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Ready for a Change

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Replies

  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 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: 5,733 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: 70 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: 5,733 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: 8,272 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: 70 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: 8,272 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!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,636 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    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!

    No, not the only one(s). Me three. I thought of it as a fun, productive science fair project for grown-ups. That appeals to my nerd-nature.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    The " Temple of the Skirt " is in place. It's basically a Shrine to Future Self, hanging in a prominent position in my bedroom. :)
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    I really hit my reset button a fortnight ago and although I've had an occasional blip, I feel calm and back in charge.
    I'm not breaking any records..half a kilo loss in a fortnight, but I'm happy to be slowly and comfortably moving towards my goal.
    The last four weeks has been a time of quite profound and significant stress. I've found my health commitment to be an important aspect of keeping mentally steady and moving forward.
    And I still have my beautiful skirt hanging up and ready for me , when I'm ready for it. , whenever that might be.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,636 Member
    Such a good report to read, @Overheadfan: I'm happy to hear you're on a very positive path!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,272 Member
    I’m so happy you’re hanging in there!

    The satisfaction when you reach goal beats any old skirt- although new skirts are 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    I've added a tiny bit more self awareness and understanding about myself in the past week.
    The stressful month has passed and I'm happily exercising and tracking my food .
    But here's the thing I learned.... During that very stressful time I was SO hungry..I'd finish my usual meal and be thinking about what else I could eat. For 3 weeks I enjoyed a late afternoon or nightly high carb, fat , sugar snack..sometimes is LARGE quantities. Logically I knew I couldn't be hungry, but I really felt the need to eat. I was telling a friend about it and trying to " willpower" my way back onto the sensible eating path again.
    She said that severe stress cause cause cortisol levels to rise significantly and this can lead to cravings for sugar and carbs.
    Ah , ok. That is really very interesting to me. Is that true ?
    I guess that's the physiology behind emotional eating,? .
    Now I'm aware of that , I've started to nourish my elevated stress levels with a walk, meditation tape, bath etc instead of feeding myself with sugar ..which was probably increasing my insulin and cortisol levels. What a vicious cycle !
    Creating a low stress diversion has been a useful tool to keep in my healthy life repertoire.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,636 Member
    Yes, stress can elevate cortisol. Also, stress can increase fatigue. Stress can also make us seek self-soothing strategies of various types, food being one.

    Regardless of the exact mechanism in play in a given case, yes, I think stress can spike cravings.

    And the implication is that anything that reduces stress - or even short-circuits it somehow - can counter the cravings.

    I think your practical insight is spot on.

    You are really maximizing the self-analysis and insight channels lately, seems like: Good show!
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    Oh gee...yes, the fatigue has been significant and I guess that was another reason for wanting to hit the sugar. I'm happy to report that the universe has started to right itself again and stress has reduced significantly. And yep...I'm off the sugar, enjoying the walks in the evening, sleeping well and enjoying my usual routines. And now that I'm not having so much sugar bombarding my system I actually have more energy again .
    Aren't we complex pieces of engineering. :)
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    I'm really enjoying my new tweaks to my diet, no sugar has definitely improved my sleep and I don't feel anxious jitters every so often either. I'm also on a very big quest to eat lots more fibre for good gut health so I've always got trays of veges cooking. It's been great to have on hand to add to my meals .

    I feel so much better ..which is just as well because I was starting to feel despondent about how slowly , or completely stalled my weightloss efforts have become.
    I WAS going to send out a plea to all you people who might be reading this for any hints , tips , suggestions for speeding things along ..and then I woke up this morning and I've lost half a kilo.

    I may be the person that is the "slowest weightloss over 6 months "category for Diet Olympics but hey! That's how I roll.
    6 kilos lost in 6 months and a lot of knowledge gained about better sleep, exercise, healthy eating and just feeling better about myself and in charge of ME.
    And maybe , staying on this same path it could mean that I'm MAYBE going to lose 12 kgs in 12 months. Yeah, I'm not breaking records, but I sure am breaking bad habits and making new ones.
    Onwards.
  • Overheadfan
    Overheadfan Posts: 70 Member
    I'm staying on course, tracking, weighing , exercising and I'm determined to be patient! It really is very frustrating and occasionally rather dispiriting to be stuck around the 6 kg weightloss level for so long.
    I'm very committed to staying in track ..but it's hard to stay positive when the scales don't shift..or they tell me I've lost a bit and then bounce right back up and stay there.
    Since April I've never weighed below 94 kgs.
    After my initial weightloss I just stayed around the same weight.
    I'm on the 1200 calories per day but wondered if my metabolism has stalled because of that. ? I have increased my vegetable intake to really bump up my fibre and that's possibly amount to an extra 100 or 200 calories some days.

    Because of an issue with reflux which was becoming a real issue in the last few months, I've stopped eating bread and sugary treats . I always included those calories in my tracking but now that I'm not longer consuming those , I've incorporated lots of nutritious veges to keep my caloric intake from dropping TOO low.

    On the positive side I'm feeling very healthy and well..but I'm not going to lie...being able to have more of a downward arc on my weightloss chart would be very rewarding. I'm exercising more , although I have had to become more mindful of nursing my joints a little. I'm getting back to reformer pilates to add resistance to my exercise routine. And I have 5 kg handweights which get regular use. I've been building up strength after a bad fall involving a sprained wrist and a fractured wrist. I'm also trying to incorporate my squats and load bearing activities..knees permitting...to build up muscle strength in my legs.

    Has anyone experienced a plateau of MONTHS?. Any advice would be gratefully received. I REALLY want to report to you all one day that I've hit the 10 kg weight loss mark.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,272 Member
    edited August 30
    I tried to lose travel weight from April and i cut hard and worked extra. it just wouldn’t come off and now we’re traveling again. 🤦🏻‍♀️

    So this trip I’m trying to be super mindful and not eat it all so I don’t come back with another gain. Luckily the food so far sucks, so it hasn’t been hard, but we meet up with our group tomorrow, and the organizer is very into presenting cultural foods, farm to table, etc so I expect the quality to skyrocket. Luckily, it’s healthier than eating at restaurants , she doesn’t provide snacks, we will be in the middle of nowhere so there’s no access unless we bring our own. I’ve brought a box of Nugo bars and a couple bags of roasted edamame for snacks. 👍🏻

    I also had a nutso DEXA scan last week that sent me into despair until I realized a number doesn’t define me, and regardless of it all, I’m still wearing small clothes I wore 20 pounds lower when I was sickly looking. I look healthy now and that’s what matters.

    All I can say is, hang in there. I get frustrated very easily and know that it would be easy to throw in the towel. But what am I going to do? I’ve spent years both rewarding and punishing myself via food, and six years into MFP, still have to get over that mindset.

    The NSV thread is still a lifesaver, as is a trainer who swears I’m thinning out as the scale creeps up.

    Are you taking photos? Photos taken by third person are the only way I can see myself as others do. I still look in the mirror and see blob.

    Measurements? I didn’t and I regret it.

    How are your clothes fitting? How’s your mobility? Heart results improving?

    Even if you aren’t losing, there’s so many wins.

    Humans are just vain, and society has decreed that a number is the pinnacle of vanity and success.

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