Need help sticking with it
NikkiLouBranham
Posts: 3 Member
Happy New Year! I'm here because I'm a hibitual starter and giver upper. I've struggled with my weight and body image for too long. I'm a wife, mom with three children and have a very stressful career; those should not be excuses, rather motivation for living an even healthier lifestyle, however that's not been the case. I always start full force and then within weeks giveup. Let's face it, it's easier to give up then to stick with it. BUT now HAS to be the time. For my health and the health of my children who two of them suffer with their weight and they are far too young for this. I could use all the support I can get and hope to find it here. I have no idea where to start cause I've tried it all. Any advice or tips or "atta girls" are appreciated. Thank you and I look forward to cheering you all on as well!
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Replies
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I'm a habitual starter upper too - because partway through I lose faith, I lose motivation, I lose drive. What I have learned is that nobody can create that for me.
I have to want it more than I want to just "fail." If that makes sense. About a week ago I came to grips with the fact that once again, I was at the end of the year and no further toward my goal than I was last year. But that was because of the way I chose to respond to various stressors and issues in my life.
This year I have a plan. I am going to breathe deeply 5 times before I give in to an urge to "just eat, whatever, who cares." I am going to remind myself "I have goals, I have a life, I don't want to be in pain. I cannot meet those goals if I continue to feed my obesity."
Every day I am going to get up in the morning and start my day with meditation and affirmations - and work really hard to remind myself, during the day when I want to say "Oh hang it all, screw it for today" that I have a goal - I have family, I have a life - I'm too young to wake up in pain, too young to suffer for being so fat. I'm also not getting any younger. I have wasted a LOT of time - I'm 48 years old and have spent the last 18 years of my life obese. No more.
Feel free to add me if you wish - I can't motivate you, but I can try to encourage you.
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Perhaps the problem is the "start full force" part. Make sure you choose a weekly weight loss goal that is practical for you & your circumstances (very likely not 2 lbs/week unless you are obese), even if that is only .5 lb/week. Don't try to completely overhaul your diet overnight. Eat a balanced diet that incorporates the foods you enjoy. Try to manage your environment to the extent possible to make the good choices easier & the poor ones harder to make. The key to sustainability is to not make it unnecessarily burdensome.
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Add me!1
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Start a food diary. Start listing what you eat and drink. Leave the numbers until later, after logging your intake is a habit. If you forget at some point, go back and fill in as best you can.
After you start tracking your numbers make this a point- you track everything all the time. Not just your good days. Make tracking the heart of your efforts. It will see you through.
And it never needs to be perfect, it just needs to be a good faith effort. The only way to mess it up is making a conscious decision to quit. Don’t.4 -
Start slow. Instead of changing your eating habits and exercise habits all at once, just change a few things at a time. I've found that you stick with it longer if you go slower. Sometimes making huge, sweeping changes can be overwhelming and that's why people quit.
When you want to quit, remember why you started. Motivation will always abandon you. I've found that being stubborn helps when the motivation leaves. Don't rely on being motivated all of the time.
Surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you. I follow a ton of motivating, healthy people on Instagram who are documenting their journey. They inspire me every single day.
Get rid of the negative people in your life who tell you losing weight is impossible, or who try to sell you/tell you about the latest weight loss fads. Fads don't work. A caloric deficit is what you need. How you create that deficit is up to you. But remember that wraps, pills and shakes don't work for the long term. You have to find something that you can live with for the rest of your life.
Throw away the excuses. We're all busy. We all have families. We all have responsibilities, but we do it anyway.
You will want to quit. Don't.
Best of luck. 2018 will be your year if you put the work into it!
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Great advice above^^. You can be successful. This year will be yours3
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Feel free to add me. I'm exactly the same, and so over it. Happy to be an accountability buddy or someone to panic-message when you're feeling overwhelmed! (that goes for all of you too)1
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Any of you ladies feel free to add me as well. Looking for new motivational gals to help get me back on track3
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Add me looking for support as well2
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From personal experience I’ve found the best motivation is a solid support group and focusing on all victories of your journey not just the biggest goal. I’m back at it again and can use some motivation myself! Feel free to add me!2
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Thank you everyone for the great advice! I'm going to really focus on one day at a time, small goals (not 10lbs in a week, like I've set in the past) and REALLY tracking everything. Let's do this!!4
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Add me, I'm in the same boat and looking for accountability!1
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Looking for support as well1
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NikkiLouBranham wrote: »Happy New Year! I'm here because I'm a hibitual starter and giver upper. I've struggled with my weight and body image for too long. I'm a wife, mom with three children and have a very stressful career; those should not be excuses, rather motivation for living an even healthier lifestyle, however that's not been the case. I always start full force and then within weeks giveup. Let's face it, it's easier to give up then to stick with it. BUT now HAS to be the time. For my health and the health of my children who two of them suffer with their weight and they are far too young for this. I could use all the support I can get and hope to find it here. I have no idea where to start cause I've tried it all. Any advice or tips or "atta girls" are appreciated. Thank you and I look forward to cheering you all on as well!
i am so with you. amazing family , but master of lists: planning over action, and they dont believe me when I start each time....struggle so much. mutual support here~!2 -
Just wow I totally relate and find myself in the same position! I deserve to experience success in not just losing weight and looking good but conquering my old self sabotaging, procrastinating, self doubting find an excuse to quit self! I deserve to experience my life through a grounded and confident mind body and spirit! I want love on another level, aa level that opens me up to higher potential!2
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Greetings fellow flake! I, too, am starting again fresh. Feel free to add me!0
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All or nothing. Big procrastinator (which someone who is a perfectionist). That is me but less so since 3 months ago.
Try to just change one thing at a time. Like drink your 8 cups of water everyday. That there is huge for a lot of people. Have it replace whatever else you are drinking. That will save you loads of calories and will do wonders for digestion system.
If you can, load this app on your phone so that it won't just be on your desktop. It will help you track better.
It will get easier as time moves on. During the holidays I didn't post calories. Didn't want to. But I still came here to support others and get ideas. Now I'm ready to get back in the saddle again. I gained a few pounds but it was worth it celebrating with family. No big deal. This is a life long venture. Make it enjoyable.1 -
Hey it's great that you're committing.It empowers me to do so too. I like Wizzybeth's idea about taking 5 deep breaths and repeating that I have goals and a desire for a pain-free life. I also like the small realistic goals idea. I'm going to set the following:
a) daily calorie deficit
b) 8 glasses water a day
c) 50 gms weight loss a day
d) no food before noon and after 8pm
e) log in to support others at least 4 times a week
Thanks0 -
What I am trying this year is monthly goals. To me that seems more attainable than stating want to this much weight. I need to lose of course but I definitely need to be healthy. Feel free to add me.1
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thickface59 wrote: »Hey it's great that you're committing.It empowers me to do so too. I like Wizzybeth's idea about taking 5 deep breaths and repeating that I have goals and a desire for a pain-free life. I also like the small realistic goals idea. I'm going to set the following:
a) daily calorie deficit
b) 8 glasses water a day
c) 50 gms weight loss a day
d) no food before noon and after 8pm
e) log in to support others at least 4 times a week
Thanks
You might consider just choosing 1 or 2 of the things from your list. When trying to build new habits, or eliminate bad ones, it's best to only choose 1 or 2 things at a time to work on.
Also, I hope by item c) you don't mean that you expect to see that kind of movement on the scale every day, or even regularly. Maybe you mean as an average over time, but most people express that in weight loss per week. It is completely unrealistic to see daily loss on the scale, as the human body has lots of functions that play with your daily numbers and can mask fat loss. I mention it because this is one reason why many get discouraged and give up on the process. You can weigh daily, but only view your weight loss in terms of a weekly average *over time*, more than a month if you are a woman especially. Many use a trending app for this, as it evens out the fluctuations and shows your long term trend. A great post on the subject:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p12 -
add me!0
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My tip that I am trying to stick by is "set a small goal and reward yourself" Such as a new pair of jeans, or even a little sweet treat. Add me also!! 0
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Add me as well... We can do it together!!
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I'd also love friends to motivate/be accountable with! I have struggled a lot with my own body image and relationship with food. I'm now vegetarian and working hard on being gentle with myself while making the best choices I can! 0
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I think we all could use as much support as we can get! I'd love some accountability friends! Feel free to add me!0
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I'm with you on this. Feel free to add me as a friend and we can all motivate each other to take small steps and achieve big things Happy New Year everyone 0
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getting back on the horse here also. Please add me as a friend, anyone ..
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Add me pls, I am also looking for support0
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Hi Everyone,
Im looking for motivation and humor
Add me0
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