Here I go again!

JennifersMycroft

hello, this is another attempt to lose the weight I have been carrying around with me for years. I am very good at starting diets and fitness; not so great at sticking to it for very long. I’m surrounded be saboteurs, so it is always a struggle. Not that I’m blaming others: it just adds another layer of struggle. It’s been 10 years since I was close to my goal weight: I’m about 30lbs overweight now at 174ish. I have a desk job, so don’t move as much as I would like. I have a massive sweet tooth, and never met a cheese I didn’t like!

Anyway: here goes again I guess!

AnnPT77

Hello, and welcome!

What are you planning to do differently this time from the attempts in the past that didn't last?

I'm a big fan of making the easiest possible plan, something that gradually leads to a healthy weight, but is as easy as possible to stick with. Sometimes a slow but easy plan will get a person to goal weight in less calendar time than an aggressive plan that causes deprivation-triggered bouts of over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether because it's Just. Too. Hard.

Maybe this isn't you, but it seems like quite a few people get here with the intention to cut calories to an extreme in order to pursue fast loss, severely restrict the range of foods they will allow themselves to eat or adopt some trendy named diet, then maybe stack punitively intense daily exercise on top of that. That doesn't usually end well, but does seem to end quickly.

They usually disappear from MFP. I'd like to think they simply went off on their own, lost all the weight they wanted to lose quickly, and became very fit at the same time. The number of "I'm back" posts we see in the Introductions section suggests to me that that's unlikely, sadly.

The thing is, extremes aren't essential. Weight loss can happen if we can figure out how to eat foods we like that add up to a sensibly moderate calorie estimate for gradual loss, include treats in appropriate portions/frequencies just for joy, and maybe figure out how to move somewhat more in fun ways - or at least tolerable and convenient ones - in daily life or via exercise. We don't need to accomplish all of that in one sudden revolution, either. We can take on one new positive habit at a time, and build up to quite dramatic long term results.

As a bonus, looking at it that way - focusing on improved and pleasant routine daily habits - can help set us up with a way of living that helps us stay at a healthy weight long term, ideally permanently. Most people find maintenance more difficult than initial loss, so finding those habits is a power tool for long-term success.

"Find pleasant, more positive permanent habits" is a different mindset from "lose weight fast then go back to normal". Just a thought.

As context, I was overweight/obese for around 30 years, decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to keep up permanently to stay at a healthy weight, except for a sensibly moderate calorie deficit until I reached a healthy weight. In just under a year, I lost 50 pounds, faster at first, very slowly toward the end. That was 9+ years ago, and I've been at a healthy weight ever since. No one approach works best for everyone, but this approach has been pretty good so far for me.

I'm cheering for you to succeed by whatever means work for you: The quality of life improvement is more than worth the effort it takes, IME!