Living the Lifestyle Wednesday May 10th

gadgetgirlIL

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday - Jimb376mfp (Jim) & 88olds (George)
Tuesday - Podkey (Biker Bob)
Wednesday - GadgetgirlIL (Regina)
Thursday - misterhub (Greg)
Friday - TimDumez (Tim)

Today's topic: Slip slidin' away...

Are you slipping a bit on your journey? Prevent it from becoming a slide! Please share what aspect of your journey that you may be struggling with and your plan to overcome it.

podkey

Bread,chocolate , "special" occasions with too much laxity lately. Will focus more. These boards and meetings help keep my slippage from becoming a cliff tumbling.

88olds

Activity. I can't seem to find the groove I had last spring. Or even the groove I had last fall in Chi.

Plus I've injured my left foot and ankle. So far I've been wallowing briefly in self pity. Getting out of this today. Either calling a new sports medicine doc or going back to the podiatrist.

Jimb376mfp

Two minor struggles
1. Accepting the slow progress as I get closer to Onederland. Jan I started at 231, now at 214 after 18 weeks. Just dealing with the fact that ANY loss is a LOSS!
2. Still have relapses into mindless binge eating. The regret kicks always in AFTER I do it and leaves me feeling like "Why wipe out a week of good with a moment of bad?" This is something I will work on.

Rachel0778

My struggle: Social events with food. I always try to do well but it always ends up being more than expected and I feel like summer is an endless swing of social events with food. I honestly don't know how corporate trainers and other people who travel and/or have to eat out all the time manage to stay trim!

I pre-tracked the rest of the week (including the 4 occasions we'll be eating out) so I've got a guide to work off of. I'm committed to stopping this slippage, since it's already gone high enough as it is!

TimDumez

My major struggle is "not keeping my eating under control in times of stress". The time leading up to losing my wife last fall, and for 2 to 3 months after that, and then almost losing my twin brother several times in and out of hospital over the 3 month period from the last week of January 2017 to the last week April 2017, are good examples. When I'm eating in a hurry I tend to just grab for things and end up with way too much, and since I don't like throwing food away, well of course I have to eat it. I've been able to keep my WL going, but it's been a struggle.

gadgetgirlIL

@TimDumez - my condolences on the loss of your wife. I had missed that news. I hope your twin brother is doing better, I do recall reading of his health challenges. Major stressors in your life, that's for sure.

gadgetgirlIL

Hard to believe, but my answer is activity. I'm still getting to the fitness center on a very regular basis, but the amount of time I spend doing cardio and weights has dropped down the past 2 months. First is was due to a knee issue in March. Then I had the week of total hell with my back (psoas muscle locking up) the first week of April. Both issues seem to be under control but getting back to the level of activity I had in January and February is proving elusive. I was pretty frustrated that I was forced to walk some hills while bike riding in Wisconsin this past weekend. It was due to the loss of leg strength from the decrease in activity.

I did get a 66 minute brisk walk on the treadmill done this morning. My average speed was greater than I've done in quite a while. Now to keep up this momentum.

Jerdtrmndone

I have been sliding a lot lately because i am in high stress mode due to DW's health issues and I need to do a lot for her plus they added hrs. to my pt. work for now and I am always worrying and on the go doing most the chores.

It still is a problem because I know I am not hungry and my mind plays with me in a big way.
Today is another day and at least I started off with breakfast 1/2 c. Fiber One and Blueberries and Banana and I know what my lunch and dinner are today it is already tracked with 500 calories left. Tonight probably will be a challenge if DW has a bad day while I am at work because I hold myself accountable that I can not be home.

spospo1

Consistancy. OP for a few days then fall off the wagon for a day and so on. I'm trying to track closely and increase activity to compensate.

Jimb376mfp

It's comforting to me to know we all have our own personal struggles, but more important is the fact that we all keep trying. Sometimes just writing my thoughts about WL on LTL helps me, and reading other GoaDies comments is always interesting.

Out_of_Bubblegum

2 things:
Portion control at dinner time.. has been slipping. Last night was an eye opener when I realized half way through dinner that I hadn't portioned, had no idea how much I had really eaten, and ended up eating until over-full.

Activity: My goal is to bring my activity level very high - because I know it will help me reach other goals that I have including WL and athletic performance .... and instead of ratcheting up my activity weekly, the last 2 weeks have been in a plateau. I know some of it is because HIT is very difficult in a deficit... so half-way through the workout, it becomes a serious mental effort to complete the tasks at hand.. .and it is much easier to tell myself that I've done enough when I reach the same level as a week before, instead of taking it to the next.

This brings me to an inner struggle - do I start fueling more to make it easier to ratchet up my workouts? Or do I wait for the weight to come off, which makes the workload less, which should have corresponding gains in abilities.
I still have another 30 lb to lose before I hit maintenance mode.. so I need to stop whining and push a little more.

gadgetgirlIL

@bwmalone - would a change in your meal/snack timing help you get through your HIT sessions better?

Some of my friends are able to run on little to nothing to eat prior. But for me, I struggle unless I've eaten my normal breakfast a couple hours prior to our runs. We all have to find out what works the best for us.

Out_of_Bubblegum

@gadgetgirlIL
I'll give that some serious thought... due to my schedule, my HIT comes pretty late at night, a few hours after dinner - it might very well be an issue with the macros at dinner, the timing of the workout in relation to dinner affecting things... to change it will require some fairly radical rearrangement of my schedule, but I think this weekend may be a good time to try and experiment a bit.

minimyzeme

I've definitely noticed I'm more prone to stuffing my face in grey, wet (depressing) weather and we've had a lot of it the last few weeks. Of course, it comes on the heels of a winter that had plenty of the same. For a variety of reasons, the 'tone' of the weather matches my mood, all of which has challenged me from time to time. I've yo-yo'd up and down quite a bit over the last few weeks and months, nothing terribly serious but certainly noticeable.

Part of the key to keeping this behavior under control is simply remaining aware of what's driving my mood and therefore, my desire to eat. Thanks to GOAD, I do know that 'If hunger's not the problem, food's not the answer'. I also know that for me, hunger's not the problem. I have three primary ways of addressing the desire to eat. First, doing something to address what the problem really is. Sometimes that's doable; others there's really nothing I can do. Accepting that can go a long way.

Another way is going ahead and using food as a crutch, but making good choices about what I eat: fruits, veggies, or lean proteins. I don't mind using the crutch but I know there's no sense in adding to my problems through my weight.

Lastly, if circumstances permit, I distract myself with something else: work around the house, taking a walk, hobbies, etc. I have found just getting my mind off food and onto something (anything!) else can be enough to break the cycle and keep me on my path.

Rachel0778

bwmalone wrote: »

@gadgetgirlIL
I'll give that some serious thought... due to my schedule, my HIT comes pretty late at night, a few hours after dinner - it might very well be an issue with the macros at dinner, the timing of the workout in relation to dinner affecting things... to change it will require some fairly radical rearrangement of my schedule, but I think this weekend may be a good time to try and experiment a bit.

I used to struggle with enough energy for high intensity workouts too. One thing I've done is had 1/3 cup of oats with 1/2 scoop of protein powder. It's only 150 added calories, but the carbs/protein combo get me through the workout to improve my athletic performance and the ingredients are easy on digestion.

gadgetgirlIL

Great discussion everyone! Very helpful to me to get other's perspectives on slipping and sliding.

mcbluesky

My losses have stalled the past couple of weeks. No mystery. Coincides directly with increased consumption of junk food. I am not currently capable of moderating sugar. All or none, and I am fine with none. However, when I think I can moderate, usually ends up in a binge. Time to reset. Have not gained, but momentum in losing mode has stalled.