Mental Game

khayashi80

Hey,

I am on a weight loss program, I've been on it since January of 2012. I've lost 157.25lbs. Great! I now have approx. 27lbs to lose and things have slowed down quite a bit. While I know this is a very natural thing and is nothing to freak out about, but my weight loss counselors tell me that for me a lot of my slowing weight loss is mental. They say I am up in my head too much. I am eating on-plan, trying to be creative with healthy foods, logging what I eat, trying to be more active, etc. So I'm not sure how I am mentally blocking myself. Has anyone else had this experience? What were you doing to block yourself? How did you get past it? I don't want to prevent myself from reaching my goal. Any tips is appreciated.

THanks for your help!

whierd

Wait, just to clarify...you're being told that you're not losing weight because you're mentally focused on losing weight? That your thoughts are blocking your fat loss?


Awesome weight loss counselors.

infamousmk

Have you adjusted your calories and macros to reflect your current size and goals? Are you lifting weights? Do you get enough sleep? There are about 73 things that could be hindering your weight loss before "mental blocks"...

claudiamareee

You're not mentally blocking yourself, that's impossible.
However, you may be sinking too into a routine as such. I see you say you're being creative with food and being more active but maybe you need to try something DIFFERENT. Such as starting a sport, starting running, doing certain gym classes etc. What you eat will play quite a big part. Calculate the calories you need to intake per day ad DON'T GO OVER IT! (This is not for everyone but for me personally I find it very effective because it really forces me to own up to what I'm eating).
It's good you realise plateauing is normal, it certainly is. However some people get frustrated and start slacking off/giving up. Make sure you keep up the motivation!

khayashi80

Thanks for the comments. I think starting an exercise routine of walking gradually getting up to jogging will help. I also need to tone, I know I've lost muscle in addition to fat. Thankfully I haven't used this plateau as an excuse to slack off on my eating (though it has been tempting).

About the calories - my eating plan usually leads to a calorie consumption of 1200-1400 calories on a given day. I have been religious about logging my food since finding MFP.

I'm glad I'm not the only one baffled by the mental block talk. I know I do sometimes become obsessive about the scale, but I have found other ways to measure success like my clothing fitting better (gone from a size 28+ to a size 14), my ability to maintain a fast pace without losing my breath, my ability to climb stairs, etc... Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement. I will keep going, I'm never going back to my old self, I'm far too worth it to quit now.