Discouragement

mickeyyacker9625

Hi all, I’ve been really struggling lately. It seems like every time I get really far in my journey, I immediately regress and gain weight again. It’s so frustrating to be like this. Does anyone have any tips to help encourage themselves when they feel this way?

babsdaz93

Just keep telling yourself you can do it hon. I'm the same but at the end of the day I want to lose weight and become a fitter healthier me

yirara

At what point does that happen? Do you feel you miss certain foods? Do you eat enough? Do you think you need to exercise and you hate it?

Successful weightloss almost always depends on eating enough food that you enjoy and not some odd, bland diet stuff. Exercise is totally not needed. But overall important for health, thus if there's some exercise you enjoy doing then do it. Or try to find something that you think you might enjoy, even if it's dancing wildly while doing the dishes. And yeah, enough food that it doesn't feel like you're restricting too much, and food you love.

lisakatz2

yirara wrote: »

At what point does that happen? Do you feel you miss certain foods? Do you eat enough? Do you think you need to exercise and you hate it?

Successful weightloss almost always depends on eating enough food that you enjoy and not some odd, bland diet stuff. Exercise is totally not needed. But overall important for health, thus if there's some exercise you enjoy doing then do it. Or try to find something that you think you might enjoy, even if it's dancing wildly while doing the dishes. And yeah, enough food that it doesn't feel like you're restricting too much, and food you love.

I agree with this 100% Are you being too restrictive? Every failed diet journey I embarked on involved banning certain things, like sugary foods. Also, I repeatedly ate the same bland food. I recommend using MFP to determine the appropriate calorie deficit for your goals (I recommend no more than one pound a week) and stay consistent. Look for healthy versions of your favorite foods (recipes) and make room in your calories for a small treat. This is what worked for me.

tomcustombuilder

Yours is a common occurrence. Losing a bit then slipping back into your old habits. You need to concentrate on not letting that happen.

Set up your diet as a permanent eating plan that allows for the things you like in amounts that still allow for a consistent weekly calorie deficit.

AnnPT77

If you haven't already, I'd encourage you to take a look at the routine daily habits you've been using to lose weight, and think about whether there's some way you can make that routine easier, pleasanter, more practical, and just generally less difficult to stick with . . . and still lose weight.

Maybe you've already done that, and done it on repeat.

But a lot of people seem to arrive here thinking they need to put treats off limits, eat only supposedly healthy foods, restrict foods completely that they could manage to eat in moderation, and add unpleasant exercise on top of that.

It's also common for people here to ask how to make weight loss happen faster, when (I think) it can be smarter to be trying to make it easier (even if it gets slower). A slow loss rate a person can stick with long term can get them to goal weight in less calendar time than an aggressive (more difficult) approach that causes deprivation triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether.

IMO, the real prize in all of this is figuring out new habits that can continue forever to stay at a healthy weight once goal is reached. Those habits need to be practical enough and easy enough to operate almost on autopilot when other parts of life get challenging . . . because they will.

I'm talking food a person enjoys, that keeps them mostly full and happy, plus is affordable and practical; and exercise that's enjoyable (or at least tolerable and practical).

For myself (around 9 years ago now), I decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to do permanently, except for a sensibly moderate calorie deficit to cause weight loss. I've been at a healthy weight for about 8 years since loss - that, after about 30 years of overweight/obesity before that. I don't guarantee I can hold onto that forever, but I sure want to. So far, so good.

Exactly what habits to use are going to vary from one person to the next, because we're all unique individuals with different preferences, strengths, challenges, and lifestyles. Other people can give us ideas, but only we can pick the right course. Experimenting is OK, even if some of the attempts don't pan out. Learn from them, and keep going. Only giving up fails.

Wishing your success: IME, the quality of life improvement is worth the effort!

FibroHiker

I found that for a long time I would look at a setback as my enrire change in course rather than a small sidestep. If I missed a workout, if I ate a whole pan of brownies by myself over the course of a week, or if my weight plateaued for more than two weeks, I saw that as the universe signaling to me that I couldn't be successful and I needed to give up.

Here's the thing, I don't eat a pan of brownies every week. I don't miss workouts every week. I don't plateau every month. These things only happen occasionally. I gave myself grace in those moments. I knew that overall I was trying to build some good habits, healthier habits that would benefit me long term. I started viewing my small setbacks as just that, small.

Since January I have lost almost 20 lb. and kept it off because I'm working to build up healthy habits that will eventually result in a trimmer figure. My goal right now is consistency in the habits, not focusing on the numbers. Even then when I mess up and don't do what I'm supposed to do, I tell myself it's okay and tomorrow I will right my course.

It has paid off for me in so many ways. I visit the chiropractor less frequently, my bloodwork is great, I have more energy, and I am slowly losing inches. It may be slow, but all of that is worth it.

sollyn23l2

All of the above is good advice, so I will just add.... sometimes it can be helpful to give yourself a planned diet break after, say, six months of dieting. What I've seen recommended is giving yourself at least a 6 to 12 week break after six months where you eat at maintenence instead of trying to lose. Then go back to losing. This can help with the diet fatigue most people feel with sustained weight loss.

AmunahSki

I’m interested in your choice of the word ‘journey’, as I had a recent revelation on that.

Many people arrive here looking for tips to lose weight (or to get into a particular size or outfit) for some event by a certain date. That was me, the first two/three times I used MFP to lose weight. Are you using the “I’ve been ‘good’ on my ‘diet’ recently and so I deserve to relax for a bit” pattern of advance and retreat? Yeah, been there a few times. Does the “I hit my ‘goal weight’ so I can now eat anything I want!” sound familiar? Yep, done that.

I have a stubborn streak and lots of willpower, so once I made up my mind to lose I actually found the weight loss bit easy: I thought it was all about getting to a ‘destination’ and not thinking about it as a long-term change of habits. Hence, once the ‘diet’ was over, it was all too easy to slip back into my old habits and regain the weight back.

I decided it was time to make some permanent changes, and I am now determined to keep (or even improve) my current physique - so I have accepted that my journey is forever. There is no ‘end date’. This is now simply how it will be.

The little choices made every day soon add up: it sounds exhausting but it’s actually quite liberating! The choices I make today - each meal, each activity -either move me towards my goals, or away from them. It’s both easy and hard at the same time.

I also suggest reading some of the Success Stories on this forum - I found it incredibly useful (and still do!).