The three week slump

cjcj748

I've noticed recently that I'm stuck in a cycle of doing really well with diet and exercise, I'll get about 3 weeks in, and then I suddenly lose all motivation. I give up for a few weeks, find myself back at square 1, then start another 3 week cycle.

Does anyone else encounter this, and if so have you overcome it or figured out any causes of it? What's worked for you?

Lietchi

What do you consider to be 'doing really well'? Are you going 'gung ho' with your exercise and diet: high frequency of exercise and restrictive eating (quantity and/or types of foods 'allowed')?

The best strategy is not to rely on motivation: as you've noticed, motivation comes and goes. The best strategy is to build new habits gradually. Think of brushing your teeth: not something you particularly enjoy or are motivated to do, but you do it because it's a good habit to have.
And the less unpleasant you make your strategy, the better it will be:
- a reasonable exercise regime that fits into your life (you can start slow and increase gradually)
- a reasonable weight loss rate (trying to lose too quickly means eating less and more hunger)
- a diet that doesn't deprive you of your favorite foods
-...

88olds

We lose weight eating in a calorie deficit. Losing a significant amount of weight requires a deficit we can live with long term. Read this board a lot and you’ll see people tend to go all in on the deficit part and try to beat themselves into living with it. That generally doesn’t work.

I agree with everything @Lietchi said. Try to find the sweet spot where you are losing weight without feeling you are depriving yourself. A friend says that in the big picture we are trying to find out how to live with some reasonable limits. A plan we can’t actually live with is not a good plan. The good news is plans can be fixed. Weight loss is mostly about problem solving and persistence. Solve enough problem and we get to goal weight.

For instance- what if you worked at losing for 3 weeks and then went on maintenance for 1 week, then back to losing? But don’t expect your body to respond like a machine. It doesn’t work like that. But if your are able to lose say 5 lbs in 3 weeks but gain 2 back aiming at your maintenance number you are still down 3 lbs. Repeat that enough times and you get to goal. Just putting it out there. Could you see yourself living like that? Just because you can’t sustain your full effort past 3 weeks, doesn’t mean you have to regain everything you lost.
Personally, I hated losing the same lbs twice. Good luck.

csplatt

Could you eat at maintenance for two days then crush another three weeks? Rinse and repeat?

littlegreenparrot1

I treat exercise the same way I treat other stuff I have to do, and get on with it. I don't do stuff I hate, but whether I want to is irrelevant, still have to to as the benefits.

Don't want to clean the bathroom but have to get it done. Alarm goes off at 5:30 on a work morning in winter, have to get up and get it done.

threewins

I had the same thing. I would lose weight for 10 days, then gain for 10 days. These corresponded with the Give Me 10 Days challenge. What happened to stop me doing that forever? I really don't know, but it seemed as if once I'd lost for two challenges in a row I didn't want to gain, because I wanted consecutive losses in the challenge. I have really gotten into that challenge. Maybe see if you want to do a challenge like that, or start your own challenge. Have a read of the last 5 or 10 challenge pages and see what inspires you. Good luck!