How do you stick with it?!?

Lalala_Liz

Every time I get really fired up about losing weight, counting calories, working out, and being healthy, I stick to it for about 2 weeks and then it usually falls apart piece by piece.

Normally it'll start with " well I don't REALLY need to count calories, I'll just keep working out and eating certain things in moderation blahblah"

And then my workouts become fewer and fewer and next thing I know I'm going a straight month without a workout.

Everything then usually crumbles by me going back to stress eating and just not really caring but still feeling guilty.

Rinse and repeat.

I think part of it is that I want a better body SO BAD that even though I know it takes a lot of time, I still hope to see changes after a week or two, which is not very realistic.

Anyone else out there like this?!? Do you have to keep all puzzle pieces in place or else they'll all crumble away?

How do you stick to it?!? Mind over matter? Motivation? Self discipline?

I just feel like I'm stuck in this never ending cycle and am looking for ANY advice/insight/other people's experiences?!?

Or maybe just some new motivating friends?

cloud2011

Well, I keep sticking with it even when I'm not doing well. I think that might be the secret to maintaining weight loss, but it doesn't help me to lose additional weight. One thing I did early on was to remake one meal at a time. For example, I had always wanted to try my own smoothies at home, so now I have a few recipes for smoothies, and with a homemade egg sandwich, I have a very filling breakfast many times for 200-300 calories. Then, onto other meals and snacks. I learned to make soups, interesting dinner entrees, and wholesome snacks and salads. But the new food is better than what I was eating, not just because it's healthier, but it's more interesting and makes me feel like I'm actually enjoying a treat.

I don't have a regular exercise program, but I started taking stairs more often and parking far away from stores, entrances, etc. Every little bit helps.

I think the trick is, commit to the long-term. Find a few things that you can make your own -- a recipe, a new exercise, whatever it is. Keep doing it until it's your "default setting." That is, even if you go off course, you will eventually find your way back to the healthier meal,or the exercise. Not because you feel guilty or bad, but because you crave it...you enjoy it.

I still have a ways to go (like to lose 100 lbs in addition to what I've lost). I know I can do it, but mainly I'm grateful that I've kept off this much weight for the past couple of years.

Oh, and logging your food is very helpful. To me, that makes all the difference.

jaena4

Motivating friends do help - feel free to add me if you like, I'm on here just about every day

Also, log log log log!!!! I got the mfp app for my phone and I just log everything immediately. I'm trying to view this not as a 'diet' but as something I'm planning on doing long term, even once I hit my goal weight (hopefully in the not TOO distant future!!).

But, it's all easier said than done. I've been logging and exercising and eating better for over a year now and am most of the way to my goal weight, but god knows I 'started' a diet a million times in the last 10 years, only to give up and gain more weight. Not sure why this time was different, but I do give mfp and my dedication to logging a lot of the credit. It's kind of like quitting smoking; I honestly can't remember how many times I quit smoking for however long (10 minutes, an evening, two days, three weeks, one time for over 9 months) and then went back to it. But the last time, for whatever reason, it finally clicked and I've been quit for about 12 years now. I can't even imagine smoking now. I really hope this time is like that for health. I'm trying to view exercise and weighing myself as not just things to do now that I'm trying to lose weight but a normal and routine part of my day.

Anyway, good luck. Once you get in a good habit, it's easier to keep it going. You won't necessarily see huge results immediately, but once it starts coming off, you can see differences at every step along the way, which is great. Those nsv's start coming and keep coming, and that's good and motivating too.

emmajeanious

Great question - one I've been pondering as I don't want this to be another new years' resolution. I like the idea of making gradual but sustainable changes, and will try to do that. I can't really offer any advice as I've yet to successfully lose weight and maintain it myself. I hear your yearning for quick results, though!

childermass

success stories.
seriously, visit this topic thread EVERY DAY if you have to.
Plus, I think you've really got to want it. Otherwise any and every excuse in the box will turn you away from your goal.
do it for YOU!

MinimalistShoeAddict

I think it depends on the person. Encouraging friends helps some, clear benchmarks help others. My first ever diet was successful this year because I allowed myself no excuses. Every week I had to stay under my calorie target 100% of the time and I was. Of course I was over on individual days but I made up for it the next day every time either through diet or exercise. I logged everything, even a 5 calorie vitamin or piece of gum. This becomes pretty easy after you record your frequent meals.

Aside from discipline I think a lot of people have a lot of problems with calorie tracking accuracy. Don't round down to the calorie total you hope for if you are unsure on calorie count. Instead round up to the closest reasonably similar food item you can find in the database. Same thing with exercise. Be conservative in your estimates. I see way too may people on here being overly generous in caloric burn totals. You are only hurting yourself in doing this.

Of course don't take anything to extremes. Never set your weight target below a healthy BMI or bodyfat percentage range and don't set your caloric goals too low. The turtle wins the race not the rabbit. There is no need to rush to your goal weight. Your goal should be to work towards a sustainable goal at a reasonable pace.

Good luck!

ohnuts14

It's never easy to change. I think we all go through this, or most of us anyway. We want to change, it's not necessarily a matter of desire. There are so many things that come into play though. I'm a stress eater also, and I know the feeling all too well. When you're stressed out or depressed, the desire to eat will momentarily override the desire to lose weight, no matter how strong your desire to lose weight is. The problem with stress is that we tend to go into a crisis mode. We don't realize it, but that's why our decision making skills tend to falter when we're under duress. We're not thinking clearly. There is no trick that'll fix this, there's no magic way to make us stick to our plans. It's a matter of re-training, and re-learning. We have to break bad habbits that we've had, most likely our entire lives. And that takes time, determination, and patience. Our slip ups are difficult to bounce back from, because we stress ourselves out further for our mistakes which triggers more stress eating. So when we slack, this mentality causes us to turn it into a slump that can last a while. It's important to learn that it's okay. Know that you're going to slip up from time to time, just don't beat yourself up over it. I know it's easier said than done, but whenever you have a little slip, remember -- it's okay. Constantly remind yourself that it's not a big deal, and you're going to jump right back into the swing of things, no harm done. Stress management is another important thing to learn as well. We're in our predicament because we don't handle stress well, so learning to deal with stress in a more healthy and efficient manner will definitely benefit us in the long run. Unfortunately, there are no tricks to finding the motivation because the motivation needs to come from within. The motivation is already there though, you just have to learn the right ways to push yourself, and you will.

katy_trail

All of the above.

I am having the exact same problem. Except for me it is often I skip the workout first, but it really eventually goes when
I'm not paying attention or don't care about my portions.

This time, I'm trying to make the calorie counting simple.
make some of it ahead of time, in bulk.
can't even calculate how cheap they are it's ridiculous, lol.
ex. veggie burgers- not vegan or veg. but they are loaded with nutrition, filling, and ready to go from the freezer.
constantly taking an hour to cook frozen chicken gets old fast.
make your go to food easy, cheap, easy to get to.

Also, using this site makes the cc simple.
the other site I used didn't remember what I had eaten as well, and
have as many choices for foods.
you can copy whole meals or days on here.

make the exercise easy to get to also
pick a gym that's on the way to other places you go- to work, to college, etc.
have a back up plan
resistance bands in your purse or dvd
find free workouts online
get motivated by new workouts, you'll be excited, not thinking about skipping a workout.
sometimes, I workout with 1 of my kids

make a commitment to yourself and keep track on a calendar, or on here
the days you did your workout, and possibly what you did.
the simplest would just be to put an x on each day you did your w/o
or in my case if I did anything, it counted. I was working on
just building that habit of doing the w/o consistently.
some days I hadn't done a w/o so I did squats and crunches before bed.

whatever works for you
try to make it as easy as possible to stay with your plan.

JPG1313

I do searches for weight loss before and afterpics. The results I see on them and these forums keeps me going. I lost 35 before joining MFP, I think it's much easier with this site.

kdeaux1959

You have made the first step... You realize where you are. That being said, from your profile pictures, I am not sure that losing 36 lbs is practical for you. Make sure you goal weight is within the range it really should be... That being said, I don't have a very good BEFORE pic on my site so it is possible that maybe these are older pics? As far as remaining motivated and sticking with it, realize that it is ESSENTIAL to log daily. Don't take any short cuts until you get to the end. Weigh regularly... Maintain a log of your results as well. Keep at it. Take note of SMALL STRIDES... A large goal is made up of several smaller objectives. Get down one clothes size... Take that as progress and keep doing it. You can do this. Get a few good girl-friends behind you to keep you in check. Don't take any short cuts... Keep at it. Be COMMITTED TO IT... To WANT something is a good first step but if you are not COMMITTED to it, you will not finish it... You are a senior in your field of study... I am sure there are times when you wanted to just quit and go wait tables and not finish that degree.. However, you realize that when you finish that degree it will open doors that you would otherwise not hope to enter through.. There is a prize on the other side. Realize this... People who are in shape have a higher chance of getting good quality jobs than those who are not in shape... Give yourself that edge.. Be committed to it. Get in shape. Finish that degree. WIN.

GypsySoul_74

lots of great advice above!! here are my thoughts:

two factors must be in constant play to lose weight and/or to maintain weight loss: commitment and consistency. you must make a consistent, dedicated effort every day to log your food and exercise and to make nutrition and fitness decisions that move you closer to your goal, not further away. you must also commit and recommit every single day--even if the previous day, you ate more than you'd hoped to, or you failed to exercise.

your potential for success is not measured by the number of times you fail, fall or mess things up. success is determined solely by the number of times you forgive yourself, recommit and try again. the more you practice good habits, the easier they will become, and with commitment and consistency, you will start to see changes. it might take several weeks--but most good things are worth waiting for.

it helps me to pre-plan and pre-log my eating and exercise for each day. obviously, things come up, and i sometimes have to make changes. but having a generally structured plan at the ready makes it so much easier for me to make good decisions all day long .

best of luck to you!!

Lalala_Liz

AH thank you guys SO much! I definitely needed to hear all of this and thank you!

You all have such wonderful insights/suggestions/opinions and I'm really going to take these things to heart.

Thanks again and stay awesome! We can alllll reach our goals :-)

quirkytizzy

One day at a time. It forces me to have patience.

Being active here. Reminds me of what I'm doing, inspires me to do as well as my friends, and makes me laugh when this all seems too hard.

Finding other ways of measuring my progress than the scales. (It took three weeks before I saw any appreciable difference on the scale.) I take my measurements. I use old clothes and see how they fit. I see how much money I save cutting back on the soda and fast food.

Making my changes in diet and exercise slowly. A week in between each change, bare minimum.

All of that helps keep me from getting overwhelmed and impatient.

jzammetti

Every time I get really fired up about losing weight, counting calories, working out, and being healthy, I stick to it for about 2 weeks and then it usually falls apart piece by piece.

Normally it'll start with " well I don't REALLY need to count calories, I'll just keep working out and eating certain things in moderation blahblah"

And then my workouts become fewer and fewer and next thing I know I'm going a straight month without a workout.

Everything then usually crumbles by me going back to stress eating and just not really caring but still feeling guilty.

Rinse and repeat.

I think part of it is that I want a better body SO BAD that even though I know it takes a lot of time, I still hope to see changes after a week or two, which is not very realistic.

Anyone else out there like this?!? Do you have to keep all puzzle pieces in place or else they'll all crumble away?

How do you stick to it?!? Mind over matter? Motivation? Self discipline?

I just feel like I'm stuck in this never ending cycle and am looking for ANY advice/insight/other people's experiences?!?

Or maybe just some new motivating friends?

For me it wasn't really wilpower - it was DESIRE. I really wanted to get the weight off and feel better and I luckily never lost my desire, even when I screwed off along the way. Forgive missteps and move forward repeatedly. Supportive friends help too!

JingleMuffin

Every time I get really fired up about losing weight, counting calories, working out, and being healthy, I stick to it for about 2 weeks and then it usually falls apart piece by piece.

I dont know i seem to be the most motivated person i know. when friendsand i start something im pretty much the only person left still doing it. everyone else stops.. so i dont really know my secret i guess i just do the same things every day.. log my food. running... its about making it a habit i think. and good friends do help feel free to add me