Addicted to the highs of weight loss

LeiLaura

Gah. I've got to the point where I get so euphoric when I notice my clothes are too big, see a change in my body, or get a loss on the scales, that I feel really meh on the days (obviously most of them) when those things don't happen. I know that's a danger for folk switching into maintenance, too. I know all the logic, and most of the time I'm get on with my day, but once a week or so I feel really fed up and impatient to see the changes I'm working so hard for. Two weeks ago, I squealed with delight at getting under 12 stone. Today, I felt so fat because my scale hadn't budged from 11 stone 10 in a several days. How could I have felt thinner when I was 4lb heavier? It's all in the euphoria. Grrr. I need to get a grip! Thanks for listening to my rant, just having a "fat" day, I guess (I've run and swum, and eaten within my calories, just feel enormous...).

RelCanonical

I've been toying with the idea of "practicing" maintenance for a few months before I hit goal (I'm about 25 pounds away) to get used to the feeling of not having any weight or body changes before I have to do it for the indefinite future. That way, I get used to the feeling, but with the knowledge that I get a little bit more of the "high" before the real challenge starts.

I totes had a "fat" day on Monday due to bloating from what I think is ovulation, so I feel you.

LeiLaura

RelCanonical wrote: »

I've been toying with the idea of "practicing" maintenance for a few months before I hit goal (I'm about 25 pounds away) to get used to the feeling of not having any weight or body changes before I have to do it for the indefinite future. That way, I get used to the feeling, but with the knowledge that I get a little bit more of the "high" before the real challenge starts.

I totes had a "fat" day on Monday due to bloating from what I think is ovulation, so I feel you.

Thank you for the moral support, and I think you're very wise to take that path. Good luck! Let me know how you get on.

NovusDies

I read a really smart suggestion a few weeks ago. The person was too invested in their scale number so she switched from pounds to kilograms and was forced to convert it. She said that because it was not a number she recognized she stopped having the immediate emotional response to it.

koalathebear

Hi there - I empathise with what you're saying. For me, it's because I've been working so hard at the weight loss and seeing the progress as being a tangible result, I was wondering how I would be when I hit goal weight and went into maintenance and would no longer be losing. My revised goal was to lose 32 kg so when I was at around the 28kg lost mark, I started to deliberately slow down the weight loss in terms of letting myself eat more and making the daily deficit smaller so that the weight loss would be slower.

What this meant was that for the last few weeks, I have grown used to the scales not moving or even going up a bit before going back down again. I actually see it as a 'good' thing if the scales don't move as long as they're not going up too much. I'm going to hit goal weight (32kg lost) in the next week or so if things go on track, but if it takes me a bit longer, than I am comfortable that I'll be ok with that. It is going to be a strange feeling to not have to worry about deficits anymore and pretty much just eating my full calorie budget

Good luck!

LeiLaura

Thanks, folks, interesting points there. I'll maybe give the conversion thing a go! Good luck those of you going into maintenance, I'm sure I'll be picking your brains when I get there!

NovusDies

LeiLaura wrote: »

Thanks, folks, interesting points there. I'll maybe give the conversion thing a go! Good luck those of you going into maintenance, I'm sure I'll be picking your brains when I get there!

It may work. It may not. The important thing is to keep trying to adapt so you don't fall into the same trap over and over.

LeiLaura

Well, it's weigh-in day again. Will try not to cry if there's been no downward movement

LeiLaura

Gah. I've only lost 7.5 oz this week. I've lost 2lb every other week. I guess this is the point I'm no longer a newbie, and have to get in it for the long haul...

koalathebear

It really varies. There were some weeks I lost 1kg a week, some times it took me several weeks to lose a kg. Counting calories makes it look as though it's precise but it's not a precise thing. As long as you keep it up, log faithfully and try to be as accurate as you can, the weight will keep coming off. I definitely found it less stressful when I got to the point of not being fussed if it took me several weeks to lose a kg. For a time, it was eg 5 kg lost after 5 weeks, 15 kg lost after 15 weeks ... Now I'm at 30-31kg lost at 36 weeks. Sometimes I even went backwards... but would bounce back again. Hang in there and do try to get to the point where you're like - not gaining is good and even gaining a little bit is fine ...

LeiLaura

koalathebear wrote: »

It really varies. There were some weeks I lost 1kg a week, some times it took me several weeks to lose a kg. Counting calories makes it look as though it's precise but it's not a precise thing. As long as you keep it up, log faithfully and try to be as accurate as you can, the weight will keep coming off. I definitely found it less stressful when I got to the point of not being fussed if it took me several weeks to lose a kg. For a time, it was eg 5 kg lost after 5 weeks, 15 kg lost after 15 weeks ... Now I'm at 30-31kg lost at 36 weeks. Sometimes I even went backwards... but would bounce back again. Hang in there and do try to get to the point where you're like - not gaining is good and even gaining a little bit is fine ...

Thank you so much I needed the pep talk! You're right, I did get "fooled" by the precision of calorie counting into thinking (despite knowing better) that in weight loss 1 + 1 always = 2. Thanks for the perspective shift, much appreciated! Will try to be patient...

secno1

Feel free to add for easy hiit training

GrizzledSquirrel

@LeiLaura It sounds like you’ve gained a lot of insight into your own behaviour on this journey. Sit for a moment and consider how powerful that is. Lots of people never gain that understanding and spend their energy blaming others, third-parties, diet types, exceptional health function etc, etc. Instead, you have identified: “my thrill in the highs is threatening my success when enduring the lows”.

Well done. Good step.

Now you have identified that threat, use the expertise you have in your own self-knowledge to tackle it. It could be as simple as next time you step on the scale and feel disappointed - force a grin, and say, “Oh look, that’s that thing I always do...well, I’m not going to fall for it today”.

I’ve sometimes read this exchange as something similar to a tantruming child and its parent. The child does what it can to get what it wants (e.g. sweets at a shop check-out). A good parent won’t give in to this because they know that the sweets will do the child more harm than good, so it will ignore the tantrum. But it does this out of love and understanding (and perhaps a touch of exasperated amusement), not one of judgement, cruelty and heartlessness. Over time, the child stops tantruming as it doesn’t achieve its goal.

Be your own, loving parent to your inner child! 😊

LeiLaura

GrizzledSquirrel wrote: »

@LeiLaura It sounds like you’ve gained a lot of insight into your own behaviour on this journey. Sit for a moment and consider how powerful that is. Lots of people never gain that understanding and spend their energy blaming others, third-parties, diet types, exceptional health function etc, etc. Instead, you have identified: “my thrill in the highs is threatening my success when enduring the lows”.

Well done. Good step.

Now you have identified that threat, use the expertise you have in your own self-knowledge to tackle it. It could be as simple as next time you step on the scale and feel disappointed - force a grin, and say, “Oh look, that’s that thing I always do...well, I’m not going to fall for it today”.

I’ve sometimes read this exchange as something similar to a tantruming child and its parent. The child does what it can to get what it wants (e.g. sweets at a shop check-out). A good parent won’t give in to this because they know that the sweets will do the child more harm than good, so it will ignore the tantrum. But it does this out of love and understanding (and perhaps a touch of exasperated amusement), not one of judgement, cruelty and heartlessness. Over time, the child stops tantruming as it doesn’t achieve its goal.

Be your own, loving parent to your inner child! 😊

Haha, yes, I'll try that! Maybe imagining myself having a full on toddler tantrum at the gym will make me smile instead Thank you!