Ready for a Change

13

Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    It’ll crank back up again. I had a long stall. What kept me going through it was the NSV thread. I’ve read that thing from beginning to end, all four or five hundred pages of it. It saved my sanity when the scale stalled.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    I'm on a holiday for the next three weeks , had a long haul flights and trying to navigate the slightly scary world of food tracking whilst travelling. We're in hotels without kitchenettes so it's dining out most of the time. I'm trying to adhere to the " eggs for breakfast , no toast , salad for lunch " type plan. Basically being mindful but having to go with the flow. I guess that means I feel still somewhat in the driver's seat but slightly anxious at the thought of undoing my good work. I'm not having the desserts , bread , chips etc which quite often appear when dining out. Hopefully that keeps me in a relatively stable weight. I'm not concerned with losing weight ...but I don't want to put any back on.
    I'm pleased I revisited the MFP community after a week's break , it's helping to reinforce the plan and my commitment.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,386 Member
    Be careful of the salad for lunch thing. Salad dressing is usually a calorie bomb, and most places use way too much.

    Eggs can be hit or miss too depending how much oil they use. You should be able to fit a piece of toast into your budget if you want it. Stick to smaller portions might be good. Ask if places have a child's portion. Sometimes that works. Or see if you can share a dish or take leftovers to eat later.

    Enjoy the vacation! Do the best you can to eat sensibly and estimate the serving sizes. This is where your powers of estimation get tested and why I sometimes estimate things before I weigh them at home. It keeps my eyeball calibrated for when I don't have a scale.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,620 Member
    Overheadfan wrote: »
    I'm on a holiday for the next three weeks , had a long haul flights and trying to navigate the slightly scary world of food tracking whilst travelling. We're in hotels without kitchenettes so it's dining out most of the time. I'm trying to adhere to the " eggs for breakfast , no toast , salad for lunch " type plan. Basically being mindful but having to go with the flow. I guess that means I feel still somewhat in the driver's seat but slightly anxious at the thought of undoing my good work. I'm not having the desserts , bread , chips etc which quite often appear when dining out. Hopefully that keeps me in a relatively stable weight. I'm not concerned with losing weight ...but I don't want to put any back on.
    I'm pleased I revisited the MFP community after a week's break , it's helping to reinforce the plan and my commitment.

    Can't recall if we've mentioned this on this thread or not, but you may see a water weight jump from the long flight home. If weight is up at first, don't panic. Give it a couple of weeks, maybe even up to a month, for that to resolve before assuming there's fat regain.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    I’m on a flight home from a couple weeks trip as I type this. Cant say I stuck to any kind of plan. I ate it alllllllll.

    But, we did discover that many European (if that’s where you’re headed) grocery chains have a quick meal area with very good salads.

    The Albert Heijn Italian salad is phenomenal, and even with dressing seeds and croutons, came to about 350 or less for the whole container.

    I would happily eat that several times a week if it were available locally.

    (Typing this as I stare at the last half of a Milka bar in my lap. 😳 back to plan tomorrow!!!!)

    And in all seriousness, I am an utter freak, but I love to weigh myself as soon as I get home and watch the “weight” melt over the course of the next week. I know it’s water weight, but still, it’s fun!
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 885 Member
    And in all seriousness, I am an utter freak, but I love to weigh myself as soon as I get home and watch the “weight” melt over the course of the next week. I know it’s water weight, but still, it’s fun!

    I thought I was the only one that thought this was fun! 😆
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    edited April 18
    ddsb1111 wrote: »
    And in all seriousness, I am an utter freak, but I love to weigh myself as soon as I get home and watch the “weight” melt over the course of the next week. I know it’s water weight, but still, it’s fun!

    I thought I was the only one that thought this was fun! 😆

    Heck yeah, because it’s the only time during weight loss you’ll lose two or three pounds a day, multiple days in a row. Makes me feel like an Olympic champ, and gets me in the mindset to continue losing whatever else I may have picked up on the trip.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    ddsb1111 wrote: »
    And in all seriousness, I am an utter freak, but I love to weigh myself as soon as I get home and watch the “weight” melt over the course of the next week. I know it’s water weight, but still, it’s fun!

    I thought I was the only one that thought this was fun! 😆

    Heck yeah, because it’s the only time during weight loss you’ll lose two or three pounds a day, multiple days in a row. Makes me feel like an Olympic champ, and gets me in the mindset to continue losing whatever else I may have picked up on the trip.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    Can't recall if we've mentioned this on this thread or not, but you may see a water weight jump from the long flight home. If weight is up at first, don't panic. Give it a couple of weeks, maybe even up to a month, for that to resolve before assuming there's fat regain.

    Hey everyone...big apologies for the complete mess of the " quote and reply stuff" . I always seem to muck it up but I wanted to say Yes and Yes and Yes to your
    posts. Oh gee...yep...nothing like a completely uncontrolled environment to mess with best laid plans.
    Meet the rellies with the dinner laid in front of me..check.
    What about the isolated hotel with limited menu options and EVERYTHING cooked in butter. Check.
    Vegetable soup ..but wait! .it's creamed with an extra dollop on top. Check.
    Salad ..don't go there. Minefield!

    :))) SO I really LOVED and appreciated reading your messages. Seriously. Cos I'm doing ok, and I ate the dessert my cousin had made especially...hey...she hasn't seen me for seven years.
    I don't get chips with everything and I walk past the chocolate shops. And quite often I'll miss a meal or two if I'm full of butter/ oil / some mystery sauce / creamy soup ( hold the bread) etc.
    The comment about getting back to the weightloss game when I'm home really resonated. Cos this holiday is a teeny tiny snapshot of my much bigger life universe and I remind myself that the plan works.
    So when I'm back home I'll work the plan.

    I'll check in with you all on a weekly basis because I find it really motivating and positive , but truth be told I'm now really looking forward to reporting in when I see the next set of scales... ( probably four weeks from now). It won't be a loss but I'm suddenly not worried anymore. It's just a number and not a big part of my lifelong plan.

  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    I'm back from holidays and ready to jump back into " normal life".
    Although I'm now back in a more manageable environment food wise, I'm still another 4 days away from home..and my bathroom scales. After the great fun eating occasional..well maybe more than occasional treats, and the considerable hours spent on long haul flights , I'm definitely not expecting good news.
    I'm possibly going to take the scaredy cat approach of tracking my diet carefully but not weighing in for a week or so.
    I really don't want to feel despondent and I'm trying to be grown up about it.
    Oh dear. Holidays are marvellous but I don't want my fun trip to be tainted .

    That sounds a bit pathetic but I have to own it! If I weighing I'll tell you all the bad..or very bad news. :)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,620 Member
    Overheadfan wrote: »
    I'm back from holidays and ready to jump back into " normal life".
    Although I'm now back in a more manageable environment food wise, I'm still another 4 days away from home..and my bathroom scales. After the great fun eating occasional..well maybe more than occasional treats, and the considerable hours spent on long haul flights , I'm definitely not expecting good news.
    I'm possibly going to take the scaredy cat approach of tracking my diet carefully but not weighing in for a week or so.
    I really don't want to feel despondent and I'm trying to be grown up about it.
    Oh dear. Holidays are marvellous but I don't want my fun trip to be tainted .

    That sounds a bit pathetic but I have to own it! If I weighing I'll tell you all the bad..or very bad news. :)

    Maybe it's not for you, but IMO a person can learn a good bit about their own body's behavior by weighing right away and daily after some unusual phase. For myself, I find it really interesting and insightful.

    I wouldn't encourage it for people for whom the weigh-in has some psychological (heh) weight. But if it can be looked at as mere data, I'd go for it, personally.

    It's not any kind of report on one's value as a human. It's just the momentary relationship of the body with gravity, and it can swing wildly (and very individually) in circumstances like this.

    If that doesn't work for you, for sure do you. For my own self, I feel like knowledge is empowering. YMMV.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 885 Member
    edited May 10
    I’m the weirdo that loves weighing after a trip. Sure, the jump can be shocking, but it’s fun to watch the large water weight drop in just a few days, and then be fairly close again to where I was. I don’t often get whooshes so this is it for me. Now I can pretty much anticipate how much I’ll gain, how much is water, and how long it will take to get back to normal. All this because I weighed right away. Took me years so no sweat if you’re not there yet, just food for thought.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    Thankyou for the messages. Both really resonated.
    I think , based on your comments, that I'll jump in ( on) and weigh as soon as I'm home. I' m going to treat it as a fact finding mission and an informative class on understanding my body . And that can't ever be a bad thing. Knowledge is power as the saying goes.
    Worst case , I've put on weight..maybe a lot of weight . And I know how to address that so I best get on with it.
    An added bonus... I'll have more understanding and information to prepare for the next holiday. :)
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    Everything the two above me said. Fascinating, data and expectations for next time, fun to watch pounds drop crazy rapid for a change.

    “I am my own science project.”
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    Yes!!!!! It wasn’t nearly as hard as I expected it to be.

    The “hard” came from expecting it to be hard, and waiting, tensed, for it to be hard.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,620 Member
    edited May 20
    Overheadfan wrote: »
    Well, I'm back into the routine of real life , as opposed to " holiday life" and I still haven't lost or put on any weight. I'm in stasis. It occurred to me that I feel relaxed and comfortable with my progress. Initially I was annoyed because my weight has hovered around the same mark for nearly 7 weeks. ( 4 week holiday in there) . I occasionally got impatient but now I'm letting that feeling go. I'm back logging my food, exercising each day and working the program.
    I've been so surprised by this whole process. From Day One I have been waiting for feelings of resentment towards diet, over focusing on food, my body , etc to kick in and it just hasn't happened. Life has presented a few challenges along the way but I didn't falter. I think that my sense of control and autonomy with my diet regimen has had a positive influence on other issues.
    Feeling healthy and empowered has enabled me to cope with other stressors , and it's a positive self perpetuating cycle.     I want to succeed with my health goals because it's not just about weight, it's about functioning at an optimum level for physical and emotional wellbeing.

    Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and feel differently but I'm determined to roll with it, whatever I feel .

    The bolded, so very true . . . for me, at least.

    I think we have some choices about our mindset, within a certain personal range. That - the bolded - is a really, really good one IMO.

    Good show!

    I'd add: I think some of the self-management and planning/organizing skills, once learned in this realm, turn out to apply to other big goals that require patient, persistent, small actions over quite a period of time: Formal education, learning complex new skills (hobby or job), financial goals, home improvements, better fitness, etc.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    Oh boy . Yep , the scale simply confirmed what I was already feeling. A gain of 1.5 it's. So now I'm revisiting my early weeks of success and implementing the simple hacks to get back on track. A useful one was a bit of sensible meal prep. I've been doing the " grab and go" lately and it's problematic when I haven't ticked a balanced nutrient selection.
    This morning , before I headed out I boiled a couple of eggs for a healthy portable snack . It was something that I did religiously for my first few months of my diet , but that had fallen by the wayside with a different routine.
    Now I need to adjust to my new routine and get real.
    Reassess and reassemble. I'm back to weighing everyday so I'll report in tomorrow because the accountability is important to me. ..and it keeps me motivated.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    I think it's an omen...my scale has got a flat battery so I couldn't weigh this morning.
    Maybe the universe knows I couldn't handle the bad news just yet.
    Sigh.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    Don't let a little thing like that get to you! You've been doing great! You have the right attitude and you're learning the process. Just stick with it. Replace the battery and just keep doing what you've been doing!
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    tulips_and_tea wrote: »
    Don't let a little thing like that get to you! You've been doing great! You have the right attitude and you're learning the process. Just stick with it. Replace the battery and just keep doing what you've been doing!

    I needed that encouragement and a positive boost. Thankyou for that. It's appreciated :)
    It's been a tough few weeks for various reasons and a was trying hard to keep my chin up and " just get back on the horse". And then I'd beat myself up because I wasn't doing a good enough job.
    Today was the first day for a few weeks that I felt like I was back in the driver's seat.

    The battery has been replaced in the scale and I'll give it a few days of exercise and healthy food choices before I step back on.
    Im not ashamed to admit that I don't feel quite ready to see the number yet.

    Life is complex and so are humans.
    I've sorted out some "stuff" and I'm really happy to be back on the program. It gives me routine and control , and that in turn leads to confidence and empowerment.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    I like your confidence! You're doing really well.

    Sure hope we get to see the super fabulous skirt! And if you can't fit in it comfortably for the wedding? Oh well. You will eventually. If it doesn't ever fit right, then you aren't a failure either. Live and learn, right? The important thing is to LIVE and enjoy life while trying to make the best choices we can regarding our health. Whatever you wear, I hope you enjoy the wedding!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    edited July 16
    That worked for me. TJMaxx had a clearance dress I absolutely loved but it was an 8 while I was still an 18, but had already gotten in my groove and lost several sizes. It was only $12.99 so I bought the thing.

    I hung it sideways in the closet, so it draped over everything. I had to love it to the side to get to my real clothes. Every morning I talked to it, stroked it, pictured myself in it. “What fun we’ll have!, I told it.

    It sounds ridiculous, but it was very effective, very helpful to have a visible, tactile goal.

    It sure beat my mom’s “weight loss method” of yelling and crying “you big fat ugly *kitten*” at herself in the mirror and hitting herself in the head while she did. Powerful stuff for a little kid to witness, repeatedly.

    You believe what you tell yourself. Took me almost six decades to learn that. One of my yoga instructors ends every class with the usual yoga sign off, but always adds, “Be kind to yourself. If you can’t, who can be?”


    You are doing so well, and have developed such a great mindset. You’ll conquer it (another new mindset for me!) and are clearly developing maintenance habits.

    Don’t let a pound or two up ruin your trajectory. Can’t tell you how many times that’s happened to me during loss, and def still does in maintenance.

    I’m coming off a three month gain-plateau following a bike accident. If you’d told me a bad fall and bruise would do that for such an extended period I’d have pshawed you. Still learning. There’s always something interrupting what we think should happen during the journey.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 72 Member
    I really appreciate those two previous responses. Both insightful and very encouraging. THANKYOU both.
    I've been enjoying this process in so many ways. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes panicked, sometimes annoying , sometimes just loving the new skills I've started to develop to push away the negatives and begin to have more confidence and positivity to just keep stepping forward.

    The skirt is an interesting illustration of this point. Initially ( before I hit the buy button) I thought to myself , " Who am I kidding ? That's another 12 kilos loss ..no way, those days are gone , I'm older , menopausal "etc etc, blah blah blah brain white noise and negativity.

    Then I took a breath , looked at the facts.
    Fact. I've lost 6 kilos in 6 months. Ok , that's not fast or super impressive BUT I've lost 6 kilos in 6 months!!! That's great. That makes me so happy.
    Fact. That means that what I'm doing is working.
    Fact. And that means that logic dictates that I will lose more weight if I keep doing what I'm doing.

    Pause, deep breath, phew. Looking forward to wearing my skirt , 6 months , 1 year, 2 years from now , whatever. Bring it on! I'm ready.




  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    Overheadfan wrote: »
    I've been enjoying this process in so many ways. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes panicked, sometimes annoying , sometimes just loving the new skills I've started to develop to push away the negatives and begin to have more confidence and positivity to just keep stepping forward.


    I thought I was the only one. I also enjoyed the process. I thought I was weird to think that, but it was sorta like reading an interesting new book, only the book was me.

    A favorite author said something to the effect that nothing is so interesting to ourselves as ourselves!

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