How do you motivate yourself if you're doing the right thing

Jasdramaqueen

:frown: Okay so last week, I went to the gym 5 times, ate within my calories and didn't struggle with it AT ALL! I was proud and relieved that the whole process, through rational thought and 'making better choices,' was so easy!

This week, I've been stuffed up with a cold, bunged up nose, chesty cough and no energy, to exercise, cook or do anything! I have been to the gym once and ate practically a whole Dominoes pizza on Tuesday because I felt sorry for myself.

Just wondering, how do you get out of this cycle? I don't want to keep having to 'get on the wagon' because I keep falling off it! I am determined to go to the gym twice today and have a salad for lunch...usually I would think 'Sod it, you've messed up the week so you may as well enjoy it and start again Monday.'

I'm so frustrated as well because I really thought last week had gone well but I had only lost 0.5 lb! You hear of people losing 3,4,5 lb in a week and I put all that work in for a measly 0.5 lb...sorry to moan, just feeling FED UP!

robin52077

When you say "within your calories" do you mean you stayed well under? Because that's not enough. You need to eat them all. The amount to "lose weight" is already in that number, you don't create your own deficit by staying under. ESPECIALLY if you are set at 1200. That's so low as it is, it's ridiculous. Focus on getting that number as close to 0 as possible every day, even if you go a bit over. 100 under to 100 above is fine.
Not eating enough and working out my have weakened you to allow you to get sick in the first place.
You also have to eat your exercise calories.

As for being sick - It is ok to exercise if you are sick in the HEAD ONLY (nose, headache, sinuses, etc), but once it involves your CHEST, you should NOT work out.
You need to eat a bunch of healthy food, drink a ton of water, and SLEEP.

dave4d

One day won't kill you. Don't go a week though, because then it will turn into weeks, then months, then years. If you are sick, work on getting better. Extra workouts when sick can make things worse, although, the steam room may help stuffiness, I don't know.

fitterpam

The thing that I really had to change my mindset on was on/off the wagon. If this is a lifestyle change, there will be times of bad choices. The key is to have the choices few and far between instead of daily or at every meal. Sugar creates blood sugar spikes which cause cravings for more sugars.

Realize that every time you put something in your mouth it's an opportunity to do something good or do something bad. Its not all or nothing - you'll never "mess up the week", only dig yourself further in a hole.

I find that if I do "mess up", if I exercise for 30 minutes after not only will I think twice about doing it again. Having a plan for food for the day helps as does having a supportive hubby who is learning to say "No, I will not go out and get you that gigantic sundae concoction from Dairy Queen" (he's still learning this part and said "Sure" last night)

It's about balance....not forcing yourself into feeling deprived....learning when to say "Enough"....Most of us eat without thinking. It's good practice to stop and think about how hungry you really are before eating. If it's not mealtime and the hunger is less than 4 on the scale, say no. If it's more than 5, pick out a quick 100 calorie snack (there are hundreds of them) and then wait an hour and reassess. Having rules like this in place will make you less likely to binge when you're not feeling well.

People that are consistently losing 3,4,5 pounds are probably much bigger than you are. It looks like you only have 19lbs to goal - which means you're not too far out - the last 20lbs are tough to lose. The bigger you are, the more calories you burn just living and exercising, which means bigger losses....don't compare yourself to others.

Jasdramaqueen

Cheers guys, apologies for the Pity Party- just needed some motivation! And I was definitely eating my exercise calories so wasn't depriving myself of any nutrition...it's just the bloody tube in London- all these sick germs everywhere! Just going to focus on getting well and not using illness as an excuse to stuff my face!