Losing my way

MicheleRoyal

Over the past year I completely changed my life. I started exercising and eating right. I have made a lot of progress. But over the summer I have gained weight and lost motivation. But I still exercise 5 days per week faithfully. I'm angry because I feel like I should be able to cheat without gaining. Am I naive to think this? And by cheating I mean not watching my calories for a weekend. But I get right back on. Any suggestions or inspiration welcomed!

jay1610

Over the past year I completely changed my life. I started exercising and eating right. I have made a lot of progress. But over the summer I have gained weight and lost motivation. But I still exercise 5 days per week faithfully. I'm angry because I feel like I should be able to cheat without gaining. Am I naive to think this? And by cheating I mean not watching my calories for a weekend. But I get right back on. Any suggestions or inspiration welcomed!

I was like that .. thinking that as long as I exercised EVERY DAY and ate what I wanted (junk etc.) it wouldnt matter and that I would lose weight .. I didnt .. I might have shaped up but I was still on the heavy side .. :explode: I now realise that you really have to eat right and exercise for anything to work .. now if I do want to be "naughty" I relegate it to just one day a week .. not everyday (usually weigh in day!) but I still work out 4 times a week ... (one day with a personal trainer).

Hope that helps ..

stephanie1133

I wouldn't say naive, but perhaps in denial.

A person can very easily undo an entire week's worth of deficit in a weekend!

I suggest logging every single day, every single bite, and being honest with yourself.

If you don't make changes, you won't see changes!

Best of luck!

katamus

Your diary over the past week tells me you're not eating enough. Make sure your NET calories are on point.

DanaDark

You cannot cheat without gaining. Always keep track and stop cheating.

Simply put, you can enjoy things without cheating.

Enjoying: A small slice of cake.
Cheating: 4 slices of cake, 5 scoops of ice cream, washed down with 40oz of extra sugary soda.

If you have a calorie deficit of 100 cals the entire week, that gives you just ONE extra meal at the end of the week... and a HEALTHY meal, not a "cheat meal" and then you'd just maintain.

"Cheat" foods taste good. They are like rewards... but if you want a reward, you pretty much gotta earn it. Best thing to do is to simply never stop monitoring.

caseythirteen

It can be so hard to be diligent day after day, I get that. Unfortunately though cheating on weekends can really derail your progress made the other 5 days a week. If you eat at maintenance or even slightly below for those 5 days, it won't take much over on the weeknds to even out for the week. Maybe if you track on the weekends for a while you can get a better idea of how it's really evening out over the 7 days. As for motivation, maybe change your routine? I get bored easily and sometimes working your body in other ways can really help. Maybe add some strength training if you aren't already. Or if you are, change the exercises or up the weights. Something to mix it up! Good luck. I think so many of us go through ups and down as far as motivation go. You just need to find what works for you to get your groove back.

MicheleRoyal

The thing that makes me so upset it that I can understand not losing weight. But why can't I just maintain when I cheat? I thought the exercise would offset that.

MicheleRoyal

I have a very hard time eating more. If I eat 1500 calories I feel like I am eating too much. Even though I may have just burned 600 calories in spin class. I cant seem to get the nutrition/exercise balanced.

shaninicole

Even when you cheat you still have to burn 3500 more calories a week than you are taking in. Watch what you are eating on the weekends, if you know you are going to splurge on weekends add a weekend workout to counter what you are taking in. Also remember if your body isn’t getting enough food it will store what you eat so make sure you keep snacking on healthy veggies throughout your day to keep your metabolism going and do exercies that will build muscle during your workout so you can burn more calories during rest periods as well.

stephanie1133

The thing that makes me so upset it that I can understand not losing weight. But why can't I just maintain when I cheat? I thought the exercise would offset that.

If you are intaking more calories than you are burning off then it won't offset it. Exercise is great! BUT it's the nutrition that is the most important for weight loss.

MicheleRoyal

The thing that makes me so upset it that I can understand not losing weight. But why can't I just maintain when I cheat? I thought the exercise would offset that.

If you are intaking more calories than you are burning off then it won't offset it. Exercise is great! BUT it's the nutrition that is the most important for weight loss.

Thank you! You seem to have made ALOT of progress. Any tips or advice for work out and nutrition?

emilygh1974

The thing that makes me so upset it that I can understand not losing weight. But why can't I just maintain when I cheat? I thought the exercise would offset that.

If you are intaking more calories than you are burning off then it won't offset it. Exercise is great! BUT it's the nutrition that is the most important for weight loss.

indeed

Junkin60

I DID THE SAME THING. I lOST 50 POUNDS AND HAVE GAINED 7 BACK. IGOT SICK OF NOT EATING WHAT I WANT AND GOT TIRED OF GOING TO THE TRAINER. A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO I FOUND MYSELF STUFFING MY FACE WITH A HALF BAG OF POTATO CHIPS THAT WAS LEFT FROM A WORK LUNCHEON. GUESS WHAT? AFTER THE FIRST TWO CHIPS IT DID NOT TASTE GOOD.Bottom line if I and you want to maintain and keep losing we cannot eat junk.
For me it is about health.
So I am getting back on the wagon, gritting my teeth going to excercise after work and logging my food. I cannot be good breakfast and lunch and then eat what I want from 4-8pm.

It is really the food even more than the exercise.

Lesa_Sass

Would you consider preparing your own meals from scratch instead of eating all the prepackaged stuff? Your diet is not good at all as far as health goes.

There is no diet in the world that can do what eating healthy does, period.

Good luck and if you need some help with cooking ideas, feel free to check out my profile, I have a healthy cooking page on facebook.

Angie_1991

Once I turned 30...I have had to watch EVERY calorie I put into my mouth or I blow up like a blimp. I have had to make a major lifestyle change. It happens. You can cheat, just not every day........

stephanie1133

The thing that makes me so upset it that I can understand not losing weight. But why can't I just maintain when I cheat? I thought the exercise would offset that.

If you are intaking more calories than you are burning off then it won't offset it. Exercise is great! BUT it's the nutrition that is the most important for weight loss.

Thank you! You seem to have made ALOT of progress. Any tips or advice for work out and nutrition?

My best advice is to keep trying and find out what works for you! And log everything, even on "cheat days". I've gone through so many different phases on this journey, trying out different foods, different macros, different calorie levels, having cheat days, cheat meals, not having any cheats. I still don't know what works exactly perfect for me, I keep trying, and while I'm trying I make progress. I've gone through different phases with exercise too. There is no one way to do this as far as the way you eat or what kind of/how much exercise to do. Keep trying and never give up!

colincraggs

You won't find any judgement here - we all mistakes and we are all learning how to live the best. Hit the reset button and go again

Now, from what you are saying it appears that you are unsure about how many calories you need to stay at maintenance. You need to know how many calories you can have for the week so you can track it.
Secondly, if you log your exercise as well as your food then you will always know if you are up or down for the week. Logging your exercise is just as important as logging your food.

I would suggest the following to help you have your cheat meal for the week.

1) Know how many calories you need to maintain - if that's your goal, otherwise, adjust according. Just make sure that you know how many calories you are aiming for.
2) Log all your food and all your exercise. That will tell you exactly how many calories you have spare or don't have.
3) run a 100 calorie deficit every day. by the 7th day you will have 700 calories to thoroughly enjoy a really good meal

The important thing is to have the right among of calories by the end of the week.

I'm confident you will get there.

SoDamnHungry

Well... If you eat more calories than you're burning, the exercise won't be enough. Simple as that.

MicheleRoyal

You won't find any judgement here - we all mistakes and we are all learning how to live the best. Hit the reset button and go again

Now, from what you are saying it appears that you are unsure about how many calories you need to stay at maintenance. You need to know how many calories you can have for the week so you can track it.
Secondly, if you log your exercise as well as your food then you will always know if you are up or down for the week. Logging your exercise is just as important as logging your food.

I would suggest the following to help you have your cheat meal for the week.

1) Know how many calories you need to maintain - if that's your goal, otherwise, adjust according. Just make sure that you know how many calories you are aiming for.
2) Log all your food and all your exercise. That will tell you exactly how many calories you have spare or don't have.
3) run a 100 calorie deficit every day. by the 7th day you will have 700 calories to thoroughly enjoy a really good meal

The important thing is to have the right among of calories by the end of the week.

I'm confident you will get there.

how do you run a 100calorie deficit? I have looked up all sorts of apps to track my deficit. The only one I could find is the fat secret app and I do not like that one.

JoyfullySimpleFit

It happens to all of us. We just work and work and work and then we feel burned out. Its not an issue to have a rest day or weekend. Its fine to even have a day where you eat things you normally would not (with in reason of chores). However you still have to workout and/or monitor your calorie intake. If not then the result is expected to go in the opposite direction.
Summer time in most commonly when people ease up or stop all together, its normal. But the key here it to keep a watch and still workout at least 30mins a day or do 3-4days a week at 1hr. Just keep moving forward. This is all a learning experience and you will keep progressing whether its thru number, thru the mind, or thru the experience.

MicheleRoyal

Would you consider preparing your own meals from scratch instead of eating all the prepackaged stuff? Your diet is not good at all as far as health goes.

There is no diet in the world that can do what eating healthy does, period.

Good luck and if you need some help with cooking ideas, feel free to check out my profile, I have a healthy cooking page on facebook.

Really my diet is bad? I thought I ate pretty clean during the week? I know that the last few weeks have not been great though. Its super hard to do ALL meals from scratch, but I would definitely be willing to try. Obviously what I am doing isnt working...