changing

rjel78

I have posted before on how I have not been able to stay commited to losing weight and how i have struggled to stay motivated. Well the struggle continues but i am doing a couple of things different in hopes of changing. Over the past month I have not been able to go to the gym because of high anxiety and depression due to losing my job and the loss of my car, plus other personal issues. These are not excuses but things that have played with me heavily, both personally and mentally. I cannot do this anymore, being severely overweight. I have not done the things i need to do and have nobody else to blame but myself. I love hearing all of these success stories, especially the ones where they remind me of myself and the person losing over 200 lbs. I am in the middle of making yet another change in hopes of sticking to this one and really making this work. I have set out and exercise program and decided to follow atkins, which i know some people are against but a lot of people have had success. I have failed in my weight loss journey so far but i really am hopeful this works. I can not take it anymore and want to be a success story not one that fails. I will be 40 in january and want to live a lot longer than that. I also need to change my motivation adn determination to make this work, because believe it or not, i really do want this....I want to make a change that will stay with me long term, not two or three days and then im done. I could use all of the motivation tips and any other tips you all have...Here is to success !!

seska422

When you make big changes, it takes a lot of concentration and commitment to stick to them because they are so different from your normal way of living. Your whole relationship with the world is turned upside down. That burns through your spiritual energy and willpower and it's so much easier to give up and go back to your comfort zone of eating the way you like and exercising at your old level (which may be not at all).

My suggestion is that you make small, sustainable changes a bit at a time so that your new way of eating and exercising doesn't feel that different to your old way. Experiment to find what works for you because you are the one who is traveling your path.

You need to consume fewer calories than your body uses in order to lose weight. It shouldn't feel like punishment. Weight loss and maintenance need to be done in a way that works into your life without a constant fight. Don't do things during weight loss that you aren't willing to do forever. Weight loss is practice for maintenance. Try to build a comfortable way of eating and exercising while losing weight so that maintenance is basically the same but with a few more calories.

If you aren't logging, start now with your normal way of eating. Log everything before it goes into your mouth. That gives you the chance to see how many calories the amount you want to eat will be before you've eaten so that you can decide if you want to eat a smaller portion or make a satisfying substitution. After a couple of weeks of consistent logging, you can go back and see where you can make small adjustments that will be lower in calorie, more nutritious, more satisfying, or any combo of those. Reevaluate every month or so. Multiple small adjustments over time aren't as overwhelming.

As for exercise, any movement is good. Don't feel like you have to go from nothing to everything in order to get results. I'm lazy (I have physical issues too but I'm mainly lazy) so I didn't exercise at all while losing and my exercise now that I'm near goal is to aim for 10,000 or so steps per day.

Old_Cat_Lady

I lost without exercising. Focus on food and get a food scale. Eventually you might stop exercising and gain the weight back. If you learn how to eat right, you can do this for life.

Iamnotasenior

I have lost without exercising and have actually lowered my grocery costs since I cut out most of the processed foods and now concentrate more on "whole" foods like vegetables, brown rice, beans, fish, etc. Rather than cut things out of your diet, try adding things in. For instance, add a piece of fresh fruit and a fresh vegetable to your intake every day. Then start adding water, then start preparing a meal from scratch each day, etc., etc. You will find that if you add low-calorie foods into your normal routine, you will eat less of the processed, high-calorie stuff naturally. Add walking to your day each day. Even if you don't walk outdoors, tell yourself you have to walk in place for five minutes, before each meal or three times a day. That's 15 minutes of walking a day. Having a routine and having some goals to meet each day can help get you motivated and it doesn't cost a dime.