LIVING THE LIFESTYLE FRIDAY 05/26/2017

TimDumez

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: Excuses

We all made excuses for not getting started with WL before we eventually did. Truth be told, some of us still make excuses for not staying OP now that we're in a WL program. I have listed some typical excuses below. You may have used others.

1. Eating healthy is too expensive!
2. I don't have the time!
3. It's too hard!
4. If I just LOOK at a brownie, I gain weight!
5. I just don't know how to start!
6. I have no willpower!
7. No one ever supports me!
8. I don't like exercise!
9. I just LOVE to eat!
10. Why bother? I'll just gain it all back anyway!

Do any of these sound familiar? How do you get past the excuses? How do you keep yourself OP now that you're in WL mode, when an excuse tries to raise it's ugly head?

In your responses, you may deal with individual excuses or the questions below them, or both. Enjoy!!!

Rachel0778

My biggest excuse was, "I just want to eat like a normal person!". However, the average woman in the US now weighs 15lbs more than I do. If I eat like a "normal" person, my body will reflect that and I like my healthy weight.

I now embrace that I do not eat like a "normal person". I pack my own lunch every day and I research healthy versions of comfort food recipes. I used to think I couldn't eat dessert or I wouldn't meet my goals, but I figured out how to make the plan work for me so I can have dessert every day. Small habit changes over time really do make a difference and I'm always learning how to improve.

TimDumez

In my own experience, the main excuses used were/are #3, #8, and my biggest excuses were #9 and #10. I also didn't have any serious or worrisome health problems until later in life, so I didn't feel that it was important to prioritize getting to and remaining at a healthy weight. I have lost 100+ pounds on 4 tries and 60+ pounds on 4 other tries. But staying there was never a priority for me until my serious and worrisome health problems became acute health problems. And yet now that I'm on another "try" at WL, I still make excuses from time to time to not be diligent about staying the course. There are many instances in which I struggle greatly to keep from mindfully over-indulging. I don't have much of a problem with mindless eating. It may be that I've never REALLY DEALT with and RESOLVED the 4 reasons which I listed at the beginning of this response. I'm having a lot of success this time around, but I'm very much struggling to do so. It seems like I'm always on the scary edge.

My response will probably not help anyone else, but it may help me to put it all down on paper like this. We shall see!!!

gadgetgirlIL

My biggest excuse was that I was just doomed to follow in my mother's footsteps. She died younger than she should have due to complications of morbid obesity.

My current excuses for not being more diligent with my weight creep include:

1) I can't stay within my budget when I have a day that starts at 4:30am and isn't over until 9:30pm.
2) This must just be a temporary gain from too much sodium or sore muscles
3) I'm too stressed out to worry about going over my calorie budget

goldenfrisbee

#1 I'll start losing weight down the road - I've got time
#2 I don't like to exercise
#3 I like to eat what I want when I want

I like to kick the can down the road and procrastinate on anything that is difficult or I don't like to do.

The big shocker for me was when I visited my sleep apnea doctor last summer. He said, "at your age it is very unlikely that you will ever get down to a healthy weight." He asked me to just try to lose something. Since I always think, "I'll do it later", this came as a real shock. For some reason I could always justify being obese because one day I would lose the weight. I wasn't considering that I was ruining the quality of my life.

Out_of_Bubblegum

Here is mine... and my answers to them in bold for those who don't have the time/inclination to read my rambling.

7. No one ever supports me!
9. I just LOVE to eat!

When I was a young athlete training 3-6 hours/day, 6 days per week.. just getting enough food to fuel the machine was a tough business. I ate prodigious amounts of food, regularly, much to the amusement and horror of those who would watch.. and I liked IT ALL - give me all the food, all the time, in all the quantity that I can possibly eat... repeat in a few hours because I'll be hungry again.

When I was a little older, but still highly active (military), I hit a happy medium for years. Didn't need to eat so much (nor could I afford to), and wasn't training for competition, so my burn rate was about 1/2 previous levels.. I maintained for years, happy and healthy.

When I got a little older and the comforts of a desk job (and the salary that goes with it), leaving the military, I stopped training, but didn't stop eating like I was... so it was inevitable that I gained.

I still love to eat.. I just have to plan now and make sure I am eating the right amounts for the activity levels I am achieving in balance with my WL goals.

When it came time to take it off, I had this incredibly naive dream that I would resume training, and the lbs would fall off as easily as they piled on, and that family/friends would be there every step of the way to cheer me on.

The reality is another story entirely. Every lb is a LOT of work, in changing how much I eat, to tracking, to working out in a deficit... it's not easy in any way.

My family.. when they notice(seldom), it's not really a big deal to them other than the occasional off-hand comment. When I carve out time to work out, it's usually an inconvenience to them, which means I work out most of the time after everyone goes to sleep, or before they wake up. This derailed me pretty badly my first round of WL, and kept me from getting serious about it for a long time. It took a few years for me to realize that this isn't for them... it's for me, so I can't expect them to be my cheerleaders, or to make room in their lives for this.

It's not their journey. It's mine.

Jimb376mfp

Probably knowing the LARGE amount of weight I had to lose was enough to say "Why even try?" I was 376# I would try short lived diets or WW but never stayed OP. UNTIL this time, Been on WW Plan since January 2013.
No longer have that excuse.

Probably the "I LOVE to eat!" excuse is still in my head. I know I am still capable of making bad food choices. But I like the GoaD approach MTBC Make the Better Choice.
There are always excuses to be made, it's just more important to remember the REASONS why we are on a WL program.

DavidKuhnsSr

I don't think I made excuses, unless you count sloth as an excuse. I knew what needed to be done, and I was pretty confident I could do the job. I was just too lazy to get started.

minimyzeme

A couple different things swimming around in my brain:

1. Over the past three years I've been on WW, I've pretty much accepted the fact that what I eat is my choice. I used to blame circumstances: eat because I'm happy, eat because I'm sad. Eat because I had to work today; eat because it's the weekend. Eat because it's a holiday; eat because it's any other day, etc.

I failed to realize each of those reasons was putting the reason in control or using it as a crutch. I've switched gears and finally done what I didn't do before. I accept the fact that what goes in my mouth is my choice. It might be a mindless one or it might be one I make under stress, but it's still a choice, and mine alone. For the most part, I've taken the control back. It's let me let go of most of the excuses.

2. Related to 1 above, part of my plan is to allow going off-plan at times. I use my 90/10 rule, figuring that sticking to my plan 90% of the time really does get me where I want to be so much better than the 0/100 plan I used to be on.

TimDumez

Thanks to all of those who responded to this thread. We got some great insight and maybe some solutions.....

Jimb376mfp

@minimyzeme wrote:
"Over the past three years I've been on WW, I've pretty much accepted the fact that what I eat is my choice. I used to blame circumstances: eat because I'm happy, eat because I'm sad."

I hear a lot of people say they are "stress eaters" I want to know does the bad eating relieve the stress or make it worse on the long term?

Temporary good feeling followed by remorse, regret and more bad than good feelings IMHO!

linmueller

I read a book recently that summed it up for me. It basically said that excuses are just that, excuses. They aren't reasons, explanations, or cause and affects out of our control ... they're just excuses.

And re. the excuse that we can't access healthy food, we always have the option of eating less. And if we do, we will lose weight. I've been holding on to that and staying on program. And surprise, surprise it's working.

gadgetgirlIL

Jimb376mfp wrote: »

I hear a lot of people say they are "stress eaters" I want to know does the bad eating relieve the stress or make it worse on the long term?

Temporary good feeling followed by remorse, regret and more bad than good feelings IMHO!

As a stress eater, the physical and mental relief that I feel when I indulge is what drives the behavior. It is a socially acceptable behavior to engage in and is more appropriate in the workplace than other behaviors that are better long term (leaving my workplace to go exercise, taking a nap, etc.). The vast majority of my stress eating occurs at work.

That being said, I have been trying to engage in more deep breathing to try to calm myself rather than immediately reaching for food. It takes a lot of conscious effort to try to reprogram nearly 50 years* of poor responses to stress.

*I'm figuring that up until age 6 or 7 there really wasn't much stress. My weight issues started around age 7 or 8.

88olds

My excuse for not starting- I will fail. If I try and fail, I am doomed. I am just going to fat myself to death.

If I don't try to change, I don't fail. Then I can at least get a bit of comfort now and again from the fantasy of change.

minimyzeme

Jimb376mfp wrote: »

I hear a lot of people say they are "stress eaters" I want to know does the bad eating relieve the stress or make it worse on the long term?

Temporary good feeling followed by remorse, regret and more bad than good feelings IMHO!

These days, that's often the case for me @Jimb376mfp . However, stress-eating still relieves...something...that nags at me in those situations. My fix has been to keep (but moderate) the behavior but change the food to healthier choices.

I've gone from shoveling chips, pretzels, cookies, candy, fatty deli meats, etc. to fruits, veggies, jello, lean meats, etc. I may or may not ever get to the point that the behavior completely goes away, but that's not as much of a concern to me as having now found a way to mitigate it by not eating stuff that is just going to be a burden on me down the road.

The added benefit is that often times, the root of the stress is more obvious to me and sometimes I can do something to directly address it. Sometimes not...

Jerdtrmndone

I like to eat what I want and I can mostly control portion sizes during the day. My biggest issue
is night time. have a little room to have something healthy. I work pt. in a deli for 6 hrs. 3 day's a wk. being on my feet and a lot of walking. When I get home as soon as I have what I can it breaks loose and it is game on with the eating some times 1000 cal. I am struggling with this and gaining at a 3 lb. pace a wk. believe me I am nowhere proud of this and not happy. I use to have self control and stay op no problem but I can not figure out why I have no absolutely no self control in the evening.