I'm losing it.

allnamesaretaken2014

And I don't mean weight I have been doing Weight Watchers for 19 months now and I have lost 92 pounds. Since about April I started really slowing down even though I still have a LOT to lose. I have gotten frustrated and discouraged and now I am slowly losing control. I will stay on plan one day and mess up the next, and I'm always hungry. I am adding more veggies to help me stay full but my cravings are getting the best of me. My will power is leaving me. I can't let this happen. I am hanging on by a thread and I am trying to stay with it. I could use some help please. I hate that I am letting myself down. I am stronger than this. Help!?

rainrain83

sorry to hear.
have you tried doing exercise?
it will allow you to eat more and i find if i have done exercise
i always eat better or else what was the point of doing
all that exercise

WildBillR

Can you tell us what your current plan is? Are you using the website and logging your food (not going to get into the whole weighing it bit)? Are you comfortable allowing others to view your food diary? Are you exercising, and if so what are you doing and for how long? Are you eating back all of your exercise calories, or half?

Large weight loss is a journey. It took a long time to put on the pounds, and it takes a while to take them off. Patience, focusing on where you want to go are important. It's okay to go off the wagon once in a while, as long as you recognize it and get back on.

Honestly, you can DO this.

cincysweetheart

You ARE stronger than this! Remember that.

You will have bad days and good days. You will have days where you feel totally motivated and days where you want to just chuck it all. You will probably have periods where your weight loss slows down… times when it seems to stop dead… and times when you will gain. Times when veggies only seem to make you hungrier. It's okay. It's called life. And it happens to everybody!

So, breathe! The key is to not quit. Even if you have 3 months of "bad days" and gain 20 pounds. Rest if you must... BUT DON'T YOU QUIT.

At one time in the past few years, I was in a circumstance (non-weight loss related) where it seemed like all my efforts were not only falling flat… they were making things worse. And I wondered why I even bothered to keep trying if it was only making things worse. The thought I had was that "if this is where I am when I'm trying… imagine how bad off I'd be if wasn't trying at all." I keep that thought in mind with weight loss too. On days when I'm just feeling hungry ALL THE TIME… or when I'm not losing like I want to… or when the weights just keep keeping my trash no matter how diligent I am at my workouts… that no matter how bad it seems… it would be worse if I just gave up.

"Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seems worse,
That you MUST NOT QUIT!"

Liftng4Lis

You've lost 92 pounds! That's wonderful, congratulations! Have you re-entered your stats (as your calories would need to be adjusted if you're finding yourself hungry)?

Milverton99

You've lost 92lbs? That's amazing! It's very hard to lose weight and to stick to it for such a long time.

If your weight loss has slowed down, go back to the start and monitor/record EVERYTHING you're eating and drinking. It's very easy to slip in a few calories here and there which can slow down weight loss.

Put a "before" photo on your fridge/kitchen cupboards

If you're hungry, drink more water/diet drinks and carry on eating lots of veggies. You will feel hungry if you're losing weight.

Above all, put yourself and your health first - the food you're craving will potentially kill you and will definitely make you very unhappy. View it as if it's cocaine or another drug.

Good luck and stick with it - you're doing brilliantly.

HabitualFailureSeekingNewWays

drink more water! When you get a craving drink lots of water! That's what I'm doing to curb cravings and it seems to be helping!

Laura3BB

Apparently you've been doing great since you lost so much food!
We would however need a little bit more info as asked above, to help you more.

Hang in there!

AglaeaC

First of all congratulations on all your hard work so far, you are an inspiration!

Then I'd like to chime in with the people who asked for more information. Has something changed dramatically? I mean anything; family and friends, job, interests, illness,... you name it. Or is it just a gradual fatigue sort of situation?

Do you view it as losing weight only or is it the whole lifestyle-change concept going on?

allnamesaretaken2014

Thank you to everyone who has replied to me. Rather than each one I thought I would post this as a reply. First, I write down everything I eat every day. I weight and measure my food. I drink a ton of water and only one low cal mocha a day, I have from the start. What happened is this: I got sick twice, first one was the flu in December, and it was a long road back. Then I got sick again inApril, and I was still low on energy from the first time. Anyhow while at the Dr they found blood in my urine, and blah blah, scary stuff and constant mentions of cancer, so many weeks and tests later I got the all clear. But I had been in a panic! I thought I was a goner, but I stayed on my diet but I felt terrible and became sedentary ( not that I am very active anyhow). So during all of that I stayed on my diet and lost super slow. But I was not cheating, just slow. Well all those factors made me very angry and resentful. " I am dieting and not losing, why do I bother?" so even though I didn't quit, I started to slip... an ice cream here, a half donut there... never going off, just making it worse and losing momentum. So I recommitted myself, and I am trying to STOP the slips, but I have gotten the taste for things again, what I call red light foods... things I normally don't eat or keep around because they are too hard. I have to be of a mind set to cope. If I am, I can walk away from anything. Right now I feel darn happy keeping control at all. I am backing up, trying to have more choices on hand and re committing. Believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I have done and what's gone wrong and even why... Problem is, I can't get my grip back. I feel somewhat better and look somewhat better so it is harder now, especially with the slower loss. I also have to keep reducing my intake due to being on this for so long. So... there it is, if you stayed with me and read all of this I truly thank you. If you have any thoughts I would sure appreciate it. I am very grateful for your support. Thank you so much... Patti

cebreisch

Gotta say first...YOU ROCK! 92 pounds is AWESOME!!!

A couple of things I've learned along my journey that might be helpful: protein and fiber. A nutritionist I went to told me to focus on protein and the carbs/fats will take care of themselves. The protein takes longer to digest, helping you stay satisfied longer.

Also the fiber helps in that realm too. Try Chocolite bars from www.healthsmarfoods.com. I like the triple chocolate fudge, and my husband likes the cashew caramel.

And have to commend you too - with the "not trying to STOP the slips, but try to manage them better. I was "on my game" for two years, and fell off the wagon hard!! (big can of worms) Now have recommitted. It was REALLY hard getting back on the wagon. It just took small steps...just like it did the first time. What can I do right now that won't blow me out but help me get my groove back? Get my 8 cups/water in a day.....okay....Now increase the fiber.....okay....now log everything....(that was brutal).....okay...now what?

You can do it. There's no doubt at all in my mind that you have it in you to continue on your path. You're awesome!

AglaeaC

Thank you to everyone who has replied to me. Rather than each one I thought I would post this as a reply. First, I write down everything I eat every day. I weight and measure my food. I drink a ton of water and only one low cal mocha a day, I have from the start. What happened is this: I got sick twice, first one was the flu in December, and it was a long road back. Then I got sick again inApril, and I was still low on energy from the first time. Anyhow while at the Dr they found blood in my urine, and blah blah, scary stuff and constant mentions of cancer, so many weeks and tests later I got the all clear. But I had been in a panic! I thought I was a goner, but I stayed on my diet but I felt terrible and became sedentary ( not that I am very active anyhow). So during all of that I stayed on my diet and lost super slow. But I was not cheating, just slow. Well all those factors made me very angry and resentful. " I am dieting and not losing, why do I bother?" so even though I didn't quit, I started to slip... an ice cream here, a half donut there... never going off, just making it worse and losing momentum. So I recommitted myself, and I am trying to STOP the slips, but I have gotten the taste for things again, what I call red light foods... things I normally don't eat or keep around because they are too hard. I have to be of a mind set to cope. If I am, I can walk away from anything. Right now I feel darn happy keeping control at all. I am backing up, trying to have more choices on hand and re committing. Believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I have done and what's gone wrong and even why... Problem is, I can't get my grip back. I feel somewhat better and look somewhat better so it is harder now, especially with the slower loss. I also have to keep reducing my intake due to being on this for so long. So... there it is, if you stayed with me and read all of this I truly thank you. If you have any thoughts I would sure appreciate it. I am very grateful for your support. Thank you so much... Patti

Thanks for a great reply! You seem to view your situation clearly and that is a huge asset at this point. I can only imagine how you felt when going through tests, waiting on hearing back, and so forth; stressful is only one word that comes to mind.

With that said, since you do know there was nothing acutely wrong with you, the next step would be to start making it impossible for you to go overboard with calorie-dense food. Is there a pattern to it? Emotional, time of day and/or week, hormonal cycle, etc.? Knowledge is valuable.

Do you cook things yourself for all meals or do you need to rely on others during the work day? Are you the type that needs a breakfast to start the day on a good note or doesn't it matter? Do you choose food that is filling? And what about distractions; hobbies, people, etc. to keep your mind off of food? This is the lifestyle change portion of it.

I_Will_End_You

Thank you to everyone who has replied to me. Rather than each one I thought I would post this as a reply. First, I write down everything I eat every day. I weight and measure my food. I drink a ton of water and only one low cal mocha a day, I have from the start. What happened is this: I got sick twice, first one was the flu in December, and it was a long road back. Then I got sick again inApril, and I was still low on energy from the first time. Anyhow while at the Dr they found blood in my urine, and blah blah, scary stuff and constant mentions of cancer, so many weeks and tests later I got the all clear. But I had been in a panic! I thought I was a goner, but I stayed on my diet but I felt terrible and became sedentary ( not that I am very active anyhow). So during all of that I stayed on my diet and lost super slow. But I was not cheating, just slow. Well all those factors made me very angry and resentful. " I am dieting and not losing, why do I bother?" so even though I didn't quit, I started to slip... an ice cream here, a half donut there... never going off, just making it worse and losing momentum. So I recommitted myself, and I am trying to STOP the slips, but I have gotten the taste for things again, what I call red light foods... things I normally don't eat or keep around because they are too hard. I have to be of a mind set to cope. If I am, I can walk away from anything. Right now I feel darn happy keeping control at all. I am backing up, trying to have more choices on hand and re committing. Believe me when I tell you I know exactly what I have done and what's gone wrong and even why... Problem is, I can't get my grip back. I feel somewhat better and look somewhat better so it is harder now, especially with the slower loss. I also have to keep reducing my intake due to being on this for so long. So... there it is, if you stayed with me and read all of this I truly thank you. If you have any thoughts I would sure appreciate it. I am very grateful for your support. Thank you so much... Patti

Congrats on your huge loss so far. What if, instead of not eating those foods at all, you allow yourself to have them every once in awhile. Don't keep them in the house, but go and buy ONE donut if you really want one, or one of those tiny containers of ice cream. Fit it in your calorie goal, don't feel guilty, and enjoy life. It's normal to lose more slowly once you get smaller. Your body needs less calories to function so it's harder to create a huge calorie deficit. Just keep at it, a slow loss is still a loss.

WildBillR

Sorry to hear about the scary stuff, and glad that things are okay now. Sounds to me like you should engage in being more active again. Congratulations on the weight loss. Just want to mention that It is contributing to your slowdown. Basically, at the beginning, you were carrying around the equivalent of 5 bowling balls that you've now discarded. That is great news. But, when you were doing that, you burned more calories than you do now.

I agree with the posters above that it's okay to occasionally have something that you consider "slipping". Work at making the "slips" fit into your daily calories/macros. IIFYM then it's okay, no matter if it's a donut, a cup of ice cream, or a protein bar.

You mentioned writing everything down. Are you logging it here on MFP (or equiv site) to keep track of your calories/macros?

Bottom line to getting your "grip" is do YOU want to continue to improve/lose weight, or are you happy with where you are? If improvement is what you aspire to achieve, then that means setting goals, both in terms of eating and exercise. There are all kinds of ppl here on MFP who are willing to help you on your journey.