Regaining Motivation

haleysmith97

Hey all! I started my journey about 6 months ago, and in that time I’ve formed some great habits that have helped me to lose around 20 pounds, but I still have a long way to go and I feel myself slipping back into old habits.

Basically over the holidays I allowed myself to indulge (maybe too much?) but the issue is that since then I feel myself falling back into snacking too much and eating a bunch of junk food that I had been previously avoiding for months. I guess my main question is, does anyone have any tips or tricks for getting back on track, or for resisting all of the treats that may still be around from the holiday season ? Any help or advice would be appreciated, thank you all!

Kgerber777

I am in the same situation! Luckily I only gained a few pounds over the holidays but my old bad habits have started creeping back in. I have been saving enough calories to allow myself a treat at the end of the day as a reward for staying on track.

haleysmith97

I know it’s super tough not to fall back on those habits with all the treats lying around ! But planning a treat for the end of the day is a great idea! hopefully it’ll help stop me from snacking on them throughout the day, but still give me something to look forward to and satisfy the craving. Thank you for the suggestion I’ll definitely try it out!!

boatie03

Hi. I think it is normal to struggle. And that being the case, we can't let ourselves focus on the bad things when they happen. You know? We have to take it a day at a time and motivate each other to stay on task. I do think that if you want to lose weight, one needs to refrain from over indulging. Easier said than done. Me too! I struggle and really just need motivation to keep myself lifted through the struggles. I think I will repeat the first part of this, we can't let ourselves focus on the bad things, rinse and repeat. Pick ourselves back up, and keep going when we feel we have made a bad choice. Maybe that will help?! 🙏🏻

TavistockToad

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818701/the-myth-of-motivation-and-what-you-need-instead/p1

88olds

Count me as another motivation skeptic. Motivation, as you’re learning is fleeting.

Was one of your good habits a food diary? If you make your diary the center of your program you will never be off track. You’ll go over your number here and there, mistakes, bad decisions and mental lapses are inevitable. But if you stubbornly keep your diary through everything, still planning your week, and sticking with your activity, you are still working the weight loss process. The process is more important than the numbers.

If you have leftover holiday treats, the best solution at this point is the trash bin. If they are at work, I fixed that the day I became a germaphobe. I became a germaphobe the day I watched the behavior of my coworkers around the Friday donuts. Try it. I was stunned.

Holiday treats are a problem to be solved. Weight loss is problem solving over and over again. Starting with Halloween there are about 5+ months filled with days that are supposedly special reasons to eat. Usually cookies and candy. If you are going to be one of the crowd, you are going to weigh what the crowd weighs. Look around.

Stylie

I gained about 5 Lbs ( real lbs ) over the holidays from letting go of all rules.. honestly it felt great to just eat and what not! I lost 6 lbs this week based on this mornings weigh in..
Getting back on the Diet was all about reminding myself that it is not the end of the world to be hungry.. and once i fasted for most of a day and got hungry.... diet foods ( rather than the junk foods ) Tasted way better! This helped get on track and so far, stay on track! I have kinda forgot about the holidays... couple that with the motivation of knowing you have the strength to get back on it, and maybe a little loss.....it could work!

hoops1888

I had this exact problem last weekend. I was struggling to get back to eating sensibly and continuing the weight loss journey as I’d got used to being surrounded by crisps, chocolate and alcohol; it was a real real struggle! In fact, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to jump on the wagon again but here I am, end of day 4 and feeling lots less hungry and a lot less cravy! The first day was the hardest but it’s almost like your stomach shrinks after that and suddenly doesn’t crave the food anymore! Give it your best shot for the first couple of days, I know it’s tough but you’ll not look back and Christmas eating will have been forgotten about. Good luck!

Bex953172

Get rid of all the junk if you can! just bin it! or if stuff is unopened then maybe donate to a food bank?
that's if you can, if you're like me with a partner and kids then unfortunately you just have to parent yourself and say no!

just try it for one day. just one day. eat how you should and then focus on how you feel after achieving that, I can almost guarantee you wont regret it and drink plenty to curb your cravings.
9 times I've wanted some crisps or chocolate, and instead I've grabbed a cup of water!