New to the boards....long winded first post

brandon_2A

I'm Brandon, obviously.

I've re-joined the gym about a month ago and have been working on changing my eating habits since then as well. I do weigh myself every so often and even though I don't have a goal weight in mind it's nice to see progress in a quantifiable form and not just "I feel better".

I absolutely hate logging what I eat so I'm not doing that either.

I've been down this road before but never in a correct, healthy, sustainable way. 7 years ago I lost about 60lbs in 5 months in order to look better because I was getting married. I ran a lot but ate next to nothing. I was constantly miserable and hungry. After the wedding I gained most of it back. The marriage didn't last but the weight did.

2 years ago we did one of those "Biggest Loser" things at work in teams of 4. Again, starve myself for 8 weeks (or whatever it was) to try to lose as much as possible in the allotted time. Contest ends and most of the weight comes back.

It took this long, 4 or 5 weeks now, to feel like I rounded a corner. I don't find myself struggling to not go back to my old habits any more but the first few weeks were very difficult. I'm very much a creature of habit and habits are hard to break but I'm getting there. I have a food plan figured out and really do enjoy going to the gym......BUT, I've been here before too. This isn't my first gym membership. I always do well for the first few weeks and then start to get lazy and go less and less until I don't go at all. It sounds ridiculous but the past few days I have found myself almost feeling depressed about doing well with working out and eating better because I've been here before but never with any long term success, so while one half of me is excited the other half is just waiting for it to fade again.

I'm sure you'd all be millionaires if you had a dime for every time someone posted that "this time is different!", but I am hoping it's true. It truly feels different this time.

mike_usmc

Hey man , I wish you luck you seem to have a strong determination. Reading your post as well you seem to have very good discipline and can reach your goals quite easily. Its just all about the "once you get there, continue doing the routine to maintain" situation it sounds like to me. Althought I definitley wouldnt go down the route of not eating again, just eat smarter and healthier. I wish you luck, and welcome to MFP!

Skrib69

Welcome aboard!! I hope things work out this time. However, I have to say, with your history you are a prime candidate to benefit from logging what you eat. It's not as hard as it sounds, and it would help you know where you are at rather than starving yourself. Starving yourself is really unhealthy and a prime reason why you would have gained everything back. The system works - just use it! Good luck!

brandon_2A

I'll consider the logging but I've done it before and I really don't know why but I just can't stand doing it. Maybe since everything else feels different this time around I should give it a shot.....we'll see.

I think most of the reason that I've never had any long term success is because it was never something I wanted to do, I always felt like it was something I had to do. If you tell me I have to do something I will make sure I go out of my way not to, I'm just a stubborn *kitten* like that sometimes. I think the reason I never really WANTED to is because I didn't HAVE to. I was never too big to fit in a movie seat or roller coaster or anything. I never had to shop in the "Big Men's" section. I was never prevented from doing anything but I was always closer to the bad end of the spectrum. I usually hovered around 245 and I would always get "oh you weigh that much? you carry it well!". Uh, thanks I guess.

I don't know why I want to now but I'm gonna go with it.