What do you do when you feel discipline slipping

shanteel612

Hi All,

I need a pep talk. I am still working at this but as time goes I slip more and more. Can any of you share ways that you reenergize yourself to keep going.

SafioraLinnea

Find a new fun exercise to do. Or bump my calories up to maintenance for a week or two to rejuvenate.

denverhartMMA

When you feel like you're about to quit, give up, or let your discipline slip; remember why you started. Why did you decide to make this change?

Always remember why you started and have the conviction to persevere and see yourself through to your goals.

SafioraLinnea

Also, sometimes you really need to change things up to stay excited about everything. I've been a bit blah lately so I've been working on starting weight lifting. It's a process because I don't have space for a home gym and most of my local gyms don't have the equipment I need. But even the search for an adequate gym is giving me that boost I need to keep going.

kristikitter

Find that photo of yourself... you know the one... where you can't BELIEVE you got this big!
Or
Chew some gum/drink some diet soda or fizzy water
Or
Read the Success Stories threads here on MFP!
Or
Go for a short walk

newmooon56

All excellent tips so far for sure and I will be utilizing one or 2. For me its like a video game... counting calories and making my macros look better than yesterday. Sure I crave the 'wrong' food sometimes, but I am sort of addicted currently to making my numbers look good and then trying to beat that 'level' the next day. Eating well I feel SO good - its an easy game for me to play daily.

amtyrell

I find the nsv thread on here works great as motivation for me

estherdragonbat

I still have some size 3X clothes that I was wearing before MFP. I don't put them on now, I just look at their... immenseness. The next time I go grocery shopping I look for items equal to the weight I lost to remind myself how far I've come. I remember the three months of daily home-care nurse visits to change the dressing on my leg because my excess weight was a major factor in my developing lymphedema and my losing it is a major factor in controlling flare-ups. I look in the mirror and realize that there's something firm trying to emerge from the flab.

And I remember that I'm now out of the plus-sized clothes and when I walk past a mirror or window, the person I see isn't quite the butterball she used to be.

oolou

newmooon56 wrote: »

All excellent tips so far for sure and I will be utilizing one or 2. For me its like a video game... counting calories and making my macros look better than yesterday. Sure I crave the 'wrong' food sometimes, but I am sort of addicted currently to making my numbers look good and then trying to beat that 'level' the next day. Eating well I feel SO good - its an easy game for me to play daily.

I love this! I also have problems with continuing after some success and this may be something that will help me. I'm also starting to join challenge groups here on MFP to keep me focused.

Geocitiesuser

I try to remember how horrible I feel when I go off track and put on weight. Most the time that works.

shans34

I read through the success story thread! Always re-kindles my motivation!

88olds

Well, depends where you are in the process and the nature of the slips. It's not possible to be mistake proof. If you keep a food journal make sure everything gets logged in, even when you've made mistakes or had lapses.

I think the foundation of discipline it trust in your process. Negative thinking and doubts make it harder to stay on track. Fight back.

Wherever you are in your journey, start over like day one. Redo all the math. Check all your assumptions about how many calories you're eating and burning. Be determined.

dutchandkiwi

It depends what I do really. There have been times where I have allowed myself a maintenance week to learn what that is. I have also given myself a reward in the not too distant future. For instance I tell myself "if you can do it 5 more days under whatever self imposed limit you are allowed to buy that new thingy you want" Or promised myself a massage or other pampering thing/stuff.
I always ask myself why am I slipping, what makes me want to make the wrong choices and were they worth it?

I second @88olds trusting the process, I'll get back to it, I'd rather slip a little bit then big time, But it is also about relearning to trust that I can implement that process and myself.

natajane

I've a long history of sabotaging myself or just slipping off track and "forgetting" to log/diet. And then finding myself 3 weeks later and totally off plan.

I'm sticking with it this time. The one thing I do when I can feel myself on the edge of packing it in is ask myself "Why?". Why do I want to pack it in?

Usually it's because I've had a bad day and I want comfort from food to perk me up. But I know now that food doesn't usually make it better, it doesn't take away the bad day or the feelings. So I decide that's not a good enough reason, and I deal with the bad day in other ways.

Sometimes I feel like I want to pack it in because I'm feeling restricted or deprived. So I think about what I'm maybe deprived of - have my carbs/fats been too low, have I had enough veg, have I said no too many times to my fav foods, am I not happy eating something new? I think on it, and i tweak. I either add it in, tweak the food portion or I squeeze in extra steps so I can eat more.

Goals are really important too, have a few mini ones just a couple of weeks apart.

The idea others have had of going on maintenance is really great too, might borrow that one myself in the future!

You can do this!

flower761

Get out of the house and get walking around. Look at clothes that you look forward to wearing one day.

evergreenlake

Having specific goals of how I want to look and feel in my body, knowing that I always feel physically worse when I slip up and eat foods that are bad for me.
And watching fitness videos on YouTube like Gauge Girl Training, Chloe Ting, and Lucy Fitness. They are my goals! Plus Christine from Gauge Girl has special "morning motivation" videos that always get me pumped and to not feel sorry for myself.

shanteel612

THANKS everyone, great ideas.

Jdismybug1

I read through threads here or look for before and after photos, look for people that have proved that healthy habits are sustainable.
You will make it! Remember we all have bad days. I have weeks where I slip, and I just pep talk myself back using whatever way possible.

JeromeBarry1

I have a couple of cardio machines in my living room and a perfectly good bicycle in my garage. I can earn enough calories in an hour of work for most of the unplanned and unneeded eats that I may consume in moments of indiscipline. For those other occasions when I want to eat, I want to eat now, and I want to keep eating without stopping to exercise, there's always tomorrow morning I can start over again.

Niki_Fitz

I also visit the before-and-after threads for motivation, and if I'm feeling bummed about the scale, the non-scale victories thread.

The suggestion to keep old, less flattering pictures around is a good one too. Having the visual reminder of how unhappy and less healthy I was really helped me stay on track in the past. I'm going to dig up a few again.

Momepro

Apparently eat a whole damn box of cookies :-(