I think I'm a junk food addict! Help!

pugeebunnie

Okay, so I'm tired of failing at losing weight. I cannot seem to stick with an exercise and eating well program no matter how much I despise how I feel and look right now. I'm sick of hanging out with all of my sisters, whom have had children like me, except they're tiny now. I'm tired of not feeling sexy, not feeling fit, etc....any words of wisdom to stick with things? I feel like a junk food addict! Literally!

Thanks, Julie

pugeebunnie

Okay, so I'm tired of failing at losing weight. I cannot seem to stick with an exercise and eating well program no matter how much I despise how I feel and look right now. I'm sick of hanging out with all of my sisters, whom have had children like me, except they're tiny now. I'm tired of not feeling sexy, not feeling fit, etc....any words of wisdom to stick with things? I feel like a junk food addict! Literally!

Thanks, Julie

mgullette

Okay, so I'm tired of failing at losing weight. I cannot seem to stick with an exercise and eating well program no matter how much I despise how I feel and look right now. I'm sick of hanging out with all of my sisters, whom have had children like me, except they're tiny now. I'm tired of not feeling sexy, not feeling fit, etc....any words of wisdom to stick with things? I feel like a junk food addict! Literally!

Thanks, Julie

It's possible that you are addicted to the sugar in a lot of junk food. You just have to learn to say no for a few weeks and after that you're cravings will most likely disappear. Don't have junk food in the house. That way you can't reach for it. Analyze your triggers that make you reach for junk. Avoid them. Surround yourself with supportive people. Tell everyone what you're doing and why it's important. They'll be more likely to respect your decision if your motivations are known. I hope it's more than looking good or constantly comparing yourself to your sisters. If it's about your life, your health, and your happiness, how can people not respect that?

Good luck!

M

Dave198lbs

how did your sisters do it? can they help?

MyaPapaya75

Okay, so I'm tired of failing at losing weight. I cannot seem to stick with an exercise and eating well program no matter how much I despise how I feel and look right now. I'm sick of hanging out with all of my sisters, whom have had children like me, except they're tiny now. I'm tired of not feeling sexy, not feeling fit, etc....any words of wisdom to stick with things? I feel like a junk food addict! Literally!

Thanks, Julie

Your going to have to make it a total lifestyle change get books get magazines..consume yourself with what is good for your body. I think your trying to maybe do too much to fast make goals for yourself write them on paper and keep yourself accountable...I realised how much I hated starting my diets over and how bad being at square one made me feel...The it hit me...Im not on a diet ..Im on a lifestyle change I finally decided I was just going to do it..No excuses...because I had the choice.:drinker:

pugeebunnie

Thanks for the advice. My wish to lose weight includes so much more than looking good. Thus far, My unhappiness with my body has affected my physical fitness (i.e. running up a flight of stairs used to have me winded!), my intimacy with my husband, my spontaneuity (when I was younger and fit, I had no problem grabbing a swimsuit and heading to the beach on a whim; now, I have to figure out what to wear to hide this area or that area, etc.)...everything. I'm ready to become healthier, in my mind, body, and spirit. I'm ready to feel better and have more energy. Most importantly, I'm ready to be a good role model for my children as they continue to grow.
As for my sisters, well, two of them are just great at the entire will power thing. One has a very busy household but still manages to get in some exercise and rarely anything bad for her (I don't know if I can do the latter!) and the other is a workout fanatic but she hasn't any kids yet, so she has more free time. The last is just a physical anomoly (sp?) - she's 25, tiny, but eats junk food constantly and just remains gorgeous...course I've told her that her heart won't be thanking her later if she continues to eat that poorly. Anyway, I know what I have to do, I just have to do it. I think my biggest obstacle is that I feel defeated from the get-go, like, "I can't do it anyway!" I have to believe in myself more.

Julie

sapphire092170

You May Know What You Want, But What Do You Expect?
Why Your Desire Will Trip you up...
“Why do I have such trouble following through on my weight loss plan? I really want to lose weight. In fact, I desperately want to lose 30 pounds! I start out doing very well, and lose 5-10 pounds in the first couple weeks, but then I lose my focus. I can’t even tell you why… something always comes up and I fall off course. Am I sabotaging my success?”

Does this sound at all familiar? Do you have a strong desire to lose weight, and yet for some reason the motivation necessary to follow through is difficult to generate or sustain?

If so, I have a little ‘secret’ I’d like to share with you. As common sense as it will sound, I can tell you from many years of experience that most people miss it entirely. I learned it myself from one of my mentors, Joshua Wayne.

Once you get this simple principle, it can revolutionize the way you think about your weight loss goals forever:

We always live up to our expectations, not our desires!


Let’s go back to my conversation with the person I was just telling you about. Hearing her frustration, I questioned her a bit further and she told me she wanted to lose 30 pounds in 6 months. On the surface, a very reasonable goal, and with a good plan it should be very attainable.

Knowing the ‘secret’ I just shared with you, I said,

“So I hear that you want to lose 30 pounds in 6 months and that sounds great, but what do you actually expect is going to happen?”

She was quiet for a good while as she thought about it and finally said, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head,

“If I’m completely honest with myself here, what I really expect to happen is that I’ll do good for about 6 weeks…I’ll eat well and get to the gym and lose about 10 pounds or so…but then something will happen. For instance, I’ll have a difficult situation at work, and I’ll be there late and end up eating pizza at 10 o’clock at night…and pretzels and whatever else is around. I’ll tell myself that I’ll get back on track tomorrow, but something else will come up… and before I know it a month has passed and I’m right back where I started!”

Again, sound familiar?

Maybe for you it’s a mother-in-law coming to town for a visit, and that creates a lot of stress.

Or maybe you expect that one night you’ll just feel particularly lonely, and those cookies and ice cream really seem like they’d be a nice companion for the evening.

So what is happening here? This woman, and perhaps you as well, actually expects to get off track. She expects to only lose 10 pounds instead of her desired 30. Maybe she, or you, will manage to keep that 10 pounds off…maybe not. Again, this largely depends on your expectations.

The point is, regardless of what you think you want, where your expectation lies is where you will wind up. The trick, then, is to begin working with your expectations, not your desires.
When you begin working with your expectations rather than your desires:

➢ Your plan won’t get derailed
➢ You won’t be setting yourself up for failure
➢ You won’t keep resurrecting the same frustrations over and over again

Now, it’s possible that your expectations already match what you desire. If this is the case then good for you! You will find yourself making great progress with relative ease.

If they are not matched, however, then you first have to honestly look at where your expectations lie. So the first thing to do is get yourself in a clear, calm state of mind. Go take a quick brisk walk or just take some deep breaths to focus your mind. Turn off the phone and television and just sit with yourself for a minute, and fill in the blanks to the following question:

What I want is _______; what I truly expect is _______.

Be brutally honest. It doesn’t matter what the answer is. You have to start where you’re honestly at. Instead of setting yourself up for failure, break down your desire into smaller increments of expectation. If you realize that your expectation is to only lose 3 pounds instead of 30, that’s okay. Start there! Make this your goal for now. It’s still a very good goal.
When you have achieved it, celebrate that success and decide what is next. Perhaps you will then find that you genuinely expect to lose 5 more pounds- or even 10. The more you succeed, the more you will expect of yourself. Success breeds success.

What if you realize that ultimately you truly expect to fail? If you find yourself in a situation where your expectation is endless self-sabotage and more of the same, don’t worry. Hope is not lost! You need to learn new skills that will strengthen your relationship to yourself, your body and food. As you practice these skills, stronger, healthier expectations will form.

heal4444

Wow!!! Sapphire092170. Sorry to use a pun. But, that was a real gem what you wrote.

I read it twice just now because it was truly a lightbulb moment. Sure, I've read my share of motivational books and stuff. But, to see it on here, it's truly an eye opener.

I know you only joined MFP days ago. Judging from this thread, you're a real asset to MFP.

Thank you so much for typing this out. Well said, well put, well writ.

States the problem. Illustrates. Solution. Encouragement. Motivating.

Wow!!! I'm gonna bump this thread up every week for all to read.

Good for you Sapphire092170!!! Keep posting more of your words of wisdom Looking fwd to more of your posts!! Real gems! :happy:

Take good care and thanks for joining MFP !!

pugeebunnie

Yes, thank you so much Sapphire for taking the time to explain the "secret" of weight loss with me. It was right on cue. If I'm truly honest with myself, I expect myself to fail. I expect I will be back in the same sitch next week and the week after, not losing any weight and hating myself for it. Not able to wear a bikini this summer, not feeling fit and trim as matron of honor in my sister's fall wedding. Sad that my expectations are so low....I need to work on that! Thanks to you and to everyone who has posted on this thread for their great advice and encouragement. The cut back in caloric intake is hard for me right now (I'm always hungry), but I'm taking it one day at a time.

Julie

jemb

Just wanted to say thanks to Sapphire for that post! Really helpful and, like I think you said, it felt like a lightbulb moment.