JUST GIVE ME 10 DAYS - Round 44

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  • tiabirdie56
    tiabirdie56 Posts: 3,978 Member
    edited June 2018
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    @quiltingjaine, I like gold stars too, but I had to reconcile with myself what was more important. The first time I lost my streak I had been logging into my food diary every day for almost 2 years. Woke up the next day, logged in and my streak is at 1 I was some kinda mad, but didn't know what to do about it. My true start date on MFP was in 2009, but after losing my streak I left for a while, went back to sparkpeople
  • puttyputty
    puttyputty Posts: 2,993 Member
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    SheilaBoneham wrote: »
    schlerin wrote: »
    Really frustrated with myself. Keep saying I'm going to do this, will try harder, tired of being fat and flabby. Then eat junk food all day and binge watch old tv shows. And nobody to blame but me. Do I not really want to succeed?
    6/26

    @schlerin Thinking about the whole picture - healthier food, fewer calories, more exercise - can be overwhelming, especially when we have other things going on (don't know that you do, but most of us have something stressful to deal with). When I was getting started on this journey, I found it helpful to focus on just one change at a time - say "take a 20-minute walk every day" or "track everything I eat and think about whether I really want the fat-makers." Focusing on just one change for a couple of weeks is usually manageable, and when that change becomes a habit, go for another one (and don't abandon the first!).

    Wise words, @SheilaBoneham. The old line about not working harder but working smarter can also play a huge role. We need to change our minds and our habits, not just our weights on the scale. I think the best way for me is to make small changes that I don't find difficult, with a calorie goal that I find mostly achievable with minor alterations to my thinking. I'm not going to set the world on fire with my rate of loss, but I basically never feel deprived. This is what works for me, so it may not work for everyone, but everyone DOES need to find something that fits their way of thinking and way of approaching challenges, rather than trying to force themselves to work really hard (maybe unsustainably hard) and then feel like a failure if they can't always meet those high goals.

    I want everyone to succeed, and I think success sometimes is about willingness to fail and to process the data about the failure.
  • SheilaBoneham
    SheilaBoneham Posts: 3,004 Member
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    Agreed, @puttyputty ! We are constantly urged to go for the quick results (in everything, not just weight and fitness), which not only results many times in failure and self-blame but also unhealthy crazy diets (and their equivalent in other parts of our lives). We are also encouraged to set goals, which I think can be inspiring, but with weight loss I think weight goals can be self-defeating. I stopped setting weight goals ("a pound a week" or whatever other than long-term weight without a time limit) because I can't control my daily/weekly weight. Instead I set controllable goals - calories, macros, exercise time, "one spoonful of hubby's ice cream, eaten slowly and savored," and so on. I still track my weight, but it's not my primary focus (unless I get stuck for, say, 6 months, and then I whine :smiley: ). Anyway, sometimes it helps to take a step back and think about what we are demanding of ourselves and adjusting as needed. At least that works for me.
  • schlerin
    schlerin Posts: 801 Member
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    Thanks for the encouragement and advice.

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