What mind games do you play with yourself?

CarvedTones

I am in maintenance, but when I know I am going to go over for a holiday or whatever, I set my goal to a deficit in advance so that when I go over, I see a bigger number and it helps me rein it in a bit late in the day. You would think I would just do the match in my head but I don't. It is going to be left as the goal for a while after the day(s) of overeating, so it is somewhat legitimate.

When I am close to the upper end of my maintenance range, I sometimes weigh late in the day to scare myself about how close I am. I have a long streak of not having seen a weight outside my range on a morning weigh in and I don't count the weigh in late in the day.

I sometimes don't weigh or measure anything at a meal knowing full well I am going to over estimate it because I am impatient but don't want to log days that are more aggressive than my weight loss should be.

cmriverside

Whatever works, my friend.

I sometimes try to block out my conscious knowledge of the number of calories in that peanut butter (or whatever) I just ate.

It doesn't work, since my body keeps track.

cmriverside

I did not "woo" you!!!!!!!!!!!

CarvedTones

cmriverside wrote: »

I did not "woo" you!!!!!!!!!!!

Probably someone who thinks I am suggesting this as a way for others to lose weight. I did admit that sometimes I am over aggressive and eat fewer calories than I should. I rationalize that because I have very little to lose and just do it to see a small drop sooner. It still isn't a great idea and it's a terrible idea for someone who still has a lot to lose.

cmriverside

CarvedTones wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I did not "woo" you!!!!!!!!!!!

Probably someone who thinks I am suggesting this as a way for others to lose weight. I did admit that sometimes I am over aggressive and eat fewer calories than I should. I rationalize that because I have very little to lose and just do it to see a small drop sooner. It still isn't a great idea and it's a terrible idea for someone who still has a lot to lose.

I think there is validity to using cognitive tools for managing stress and anxiety. I also think reality is going to win in the long-term, so whatever little mind games we play are only lying to ourselves - yeah? It doesn't really make a lot of difference until and unless it becomes a neurosis...which is hard to spot in oneself.

CarvedTones

cmriverside wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I did not "woo" you!!!!!!!!!!!

Probably someone who thinks I am suggesting this as a way for others to lose weight. I did admit that sometimes I am over aggressive and eat fewer calories than I should. I rationalize that because I have very little to lose and just do it to see a small drop sooner. It still isn't a great idea and it's a terrible idea for someone who still has a lot to lose.

I think there is validity to using cognitive tools for managing stress and anxiety. I also think reality is going to win in the long-term, so whatever little mind games we play are only lying to ourselves - yeah? It doesn't really make a lot of difference until and unless it becomes a neurosis...which is hard to spot in oneself.

One of my justifications is that I will get back to reality in the very near future since I am in maintenance and just trying to drop down in my range. I am not saying that makes it okay, but sometimes I let the end justify the means. But I also played some head games while losing and that is definitely woo worthy.

My intent was to get others to open up about what they do to fool themselves into staying on track. Might not have been a great idea.

kami3006

CarvedTones wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

I did not "woo" you!!!!!!!!!!!

Probably someone who thinks I am suggesting this as a way for others to lose weight. I did admit that sometimes I am over aggressive and eat fewer calories than I should. I rationalize that because I have very little to lose and just do it to see a small drop sooner. It still isn't a great idea and it's a terrible idea for someone who still has a lot to lose.

I think there is validity to using cognitive tools for managing stress and anxiety. I also think reality is going to win in the long-term, so whatever little mind games we play are only lying to ourselves - yeah? It doesn't really make a lot of difference until and unless it becomes a neurosis...which is hard to spot in oneself.

One of my justifications is that I will get back to reality in the very near future since I am in maintenance and just trying to drop down in my range. I am not saying that makes it okay, but sometimes I let the end justify the means. But I also played some head games while losing and that is definitely woo worthy.

My intent was to get others to open up about what they do to fool themselves into staying on track. Might not have been a great idea.

There's nothing wrong with using mental tricks to support yourself. I bet more people do somewhere in their daily lives than not. With my chronic depression, I've always had to play mental games with myself to get things done. I don't think I would be here if I hadn't.

As for using MFP, I got so used to having that buffer between my deficit and maintenance that now, in maintenance, I keep my calorie goal about 150 calories under so when I go over, like I tend to do, I am still at maintenance. My mental trick to stave off calorie creep.