What are the main reason behind your failed diet attempts?

Asibaris

Every time I dieted it was one group or another of food which was banned. And it worked for a while because I foliowed it but then I would just forget about it and go crazy and start binge eating my way back to what I lost..
This is the first time I'm counting calories and eating whatever I want in whatever combo and I feel soooo liberated from my culinary frustations. :-)
Also, I never used to exercise like I do now and after a certain point (like 84-86 kg) the weight wouldn't drop. Everybody urged me to run, do crazy cardio and such things that I HATE. Now I do a combo of hiit, weights and light cardio for my rest days. And I'm finally happy with my sport schedule..

Need2Exerc1se

I have never failed at losing weight. I have failed to maintain the loss but since even then I did not become overweight I don't look at that as a failure.

This is the first time I've been overweight and had to lose. I have regained a few lbs twice since hitting goal but both times I lost those few lbs again without it getting out of hand. The jury is still out whether I will ever regain to the point of overweight. #fingerscrossed

jeanstudies

narspips wrote: »

Lots of things...
- "I'm having a hard time, so I deserve this cake."
- "Food is about the only thing making me happy right now, I can't give it up."
- "Life's too short to count calories!"

This. A whole lot of "I deserve..." statements without the most important one: "I deserve..." to look the way I want, and feel the way I want. Which for me is to be thin, and to feel healthy and strong.

Thank you, this post and the responses have helped me a LOT.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Slim Fast, Xenadrine, and green tea pills. So much of the fail.

HDBKLM

bump

MissyCHF

ninerbuff wrote: »

LACK OF COMMITMENT. If someone was truly committed to a goal, they do WHATEVER it takes to complete it. And many times that means sacrifice.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Oh how right you are !

Ziggy2875

Using things has an excuse to stop and not getting back on track like going on vacation or car accident in past. Also while I understand that this needs to be a lifetime thing not just dieting and then going back to the past way of eating. I have problems with adhering to this and find myself falling back to old habits/ways of eating.

SanaAnum

I lost weight once in 2013 to 2014. It took me a year from 2012 t0 2013 to understand the process. Because it was my first time. Then it only took 6 months to lose the weight. This time around it took 2 months for my mimd and body to finally adjust to changes of eating ay deficit and exercising.

Blooperss

Honestly, it came down to being too lazy to buy/cook/prepare food. Life has been extremely busy for me up until recently, so it felt like a chore doing all those things. Easier to just drive up to a window and have food handed to me within minutes.

sugaraddict4321

I blame potato chips. And cake.

elisa123gal

slow results, varied foods on calorie counting cause cravings.. deprivation for too long of periods of time. These are the reasons i have gone up and down only five pounds since 2011 on MFP. i stopped counting calories Jan 1, I have gone back to an old diet that worked for me when i was younger. i'm 17.5 pounds down in five weeks. The quick results are motivating..and i now see i can get to my goal in another month or two. Now that I can do....my will power will last and gosh will i appreciate being thin again..never to go back to this. This lose a .5 pound a week for a year business doesn't work for me... plus the endless tracking.

zyxst

Food tastes good plus I'm lazy.

desg1218

I get overwhelmed over dieting and say F it. I also have a food addiction.

mip275

Stress, lack of sleep and a busy schedule. When I started my journey I was working at a job where I was active all day, getting good sleep and my health could take priority. Then I went back to grad school and all my energy went into that. Studying ment I was a lot more sedentary and snacking soon became normal. I originally lost 90 pounds in 8 months 2 years ago. I have gained back 40 and now am working to lose again.

Good_Morning_Glory

Lack of consistency and adherence.

MissyCHF

elisa123gal wrote: »

slow results, varied foods on calorie counting cause cravings.. deprivation for too long of periods of time. These are the reasons i have gone up and down only five pounds since 2011 on MFP. i stopped counting calories Jan 1, I have gone back to an old diet that worked for me when i was younger. i'm 17.5 pounds down in five weeks. The quick results are motivating..and i now see i can get to my goal in another month or two. Now that I can do....my will power will last and gosh will i appreciate being thin again..never to go back to this. This lose a .5 pound a week for a year business doesn't work for me... plus the endless tracking.

If it is calorie deficit, what is it?

Momepro

It was a pain in the *kitten*,and I was tired all the time, and bored with dealing with it. So I gradually "forgot" to continue doing whatever diet and exercise it was I was trying to follow.
This time I've had medication to get rid of brain fog,and help with low-level depression, and it has been surprisingly easy to stick with paying attention and sticking with my plan. Although, non work days are still really rough, because I am terrible about turning away from goddies that are available, and when I am home all day, I end up grazing too much.

jrae75

I wasn't ready until I was. I had a lot of thoughts about how I "needed" to lose weight and how I "should" take better care of myself, but any attempts I made in that direction would only last a couple days before I would get derailed. What shifted for me was making small changes and not expecting big results. Even if I only lost 10 pounds, it would be 10 pounds better than I was before. Being patient and trusting the process has also helped me make progress this time around. But it was a mental thing for me, and I can't really tell you what clicked to make me ready this time. I just know I was. Over the last 7-ish months, I've lost 30 pounds. Downloading the Happy Scale app has helped me deal with the daily fluctuations of my scale without getting crazy about them when I don't like the number I see. The trend is there, so I can see it's working. Sometimes, it's working slowly, but it IS working.

wryone4

I got lazy and complacent. I do very well and stay consistent and see a good change. Then I start to get relaxed with tracking and ignore the slice of cheese, or small handful of nuts I eat while packing kids' lunch. I think "Hey, I've made progress, this won't matter." But, it does matter. It has happened a couple of times, and I just have to have the fortitude to keep consistent this time.

jlouber

I fell back on old habit loops. I don't consider it a failure though, just part of the learning/growth process.

gcaracciolo2

I always end up screwing up when I reach my ideal weight goal. It's like I get a feeling of conquering my goal and I lose the motivation it has taken to get me there. I'm two pounds away from my ideal weight again and this time I'm not getting side tracked for anything.

EatingAndKnitting

Bipolar disorder. I lost 70 pounds on WW, then had a depressive mood swing and couldn't stay on track anymore. By the time I got diagnosed and put on meds I had gained twenty pounds. Then i said I'd rather be fat and sane than and miserable.

I tried WW again and didn't lose anything, despite doing everything right. I believe that psych drugs cause weight gain by screwing up the CO part of CICO as well as increasing appetite. I didn't know I should try dropping my calories to make up for the CO imbalance, so I quit and got up to 307 pounds.

Now I'm down to 246 (and on different meds) and I think this time it's going to work.

kittybenn

I've failed by what I call sticking my head in the sand and pretending things are just fine. I vowed about 20+ months ago to stop doing that. I log no matter what and stay connected here. I went all summer without making much progress, but logged, checked in to the discussion groups, etc. I believe that alone kept me from gaining.

Unknown

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corinasue1143

Lose all summer, gain all winter, repeat.
Don't like cold. Stay in, no exercise, winter depression, nothing to do but eat, etc. trying very hard not to gain this winter, will start
Trying to lose again as soon as it gets just a little bit warm..

Frankie_Fan

Got lazy, stopped logging, got fat.

amh927

I’ve tried it all. I struggled with anorexia. Gained that weight back plus 40 pounds. I did whole 30 for 60 days till I caved in and binged. Gained that weight back. And then I realized I’m freaking 33 years old this is ridiculous.

Over the past 10 years that 100 lbs was put on with with “I deserve this because...” cancer, pain, depression, loneliness, first special needs baby, sleeping only 1-2 hours a night for a year because he didn’t sleep, second special needs baby, moving, all the therapy they needed, and plain old I have it so Much harder than most people. you name it and I used it as an excuse.

So a month ago I hopped on the scale and started mfp but instead of using it to log how few calories I was consuming, I’m trying to aim for the actual number provided. I’m balancing my meals. I portion out my protein then pile high with veggies. I decided whether the junk is worth eating. Do I really want ice cream? If so, how am I going to make it fit?

nowine4me

Food creep. I Let portion sizes get bigger and bigger.

me0231

I'd say mainly a lack of education. I would lose 5 pounds on this diet, 10 pounds on that one and then go back to my old eating habits and guess what happened. Put it all back on and then some. I simply didn't know any better.

Not sure what clicked this time, but I spent some time educating myself and I've lost 45 pounds so far. It has been the most effortless attempt by far once I understood that at the end of the day it all comes down to calories. Losing weight does not have to be salads without dressing and baked chicken breasts coupled with 2h mindless cardio every day. And there's also no rush. Not all the extra padding needs to be gone in 3 weeks or I'm a massive failure.

I'm almost at goal now and I'm convinced I can maintain it. I like the way I eat, I like the amount of exercise I do, and I think it's completely sustainable.

FitnessOCD

Because I didn't have MFP. Ever since getting this app, I have been crushing it!