Your biggest weight loss challenge?
LydiaX35
Posts: 11 Member
What is hardest for me is knowing it won’t just take weeks but years to get where I want to be. And I am determined to not give up; however it’s my hardest challenge to not just order a takeaway
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I know it will take a good long while to get to my goal weight, but I prefer not to get too far ahead of myself. I don't think about doing this for months and years to come. I only have to keep within my calorie budget today. Tomorrow, I still only have to keep to my plan for that one day.
This is how I ride my bike up hills. I don't look at the top of the hill way up there. I keep my eyes on the road in front of me and just grind it out.
What is hardest for me is I tend to have a mild binge once in a while and around that same time I also get sick of logging. When that happens I take a break for a week. No logging but also no ridiculous eating. I end up maintaining which is ideal.
I know this ends up lengthening the time it will take to get to goal, but it doesn't matter. The lack of a time goal is sort of freeing.14 -
I am a little more than a year into my multi-year journey. I know I won't be in goal range this year either. I try not to think about it and just focus on what I can do to make myself happy today. This makes it easier and it makes time go by much faster.
I will eat just about anything in moderation including fast food (takeaways). I restricted myself more in my past attempts to lose weight and I always failed. Some people do seem to do better by initially avoiding what they feel like are trigger foods until they feel more in control. Otherwise there is no reason to cut out anything. It is only a matter of making things fit in your calorie budget.
My biggest weight loss challenge has changed as time moved forward and I imagine yours will too. Right now I am trying to tame my "fat brain". I struggle with still feeling like I did 150+ pounds ago. It might sound like a good problem to have but it is causing me some grief. It doesn't have anything to do with body image it is mostly about the limitations I faced before I started and how I still feel like I have them. As long as I keep catching myself before making decisions like a much heavier man I will get past it.6 -
Nothings been challenging per say. It’s more like I’m just impatient, I have to remind myself to shut up and relax because at this point I’m healthy and just trying to lose vanity weight. I need to pat myself on the back more often for what I already accomplished.
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I'm early in my journey. My biggest struggle right now is to not freak out when the scale goes up instead of down. I can regurgitate all the reasons why weight loss isn't linear, but when it happens to me it's hard not to hyper-focus on a 2lb weight gain. "I know it was that piece of cake I ate on Saturday. It put me over 400 calories for the day. I shouldn't have had it. I hate myself for being week."
No way that 2"x3" piece of cake contained 7000 calories to account for the 2lb increase, but I still feel do deflated. That's a week's worth of dieting gone. Poof.16 -
My biggest challenge has been resisting late night binges. Over the past 13 months, I've probably had at least half a dozen all-out snack attacks, letting my second-nature bad habits take over. Luckily, they don't last more than an hour or so, and then I get back on track. No lie, it's been a heck of a lot of work, but I'm down 68 pounds and about 7 pounds from my goal. I didn't gain the weight overnight, so I knew it would take a while to lose it. I haven't been this thin since 7th grade! I've never felt better. It's been amazing seeing everybody's posts from my MFPeeps, keeping me motivated. All that work has been SOOO WORTH IT!!! To all of you reading this: Keep at it, you can do this. We are all with you 🤗13
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I struggle with this reality too and also have a hard time visualizing my body and life without the 100+lb of extra fat I've carried for 14 years now! I'm new on here and I'm also participating in a dietbet as a kickstart. Good luck to you on your continued journey!2
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My biggest challenge, by far, is eating for entertainment. I feel I've mostly conquered the "eating my feelings" stuff, which was one major hurdle. But when I'm faced with road trips and new & interesting types of food and ethnic cuisine...it is hard to turn down. By no means do I feel that I HAVE TO turn it all down, don't get me wrong...but it's hard to say "ok I'm just having this one item and not trying this, that, or dessert" when you're in a great restaurant twelve hours from home and having fun w/ your spouse or friends.7
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My biggest challenge is that I am impatient and it is getting worse the closer I get closer to goal. I can’t even enjoy the losses because I am in a hurry for more.6
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My biggest challenge is overcoming my poor self esteem and all the guilt I feel for gaining weight after losing it. Being overweight has been a huge problem for me my whole life. Bullied in school and body shamed by my family at home. I am so tired of weight being the center of my life's attention. I would rather be focusing on something else: e.g. faith, my son, work, helping other people, etc....so many other more worthy causes, but this seems to dominate my brain every day.10
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Exercise. I start work at 6am. I’m too tired to exercise before and after.3
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That I lost 100 pounds, regained 20 and having to start again.4
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Historically the biggest challenge has been my quitting the program and gaining back most of the weight I've lost.
My current challenge is that I'm so hungry all the time. I have a smallish deficit and eat all my exercise calories. I think the issue is that I've cut out meat and although I feel satiated maybe it's because my stomach is emptying quicker. Dunno. I'm a work in progress!0 -
saraonly9913 wrote: »That I lost 100 pounds, regained 20 and having to start again.
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My current challenges right now are to be patient and to stay motivated when I get frustrated that things are not going the way I had hoped. I am crazy impatient when it comes to results in myself. My impatience to get back to the activity levels I was at before a major surgery has landed me on the injured list over and over again. My impatience to lose weight has me stressed out when the scale is not telling me what I want. None of this is good. I have to remember that this is going to take time - both for the weight loss and the activity levels and the more I push for what my body is not ready for the longer it will take.1
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I eat too much at a time. After I finish my breakfast, I find it very hard not to grab my lunch shortly after. I don't think it's hunger, it's impulse control issues that I'm struggling to handle7
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Ugh I relate to so many of your guys answears.
My biggest struggles are the scale moving up and down. It’s rough for me to see any kind of gain of even not a loss even though I know that’s complety normal.
Also realizing how long it’s going to take me to hit my goal.
I lost 27 pounds in a year. And I have about another 27 pounds to lose which I know will take even longer.
For some reason I had it in my head that I could lose 50 pounds in a year 😫2 -
meganreid163 wrote: »Ugh I relate to so many of your guys answears.
My biggest struggles are the scale moving up and down. It’s rough for me to see any kind of gain of even not a loss even though I know that’s complety normal.
Also realizing how long it’s going to take me to hit my goal.
I lost 27 pounds in a year. And I have about another 27 pounds to lose which I know will take even longer.
For some reason I had it in my head that I could lose 50 pounds in a year 😫
As I'm fond of telling myself, the time will pass anyway! Might as well be a little better when you get there
It helps when the losses are slow to non-existent. 2 -
I think one of my main problems is impulse control. If I have food to eat then it’s hard to wait and forget about it... it stays on my mind. I’ve been managing that so far by just buying enough food for one day (e.g a bread roll each day, rather than a loaf of bread, or an individual packet of crisps rather than a multipack).
Like many of you guys I also hate seeing upward fluctuations on the scale. Even though I know it’s irrational, and that I can’t possibly have gained 3 pounds of fat in a few days whilst sticking on-plan... it still just gets to me and makes me feel frustrated and disheartened. So I’ve been managing that so far by only weighing in every 2/3 weeks. Considering weighing daily and just tracking averages though...2 -
Chocolate. It's always chocolate. My cravings are out of control and always have been. And if I deny myself, I become ragey and depressed. The bane of my existence.
Right now I'm getting through it with a small amount of high quality chocolates. I can have two per day at most. My husband is responsible for them. Its... pretty awful actually. Hopefully it gets better.3 -
I also struggle with the ups and downs of the scale. It’s pretty stupid because I know there is no way I’ve gained 4lbs this week, and I always retain 3-6lbs of water during ovulation. In a week it will all drop off and I’ll be 1-2lbs down as expected. But it still goes to my head. I’ve tried tracking everyday using HappyScale, but I find myself not logging on heavier days.
I also give way too much headspace to that number on the scale. I gained 40lbs last year due to a ton of stress and a new medication. On the bright side, while I was eating my feelings and giving into the increased appetite side effect, I still managed to continue exercising especially strength training. So even with that gain I was still a size smaller than the last time I had weighed that much.
I’ve been steadily losing again and I’m finally ready to put some of my bigger sized clothes away. I just pulled down the smallest pair of jeans I own and not only did I get them all the way on, I only had to suck in a little bit to button them. They’re still a tad too tight to wear comfortably so I put them back in the closet, but I’m a LOT closer than I thought I was! I thought I still had 25lbs still to lose, but in reality I may only need to to lose 10-15 because I have more muscle than I did when I last wore them. And while that’s awesome! It’s also weirdly hard to let go of. I’ve had this number in my head for so long, I’m having trouble being okay with the higher number.3 -
meganreid163 wrote: »Ugh I relate to so many of your guys answears.
My biggest struggles are the scale moving up and down. It’s rough for me to see any kind of gain of even not a loss even though I know that’s complety normal.
Also realizing how long it’s going to take me to hit my goal.
I lost 27 pounds in a year. And I have about another 27 pounds to lose which I know will take even longer.
For some reason I had it in my head that I could lose 50 pounds in a year 😫
The fluctuations on the scale are misery. I was doing great this week and then TOM so up over a pound overnight and takes days to go away. The fluctuations make me insane. I know weight loss isn’t linear and when I retain the fat loss continues and eventually shows on the scale. But, it still makes me crazy.0 -
Several difficulties:
Consistency on weekends. I tend to restrict during the week, then lose it on the weekends.
Patience. I lost 70, regained 20. Everyday I have to tell myself it will take time. But yet I still want this off now *cue Veruca Salt*
Comparing myself to others instead of being appreciating my strengths and being grateful for what I've already accomplished.
Looking for perfect instead of staying with what's doable and works. Always looking for perfect diet and exercise plan instead of doing what I'm capable of consistently.
Over commiting myself. I've joined accountability and challenge groups for plans I hated just to be part of things. I've ghosted several FB challenge groups. Sucks, but I don't need that stress anymore.
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texasredreb wrote: »I'm early in my journey. My biggest struggle right now is to not freak out when the scale goes up instead of down. I can regurgitate all the reasons why weight loss isn't linear, but when it happens to me it's hard not to hyper-focus on a 2lb weight gain. "I know it was that piece of cake I ate on Saturday. It put me over 400 calories for the day. I shouldn't have had it. I hate myself for being week."
No way that 2"x3" piece of cake contained 7000 calories to account for the 2lb increase, but I still feel do deflated. That's a week's worth of dieting gone. Poof.
Wow - THIS!! I am exactly the same way. You captured it.1 -
I have to say I am actually a little choked up reading this thread. I relate to SO MANY of these challenges. The guilt and self-loathing I feel for maintaining my goal weight (130) for over two years and then gaining 20-30 pounds and having to start over and wear my bigger clothes, the exasperation when I don’t lose one week or barely lose or gain, the knowledge that it’s going to take time even though I want to look good for an event next month where I am going to see a bunch of people who last saw me at goal weight, the anger at myself for not starting this earlier knowing that this event is looming, etc. etc.
Thank you all for sharing your challenges. I really needed it. Knowing I’m not alone and knowing you all keep on pushing forward even with these challenges helps me more than I can say.
I love the saying “you don’t drown because you fall in a puddle, you drown because you don’t get back up. I have gotten to goal several times before (weight had been a life long struggle) and I know as long as you stick with it, even if you gain some weeks, even if you binge one night, you will get there. Thank you all!4 -
My biggest challenge is mindless eating. I love nothing better than a bowl full of popcorn with lots of butter and salt while I'm watching a movie on Netflix. I try to focus on slicing up some cucumbers and carrots and eating those instead, but it's just not the same. At least, not yet!0
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My biggest challenge is meal prep. With a busy life, sometimes it’s SO much easier to grab takeout, but that’s hard to fit in my calories.0
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My biggest challenge right now is actually economical, believe it or not. I'm finding it hard to fit healthy things like gym memberships into my economy. And I don't even own a pair of sneakers if I wanted to do outside workouts like walking/running. I try to do it (walking mostly) in my boots, but it's not convenient. I also have the issue that all of my clothes are starting to get loose and I can't even remotely afford buying new clothes at the rate that I'm losing them to the weightloss.
So yeah, weightloss comes with a great deal of side effects that I hadn't really planned for. But I'll get through it. Slow and steady wins the race in the end 3 -
My biggest challenge is the unknown!!! Have I accidentally been in maintenance for the past 4 weeks, or will I get a weight loss whoosh of 4 lbs soon? Should I lower my calories just in case? Should I quit running because it makes me so hungry and I'm worried about eating back all my exercise calories in case my Fitbit is overestimating my burn because I haven't lost weight in 4 weeks. That for me is the most challenging and exhausting part.4
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New_Heavens_Earth wrote: »Several difficulties:
Consistency on weekends. I tend to restrict during the week, then lose it on the weekends.
Patience. I lost 70, regained 20. Everyday I have to tell myself it will take time. But yet I still want this off now *cue Veruca Salt*
Comparing myself to others instead of being appreciating my strengths and being grateful for what I've already accomplished.
Looking for perfect instead of staying with what's doable and works. Always looking for perfect diet and exercise plan instead of doing what I'm capable of consistently.
Over commiting myself. I've joined accountability and challenge groups for plans I hated just to be part of things. I've ghosted several FB challenge groups. Sucks, but I don't need that stress anymore.
Get out of my brain! Everything you said is me, 100% (even down to the ghosting)! You've accomplished so much and you definitely have it in you to keep going. Perfection is the enemy of progress.1
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