How do you mentally reset when you feel you're losing track?

weight3049

I am losing a good amount of weight with diet+exercising. After becoming comfortable knowing I can lose weight it feels I am getting more lazy now.

Does this happen to everyone and how did you reset yourself to get that motivation back as when you first started?

tcunbeliever

I take a diet break of 2-4 weeks every 6-8 weeks because after that long at deficit eating I start to get a little crazy brain...a break lets me eat a bit more, relax a bit, and then be rested to dive in with new motivation after a bit of time off...this works for me, but not everyone.

puffbrat

I remind myself of the reasons why I started and try to force habit and continue with the routines I have built. Sometimes I just have to take a break and maintain for a while and then come back to losing.

jenncornelsen

Motivation comes in waves I find. Sometimes we have to fight harder to stay on track, thats when habit and will power come in! I personally fon't take diet breaks unless I'm on vacation, I find it too hard to get back into the mindset

ReenieHJ

I've been going through trying to push that reset button since the holidays. And I think I'm just barely getting back into the right mindset. It's challenging, especially if you've been successful in losing weight. I'm close to maintenance and am a bit cloudy about tangible goals right now and I feel that's put a damper on my strong mindset that I had, made me lazier.
I usually only exercise once a day but yesterday I hopped back onto the treadmill at the end of the day for a 2nd session. I've also started incorporating planking and trying to increase my time with that(sounds like a little thing but it's a new goal for me so...). Maybe just try little adjustments to your current routines, whether by increasing exercise or eating different foods? Another new goal for me is I'm looking forward to spring and hiking with a good friend of mine, so want to work towards being in better shape to do that. (These cold dark months really don't help the mindset when all my body wants to do is eat warm comfort food).
Good luck with finding your reset button and making it work!!!

nighthawk584

every time I feel excuses creeping in, I look at my photo of when I started. It usually does the trick. If that doesn't work, I look at my medical records and how poor of health I was in.

Will_Run_for_Food

Staying motivated is a big challenge for most people. I journal, so sometimes I will go back to older journals when I wrote while I was feeling motivated to remind myself why I was doing it back then. Then I'll reassess my goals, write down what worked in the past, ask myself why I'm doing it this time and then journal again once I start over.

Visualisation also helps. Close your eyes and picture yourself succeeding at whatever it is you want to accomplish, whether it's finishing a 5 K, completing 10 pull ups unassisted, losing 50 lbs, gaining... whatever. And hold on to that.

But remember that it's normal and okay to lose motivation every now and then. Just don't give up.

lgfrie

Great question.

So I had 5 rock solid diet months where I hit my targets 93 % of all days - i.e. came in at or under my MFP calorie goal and did at least 40 minutes of cardio. The weight fell off at a very predictable pace, perfectly in line with what MFP said it would be. Every once in a while I'd take a day off but never eating over maintenance.

And then around Thanksgiving things suddenly got harder. Not just the holiday days. I started missing my calorie target several days a week, first by 30 or 40 calories, then by 100, then 150, the trend was clear. All of a sudden there were more off days, and some of them were not anywhere close to maintenance. My weight loss slowed from a predictable 2 lbs per week to a very hard won 1 lb per week, which doesn't sound bad, but it was 1 lb by virtue of dieting at a 2 lb/week level and then giving a lot of it back with binges. Which is bad and contains the seeds of potential total destruction.

Diet fatigue. Just wanted more food, I guess. I intellectually understood what I was dieting for, just like 6 months ago, but I was no longer really feeling it, not like at first.

So two weeks ago, after a Christmas binge with some other fat people who shouldn't have been binging either, I realized something had to seriously change. What I came up with was to make a deal with myself: increase the daily calories 100 per day in return for absolutely, positively not exceeding the new number by 1 calorie, and limiting any off day/binge type behavior strictly to maintenance calories, everything carefully logged and accounted for. So far I have held up my end of the bargain 100 % and I do feel reengaged with the diet again, like it's a new thing. I eagerly await my "free" 100 calories every day and I know I have to do my part to earn them, by not exceeding them.

There probably isn't much of a learning point in all that, but what I'm thinking is that making the diet a little easier makes it possible to comply everyday, which leads to more compliance, a virtuous circle of success. Conversely, overshooting the calorie target leads to more overshooting, a circle of failure. Having figured that out, I = adjusted the target

Kimmotion5783

Yup, that's happened to me recently. Life stuff combined with some boredom from my health routine and then to top it all off, I pulled muscles in my back. I decided to take a brief break from losing weight until 1.) my back healed and 2.) I was ready to get back in the game. So the last three weeks in December, I didn't go to the gym. I did some walking when I could, I tried to keep up my usual daily water intake and did my best to eat sort of healthy, but not as obsessive about it as usual. New Year's Day, got things back to normal. It worked like a charm. One week into the "diet break" (as I call it) and I was mentally ready. I think it sort of reminded me why I hate eating like crap and not exercising, and it lets me get it out of my system. Fyi, I maintained my weight through it all. Turns out I needed a break from the usual routine.

sardelsa

If I notice myself feeling drained, hungry and tired I usually take a diet break and eat at maintenance for a few weeks especially if it's been over 8 weeks at a deficit. Then I come back with more energy and motivation.

NovusDies

The one thing that does not work for me is clamping down harder. That always extends the problem.

There may be some link (I am not knowledgeable enough to know for sure) between lowered serotonin levels and diet fatigue. From what I have read your serotonin is lower while in a calorie deficit and it is raised again by eating at maintenance. I would definitely classify my bouts with diet fatigue as a funk.

jayhschmidt

Staying motivated is tough. It's better to be disciplined (but speaking for myself, that's even tougher). I've found that I can get myself motivated by starting a new sport or exercise activity (perhaps some short-term seasonal thing). I maintain my fitness and nutrition needs if I keep my mind on getting better at some sport activity.

WJS_jeepster

lgfrie wrote: »

making the diet a little easier makes it possible to comply everyday, which leads to more compliance, a virtuous circle of success. Conversely, overshooting the calorie target leads to more overshooting, a circle of failure. Having figured that out, I = adjusted the target

This really puts it so well for me. My entire life is based on this. I tend to be either in the circle of failure, with pretty much all aspects of life spiraling together downward, or when I've got things more together, everything is spiraling upward. I've found if I can find tiny little successes in everyday things, it helps me change the direction.

So, for example, when my depression was at it's worst a few years ago, I had a goal of doing 1(one) thing extra each day. Maybe it was doing a load of laundry, or emptying the dishwasher or opening one piece of mail - something super easy to give me the boost of success/compliance/meeting a goal. That led to more success.

Thanks for putting it so succinctly!

hesn92

It helps me to get on myfitnesspal actually. Goofing around in the forums where there are other people doing the Same thing makes me feel better. And I sometimes go to the success stories section and look at before/after pictures.

chris_in_cal

This thread really resonates with me. 1.5 lbs/week through about 50 lbs. and I leveled off over the holidays, and just had an injury. I'm think my mindset is being challenged. I am hoping to see a positive in a break, rather than diving into an abyss of complete regain.

Versicolour

I hit that point a while ago. I started studying and had to cut down on my exercise, I started working part time and it was all just too overwhelming. I stress ate, stopped logging and gained all the weight I had lost back. I was halfway to my goal and now I'm back where I started. I tried everything to demotivated myself: adjusting daily calorie goals, switching up macros, intermittent fasting. Nothing helped. So at this point I am furiously scrambling to put the brakes on my gain. I have a sneaking suspicion that dairy is my downfall. I thought it was bread and refined flours, but I eat all my bread with cheese. Plus pizza...

I have started a slow elimination to a Daniel fast. First gave up coffee, then bread and refined flours, now meat. Next will be dairy and eggs. We'll see what we see

whmscll

I have had a hard time getting my head back in the game. I started maintenance in Sept. and then went on vacation to France (hello, cheese and pastries), got sick (twice), had oral surgery, enjoyed treats over the holidays and strained my back just before Christmas. So my normal eating and exercise habits have been disrupted on and off for three and a half months, I’ve only gained back 5 pounds, but have felt myself sliding back into the old bad habits (mostly just eating too much, eapecially at night while reading or watching TV).So I’ve thougt about how it felt to be at my lowest weight and how amazing and awesome it was, compared to how I felt last time I regained, which was ugh. AND how hard I worked to lose the weight. AND how much I just didn’t want all my hard work to have been for nothing. So now I’m back in a deficit for a short time, to drop a couple of pounds and get back to logging and being disciplined and mindful about my choices. t’s such a mind game. I had to be really honest with myself about what was more important; eating all the time or the confidence and satisfaction of looking and feeling my best.

scarlett_k

I've been doing this (eating for weight loss) for almost 3 years now and it's been a real learning experience. My desire/will to eat at a calorie deficit ebbs and flows. Sometimes it's the easiest thing in the world yet others it feels like nothing could be further from what I feel able to do. The key really is to keep going regardless of hitting walls feeling like you've lost interest or have become complacent. If you have an off day, try again tomorrow. Rinse, repeat.

MercuryForce

Will_Run_for_Food wrote: »

But remember that it's normal and okay to lose motivation every now and then. Just don't give up.

That's the most important thing to remember. I recently lost motivation for a while. But, I didn't give up and decided it meant I was a failure. That would have destroyed everything I achieved. I just ate at around maintenance for a while until I was ready to resume. I restarted on Friday and I was suprised at how easy it was to slip back into the good habits I'd had before.

But, if I had beaten myself up over 'failing to stick with it', I think I would have had a much harder time.

XLNC1981

You are only human. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Dropping weight is not easy all the time and blips do happen.

I guess consistency trumps all and you need to constantly remind yourself of the end goal.

Sometimes my body just needs a naughty food blow out and so what... there is only so much damage that can be done in a single sitting.

That’s how I try and deal with that!

Once I’ve had a blow out, I’m good to then go and carry on.

Be healthy but enjoy life a little too!

Good luck in the continuation

chris_in_cal

virginiajharris wrote: »

recently lost motivation for a while. But, I didn't give up and decided it meant I was a failure. That would have destroyed everything I achieved.

Thank you, I am on about a 10 day blowup...I don't need to crash back to zero.

weight3049

Just an update, I took a few days off and just ate up to my maintenance calories (sometimes over ) I feel that was enough to reset myself and get back into the swing of things.

Thanks everyone

chris_in_cal

Three month rampage, the very very last of my 'trim" clothing fit. I threw away all the bigger stuff.