I just want to give up.

Tat2dDom0105

Don't ever give up! Just be patient and persistent, and the results will come!

nnelson24

i am also in this boat , thinking of giving up . i know i wont ever get back to where i want to be . i just turned the big 5 0 this june and am finding it harder and harder to come off . i take group exercise classes and really love them cuz all of the ladies (and gents) in there are all in the same boat too...but it does help to make friends and make you want to come to class so you can see them . i always lose this motivation during the summer but im trying to get b ack on track now that summer is over . i use to be down to 128 in my 40's and now im up to 170's and i absolutely hate it !!!! you're not alone in this , hang in there . we have to remember, like others have said , do it now cuz it does get harder as you get older.....50 and still working at it !

nnelson24

WOW! well said....

ndj1979

Wow, we have a lot in common. I used to be able to eat anything as well and stay teeny tiny. I am also going to Mexico in November.

I started this journey in 2007. I totally agree with the baby steps theory to changing the lifestyle I stopped eating meats high in saturated fats (bacon and high fat hamburger) then I stopped drinking alcohol, then I stopped drinking soda and so on. I started eating more side salads instead of french fries and would choose a fruit parfait with yogurt instead of icecream for desserts. I did this ONE thing at a time and went to the next thing after I got used to the last thing.

I am 44 years old and now I am pretty much to the point where I can eat anything I want again. I will say that what I want is typically healthier but yeah, there are days that I will choose a fattening sweet treat,, it is okay because 90% of my diet is darn good.

One of the worst things you can do is putting too much pressure on yourself to do it all at once and now. Just start by making one change, then take it from there.

Good luck, hang in there. You will never regret getting healthy, I promise you that. Looking pretty is just a benefit.

could not agree more. I started in 2006 and I am always re-adjusting and looking for new ways to drop weight/body fat. You are going to have ups and downs but the main part is that you make eating healthy and working out a part of your every day life!

caslyn3

patience. don't expect to lose 40-50 lbs overnight.. not happening. If you want it, just do it. Don' think of it as a diet anymore.. think of it as a lifestyle change - Even when you get to your goal weight, and you will with hard work, determination and TIME, You still have to exercise and eat right. Just start by making better choices when you eat. Instead of sweets.. get a banana, put some peanut butter on it. Just got most of your protein and some potassium in for the day. Plan out your meals ahead of time. DRINK WATER!!!!! And most importantly, believe in yourself.

Good Luck!

yowla

I jog. I have done a lot of jogging. I ran a 25k and I run about 2-4 times a week. But nothing helps. 2 weeks ago I was doing really good and last week I gained so much of the weight I lost back and then some. My hubby and I are working on this together. We grill up Chicken and Pork for the week, for lunches. I cut up veggies and fruits. But Nothing. I just don't get it. Well today I totally fell off my diet. I ate like a total pig. Maybe I needed a day like that.

yowla

I looked at your profile and saw that you said you used to run and that you want to run. (I think you said you want to run a 25k).

So I have 1 question for you. Why aren't you running?

I'm a runner. I don't win any races. Sometimes I don't even like it but I always make sure I sign up for my next race. Knowing how bad I would feel with a DNF (did not finish) at a race is motivation to train for that next race.

If you're physically able why not give it a try? The only thing you have to lose is the registration fee.

I did run my 25k. I hate running. I mean I love running but I hate it. I hate motivating myself and hate doing it but the love the way I feel afterwards. I have just gained so much extra weight that my knees hurt when I run.

anifani4

Hi Y. I feel for ya. It is so easy to get discouraged when one sees no results. I think the food tracking is important and you must pay attention to portion size. You just have to invest some time into measuring or weighing everything. When you have an accurate calorie count you'll be able to adjust to a level where you will start losing. I used to not measure stuff and figured I knew enough about sizes of servings to not do it. Hah. I was wrong. When I started measuring I could see that my guesstimates were always higher than the actual amount of a serving. so I was taking in more than I calculated.

In some sense, weight loss is a science. If you burn more calories than you expend, your body will use fat stores for energy. It takes 3,500 calories to either gain a pound or lose a pound.

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_pound.php


However, if you go on a low calorie depravation diet, your body will start to conserve energy by slowing down metabolism, then it will take a bigger calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat.

Here's another fact. your body gets used to an exercise and runs more efficiently, burning fewer calories than it used to with the same exercise. When people hit a plateau a good thing to try is to change your exercise type. If you mostly run, try swimming or biking or aerobic classes/tapes. Anything to move your body in a new way.

Maybe one of these ideas will help. Hang in there. Ani

sharoncasey60

I admire you for being honest. I am in the same boat.............read my profile. We can't give up! I question myself too but it is NEVER TOO LATE to improve and get it together. I am 23 years your senior and BELIEVE ME , it only gets much harder. Do what you need to do now or your regrets will pile up. I am at my highest weight and must must must come down. I would love to keep encouraging you. ONE DAY AT A TIME, IF NOT, ONE MEAL AT A TIME. you can do this and I can too!

Go1096

I feel your pain. It has taken me a good long time to get motivated and stay motivated and from time to time I feel like a hopeless case and think about giving up...but I have been at it now since mid July. I have been doing this for me long enough that I have gotten into the habit of watching what I eat and wanting to exercise even though my scale keeps going up instead of down.

I don't know what exactly it is but something did just click and I woke up to wanting nothing more than to be fit.
Until you really really want it, you are going to feel like giving up.

My suggestion? Do you have old pics of yourself that can motivate you? You have to find that thing that will keep you fighting for what you want. Each night before I go to sleep I visualize myself the way I want to look. EVERY NIGHT. That helps me.
It also helps to know that I am not just doing this for me but I am setting an example for my daughter.

Good luck to you! I hope you find your groove and move with it.

newmooon56

I too turned 40 this year and I threw away all my "skinny" clothes before summer started in momentary laps of reason I guess. I figured I was never going to be as thin as I was 20 or even 10 years ago- so buy new clothes and move on. I have a few new pieces to show for this decision.

Then - out of a pure desire to just feel better finally. To feel as I did when I did exercise regularly. To feel like I did when I could sleep and have energy over rid the desire to look good. I had given up on ever wearing cute clothes and settled in the idea I was 40 and that is that... but but but.. I did want to feel good and knew it was possible.

So I started "dieting"... and a friend told me about MFP. So I started choosing well because if I didnt numbers would turn red- and I wanted green. At first it was like a game. I like lots of fresh healthy foods so it wasnt hard for me to cook and enjoy lean meats, veggies and the like- it was just time consuming - or so I thought. Its not if I plan well, shop well and combine tasks in the kitchen. Also - its not expensive to eat right. Im thrilled at how far a bag of apples or cabbage goes, at how long a hearty bowl of cereal can keep me full, so I dont need more food in an hour.

2 months into MFP and I -for the first time in my life- truly understand that we -NONE OF US- can diet if we want to be healthy (or skinny) for life. We have to eat well every day. We have to fight demons and motivate ourselves. We have to make the choice minute by minute or meal by meal, day to day to do it for OURSELVES. I must do cardio every day- I dont even care if its the best fat burn out there- I love moving my body- going fast, jumping high, sweating. I want to get a more steady weight routine going because I know the results will be worth the effort. (I lift a lil - and I need to get serious)

Think about it- if you want to diet- it will suck, you may be happy with results - then backslide. You may have successes- but if you go back to bad ways- it wont stick and you will be sad again. I keep imagining myself eating at goal weight calories - knowing by then just how much is right. Feeling full and stopping because Im not eating for any of the wrong reasons any more. I can see the day where I am home in my skin and it is already falling in to place.

Eating well and exercising has given me back my confidence, my speed and ability to sleep better. My skin is clear, Im well rested and I am stronger and faster today then I was 2 months ago. I want to be the best I can be today though and I continue to see just how amazing that is. I feel like Ive come to a new path and its still somewhat unknown but I know I can navigate it and great things will be waiting for me as I go. Its become fun, not a chore and real close to just being what I do, without thought and logging.

I will always log (or so I say now) but I feel that way- because it works. I can check calories on any sight obviously- but here I can get every tool I need to stay accountable to myself and be the best ME I can be. I hope you find something to make it click for you. I know I didnt give advice on how to start- but I was trying to express how wonderful it is if you can just get that ball rolling. I went from "ah screw it" to " I can do this!!" in what feels like no time at all. I started "dieting" and went on to re-vamp my life!

Try it - please- for YOU! You're worth it!

elyelyse

Hello, I have been on and off MFP for over a year now. I have logged in everyday for almost 70 days. I . But I just can't do this. I don't know how people are losing weight. I don't know how to motivate myself to eat healthy or exercise. I use to be 114lbs and was able to eat what ever I wanted to 2 1/2 years ago. Now I am climbing to 160. I have a Mexico trip coming up in 64 days and I turn 40 in 4 months. I want to get skinny again. I need some help. I love reading things from all my friends on here so more friends the better. But any suggesstions to help me get out of this funk?

one thing I notice about what you said is that though you have logged in every day for almost 70 days you "have for the most part tracked my foods for the last 2 weeks". For most people, to do this right, food has to be tracked strictly, not "for the most part", and consistently, for an extended period of time.

Maybe others have already said this and i missed their comments but, in your food tracking, are you weighing & measuring? or approximating? that can make a huge difference, too.

I see that your diary isn't open to the public, if you open it up, people may be able to give you advice on your choices.

you can do this! it just takes dedication and patience.

nicholettebell

i'll be honest.. you have to want it bad enough, you have to desire it enough to eat healthy and cut out all bad foods and exercise and stick with it and you need to be motivated to do it otherwise your not going to succeed ... you can give all the excuses oh i'll start tomorrow stop making excuses and just do it! it's not easy but if you really really want it you will do it by saying I just want to give up you've already failed before you've even started and your attitude stinks !

Perfect.

Sanfeen95

NEVER GIVE UP!

imwithgizmo

Lots of good support and advice has been given to you in this thread! How awesome is that?!

My 2 cents is this:

You have to really want it. Enough to do whatever it takes.

And don't ever quit. None of us does this perfectly, but those of us who are succeeding are still in the game. My favorite quote is a Japanese proverb "Fall down seven times. Stand up eight."

Just get on it girl! Forget waiting for motivation. Get after it and attack it like a junk yard dog!

joehobo

The most important thing to remember you are what you eat. It doesn't matter how much you exercise if you throw all the wrong foods down your throat you wont lose an oz. Try saying to yourself if I can't kill it or grow it, don't eat it. Keep away from the processed stuff it generally has no nutritional value. Once you start eating correctly your energy levels will increase and you will begin to want to exercise. I wish you all the best!

amadacorazon

I wish I had not given up when I was about 30 lbs away from goal about 20 years ago. Now, I have to lose over 100 lbs to get to goal.

Do not seek perfection, you will only find disappointment. More important is to be determined, dedicated and persistent!

DO NOT EVER GIVE UP!!

You CAN do this! One day at a time!

flutternfly

Hello, I have been on and off MFP for over a year now. I have logged in everyday for almost 70 days. I have for the most part tracked my foods for the last 2 weeks. But I just can't do this. I don't know how people are losing weight. I don't know how to motivate myself to eat healthy or exercise. I use to be 114lbs and was able to eat what ever I wanted to 2 1/2 years ago. Now I am climbing to 160. I have a Mexico trip coming up in 64 days and I turn 40 in 4 months. I want to get skinny again. I need some help. I love reading things from all my friends on here so more friends the better. But any suggesstions to help me get out of this funk?

I've been using MFP for almost 7 months. I first started with friends as a way to track each other while doing a 6 week fitness competition. I was doing boot camps, strength training and eating clean. I read a lot of different stuff and one of the boot camp coaches suggested a book which turns out really helped and made a lot of sense. It's "Female Body Breakthrough" by Rachel Cosgrove. Rachel is a former aerobics instructor and body builder. I found out later, that she's one of my main trainer's mentors. It has an eating program and a workout program that doesn't include running. Basically, I squatted, lifted, rowed, jumped my way through 25.5 lbs the first 6 weeks. After the competition, I couldn't keep up my double workouts but I kept working out 3-5 times a week and I've lost up to 52 lbs.

Unfortunately, I suddenly and unexpectedly lost my 41 year old sister and best friend in May . Thank heavens I'd started this journey. She was one of my biggest cheerleaders and was so proud of the success I was having, so I knew I needed to stick with it to make her proud of me. I knew it would be so easy to drown my sorrows in food and I had every excuse to stop working out. I did well until mid-July, but I've been stuck and need to get back to this.

I'm training for a half marathon, which I know from my trainer is completely not helping my weight loss. The Half Marathon was the goal I that started me on this journey three years ago. I was ready, got sick and then just couldn't seem to get back to it. Earlier this year, I started again and lost some weight, so I have to finish my half marathon goal and then get back to the weight loss and fitness. I wasn't expecting to lose my sister and get derailed this summer so I hit stall, but I have started back and hope to lose some more before the half marathon.

Food is a huge key! I realized I was eating not enough fat and the wrong kind of fats and way to much sugar. I was shocked at how much sugar was in "diet" foods. I had to learn all over what to eat. I have a friend who started MFP just from seeing me after 4 months and she lost 7 lbs in a month only by changing her eating and logging everything. Yes it's a pain, but it's worth it to get results. I know that others have said it's easier to do it now while you're younger. I have a couple friends going through menopause and they said do whatever you can to lose weight now because you'll gain at least 10 lbs and it shifts and it more stubborn to get rid of.

DON'T GIVE UP! Hang in there or you'll be having this same conversation in the future.

You can add me as a friend! You can do this and you will be so much happier!

ImaFitMormon

Don't give up!!! Check out my blog and write me a message. Let me know what you are doing and I'd LOVE to help you. http://www.makefatcry.com

PetitNick

Some great advice there and some awful advice too!
Whoever tells you to "avoid eating sweets, eat a banana instead and cover it in peanut butter" is mental! Why ruin a banana with peanut butter???

Anyway... you have to con yourself into it. What I mean by that is that once you've convinced yourself that it's easy because really, all that sweet, sugary and fatty food tastes bloody awful, and that oats are a lot nicer, it does indeed become easy.
I compare that to giving up smoking because once you've decided quitting smoking is a walk in the park, that really, when thinking about it you don't actually enjoy smoking, dropping the habit becomes really easy (see Allen Carr's "The easy way to stop smoking")

It's the same with food. But watching your diet alone isn't going to be enough. You need to watch what you eat and you're going to have to exercise too.
The good thing about exercise is that when you DO want to eat something that isn't as healthy as your daily diet of carrots and raw beans, you can budget for it by doing a gut wrenching hour of full-on cardio (and this is where real will power kicks in, you need to feel the pain - no pain no gain) and then you can have that half a bite of that snickers bar without feeling guilty about it.

That's when it all starts to really kick in - you realize that just to "earn" that half bite of that snack you've had to work out like never before, you'll start thinking twice about it... is it REALLY worth the hassle? Then you start losing an appetite for that kind of thing... it starts becoming easier to turn away from sweets and other unhealthy treats and snacks because you know the price you're going to have to pay for it later...

Move, just keep moving, avoid everything that moves for you. Don't take the car unless you REALLY have to.
I've found riding a bike everywhere really helps, exercising at home with PS3 (wii of xbox) exercising games (EA sports active) is a lot easier than joining a gym - there's nobody there to see all your flabby bits wobble as you first start out exercising again, you can sweat it out without having to be embarrassed about the litres of sweat you're excreting, it's never closed so you can come home from work at 1:00 am and still do that 45 minutes of cardio every day... no more excuses...
Also, I highly recommend the 100 pushups and 100 situps programs - they really help speed things up.
http://hundredpushups.com/

And also, no point in being too aggressive about reducing your calorie intake or you'll be going into starvation mode. Do more exercise instead. You'll feel better for it.
There's nothing better than collapsing at home on your yoga mat from sheer exhaustion - it's better than sex (well... almost).

The thing also with losing weight is ironically you end up spending more time in the kitchen. Start cooking proper food, made of real raw ingredients - stay away from all the pre-processed and ready made crap that is full of stuff that even chemists couldn't identify. Grow your own stuff (even in a cramped appartment in London we were growing salads, herbs, mung beans in the cupboards etc), learn about food again, simple, nutritious and healthy food. It's fun and it's yummy.
And if your husband is helping you out with this he'll get to enjoy it too.

Finally, whatever you do eat, take your time eating it. Your digestive system will thank you for it, you'll feel fuller without over-eating and you'll be less stressed. Fast food does nothing for you, and don't kid yourself, there is no such thing as "healthy" fast food. Research shows that to be true as well as it does nothing for your work (i.e the quick lunch at your desk) for an efficiency and results P.O.V. so take the time to enjoy your healthy lunch, it will help you get a better perspective on things and you'll feel better for it.

Oh, weight fluctuation is normal, especially at the beginning as you're turning that fat back into muscle. Don't just look at weight, look at your waistline and your body tone too.