no will power what so ever

RenaZ04

HANG IN THERE!!!!! THIS MAY HELP
I have this belief that Losing weight is broken down into this percentage: 80 percent (Mentality) 10 percent (Diet) 10 percent (Exercise): What do I mean? Here you go....

MENTAILITY: In order to be successful at losing weight you must 1st changed the way you think. You must prepare your mind for the journey you are about to embark on. Losing weight is easier said then done. There will be days you don't want to eat right, or exercise but that's where your WILL POWER goes into effect and you push yourself to do what is right despite of how you maybe feeling.
DIET: Eating a well balance diet is important..Changing how you eat will Change how you look
EXERCISE: Is the icing on the cake! It will help get your body burning engine going..and give you the energy you need while on your journey of changing your body.
SO MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO CHANGE HOW YOU THINK ABOUT YOURSELF BEFORE YOU TRY TO CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE...GOOD LUCK! COME FOLLOW ME ON FITNESS PAL. I WILL MOTIVATE YOU ALONG THE WAY!

Mischievous_Rascal

For me, it was all about readiness. I swore I was done with my weight, I was dying to lose and look good, but I couldn't track calories to save my life. I would lose 10lbs and then give up and gain it back. I did this for years.

This time around, it worked. I was ready to do it and stick with it.

Your intentions may be great but you might not be ready.

Good luck, and I hope you can stick with it!!
(yes, I understand I may ruffle a few feathers but it is what it is!)

I struggled too until I was finally just ready to treat myself the way I treated everyone else. You have to really want to get healthy, not slim or whatever, and work at developing a normal relationship with food. Once I was ready, this thread helped me put it all into practice, without overly expending myself at the gym and without starving myself or binging.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

Best of luck!

steph6467

Yes, been there, done that, got the t-shirt, several times over. I agree with the people that mention "readiness". You have to be at a place where the goal is more appealing then the poor diet. Until you hit that point, the cookies will ALWAYS win.

I was at my ultimate goal weight once.. for about 10 minutes.. hah.. and then I sloooowly regained 10 lbs. I still felt pretty good about myself, so I just stayed there. And then I slooooowly regained 10 more pounds. I was NOT happy at 20lbs over my goal and I had to get to the point where my 'goal-weight-self' was so much more appealing then my 'current self' that I could restart my exercise regime and tracking calories. I *abhor* tracking calories. HATE IT. But it is the only thing that has ever worked, so I really have to get to a place where I'm miserable with my weight before I'll do it.

I have also found that I have to keep my environment safe, at least when I first start. I have a family of 6, but luckily *I* buy the groceries. When I'm on track, I simply do not buy anything that would tempt me to overeat. I have learned that I will lie to myself and say, "I'll just have a few and let the kids eat the rest". But it never works out that way, I always eat most of it and feel horrible, so I just don't buy it in the first place. If I'm going out to eat (which thankfully is a rarity), I pre-plan what I'm going to order.

Have you tried pre-tracking your day? The night before, fill in your meals for the next day (including a treat, if you want to.. there's room in the calorie budget!) before the day begins. Then the next day, just follow your plan. I think sometimes it helps to not have to think about and decide what you're going to eat at the moment when you are very hungry and it also removes the anxiety that you won't have planned well and that you'll have no calories left over for dinner.

laurapark27

well i am totally blown away with all your kind messages and support. you lot are amazing. thanks so much for the advise it is much needed, and much appreciated. well i am going to start fresh again tomorrow, remembering all these supportive messages and really useful tips. going to start taking baby steps so to speak and start with a new approach. thanks again everyone and well done on all your hard work xx

harvo

I have never met Will Power and doubt that he exists in my universe so I know exactly how you feel.

How about if you don't try to cut anything out but just log honestly for a week or so. Then look back at what you've eaten and see where you can make small changes - like cut out maybe one soda a day. Carry on like that. I think that logging honestly is the key. Then you can see where you can make the changes. Don't try to do too much at once. Start by just getting into the habit of logging honestly.

Whatever, if you meet Will Power will you please tell him that I desperately need him to get in touch with me! :bigsmile:

Will Power actually drives an Indy car....True story so he does exist...

jillianash

Seruously track ALL of your food. I just got into the habit of tracking everything that I ate for an entire month and it made a huge difference. I ate 3 pieces of banana bread in one day, tracked, eat an entire box of pudding in one night tracked! Get into that habit first so you become accustom to tracking your daily intake. Make sure the portion sizes are honest too. I track everything I eat now, from the lick of a spoon to a sample at the grocery store. It all adds up. To be able to go back see everything, draw conclusions from it, figure what days/part of the day is your downfall was really useful for me.

In the end it really does come down to your brain though, you have to be ready for the change in your life. I was constantly pushing blame onto something/someone else as the reason for why i couldn't lose weight. I would say like oh well I went up my friends house so of course I had to eat Banana bread. Or Mom and dad keep bringing home pizza and thats what there was for dinner So i ate it.

However now I know that if i REALLY want to change i will not use those as excuses. I chose to put those calories into my body. Not anyone else ME. Same goes for you, remember, you are responsible for yourself. What you put in your body, how you feel after eating it. the Guilt from eating those foods is coming from you. So start to make choices you feel good about so you don't have to feel this way anymore.

brower47

so i am really trying to log on to my fitness pal every single day. and iam really trying to log all my foods down everyday . each day i wake up determined to have a good day and really want to loose the weight. however i fail every single day and give into sugary unhealthy foods. its like i must have them. i then feel such a failure and guilty that i cant stick to a diet for one day. anyone else been like this and how have you turned a corner to make a permanent change to succeed. thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Well there is your first problem, stop demonizing food group and work on the mental aspect of this journey and learn to portion out those things that you like and fit them into your daily caloric intake and be satisfied... I eat my fair share of chicken breast and veggies but I be darn if I don't get to enjoy a bowl of ice cream or some cookies , etc when I want them.... Best of Luck

^ This. If you know you can still enjoy your sugary treats then you might not feel the need to overindulge.

CEHayes73

For me, getting over the feeling bad, feeling guilty, etc. was essential. I cannot change the past. When I slip up, I log it, sometimes I do some extra exercise to make it 'fit' in my calories (if it's not too much), but otherwise, I just move on.

Danny_Boy13

well i am going to start fresh again tomorrow, remembering all these supportive messages and really useful tips. going to start taking baby steps so to speak and start with a new approach.

Why wait until tomorrow.. why not start now? Plan out the rest of your day and stick to it.

copselily

Here's what I think...

1. Motivation comes from doing, not from waiting around for it to strike you. Do some small exercise, even if it's only 10 minutes. It will elevate your heart rate and make you feel good. Keep doing this until you can stretch it out to 20, 30, 40 minutes. That's when it starts to become a habit.

2. Like I said above, things become habits when you gradually introduce them. You wont be able to stick to it if its too hard! Give yourself a break and start small, for e.g. a few mins of exercise per day, a healthy salad to replace lunch, etc.

3. If you want something bad enough, all of these issues are just bumps in the road. Keep going. They're part of the process of growing and becoming a better person. You can do this!

laurapark27

thank you your right i will start now. see no more excuses to easy to make them.

DaddyDave101

Your intentions may be great but you might not be ready.

Good luck, and I hope you can stick with it!!
(yes, I understand I may ruffle a few feathers but it is what it is!)

No, I think you're spot on. If you're not absolutely 100% ready to make a change, it's just going to be that much harder.

Completely agree, It took me to be disgusted with myself when trying on my wedding suit to sort it out. Thank god I went with more than 6 months to the date to look at them!

MercenaryNoetic26

If it fits your macros it!

You plan your day to fit a treat into your goals and you never feel deprived! Whether it's cheetoes or oreos... something to look forward to every day makes it so easy:flowerforyou:

Danny_Boy13

If it fits your macros it!

You plan your day to fit a treat into your goals and you never feel deprived! Whether it's cheetoes or oreos... something to look forward to every day makes it so easy:flowerforyou:

^^^ This... like stated plan out your day and fit in those treats / foods that you like and stay within your caloric budget. It will take some time to figure it out but when you do it will be easy.

Lindag624

Thanks for your very helpful share

CorlissaEats

When I make a meal- I try to add at least half a plate of filler veggies. Im someone that has to be full or I get tempted to munch. When I am trying to lose weight I double up my veggie portion because it helps me succeed and gives me micro nutrients processed diet foods just cant.

Dinner might look like this"
6-8oz beef, chicken or salmon
75g rice or potato
300-600g veg like broccoli, cauli, kale, carrots, snow peas, etc -- usually steamed

If you weight your food, you figure out pretty fast that 100g of kale or spinach is HUGE. And that huge veggie portion probably has the same number of calories as that tiny +/- 1/3 cup of starch. It has a bigger bang for your buck. A white yam portion will be larger than a potato portion of the same calorie amount. Make choices that let you EAT.

In the beginning it is hard to cut the crap, cravings are strong but you can loosen their hold by sticking with your better goals.

nccarolb

I don't know if I have any new ideas and I second those who have posted before me. Logging (planning) my food the night before is a really big help to me. I plan my meals and at least one snack, always trying to leave 100 or so calories in case I come across something that I really want during the day (people have a tendency to bring sweets into the office for all to share). With the 100 calorie cushion, I can usually exercise away the rest of the treat calories. If I've not used the extra calories by the evening and I'm craving sweets, I keep no-sugar added Breyers ice cream and dark chocolate Kisses in the house for treats. If I'm not craving sweets, I may have a simple cup of milk or some Special K cracker chips before bed. I've learned the hard way to not entirely deprive myself of everything because I end up binging on the "forbidden" food.

Good luck on your journey!

markiend

I think if you have a good idea about what you hope to achieve , why you want to do it ... you stand a better chance of actually doing it. The first thing I did was click to see your profile and lo and behold... I see nothing there about you , why you want to be in shape etc etc

Have a think about the why ... because for me what worked was seeing a photo of how bad things had got... it was my motivation and what has driven me to improve. They were my reasons...

Hopefully you will think of some, that will help you to get where you want to be.. but you do have to want it... or you won't get anywhere

good luck

marleniap

Hey! I know it's tough. I used to eat 2 donuts every morning WITH breakfast (not FOR breakfast) and looking back, I can't believe I didn't have more health problems. I saw an awful picture of myself on Facebook and knew I had to change. I cut down to 1 donut per day. Then the next week I got 1 every other day, then the next week I just got one on Friday. As I was weening myself off of the damn donuts, I was also doing my own research on how to shop for/prepare healthy meals and snacks and started bringing my lunch to work every day. I started doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and while I could get through less than half of it on the first day, I kept at it and did a little more every day. I noticed changes pretty quickly and it gave me the motivation I needed to keep pushing forward. This all went down August 2012. Now I've been in maintenance for 8 months and while I definitely have my rough patches, it's pretty smooth sailing because I've been practicing lots of new healthy habits.

I will tell you, in the beginning you really have to force yourself. Like another poster said, force yourself to stick to your calorie goals for ONE day. When you wake up the next morning, you will feel like a million bucks and you'll want to do it again. Make sure you treat yourself every now and then, and going over your cals once in a while will NOT ruin your progress! We are all human. You can do this!

This I like, very motivational. Thanks poster.

qtgonewild

you don't want it bad enough yet then.