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Non-first timers -- what happened?

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Replies

  • IsMollyReallyHungry
    IsMollyReallyHungry Posts: 15,385 Member
    This is why I'll never quit logging. I have MFP set up as my homepage and it's on my phone, I have no excuses.
    I have MFP as my homepage too!
  • mrshudson813
    mrshudson813 Posts: 128 Member
    I had lost around 50 pounds because I was using myfitnesspal every single day during a 6 month period. One day, I was stressed and ate too much food and decided I didn't want to log it because I was ashamed. The next day, it took more to fill me up because I had stretched my stomach by eating too much the day before. Again, I felt ashamed and didn't want to log. I have an all or nothing mentality which I struggle with daily. I felt like I either had to do my diet/exercise program perfectly or else not do it at all. So, if I went over by 100 calories, I would throw in the towel for the day and say "Screw this. I'm gonna order pizza and stop and get an ice cream." I knew I was gaining weight but I was too ashamed to even step on the scale. I knew I was going to disappoint myself when I saw that number. It was like "If I don't see that number going up and up and up, then this really isn't happening." Anyway, one year later, I had gained 70 pounds. The only reason I started back was because my husband went to the doctor and he has high blood pressure and high blood glucose. So, I figured I would get back on track just to help him do the right thing. All in all, I didn't stop caring...I just felt too ashamed of myself to face the reality of what was going on....
  • Adre_N_aline
    Adre_N_aline Posts: 20
    I never quit working out, I just didn't workout as much and I ate lots of crap food. Personal problems took over and I lost my motivation. I started and quit MFP several times but it was because I failed in a relationship and we shared many of the same friends and I couldn't bear the thought of seeing her everyday on their pages.

    But now I am back and this time I am not leaving no matter what.
  • miadhail
    miadhail Posts: 383 Member
    Personally, weight loss itself is a struggle, and even a more difficult struggle as logging food, counting calories and exercise isn't really part of a regular person's lifestyle. So firstly there is that habit-making issue. And even then, life throws you all sorts of curveballs from every direction that often, whatever it is becomes a priority and weightloss gets put back on the backburner.

    Also, the first few months of being on MyFitnessPal is often fueled by a huge amount of motivation, often stemming from a bad experience or a bad comment regarding your current weight or (insert your reason why you decided to join MFP). The thing about motivation is, it is so tied with the progress we make that often times, we just lose the motivation over time since we don't see progress or just see too little of it.

    It really boils down on the person's willpower, and very often, it is not even that, life just happens. But instead of looking into why someone suddenly drops off the way side, and comes back again for a fresh restart (and often times this is a repetitive cycle), think about what it must have taken for that person to come back again. It is alright to keep trying and trying, in my opinion anyway. Especially when you have learnt some lessons from the last time.

    Weight loss is different for everyone, but one they all have in common is how much work it takes to even see some change, regardless what health goals they have. Therefore, it is okay to take a breather every now and then. After all it is better to have your heart fully into the whole journey, than to not have your whole heart in it about it all and feel obligated to do so.
  • angelamangus1
    angelamangus1 Posts: 164 Member
    I am going to be brutally honest with myself here!

    I was lazy and gave up!! I can make all the excuses in the world, started a new job that required 10 hour days, plus the kids had a new schedule, my husband and children refuse to eat healthy, I hate cooking, by the time I had a moment to work out I was too tired...etc!! :embarassed:

    In all honesty, I stopped logging, stopped working out, and stopped putting health and fitness first. I turned a blind eye to my goals and in that gained weight again. I dropped the ball while juggling my life and did not pick it up! However, I decided to pick that ball back up! My eyes are open to my failure and i am ready to keep the momentum and sustain my changes! I need to break this vicious cycle of dropping my need for health and fitness! I want to show myself and my children that a healthy lifestyle is important and manageable.

    I let myself down, gained a bunch of weight back, lost endurance and strength! However, the great thing here is that the majority of us go through this cycle, the challenge is to get off the cycle and stay on track! I know what I need to do to change and this time I am confident I will make the necessary changes. It will be a difficult and there will be days that I will want to quiet, much like I did before. But, the difference now is I want this and it will happen!

    So, there you have it the reason why I dropped the ball and why I picking it back up! :smile:
  • ScouseNerd
    ScouseNerd Posts: 119 Member
    Life.
    A weekend away. A family birthday. A bender (what?). Something just comes up and you spend a day or 3 in that part enjoying yourself like it's a culinary holiday where you aren't giving yourself a headache thinking about calories and whining to people about how no, you can't have that glass of wine. And I'm not opposed to this, TBH. Dieting is like a job and if you went 6 weeks without a weekend, you'd be okay with playing hooky. Problem is, when you come home or sober up, you think "Well, one more day..." and after a week you're kind of ashamed to come back and find out you put your measly 6lb loss back on and you've gotten nowhere. So you don't! Until you're at a party and look around realizing that, huh, you're probably the biggest girl here.
    ... totally hypothetical.

    For me, my usual specific catalyst to leave is also my motivator. I pick out an event or an occasion where looking my best would be optimal (last time - boyfriend's birthday where his ex would be there), and I'm a choir boy diet-wise until then. The event comes, I look great, the event goes, and I give myself a bit more breathing room since I don't have any standing commitments to fit into the oxygen-depriving $500 dress again. Breathing room turns into a weekend of pizza, then it kind of goes on.

    It wasn't that I "stopped logging" - I'm not logging now because I don't want to disappoint myself, I'm just eating less and healthier while exercising a lot. I'm sort of hoping that not having that guideline of "RED FONT - YOU WENT OVER YOUR GOAL TODAY FATTY" will be less discouraging.
  • torisiegel
    torisiegel Posts: 19
    I only put 15 pounds back on, but I'm back for a second round. I let myself stop logging over the "holidays," which apparently lasted from November to April for me. Then I spent some time in denial about how much I'd gained, some time complaining about how long it would take to lose again, and some time finding other reasons not to diet.

    Fortunately, I did learn enough healthy habits my first go around that my rebound wasn't so back. I'm back to counting again and I intend to actually transition into maintenance this time instead of just falling off the wagon completely.

    I had lost 13 pounds originally in my first few months, but then we ended up moving across the state and starting new jobs. It was so much change at once, and I simply stopped tracking calories and stopped almost all exercise. I gained back 10 pounds of what I had lost, and decided that was enough! Now I'm back and committed to track everything... and it's even easier the second time. I'm looking forward to getting to my goal weight, and tracking to maintain for a least a few months after that.
  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
    Personal crap happen
    160 to 115
    Took me 2 years to gain up to 152.
    No motivation
    Feeling helpless

    One day decided to put the past behind me and take care of ME!! Got me a breast aug. and that was the start of me again to become a "new" person! :-)

    Dont lose motivation and you will be ok.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
    We found out my mom had a brain tumor grade 4. So worked during the day and was at the hospital nights. Shes home but not doing very well. After she got settled in home I started back.
  • thomakg
    thomakg Posts: 69 Member
    Burned out on 1200 - came back with 1600 and for the first time feel that I am not really 'dieting'. No starvation, no cravings (well, not as many!) and no sense of depriving myself!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Assuming this includes people who aren't just coming back to MFP but have had various diet failures in the past. I was obese for the 1st 20 years of my adult life and did all kinds of yo-yo dieting in that period of time.

    - Did you just quit completely and eat just like before?

    Most of the time I'd slowly get back to bad behaviors. I'd start sneaking in extra things and eventually went back to previous bad eating altogether.

    - Or think you did not need to track anymore because you knew portion controls? (But than, did you also stop weighing yourself?)

    Sure! I fooled myself a few times that because I'd lost 20 or 30 pounds that I'd obviously gotten over whatever my problem was before and didn't have to worry about tracking, etc to lose the rest of my weight. Of course that never worked out... As far as weighing myself, I've been a daily weigher since I was a pre-teen. The only time I stopped was when I was getting to my heaviest and couldn't face it.

    - What were your reasons?

    Deprivation. God bless my relationships with my best friend that allowed her to feel comfortable asking me why I had regained the weight aftering being semi-successful with Atkins years before. At first I blew it off (like, why dwell on the past) but I couldn't get the question out of my mind so I did some thinking over a few weeks and it finally occured to me that the one thing about all my past dieitng attempts that was an issue was trying to cut out foods that I loved! So this time I've made a real effort to eat what I like but in proper portions and/or with healthy alternatives.

    - Any tips on potential pitfalls?

    Track honestly and consistely (weigh and measure everything if you have to, at least at first)

    Don't put emotional baggage behind what the scale says you weigh, in other words, learn about why fluctuations happen (usually water weight). And use other methods - body measurements, progress pics, body fat %, etc.

    Don't just be active to create a calorie deficit for weight loss, be active because it's good for your health. Same with eating better - do it because it's good for you.

    Be sure to set realistic weight loss goals - or avoid setting them altogether and use fitness/nutrtion goals instead.

    Every time you make a change, seriously think about whether or not it's something you can do long term. This is what is meant by lifestyle changes.

    That's all I've got off the top of my head. Best of luck!
  • ScouseNerd
    ScouseNerd Posts: 119 Member
    Burned out on 1200 - came back with 1600 and for the first time feel that I am not really 'dieting'. No starvation, no cravings (well, not as many!) and no sense of depriving myself!

    This!

    I felt like I was wasting my time. I only lost 1lb a week for a few weeks and then nothing, and I was constantly depriving myself! It just felt like a lot of work for nothing. Glad you can just be happy and focus on what your body needs :)

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