how do you stay motivated with a large goal

springlering62

@revinso
“ Wish there was some other inspiring gap filler I could think of.”

Oh my gosh. Limitless ideas

Beef jerky
Roasted edamame
Carrots radishes cucumbers and zero cal dressing as a dip
Navel orange slices
Skyr or Greek yogurt with honey or granola or hagel or zero cal chocolate syrup
Cottage cheese with fruit and grape nuts and balsamic
Cheese slices or Baby Bel
Trader Joe’s fruit leathers
Dried fruit
Iced coffee
Tea
Chai

Get creative. I found tiny little pots of sardine pate that are delicious with little breadsticks. Tin of pate and three breadsticks is 125 cal.

sheahughes

Regarding the "permission to eat more" from exercise... Sure, if you aren't eating those calories back (either in full or partially) you will have a larger deficit but as mentioned above you will eventually want to maintain and knowing how much your exercise actually uses calorie wise means you will be able to eat maintenance calories and not keep losing.

Many people exercise to eat more and that is perfectly valid, many people track their exercise and only eat a quarter of half the calories back (particularly if they are unsure if the calories estimated from exercise is accurate) and some people don't eat their exercise calories back at all, or if they are using TDEE over MFP's calorie figures have included exercise calories in their daily budget to begin with.

I think (and I'm not an expert) that it would be sensible to eat at least some of your calories from exercise back. You don't want to cheat your body of it's necessary requirements, after all. And if you are a petite person or a woman, you may need to eat those exercise calories back to remain above net 1200 calories each day and not risk the health issues that come with eating to few calories.

mirianyusm

revinso wrote: »

I disagree with a lot of the experience here. I think it is necessary to be very disciplined in order to succeed. I simply do not want to be fat. I have worked out home made meals, accurately calorie calculated, in sufficient variety to keep me interested, and I stick to those: no excuses. "Treats" are just lapses, and I simply stopped eating bread, cakes, added sugar, fruit juices, biscuits, sweets etc from day one. Zero alcohol from day one. Very limited potatoes and pasta within the meal plan, and no more than once a week. No manufactured food - I make everything and weigh everything. Moderate exercise 5 days out of 7. Daily weighing first thing. Weekly blood sugar and blood pressure checks and waist and neck and bicep measurement checks. I stay very hydrated, with cold water. There is no point just losing water in a diet. Body mass scales (very cheap now) help with a rough check on this.

In my case I wished to lose at least 88 pounds and my target date for this is 31 March 2022. I started 6 weeks ago and have lost 31 pounds so far. If I show any sign of not making progress over a period of a couple of days of weigh ins, I eat less until the scales drop again (usually just a day). For me this is a project and the only way to achieve the aim is to be focussed and work hard. My wife is encouraging, which helps. (She s naturally thin).

Every week I attend a free educational health care course run by the local authority where I live. Everyone on it is obese (mostly doctor referrals), and I am the only male. We have twelve attendees and I have lost more than the rest of the group put together in the past six weeks. Some have put weight on. I think mostly because they have failed many times in paid for weight loss courses where they pile the weight back on eventually, invariably because of alcohol and sugary treats and excessive portion sizes. They could all lose weight if they wanted it enough and stopped making excuses.

Some delude themselves that they can count calories by estimating their portions. If we want to have a healthy weight, or be thin, then people like me who have become obese simply have to accept that dead calories in alcohol and sugary foods are gone forever.

In my case I do not want a long term goal stretching into the distance. My aim is to get down to a sensible weight within six months from my start date. By new year I will definitely have lost more than half my target. There will be no backsliding over Christmas.

I think this is the best way to fall off the wagon and not being able to go back up on. But everybody is different. I wish you the best.

revinso

Thanks Wunderking. Yes, I agree, you are right. At the moment I am happy to create a deficit and as long as I don't feel crazy hungry I'm not worried about calculating the calorie burn from exercise at the moment. Next spring when it warms up I will be back on the water either in a pair or four boat, and that will be structured exercise that I will try to calculate properly. With water rowing I will not be able to sustain my total current maximum limit of 1,920 calories per day without significant additional weight loss, so I will have to up the intake until I get stability once I am at my goal fitness and weight. The fitness aspect will in due course be measured on an ergo and by monitoring recovery. At the moment I am just rowing on a water rower to try to get some of my rhythm and strength back, coupled with a bit of moderate weights and stretches. It's not an amazing work out by any means.

annliz23

As I get older for me its consistency and flexibility due to joint pain I make sure I do some exercise daily and eat what i want but in moderation.