Overcoming your brain during weight loss

unstableunicorn

We know but don’t always appreciate that physical and mental health go hand-in-hand. I started this thread for folks who are looking to share or find ways that have helped them take back control of their life.

I had to throw out our scale. It needed to go anyway (15yo and having functionality issues) but I realized I was checking it compulsively and the number either put me in depressive spells or enabled myself to reward common sense and tiny fluctuations. At some point it clicked in my head that my behaviour and mentality weren’t much different from an alcoholic’s. I intend to replace it in a month or two, but for now I’m going to rely on the fit of my clothes and blood pressure checks to monitor my progress. I get restless not being able to check, but at least the pacing has me moving instead of watching tv and I felt free when I heard the scale bump its way down the laundry chute.

Feel free to share anything that helped you work through the mental barriers!

RelCanonical

Individual therapy with a counselor. I know that most of my issues with my weight and eating are a symptom of anxiety and other mental health issues. In other words, any change in eating habits for me was just treating the symptoms rather than treating the problem, so when I'd have a "flare up" of anxiety, anything I'd done regarding my eating basically went out the window. Once I figured out how to manage my stress and anxiety better, I was able to make more significant and consistent changes, and the eating techniques to help manage actually stuck (like weighing once a month, and having gum around to chew if I just want something in my mouth).

Annie_01

For me...I had to take a look at what I wanted my life to be...not what it is now...then start living that life now instead of waiting until some unknown date. This not only includes weight loss but things such as who I wanted to be as a person, what WOE that I wanted, my environment, people around me, activities, the way that I dress and what I want to accomplish.

I have slowly started changing my habits to meet all these goals. I take one day at a time to working to make changes. Some things I have accomplished fairly quickly and other things I know will take time. I am not expecting everything to change over time...just to make progress.

I came to the realization that I don't have to wait until I lose all the weight that I want...I just need to start living the life that I want and deserve. It has made a world of difference...I am enjoying the life that I have now more than I have in a long time.

LyndaBSS

I was an emotional overeater when I joined mfp. I also suffer from anxiety and depression. I lost my husband to ALS last year and it put me in a really bad head space. If I wasn't ordering pizza, it was chinese.

I decided to improve my health. I just woke up one day, was ready and made the decision to do it.

Since day one, I've logged truthfully in my food diary. I've almost always been in a calorie deficit and I'm down 27 lbs.

Changing my frame of mind and my diet has lessened my anxiety and depression symptoms, too. I got myself off insulin and all my recent bloodwork came back normal. That's a huge win.

I weigh daily. It keeps me engaged in the process. I accept what the scale shows because I understand fluctuations and plateaus.

I fill out the food diary a few days in advance. This keeps me disciplined.

My scale syncs to a weight trending app and mfp. Seeing the trend keeps me motivated.

RelCanonical

Annie_01 wrote: »

For me...I had to take a look at what I wanted my life to be...not what it is now...then start living that life now instead of waiting until some unknown date. This not only includes weight loss but things such as who I wanted to be as a person, what WOE that I wanted, my environment, people around me, activities, the way that I dress and what I want to accomplish.

I have slowly started changing my habits to meet all these goals. I take one day at a time to working to make changes. Some things I have accomplished fairly quickly and other things I know will take time. I am not expecting everything to change over time...just to make progress.

I came to the realization that I don't have to wait until I lose all the weight that I want...I just need to start living the life that I want and deserve. It has made a world of difference...I am enjoying the life that I have now more than I have in a long time.

This is so true. Weight loss started getting way easier, honestly, when I decided to focus on being a better person rather than just a thinner person. I feel like I failed the last time (lost the weight, spent almost no time in maintenance) because I expected to become a better person just because I was thinner, but that's not the case at all. In fact, I probably became a worse person because I shirked all of my hobbies and things in the pursuit of weight loss, and couldn't deal with it when I realized that's all I had.

88olds

I figured this out about positive thinking- I don’t have to flip negatives into positives. I only have to fight the negatives to a draw.

That “only a .2 lb loss” for example. The voice screaming in my head that it’s a disaster is just exaggerating. I hoped for, maybe expected a bigger loss. But even .2 is a move in the right direction. It’s ok to be disappointed. But disappointed is a reason to try to improve my effort, it isn’t a reason to quit.

I can look at my diary that’s been kept up to date. Look at my exercise program that I’m sticking with. So the weigh in is meh? I’m still progressing. Net positive for the week.

memes_74

I am going to follow this post because my brain is wacky right now and that is my current barrier to weight loss. Hoping to get some good ideas and then be able to post what is working for me.. Thanks for the discussion.

unstableunicorn

I just noticed I wrote “laundry” instead of “garbage” earlier! 😆 Excuse the ridiculousness.

@RelCanonical One-on-one therapy was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my health!! There were triggers and behaviours I never would have picked up on without it.

@Annie_01 Great idea! The first round of weight I lost started that way. I haven’t been able to commit to Now like I did then (whole lot of personal garbage the past couple years) but the benefits of being assertive with my weight loss very quickly spread to other parts of my life. 😃

@LyndaBSS So sorry for your loss! I doubt I could bounce back as quickly! I really admire your strength and discipline.

@88olds Oh my goodness, it feels good to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t need to make things more positive than they are! Something I hope to return to when we replace our scale is to not split hairs over partial lbs. At my best (mentally and physically) I rounded up or down to the nearest pound since it was just going to change as soon as I had breakfast anyway.

@memes_74 No problem! Yesterday was a bad day for tunnel vision for me, but I was able to give it some productive direction and got a lot of chores done. Didn’t help too much with the snacking, but when I finished my log for the day I realized I still had consumed far fewer calories than I normally would on a bad day.