Small adjustments all along

krithsai

Now if I'm tired and don't want to walk on the treadmill for an hour, I tell myself to only do a half hour. 30 minutes is better than ZERO. Guess what...I've stayed on the full hour every.single.time.

The story of my life. Once you get the adrenalin going, it is easy to keep going. All the best!

likitisplit

This is exactly right! Great thinking and awesome job!

jbutterflye

Moderation is the key, I feel. Deprivation will lead to rebellion and sabotage.

Self sabotage is an interesting subject and one I've had to come to grips with in my own life quite suddenly. I won't get into all the ways it has affected me because I don't want to derail the thread.

But, when it comes to weight loss specifically, I see this pattern with myself over and over and over. Even so, I have managed to keep it under control for most of my adult life but for much of that time I have seen still as a failure. I know that sounds weird but it's true.

It was just never "good enough"...

Frustrated, I recently read a book called, "Succeed" by Heidi Grant Halvorson. There's a ton of good stuff in it but as it relates to the subject of self sabotage, this usually comes down to some form of perfectionism. She offers some great insight in where that comes from and how you can adapt your mindset to persist when things don't go your way, as they always won't.

Great topic! Thanks for bringing it up.

Self sabotage is actually a good thread topic. That whole "not good enough" and perfectionism thing is something that followed me from childhood, resulting in emotional eating. I've grappled with it most of my life. Something that's helped me alot with this recently is Byron Katie's "The Work" (www.thework.com) and doing the 4 questions and turnaround. Here's a youtube clip of her doing a session with someone, called "I hate my body". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb9bkbgxlpE

Thanks for the book reference btw.

jbutterflye

I agree. Take gradual steps in the right direction. Sometimes I get frustrated that I haven't lost as much as I want. Then I realize that I have not gained weight over several decades. The baby steps that I've taken have at least kept me from the weight gain per decade thing. When I hang out with my extended family I see more success. They eat the way I used to eat and when I see what they are eating I realize how far I have actually come over the years.

It might be interesting to hear what other people's baby steps have been. There may be ideas that others would like to incorporate into their lifestyle.

My most recent babystep is to give up deep-fried foods (about 6 months ago). I still pan fry things but I don't do french fries, potato chips (fried), etc. I'm not a die-hard. Maybe once every 3-6 months I break down and have some fried cheese curds (my weakness). I also allow myself a few fries from my kid's plate once in a while if we go out. Overall, I feel so much better without the fried foods. When I eat deep fried foods I almost feel sick afterwards (but fried cheese curds are so worth it). What are your baby steps?

That's really great that you haven't gained weight in decades!! How many calories do you eat to maintain your current weight? I think it's very helpful to find that "magic" balance point where you know you can maintain, because then you can estimate so much better from that point what it takes to lose. Giving up the deep fried foods is a great step. I like stir-frying... in fact will have that tonight (veggies & tofu) with some rice.

Right now my baby step that I'm working on is water. It's been a long-time challenge of mine as I know I haven't been drinking enough. I've been looking at where the process fails between intention and accomplishment. heh. So what I'm doing now is making sure I measure the amount of water I'm drinking to at least know for sure. Then work on gradually adding more. This is a more controlled exercise with the water thing. Another, more casual, goal is to reduce the sugar and cream intake in my coffee & tea. I'm giving up the super loaded tasty coffees I used to drink to a more ummm "bitter" variety. I think I can get used to it.

jbutterflye

Great post! I also would be all or nothing. If I didn't workout, I failed. It can be SO much easier then that.

Now if I'm tired and don't want to walk on the treadmill for an hour, I tell myself to only do a half hour. 30 minutes is better than ZERO. Guess what...I've stayed on the full hour every.single.time.

That's really great! I used to listen to a podcast by this woman trainer who talked about having days where she just didn't feel like working out (I just love hearing that from someone who makes her career out of fitness!) and how she always made sure she did *something* even if it was for 10 minutes, just to keep the routine going. I think it's a great idea, and like you said, often leads to doing more than we thought we could handle starting out.

I'd eat a bad meal, which turned into a bad day/week and I failed. Now I learned it's ok to get back up the next day/week and keep going. A knee scrape does not equal a broken leg!

I also started by walking after lunch. Simple and something I can't fail at. Two days a week turned into five. A half hour turned into 90 minutes. Suddenly I am craving a harder work out. Magically I am naturally drinking more water and making better food choices. I am AMAZED at how that is all naturally falling into place.

You're doing so great, that's really wonderful progress! Another podcast I used to listen to (I admit it.. I love podcasts ) talked about the gap between coming back into balance getting smaller. So if it used to take, say, a month before we "undereat" to make up for "overeating", now it may take a week, or a day. At some point if we overeat at one meal we can turn around and undereat the very next meal. Or better yet, learn to listen to our bodies enough that we can stop when satisfied and even leave food on the plate... *gasp*!