30 pounds by January 1st

SheWei

I've decided to take my weight loss journey in chunks. I want to lose 30 pounds by the end of December. This will be the most I've ever lost at one time.

I've lost about 13 pounds since June 1st, and have hit a plateau. I've become too comfortable with "missing" gym work outs or eating something like Ben & Jerry's ice cream (the root of all my evil. now I'm trying to look for the Schweddy Balls edition,) but that's a whole different story.

I can't give up, but I feel as if I'm taking two steps forward and three back. As for the ice-cream, I have a half a cup and have decided not to buy it anymore.

What keeps you focused? How do you stay within your calories without depriving yourself of something sweet like ice-cream?

One day at a time is all I keep telling myself.......

fudgebudget

I don't typically keep my weaknesses at home anymore: ice cream, chocolate, or Baked Lays (seriously, I have problems with Baked Lays ... I don't know why). If I want ice cream, I have to want it badly enough to get out of the house and go to Baskin Robbins or Sonic for a single serving. If I want chocolate, I have to wait until Friday so I can go to my favorite chocolate place when it's open outside of work hours and only get a couple of truffles. And then I just don't eat Baked Lays (I have issues).

I am way too much of a foodie to completely deny myself the things I love, and not keeping them within arm's reach is the best way for me to avoid abusing them.

If I really want something highly caloric (chicken fried steak, a cheeseburger, etc) then I a) make sure it's something good enough to splurge that many calories on, b) plan for it and put it in my food diary before I eat anything else, and c) make sure that I get out and do SOMETHING during the day that will sort of let me justify it.

Motivation is hard. I've found that I have way more motivation to work out when I started making this all more about being fit than losing weight. It's too easy to get discouraged if you're doing it all for scale results and not seeing as much progress as you want. This has really been all about the NSVs for me - like today I noticed that weightlifting is giving me better posture, and that made getting the weights out this morning a lot easier

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SheWei

Your response is GREATLY appreciated and duley noted to not keep "tempting" foods in my house. I usually would buy the weight watchers or skinny cow ice cream and it was REALLY good. Then, I ventured into Ben and Jerry's...BIG MISTAKE! I can't deprive my family from it, but I will not have any when they do eat it. That is of course, if I buy it..hahahaha

I just feel like I'm going in circles. I need to stay focused.