How I Went from Sustainable to Unsustainable

NovusDies
NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
edited September 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
At the first of July I scheduled a time restrained surgery that meant I would be doing a "hurry-up" weight loss to hit a deadline that is now soon approaching.

To accomplish this I cut my calories down to 1500-1600 per day (after exercise). To be a little extra careful I had my plan reviewed by a RD who examined the way I normally eat and said that my nutritional habits could easily support being near the minimum nutrition line for men for the 3 months. So the technical stuff was out of the way.

Going into this I had 17 months of losing weight under my belt. I lost 200 pounds and I was pretty happy most of the time doing it. I banked calories each week and ate maintenance nearly every Sunday. It was great. I was confident I could handle this hurry-up mode of aggressive weight loss and I was close to right. I built a very solid foundation for myself to stand on during a harsher time.

But this isn't sustainable. Since cutting 200ish calories a day I have been:

1) Much less patient
2) Much less happy
3) Much more focused on scale results
4) Much less able to moderate things like potato chips
5) Much closer to cracking and going into an overfeed

Now I am adulting right now and so I have sucked it up and I have stayed disciplined but I could not have done this for over a year. One night I grabbed the PB jar and before I weighed it or anything I had eaten a fair number of calories. I stopped myself but I felt a very old urge from previous strict diets to go nuts on that jar. I have felt that way a few more times since then. I had to return to basics of getting rid of treat food I no longer trust myself around. All because of 200 calories... all because what I am doing now is not sustainable.

So I typed all of this up to hopefully help guide someone else. Going FAST is not my key to going LONG and weight loss is LONG. Some people can handle it. I think most people can't.

Oh and deadlines suck!

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Replies

  • CardinalComb
    CardinalComb Posts: 66 Member
    You lost 200lbs in 15 mos? That is a huge accomplishment. That alone would make me happy.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    You lost 200lbs in 15 mos? That is a huge accomplishment. That alone would make me happy.

    17 months. I need to edit that.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    Thanks for sharing. I bet this does indeed help others.

    What about your surgery? How flexible is your weight? If it's not, can you push back the surgery?
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Thanks for sharing. I bet this does indeed help others.

    What about your surgery? How flexible is your weight? If it's not, can you push back the surgery?

    I should make the weight. I have extensive tracking on myself and my projections in short time spans are really accurate. I am close enough now that I took it a little easier over the holiday to give me a mental break. Of course that resulted in a nice big uptick on the scale but that will go back down soon enough. Of course it bothers me a little more right now but I know better.

    I can push the surgery back but the next time all the schedules come together would be in January. If it had required that I do a VLCD to make it I probably would not have tried but this is doable. It is just more of a struggle.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,097 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    I was reading about habits a few weeks ago...

    Our old habits really never go away. They just take a back seat to the new habits we build...just waiting...watching...ready to make their reappearance when they see us struggle, falter to maintain those new habits that replaced them. Then when we are most vulnerable...they pounce hoping to wiggle their way back into our lives.

    I am not sure what any of that has to do with your situation but I think it was the peanut butter. I also thought about a phrase that I heard recently...getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. Take a look at what you are learning about yourself. If things are comfortable what does that really show us about ourselves? It isn't until we have to struggle that we find out who we are.

    Again...not sure what any of this has to do with your situation but I wish you luck.

    Good insight. I am not shocked by most of it. I knew I could not lose weight like this over a long period of time because I have failed to do it so many times before. I am a little shocked at how fast I could revert back and how much difference 200 calories really makes for me. The impact was nearly immediate. I was happy and then suddenly I was not. I was able to easily moderate and then suddenly it was a struggle.

    Part of it is the deadline. It is so much better to approach weight loss more casually. If you want to lose 2 pounds this week but you only lose 1.8 just accept it as a victory and move on. Having a deadline means you have to lose X no matter what. Sucks.

    I have mixed emotions about deadlines. It seems that one of my characteristics is that if I don't have a deadline I will procrastinate. Then there are the deadlines that are far off in the future that I think...I still have plenty of time. For me to be successful with deadlines then I have to have shorter smaller deadlines that keep me moving toward the longer final deadline.
  • Hilogirl2018
    Hilogirl2018 Posts: 687 Member
    My mother had bariatric surgery, and I love this post because it makes it clear that weight loss surgery still requires a lot of hard work. Many people think it is the easy way out, and it is most certainly not! Great insights here all around.
  • scottyaus2732
    scottyaus2732 Posts: 67 Member
    Best of luck mate.



  • duskyjewel
    duskyjewel Posts: 286 Member
    I think the OP deserves to be a sticky. Great thread. And good luck with your surgery!
  • shrinkingweez
    shrinkingweez Posts: 25 Member
    Well done on the amount of weight you've managed to lose so far, that's incredible!

    I also totally agree. Every other time I've tried to lose weight, I've shot for the max of 2lbs a week and been miserable, and eventually given in to old habits out of hunger. This time I've upped my intake by about 200ish calories a day to 1.5lb loss a week, and I'm so happy. I can eat the occasional treat, I don't constantly have to juggle my numbers, and I'm consistently losing.

    I hope you get your surgery and it goes well, so you can go back to eating how works for you!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »

    <<snip>>

    Now I am adulting right now and so I have sucked it up and I have stayed disciplined but I could not have done this for over a year. One night I grabbed the PB jar and before I weighed it or anything I had eaten a fair number of calories. I stopped myself but I felt a very old urge from previous strict diets to go nuts on that jar. I have felt that way a few more times since then. I had to return to basics of getting rid of treat food I no longer trust myself around. All because of 200 calories... all because what I am doing now is not sustainable.

    <<snip>>

    Please tell me this pun was intended! :laugh:

    Insightful. Thanks for sharing.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Well done on the amount of weight you've managed to lose so far, that's incredible!

    I also totally agree. Every other time I've tried to lose weight, I've shot for the max of 2lbs a week and been miserable, and eventually given in to old habits out of hunger. This time I've upped my intake by about 200ish calories a day to 1.5lb loss a week, and I'm so happy. I can eat the occasional treat, I don't constantly have to juggle my numbers, and I'm consistently losing.

    I hope you get your surgery and it goes well, so you can go back to eating how works for you!


    @shrinkingweez

    That is the answer... right there! Learning from previous mistakes and finding a balance. If that is you in your profile picture you look younger than me so good job on being smarter at a younger age than I was.



  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »

    <<snip>>

    Now I am adulting right now and so I have sucked it up and I have stayed disciplined but I could not have done this for over a year. One night I grabbed the PB jar and before I weighed it or anything I had eaten a fair number of calories. I stopped myself but I felt a very old urge from previous strict diets to go nuts on that jar. I have felt that way a few more times since then. I had to return to basics of getting rid of treat food I no longer trust myself around. All because of 200 calories... all because what I am doing now is not sustainable.

    <<snip>>

    Please tell me this pun was intended! :laugh:

    Insightful. Thanks for sharing.

    Where's the woo button when I need it.... 🤔 lol