Plateau = self sabotage

messyhare

Am I alone in this thought? That when I hit a plateau it is of my own making?

I have some freaky mindset at times that I just need to get over!! It seems that anytime I am able to lose enough weight to get close to fitting into a size 14 my inner person yells "nope. not gonna happen." and I begin to lose my focus. It really stinks. In the past I just regain the weight I've lost.

Here I am again. I am not tracking my intake. I am not eating healthy. I am not exercising properly.

Any ideas on overcoming it?? I don't want to sabotage myself anymore! I want to get to my goal weight.

I would appreciate kindness in your replies please. I'm fragile right now...

tishieb

I am in the SAME boat as you are
Before Christmas I had lost nearly 60 pounds. After Christmas everything fell to crap. I am still stuck and have put on 25 pounds. I don't know where the focus goes, I am completely unable to get it back. BUT, everyday I try. EVERY DAY. We must believe it will come back. Good luck to you.

P.S. I was 3 pounds away from FINALLY being under 200 lbs. Self sabotage in the highest form (((((( SOOO close and I ruined it all.

I am currently in counselling to help me.

Hova1914

the EXACT same thing happens to me. I'm 10 pounds away to my goal weight, then all of a sudden I think I can slack off. I've decided this time to just go extra hard and get these last 10 over with quickly. Like ripping off a bandaid

marib414

I am the QUEEN of self sabotage. I had gastric bypass in May and I figured out how to graze all day long. I have gained weight over the past couple weeks. Shouldn't be an easy task. But, I have mastered it. TIme to get under control. It is a battle for lifetime no matter how you are trying to lose. Just plug away. I just started a biggest loser challenge with the people I work with. I wish someone had an easy answer or just kick me in the head please ( they should have done that while I was under anesthesia!) Keep posting and asking for support. We are here for you! Good luck and try to make small changes that you don't give in to and then keep adding more changes. This sucks but...we can win! We have to.

Saragre

Just about everyone hit plateaus for many different reasons. It may or may not have anything to do with something you have much control over. I just had one for three weeks. Forget about what happened yesterday, whatever it was it's not going to sink you. Look at what you can do today to eat right and be good to yourself. :flowerforyou:

4lafz

Every morning I lecture myself about exercising and eating right. My suggestion is to get rid of any temptations in the house - time for hubby and kids to eat healthy too :-) There are yummy recipes for meals AND treats that are healthy - online or right here on MFP. Swear off of fast food too (if you have not already). I tell myself it is poison - perhaps I am not that far off. I constantly have to remind myself how bad I want it and the only way to get there is calories in - calories out. Good luck to you :-)

messyhare

I am doing some research and came across this article: http://www.peertrainer.com/how_to_stop_self_sabotage.aspx?page=1

Has some good points. I haven't finished reading it but thought I would pass it on.

Thanks for the replies. I almost feel like I need counseling to get over this too tishieb!

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one. And I WILL keep trying this time. I think mfp is going to be my self sabotage breaker!! I've never had this type of support.

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all of your kind replies!!

zoibas

I plateau in a different sense. I dropped from 192 to 183 as scheduled then I got stuck. I wasn't sure what happened but for 5 or so days I hovered. I read somewhere that you need to change it up. If you run at night change it up and run in the morniing. change your exercise pattern. So I did. Not sure how but the next day I weighed in at 181.6. That is my motivation...... the numbers going down, and to proove something to my doctor haha. At 5' 9" Dr had me at .1 from obese...... ha I'll show them Doctors.... ;-)

prototype

I just went through a plateau period. Here is what I did to get through it. Hope it helps.

1. Sat down and had a serious conversation with myself about what is going on with ME. Why was I in the mindset that I was in at the time? Don't ignore your thoughts and feelings. Figure out what they are, what they are about... and deal with them accordingly, head on.

2. Change my game plan. I was doing low calorie diet for a couple of months. I changed what I was eating to give my body to force it to do something different. I am now doing low carb. This forced me to think about what I am eating in a different way, and allowed me to regain focus. I also upped my water intake. I was challenged to drink one gallon of water in one day. I did something different that my body wasn't expecting... and it seemed to work. I started loosing again. Oh, when I switched to low carb, I had to add a fiber supplement into my diet to make sure I was "going" like I should. Once I added the fiber is when I noticed the difference.

3. Remembered WHY I am doing this. This is for ME and MY life and MY health. I'm assuming you have the same mindset... but if you don't... you should. You are doing this FOR YOU. YOU DESERVE to be the best healthiest YOU there ever was. Nothing can be better than being the version of you that YOU truly desire to be. You deserve to get to a size 12. Blow right through that 14.

One thing I decision I made when I embarked on this journey with MFP is that this will be the last time I "try" to lose weight. I took failure off the table. It's simply not an option. Excuses and fear were tools for failure for me... so I don't make excuses... and I left fear in 2010. I look logically at what I'm doing, and when I am not seeing results, I look for what I can do to get myself back on the losing track. Winning is the only option. I won't accept anything other than that from myself.

Sorry so long. But I hope this helps.. and I hope it translates the way I want it to. Basically, don't beat up on yourself. Just be honest with your self about where you are mentally or even emotionally... and deal with it... but don't allow yourself to sabotage yourself. You owe it to you not to do that.

messyhare

prototype - Thanks for your reply! I agree on many levels with what you are saying. I do feel that this is it for me - I will get beyond this plateau as there is no other option. I am my own worst enemy at times. I basically stopped exercising and even stopped logging regularly in my diary. I started NEW on Monday and I am really hoping to jump start a LOSS for the week!!

MzBug

We are our own worst enemies! I have been at the same weight for 3 weeks now, and I know the cause is in my mind. Getting through mental blocks is harder than getting through physical blocks! I haven't been eatting as well as I should, my sodium has been high, and I haven't done much exercise (TOM didn't help either). I will make it through this! So will you! Get out a pair of your biggest pants...if you still have any. Climb into those things and see how far you have come. Take a picture of you holding out the waistband. Take a picture of your bum in them! You have done fantastic! You can do this!