Adherence Issues

Hishtagat

Hullo to whoever decides to read this wall of text!

For the past few months, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to stick to my food plan. Worse yet, the derails have been getting more frequent over time.

I've been calorie counting since October 2012. In that time I went from 60 kg (132~ lbs) to 50 kg (110~), with the ultimate goal being around 46 kg (100~). The issue seems to have began more or less around the time when I hit my current weight. I'm quite positive it is not caused by undereating, seeing as I consume anywhere from 1500 to 1700 kcal daily, at 154 cm and 50 kg.

It doesn't seem to be hunger or cravings in the general sense, more of a temporary "you know what, I don't give an eff anymore" thought pattern. Half of the time I don't even particularly care for the flavor of what I am snacking on. Getting the usual snack food out of the house has curbed the severity of the derails somewhat, but even plain bread can give me trouble on worse days. I did not struggle with this before, and I can't think of anything that changed that could have caused the problem to surface.

I've noticed that even small deviations from the daily plan (OR routine, strangely enough) vastly increase the risk of a IDGAF day occurring. It's starting to really tire me out, so if any of you fine folks feel like brainstorming with me how to muzzle this nuisance, I'd be most grateful.

Aquarii

I noticed that your profile says you're a gamer. Is there any chance that gaming has taken up a majority of your free time recently, even to the point that you're skipping workouts, not eating as well, and sacrificing sleep in order to play more?

Just a complete guess, but I thought I'd ask since I had the same thing happen to me.

Another trigger for me not sticking to my usual workouts/diet is that I got REALLY comfortable with myself body-wise. I figured I could maintain without exercise and proper diet, but that did not work out.

What worked for me in the past to get back into eating better and working out again is re-identifying my purposes/goals for doing so. For example: I grew up overweight/obese for most of my life and never want to go back to that state.

jacksonpt

I've experienced similar things, especially after longer periods of strong adherence.

Ultimately you need to find a way to care again, to get back your motivation. Taking some time off from calorie counting can be enough to "recharge the batteries" or perhaps you need to find new goals or reasons to keep at it.

Or maybe you're just satisfied where you are... maybe your initial goal of 100lbs isn't where you actually want to be given what it would take to get there.

.

SideSteel

Testing.....

Trying to tag this thread....

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

BarbellApprentice

I struggle with pretty much the exact same thing. I have not solved the problem, but I am in for hearing what others have done to cope. Removing the problem foods from my home is not an option for me.

I have made progress despite these episodes, but I could be much farther along.

Sarauk2sf

When was the last time you had a planned diet break and/or a planned break from logging and if you have, how long was it for?

Hishtagat

Sorry for such a late reply, life's gotten kinda hectic the last week. Last planned break would be last December, during X-Mas. 5 days total. It was a full logging break, with a fairly loose eating pattern. Before that, sometime in May 2013 for a whole week.

SideSteel

Hullo to whoever decides to read this wall of text!

For the past few months, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to stick to my food plan. Worse yet, the derails have been getting more frequent over time.

I've been calorie counting since October 2012. In that time I went from 60 kg (132~ lbs) to 50 kg (110~), with the ultimate goal being around 46 kg (100~). The issue seems to have began more or less around the time when I hit my current weight. I'm quite positive it is not caused by undereating, seeing as I consume anywhere from 1500 to 1700 kcal daily, at 154 cm and 50 kg.

It doesn't seem to be hunger or cravings in the general sense, more of a temporary "you know what, I don't give an eff anymore" thought pattern. Half of the time I don't even particularly care for the flavor of what I am snacking on. Getting the usual snack food out of the house has curbed the severity of the derails somewhat, but even plain bread can give me trouble on worse days. I did not struggle with this before, and I can't think of anything that changed that could have caused the problem to surface.

I've noticed that even small deviations from the daily plan (OR routine, strangely enough) vastly increase the risk of a IDGAF day occurring. It's starting to really tire me out, so if any of you fine folks feel like brainstorming with me how to muzzle this nuisance, I'd be most grateful.

How do you feel about your current body composition when you look in the mirror and how has your training adherence been over this time? How lean are you approximately and is this the leanest you've ever been?

Do you enjoy your current diet and training?

Hishtagat

How do you feel about your current body composition when you look in the mirror and how has your training adherence been over this time? How lean are you approximately and is this the leanest you've ever been?

Do you enjoy your current diet and training?

My training adherence's been almost spotless. Can't say I struggle particularly much with getting my *kitten* in gear as far as gym's concerned. I'm somewhere around 22-23% body fat, judging by my eyeballing plus measurements. It is the leanest I've been, but then again I've never been above what could be roughly 28-29%~, so the deviation isn't that drastic.

How I feel about it is a tricky question. I do not dislike it, that's for sure. However, I really want to go on a bulk, yet I am very aware that if I were to start now, it will push me way out of my comfort zone visually. A bit of a rock and a hard place here, I suppose.

I definitely enjoy my training, and I have no complaints about how I eat, either. I prepare almost all of my food from scratch, so I'm quite able to hit my macro/caloric goals while avoiding soulcrushing repetition.

SideSteel

How do you feel about your current body composition when you look in the mirror and how has your training adherence been over this time? How lean are you approximately and is this the leanest you've ever been?

Do you enjoy your current diet and training?

My training adherence's been almost spotless. Can't say I struggle particularly much with getting my *kitten* in gear as far as gym's concerned. I'm somewhere around 22-23% body fat, judging by my eyeballing plus measurements. It is the leanest I've been, but then again I've never been above what could be roughly 28-29%~, so the deviation isn't that drastic.

How I feel about it is a tricky question. I do not dislike it, that's for sure. However, I really want to go on a bulk, yet I am very aware that if I were to start now, it will push me way out of my comfort zone visually. A bit of a rock and a hard place here, I suppose.

I definitely enjoy my training, and I have no complaints about how I eat, either. I prepare almost all of my food from scratch, so I'm quite able to hit my macro/caloric goals while avoiding soulcrushing repetition.

So the issue is that you periodically don't give a fook, and the frequency of that happening seems to be increasing?

Is this basically what's going on?

Hishtagat

That's the easiest way to describe it. It feels and "behaves" a bit binge-y in a very irrational, temporary total lapse of judgment kind of way. And of course the fairly predictable "oh for fook's sake, now I've set myself back again" irritability follows. The only difference being that the actual severity of it tends to be quite minor compared to what someone with a "true" binge would mow down, as far as I can gather.

starbucksbuzz

I feel like this is where I end up too. probably 90% of the time I'm good with doing my planned workouts. Eating is more challenging but most of the time it's generally ok. However every now and then I get a night where I'm exhausted and just don't give a crap. Usually I don't go crazy, I end up having a piece of pizza or a candy bar or something, but it wasn't planned and it screws everything up. Blah. All that to say I feel your pain.

SideSteel

This is a tough one honestly. Binging can be caused by many different things. Sometimes it's leanness and/or prolonged dieting that can basically over-rule your ability to moderate. Sometimes it's emotional, sometimes is taste/reward related, etc.

I'll be the first to admit that I can't diagnose your particular issue, but if I were to take a guess I'd say that it sounds like you're basically satisfied with where you're at and you don't have a concrete set of goals or metrics in place to keep you on the necessary path.

I could be totally off base with that.

Hishtagat

This is a tough one honestly. Binging can be caused by many different things. Sometimes it's leanness and/or prolonged dieting that can basically over-rule your ability to moderate. Sometimes it's emotional, sometimes is taste/reward related, etc.

I'll be the first to admit that I can't diagnose your particular issue, but if I were to take a guess I'd say that it sounds like you're basically satisfied with where you're at and you don't have a concrete set of goals or metrics in place to keep you on the necessary path.

I could be totally off base with that.

The lack of concrete goals and metrics might very well be spot on, indeed. Considering that I've adjusted my goal weight twice already due to not being entirely satisfied with the outcome, the end line does feel rather vague at this point.

Sarauk2sf

Locking for admin purposes so we can track active threads better. If you have further questions, please PM either myself or SideSteel, including a link to this thread, and we will unlock so you can pose them.