Leah_62803

When did it become a habit? Was there a point when it became easier and felt like your new normal?

Every time I have tried to lose the weight, I've only made a few weeks or maybe a couple months before backsliding. I'm feeling more confident this time but I can't completely ignore my bad track record.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Do you try to cut the weight too quickly?

Slower weight loss is more successful long term.

TR0berts

I've noticed that many people, when trying to lose weight, make several - usually drastic - changes.

If this is you, good news! You only have to make a few subtle changes. Input your stats into MFP (since you're here, you should have done that already). Give yourself a realistic weight loss goal. For many people, that'll be 1 lb per week. Eat what you normally eat - after weighing/measuring (when possible) the foods you eat - up to the amount where you hit your Caloric goal. Don't worry if you're a handful of Calories under/over your goal. Just don't go too far over/under your goal - say, 100 Cals over/under.

Pay attention to what makes you full(er) while doing this. You'll probably find that some things you normally eat leave you feeling empty, while others will leave you satisfied better. You may have to play around with your choices to see what works best.

Once you have a fairly decent handle on things, you can make some tweaks, if necessary.


Oh, one other thing: when you exercise, MFP will give you additional Calories, to fuel your workouts. Eat these, or at least half of them. Otherwise, you may very well find that you're too tired to exercise and/or may end up overeating.

Leah_62803

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Do you try to cut the weight too quickly?

Slower weight loss is more successful long term.

Yes, I did. I had unrealistic goals and wanted it to come off FAST. I would basically just eat salads and yogurt every day...until one day I just couldn't anymore and I'd end up in a drive thru ordering enough food for 3. Then feel like crap and give up.
Or I'd weigh myself and see that I only lost .5 lb and feel like that was pointless and give up.

I've recently had an epiphany and now realize that if I would have kept up on that .5 lb a week loss, I'd be at my goal weight by now and then some! And if I would have started back up right after the many fast food binges, I'd be there too. You'd think that would be common sense but it went over my head until now.

I still like salads and yogurt but I also eat other things I like and plan my calories around the occasional fast food night. I also have a goal of losing 40 lbs by April 2018. I'm 5'4 and currently 177 lbs (SW 195) so I feel like it's actually attainable.

cwolfman13

Most people try to make wholesale, drastic changes overnight and ignore process. They get this idea that everything has to be 100% "clean" or it's a fail...that they have to go from the couch to doing all of the exercise all of the time, etc...again, ignoring process.

Dietary habits take time to change and evolve...fitness requires time to develop...it's all a process and when you embrace the actual process, everything is pretty easy.

I started out just tweaking things in my diet slightly and only dealt with a couple of issues at a time...when I started logging I noticed that I didn't eat much in the way of veg and fruit...so I made a point of that and set a goal for myself. I noticed pretty quickly that drinking 3-5 sodas per day was a huge calorie hit...so I reduced over time starting with having 1 per day...then every other day...then a couple times per week...once per week, etc. I have maybe 3-5 sodas in an entire year at this point. I made piece meal changes to my habits and let the process play out over what is now about 4.5 years.

Chef_Barbell

Small changes are more sustainable for me.

cqbkaju

Habits and motivation only get you so far, in the short-term.
You need to develop the discipline to do it whether you feel like it or not.

Not too much else to it.
Habits can be good or bad; habits are what got you here.
Motivation is short-lived and primarily based on emotional states and dopamine levels: reward-motivated behaviors.

Make small but deliberate changes over time and think of an average weight loss 6 months or a year out.
6 months is about 24 weeks = 24 lbs on average.

You might be able to do more but shooting for something more easily attainable may help you develop some confidence in the process.

The long-term, end-goal requires discipline because you stop worrying about "tomorrow" or "next week" and start thinking in terms of average loss over time.

It is your choice to fail, an easy choice to just give up or wallow in the past.

It will take discipline to succeed and keep the unwanted weight off.