How do you keep going?

LAGIER4

I am so frustrated and miserable...why is this so hard. Why do we want to loose weight so badly but we keep feeding our faces? All those we's should be I's...I just feel terrible that I can't be consistent and honest withmyself. I feel I work so hard and get little to no reward. I have been working out with a personal trainer since March 2010, started Zumba in August 2011 to add in extra and change it up a little bit, I even bought a bike to start riding, I am more active than I was in my 20's, I feel great but the numbers on the scale haven't moved in 1 yr...WHY????????????????
I want to scream and yell and hollar all my thoughts but my fingers won't move fast enough and it is frustrating me even more...
what motivates you and keep you going...do you have to hit rock bottom so-to-speak before you rock it.

Sad, frustrated, confused, and not motivated....HELP ME!!!!

lawtechie

Can you make your diary public? If you think it's food selections, perhaps we can advise on that.

Unless you have a medical condition the basic principal is calories in - calories out = weight gain or loss.

What motivates me is wanting to be more active and the pounds aren't conducive to taht. I want to join my brother and his family in 5k's, warrior dashs and other stuff but I have to be in shape to do it and healthy eating is part of that.

Don't think of it as a diet, you are changing your lifestyle for the better.

dannylives

You're not alone!

4mydogs

You have said that you are now more active than you were in your 20's, which is awesome!! I used to worry about weight all the time now I just worry about being healthy and strong. Some weeks are better than others but who I am does not depend on the number on a scale. I know that might not be exactly what you want to hear but I think you should be proud of what you have done so far this past year!!

stef_3

Try putting the scale away for a month or so. Sometimes when you don't think about it as much the weight comes off easier as long as you continue to exercise and eat right. Once I hit a plateau of 3 months I decided to only weigh in on the 1st of each month. It's not weight loss that motivates me, I consider that the bonus. My kids and husband are my motivation to be healthy, fit and active. .

KellyBurton1

All is not lost! There is hope, but you have to keep going! I to is the same way. What am I doing? I put the scale away, found out what stressed me out the most, dont over do it to a point of exhastion, which in my opinion just causes more stress. Do 10 min here or 15 there. It all adds up. Raise your protein amount, eat more clean foods and sleep, maybe your not eating enough?. If your tired take a nap, sometimes 15 mins can make a world of difference. Give yourself one full month and be honest with yourself. Good luck!

Melanienowillpower

I am NOT a doctor, but have you been checked by an endocrinologist? You sound so much like my best friend that I double checked the picture. All her tests came back a-ok for thyroid but she found an endocrinologist that really understood what she has been going through. She watches every bite of food that goes in her mouth - faithfully keeps the diary. She does kick boxing, zumba and walks 3 miles + a day on top of the gym classes and workouts. She is still close to 300 lbs. Can't lose weight. The doctor said that years of yo-yo dieting had basically wiped out her metabolism and he put her on a drug that it used for people with diabetes. She immediately started losing the weight. It was truly amazing and wonderful to see after watching her struggle for so long. May not apply to you, but your story was just so similar I thought I would throw it out there.

lil_pulp

Therapy has been immensely helpful to me in learning WHY I want to "stuff my face" when I'm not even hungry. Turns out my overeating and some other "issues" that I have are all connected and go back to stuff that I had always figured was unrelated and therefore never talked about or let myself think about. It might be worth getting to the bottom of the problem in addition to working on strategies to stop the behavior. Good luck!

wilkinsonrg

Yes, yes, yes! I was going to post the exact same thing you did, lawtechie. A big part of weight loss is the food that you fuel your body with.

About a month ago, I made a promise to myself that I would cut out all fast food and soda for 4 weeks. It was SO HARD, because I ate that stuff three times a day, every day. As soon as I cleaned up my diet and watched my portion sizes, I notised little changes throughout my body - positive changes that would happen to anyone!

It really is a lifestyle change. And I can imagine how hard it is to eat right when you have kiddos, but exercise your willpower! Keep working out!
Keep Zumba-ing!
Talk to your personal trainer; he/she may be able to switch up your workouts so your muscles don't fall into a rut.

Also, don't rely on the scale....muscle weighs more than fat, but it burns lots more calories! I'm focusing on the fit of my hated corduroy trousers. The looser they get, the sooner I am to joyously throwing them out (they are my "fat-pants"!).

Another tip...when I'm craving a big fat brownie or something equally as caloric, I drink a glass of water. Then I wait 15 minutes. If the craving isn't gone by then, I cram three Altoids into my mouth. It really works!

You can do it!

pinkgigi

Oh I hear you sweetie, I was on that track for a year, did everything right all day and then after dinner I would stuff my face.

What did it take to turn it around? A number of things
1. I started yoga, and felt that I could do lots of the things because there was a whole lot of belly in the way
2. It was going to be my son's 21st soon and I didn't want to be fat for that
3. A challenge started at the gym, and I wanted to win!!

After no.3 I fell off the wagon again, but I started a project called 'hot for my 50th' and dedicated myself to goals relating to my birthday party.

Now I'm starting another project for getting 'hot for summer' (it is spring here in Aust).

So, giving it project status, help me to focus when the going gets tough, works for me. Oh and now I have a PT, and she measures/weighs me once every 2 weeks, and I don't want to be too embarrassed to weigh-in.

GG

Brandicaloriecountess

Seeing results motivates me. Seriously before January of this year I had NO will power when it came to food. If it looked good, I ate it. I loved baked good and candy and don't even get me started on Starbucks. But when I decided to make changes I decided that I had to be willing to pass on things I "loved". In the beginning I was strict with it. Now I can go to parties and skip the cake, in fact on Sunday I got a bunch of candy for my Halloween candy dish and have not touched a piece. People say you have to "want" it. I hate that because I wanted it many times before and failed within a month. I really believe it's a mind set and a willingness to make the changes.

RoanneRed

I've had to accept that, as I can't seem to control my eating well enough, I have to work out (weights and cardio) about 8 hours a week if I want to stay the size I like.

It took me a couple of years to accept it and the exercise is done for weight management but I know it will also give me a multitude of benefits as I get older.

zeeeb

it's called self sabotage....

i don't know why we do it, but many of us do. i work my butt off at the gym, but can't get motivated to just cut down 100-200 calories a day to lose weight. i sit on the tip of the iceberg so that i don't gain but i don't lose. i have it down to a fine art. i can gain a half kg, lose a half kg, up and down up and down consistently. clearly i have it mastered exactly how much i can eat to stay where i am, but i can't bring myself to just cut a couple of snacks out to be successful.

it's dumb, it's stupid, it's crazy! it makes no sense.

i lost 17kg (38 pounds) and now that i'm at a point where i'm not absolutely hating everything about my physical self, i've stopped and can't get going again... man, the mind is a crazy thing!

LAGIER4

this is why I love this site....people, real people understand what is going on in this drowning mind....thank you to everyone, I guess I need to take it one meal at a time, too much stress all at one time is too much for me...you guys all rock and thank you again for posting ~ T:flowerforyou: