Skills we need for long term success
daneejela
Posts: 461 Member
Recently I've been listening to an interesting podcast (phit-and-phat) and one thing that resonated strongly with me was the statement that we need to meet ourselves where we are at the moment and from there build up our way to where we want to be, every day trying to be 1% better, not beating ourselves up every time we fail.
I was reflecting on that and concluded that between I-at-the-moment and I-I'd-like-to-be there are few main skills I need to (re)learn.
I thought it could be a good idea to write them here, and in the case you have a similar list, maybe we can share our progress on each.
So, here are few mine's:
1.) Stop eating when I feel comfortably satisfied (not overstuffed with food)
2.) Learn not to mirror others when it comes to food (I have my own stomach and it knows when it needs food)
3.) Learn to not respond to people's attempts to guilt trip me into eating
4.) Learn to work without food/drinks by my side
5.) Learn to face and express my emotions (instead of numbing my self with food)
6.) Learn to accept days when I need just a bit more food and not to go to the extremes because of it
7.) Learn to care for me, my body, look, and my health
Many of those things I used to take for granted but keep failing at it over and over again.
For example, - 7.) I care for a while, then I just go "nah, too much trouble" and return back to my previous patterns.
So, I need to learn to keep myself motivated to care for my own well being.
Do you have any skills you need to learn that you think are crucial for your long term weight loss?
Do you have any skills you have learned during your weight loss period? How did you succeed at it?
I was reflecting on that and concluded that between I-at-the-moment and I-I'd-like-to-be there are few main skills I need to (re)learn.
I thought it could be a good idea to write them here, and in the case you have a similar list, maybe we can share our progress on each.
So, here are few mine's:
1.) Stop eating when I feel comfortably satisfied (not overstuffed with food)
2.) Learn not to mirror others when it comes to food (I have my own stomach and it knows when it needs food)
3.) Learn to not respond to people's attempts to guilt trip me into eating
4.) Learn to work without food/drinks by my side
5.) Learn to face and express my emotions (instead of numbing my self with food)
6.) Learn to accept days when I need just a bit more food and not to go to the extremes because of it
7.) Learn to care for me, my body, look, and my health
Many of those things I used to take for granted but keep failing at it over and over again.
For example, - 7.) I care for a while, then I just go "nah, too much trouble" and return back to my previous patterns.
So, I need to learn to keep myself motivated to care for my own well being.
Do you have any skills you need to learn that you think are crucial for your long term weight loss?
Do you have any skills you have learned during your weight loss period? How did you succeed at it?
11
Replies
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Skills I need to learn:
Stop putting a deadline on everything.
Stop putting so much weight on everyone else's opinions and following the crowd.
Eat what I like within reason and without guilt.
Course correct early.
Skills I have:
Do the absolute minimum when I don't feel like doing anything. Water, produce, movement. I just started to log again after a couple months break. Considering what I've been through, I'm very happy about that.😊10 -
* Stick-to-it-tiveness
* Adjust your attitude3 -
I’ll say I’ve learned to make my health a priority. I exercise on average about an hour a day. That’s all it takes for me to stay fit. I’ve learned it’s ok to say no to anything that interferes with that. Do I juggle my schedule and make adjustments? Sure - but I refuse to allow other people’s wants interfere with my good health.
Skills? I log my food and weigh every day. I make choices that allow me to maintain a healthy weight. It’s not motivation - it’s a choice - I chose not to get fat again.4 -
Portion control !1
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Recently I've been listening to an interesting podcast (phit-and-phat) and one thing that resonated strongly with me was the statement that we need to meet ourselves where we are at the moment and from there build up our way to where we want to be, every day trying to be 1% better, not beating ourselves up every time we fail.
I was reflecting on that and concluded that between I-at-the-moment and I-I'd-like-to-be there are few main skills I need to (re)learn.
I thought it could be a good idea to write them here, and in the case you have a similar list, maybe we can share our progress on each.
So, here are few mine's:
1.) Stop eating when I feel comfortably satisfied (not overstuffed with food)
2.) Learn not to mirror others when it comes to food (I have my own stomach and it knows when it needs food)
3.) Learn to not respond to people's attempts to guilt trip me into eating
4.) Learn to work without food/drinks by my side
5.) Learn to face and express my emotions (instead of numbing my self with food)
6.) Learn to accept days when I need just a bit more food and not to go to the extremes because of it
7.) Learn to care for me, my body, look, and my health
Many of those things I used to take for granted but keep failing at it over and over again.
For example, - 7.) I care for a while, then I just go "nah, too much trouble" and return back to my previous patterns.
So, I need to learn to keep myself motivated to care for my own well being.
Do you have any skills you need to learn that you think are crucial for your long term weight loss?
Do you have any skills you have learned during your weight loss period? How did you succeed at it?
Maintaining musculoskeletal integrity-conscious nutrition, staying active and working the fun and the silly in, to keep it interesting.
2 -
I need to not go off the rails if I eat an extra carb.
I am continuing to exercise even when I am not eating healthy or in the right quantity.4 -
"Let it go"
I found (early in my weight loss process, thankfully) that when I fixate, obsessively micromanage, overcomplicate, and try to be perfect, that I tend to burn out very fast which is almost always followed by an "IDGAF" period. The skill of not being perfect, sometimes even very imperfect, has played a huge role in my weight loss.4 -
My #1 advice: Don’t get set in your old habits!!! Be open to trying new things and new approaches. People really can change if they want to and put forth the effort
2 -
I needed to learn to consider and value my future self (who needs a healthy weight and fitness in order to have a happy and satisfying life), not just my current self (who sometimes wants to eat All Da Foodz).
Not perfect, but I'm doing better (in year 3 of maintenance).
I'm still working on how to be sensible at potluck meals and buffets. For now, I do my best, and let the rest go.
6 -
#1 consistency0
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Nice thread!1
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1. Come to the terms with the fact that I am not, nor will I ever be, a “gym rat”. This isn’t a personal failing. It just... isn’t me. There is nothing wrong with preferring to get my movement in via hiking, volunteering, and at-home yoga!
2. Ensure that whatever changes I make are sustainable. It does me no good to lose the weight if I’m just going to put it back on again.
3. Don’t stress over special occasions involving food, or see them as set-backs. A special day here and there is only going to throw off my progress if I allow it to. They are a wonderful part of life, full of memories that I don’t want tainted by stress.10 -
Do you have any skills you need to learn that you think are crucial for your long term weight loss?
Do you have any skills you have learned during your weight loss period? How did you succeed at it?
One of the things I've been able to do for years and years and years is exercise. I love being active and that's probably fortunate or I'd be a lot heavier when my weight goes up a bit.
Along with that, comes my love of data. So I've been tracking my exercise since 1990 ... long before MFP.
Therefore, when I got here, it wasn't much of a leap to track my food too.
But for me, tracking my food and focusing on weight loss is about priorities. There are times (like in the last year) where it is just not a priority because much, much more important things are priorities.
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Do you have any skills you have learned during your weight loss period? How did you succeed at it?
6 years into maintenance at this point, the things that I attribute to my continued success-
-learning what true hunger is, vs eating out of habit, because of the time on the clock, out of boredom, because of a social event etc
-learning how to read a nutrition label and what CICO actually is, (when I started I had no idea what a calorie was!)
-learning how important correct portion sizes are-this far into the process I still use my food scale regularly
-learning that to keep things realistic and sustainable for me, I have to allow myself to continue eating the foods I like. I have no list of forbidden foods and continue to eat what I enjoy
-I don't assign morality to food. There are no 'good' foods or 'bad' foods. I detest labels, it's juvenile and counterproductive
-realizing weight management happens mostly in your mind, with a bit of math sprinkled in. You will succeed or fail at this whole thing before you even lose your first pound, depending on where your mindset is at
-realizing that the weight loss phase is pretty easy and is for a very short amount of time in the scheme of things. I focused on maintenance from my first day of my weight loss phase and that's shaped how I've gone through this whole process. And here I am-a statistical freak of nature who's maintaining long term now
-always having goals to work towards, to keep boredom away. I believe boredom is one of the biggest reasons why people fail at long term weight management adherence. Maintenance is for 20, 30, 40+ years and it's very easy to get complacent, to lose focus and to slip into an "I don't care anymore" mindset. Having new goals to always be focused on is one of the most crucial pieces for successful maintenance, in my opinion.6 -
I find that if you treat yourself with non-food treats you have a greater chance of success overall. Also I find white tea very good. Keeps my appetite In check1
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I'm at the beginning of my journey towards better health. I need to work on not being shy, embarrassed or ambiguous to others about losing weight.1
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cilliandelaney wrote: »I find that if you treat yourself with non-food treats you have a greater chance of success overall. Also I find white tea very good. Keeps my appetite In check
I've got a collection of teas I like. They're a no-calorie treat for me in the evenings.
I'm drinking this one tonight ...
https://madameflavourshop.com/shop/rooibos-mint-choc/
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I needed to learn to consider and value my future self (who needs a healthy weight and fitness in order to have a happy and satisfying life), not just my current self (who sometimes wants to eat All Da Foodz).
This couldn’t express it better. All I have to do is look at family members for a snapshot of my future self. It’s very motivating when I do want to eat “All Da Foodz”.
I need to get over the “deer in the headlights” approach to life, too. I work at it constantly. It’s way harder than weight loss. Who knew.
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1. Learn to live my life beyond food
2. Learn that losing weight and getting healthy means that I will lose weight and get healthy. It won't solve all my problems
3. Learn that less calorie-dense doesn't always mean "better". I am much better at it this time around, but I need to reiterate it to make sure I don't slip back into eating mass quantities of sugar-free jello and getting no dietary fat.7 -
If the person woo-ing did this because they made the common mistake of thinking it meant "woo-hoo", a positive, they can unwoo by clicking it again.1
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