Lost of bunch of weight now I'm struggling to stay on track. Advice/Help

Kinda79

The last few weeks have been extremely hard. I've lost 44 pounds so far and I still have about 30-40 to go, but lately, it's like I have lost my motivation. I have this thought going on that because I've lost so much I don't have to try as hard I guess, but now I'm finding myself eating the garbage I was eating before without to much thought until after the fact. Like tonight I made a microwave cake even though tomorrow I'm having birthday cake for my son and mom. I find myself wanting sugary garbage again and high carb foods, and I know it's because I've given in and been eating it. Granted during my good time I still splurged once in a while, so I wasn't like I didn't have fun items but this whole slump I'm in is now starting to effect me working out. Also the Holiday season is coming up and I do a lot of craft shows for my business so I'm stressing over that too.

Anyone else go though this? I'm feeling lost and a tad alone and worried I'm going to fall back into the slump I was in.

speyerj

I was there last week. After logging every day for 3 months losing 33 pounds, a combination of circumstances got me off track and I didn't log for three days. I gained 1.5 pounds. If I can give any advice, get back on track with logging and weigh ins tomorrow. For me, even a couple i
of days off results in weight gain. Logging and regular weigh ins keeps me accountable. I know it can be tedious, but keep it up. Its clearly working for you.

sksk1026

Why not eat at maintenance for a while so you have extra calories to enjoy? Maybe you just need a short break from strict control. You could also skip a meal a day to give yourself even more leeway. Or fast 1 day a week. Then there's room for more cake for now.

kommodevaran

I think your thoughts may be sabotaging you. You are creating an inner conflict between what you think you should and what you think you want. By deeming food you like, unhealthy and garbage, you're not making yourself not want it (as you expect yourself to), on the contrary, you set yourself up to crave them even more. But the conflict isn't even real. In reality, you can eat as much as you need of anything you want. No foods are off limits. You just have to not eat too much over time.

gita9999

once you lose a lot of weight, it's still not over apparently. I've been told that your body will try its hardest to get you back to your original weight or even more. It's important to not think that it's going to be easier when a lot of weight has dropped, because you need to continue focus on your goal weight and then focus on staying on maintenance.

sijomial

Take a break at maintenance for a while. Refresh your body and your mind, when you are ready to lose again get back on the wagon. Taking away the stress of dieting will help you cope with the stress of work better as well.

And have a serious think about how you intend to maintain for life when you do get to your eventual goal weight.
Personally I don't think the false dichotomy of good/bad foods is going to be helpful for you in the long term.
Maintenance should be enjoyable remember, not an endless battle between right and wrong!

Maybe having a read through the threads in the Maintaining Weight forum might help?

roete37

I'm having the same issue lately. I've lost about 70lbs over the past 1 1/2 yrs. Gained a few back, but I'm scared about more! Ive logged every day for 660 days, but feel like I was definitely just "going through the motions" recently- probably not as accurate. I just upgraded to premium membership and am excited to try some of the new features. I think that has sparked a new excitement and interest for me- just a change of pace. Also trying some new exercise formats. Good luck to you! It's frustrating for sure!!

Kinda79

Thanks everyone! I'm getting to a point that I don't want to have to feel like I need to log everything I eat every day, what I really want is to eat healthy, have a treat or craving food once in a while and not stress about it. I'm looking at more of a lifestyle change than a short term, because for me short term stuff doesn't work. Sugar and High Carb foods are like an addiction for me, so my long term goal is to either cut it completely or cut most of it out. On the other hand I went out to dinner with my husband and couldn't just focus on what I wanted to eat because all the calorie points were there for me to see and seeing the calories was freaking me out to almost a stressed out level. I did't like that!! While being conscious is good, stressing out due to seeing the calories was not. I want to be able to enjoy a night out with my husband without stressing or freaking out.

I'm going to change up a few things I think, maybe not work out so hard and so much, add in more yoga, and definitely keep working on my diet goals.

maggibailey

I agree with the above poster that said maybe you should take a diet break. Keep tracking your calories to avoid falling back into old habits, but relax a little and take the stress off of a deficit