For those of you with significant weight loss....
twinmom430
Posts: 457 Member
Have you ever fallen off the wagon, what was the motivation to get back on? I've lost 61 lbs, but really have been having a rough time for about a month. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm only up about 3 lbs from my lowest weight....but I feel like I don't have the same motivation I did the first 8 months or so.
I don't want this to snow ball. I look at before and after pics and am so happy with my progress, I love the compliments, I love the way I feel. But for some reason, I'm so hungry all the time an I just can't seem to say no.
Just wondering if anyone has been in my shoes and turned it around to lose more, I just feel doomed, like I'm going to fall into old habits and gain it all back like I have so many times.
I don't want this to snow ball. I look at before and after pics and am so happy with my progress, I love the compliments, I love the way I feel. But for some reason, I'm so hungry all the time an I just can't seem to say no.
Just wondering if anyone has been in my shoes and turned it around to lose more, I just feel doomed, like I'm going to fall into old habits and gain it all back like I have so many times.
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Replies
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You're probably hungry because you need more energy. 61 lbs is about 177 days worth of calories, give or take. That's kind of a lot. While you've got that much stored, it's not too hard for your body to decide to go ahead and use up some of those stores. When you don't have them, it would rather you give it some fresh energy and not ask it to give up its little bit of remaining reserves.
Which is all the long way of saying: eat more food. Figure out your maintenance calories and ramp up to them. You and your body can stop fighting each other and be friends again; if you haven't hit your goal after, say, 6-8 weeks of that, then you can lower a little bit (like a 250 daily deficit, not a 1000 one) until you get where you want to be.
The options aren't just "diet" and "eat all the food" - you know this, but right now your body is getting nervous and yelling louder than your brain can. Be kind to yourself and trust that you can do this the right way.
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I am literally right there with you. Sometime in October my willpower and can-do attitude went right out the window. I'm in the Midwest- don't know if it changing seasons, impending holidays, work travel, burnout or a bit of it all. It has been a fight to exercise and maintain calories pretty much every day. We can do this. Maybe just need a little extra encouragement and a listening ear?0
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You're probably hungry because you need more energy. 61 lbs is about 177 days worth of calories, give or take. That's kind of a lot. While you've got that much stored, it's not too hard for your body to decide to go ahead and use up some of those stores. When you don't have them, it would rather you give it some fresh energy and not ask it to give up its little bit of remaining reserves.
Which is all the long way of saying: eat more food. Figure out your maintenance calories and ramp up to them. You and your body can stop fighting each other and be friends again; if you haven't hit your goal after, say, 6-8 weeks of that, then you can lower a little bit (like a 250 daily deficit, not a 1000 one) until you get where you want to be.
The options aren't just "diet" and "eat all the food" - you know this, but right now your body is getting nervous and yelling louder than your brain can. Be kind to yourself and trust that you can do this the right way.
THis is great advice! I am in the same situation and every day is a struggle, just take it a day at a time!0 -
I have to say it was much easier to workout in the spring and summer. This fall I pretty much hit a "hibernation" wall. And I'm pretty sure winter isn't going to be any easier.
Really anything can get us off track, but it's finding the reason we wanted to do this in the first place and get back on that horse. Now that I've hit goal I have the motivation to keep where I am (I refuse to buy bigger clothes), but it's easy to say "I'm not losing any more, I can skip the gym or eat the cookie"...
My new motivation is my new found muscles and the fact that if I don't lift every other day I get stiff and miserable. I don't do cardio like I should or did, but my strength training is going pretty well - I don't sit on the couch until it's done!0 -
Hi
I have hit the wall. At the moment I have no energy, my sleep patterns are all over the place, and my daily calorie intake has reduced to just under 1200 calories. :explode:0 -
i just went thru that. i took the summer off MFP and gained back 8 lbs. i came back 2 weeks ago and have been struggling since. altho this week hasn't been too bad. my motivation? xmas parties starting soon lol. just hang in there.....if you want it bad enough you will do it!! good luck! :flowerforyou:0
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You just mentioned the additional motivation. It's not easy and it's not fat... but down almost 150 pounds with about 40 to go. You have to keep reminding yourself how far you have come... and how much of a shorter journey you have left to go....
About 100 pounds ago, I couldn't see myself where I am now... but boy am I glad I have stuck with it...
By the way, weight loss does not equal happiness....
Laura0 -
I started this journey in October 2010 and lost 64 pounds.. I stopped in April 2011 and didn't get back on the wagon until Dec 2011.. I still struggle on a day to day basis but I look at how far I have come and refuse to give up..0
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Maybe try to get more light? Tis the season. Soup can help, it's warming and filling. And I don't know about you, but if I eat too many carbs, then I turn into the hunger monster.
You've lost a lot of weight, maybe it's time to go with the flow and just maintain for a couple of months, let your body stop going WTF?!?, and crank it up in the spring.0 -
Have you ever fallen off the wagon, what was the motivation to get back on? I've lost 61 lbs, but really have been having a rough time for about a month. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm only up about 3 lbs from my lowest weight....but I feel like I don't have the same motivation I did the first 8 months or so.
I don't want this to snow ball. I look at before and after pics and am so happy with my progress, I love the compliments, I love the way I feel. But for some reason, I'm so hungry all the time an I just can't seem to say no.
Just wondering if anyone has been in my shoes and turned it around to lose more, I just feel doomed, like I'm going to fall into old habits and gain it all back like I have so many times.
You might need to just take a break from the calorie deficit for awhile. That's okay too, it's not going backwards.
Remember you don't have to be perfect. None of us is perfect at this.
There is nothing easy about this journey. Don't give up. Keep your eye on the prize. You do not have to be perfect to do this. You just have to have more good days than not. A bad day is not the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day. Just pick it right up again. Be kind to yourself and don't ever punish or beat yourself up, just keep moving forward, one step in front of the other.
I felt this way many times on this journey. Amazingly I still feel this way at times even in maintenance when everyone tells me I shouldn't. We are all human. We have good days and bad days, all of our lives. The tools you find and use to get out of a funk will serve you the rest of your life, and you will always need them. I call it sharpening your sword for battle and you will always need to keep your blade sharp for the rest of your life. We may get to relax at times for a few moments, but life is a bit of work until the end.
There is nothing easy about this journey. Don't give up. Keep your eye on the prize. You do not have to be perfect to do this. You just have to have more good days than not. A bad day is not the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day. Just pick it right up again. Be kind to yourself at all times and never beat yourself up.
Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.
Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.
For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.
When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.
Wishing you the best! -Bobbie0 -
I've been there for three months now. I gained back about 6 lbs during that time and am in progress of getting back on the wagon -- even though this is a TERRIBLE time of year to try to lose weight. I still logged and tried to be conscious of what I was eating during my break and that kept me from gaining even more than I did. I just needed a break. Maybe you do too. Maybe switching to maintenance calories for a little while is what you need to do til you get your mojo back. Best of luck to you!0
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You just described my last month. I didn't care what I ate and didn't exercise for 2 weeks. This week I decided no matter what I was getting back on the wagon and making it thru the holidays. My major motivation is to stay off my diabetes medication. I don't have to go back to the doctor until February, but I have to have my A1C checked. That is a three month average of my blood sugar. I still have about 25-30lbs left to lose and I don't want to give up now. Somedays I think that I am happy with what I have lost and would be ok if I don't lose any more. But I am not giving up. Stay strong and committed. Remember how much better you feel now than you did before. You can do this.0
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There was a point when I was about 4 or 6 months into my process that I just wanted to say "Forget it". And it wasn't because it was too hard or because I was always starving or because I was sad...I think I was just tired. Tired of watching and thinking and obsessing over every morsel I put into my mouth. And I kind of missed sitting down to a meal with no thought of nutrition. Just eating something because it tasted good. Having a visceral experience eating.
So. I was walking home and thought "Fudge This!"*. I walked into a pizza place and ordered a pizza with cheese and pepperoni and thin crust (yes...i see the irony here). I took it home and I ate the whole thing. And I didn't feel bad after. I actually felt pretty good. But what felt even better is that I woke up the next day with a renewed energy for eating well. I told myself that if I wanted to have a night where I ate some crap food just because I wanted to, I could...once a month. And you know what...I haven't done it since.
I'm not saying "eat a whole pizza". But maybe you need to find your own "reset" button.
*I used a more grown-up term. Although saying "fudge this" to eating well would have been more clever0 -
I quit worrying about it. Look, you have lost a lot of weight. If the number is important then fine, there will be disappointment. But the key is how do you feel. For me, I realized that if I don't lose 90 pounds because I feel better at 85, then I should probably stick to 85. Keep eating healthy, keep eating period, keep working out. Your motivation should be a better you, not some random number. I don't know about you, but I would be pissed if I screwed up all my hard work getting healthy and skinny.
Side note: even though my ticker doesn't say it, I started at 250 in April 2011 and am currently comfortably residing at 165. I really do feel better at 85 pounds lost.0 -
I can feel when I am slipping ..err..falling off the wagon. I reach out to my friend who is also on this same journey. But.. it's hard when we both just want to EAT EAT EAT!! Hang in there ... reach out for a work out buddy!0
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My goal has never been weight loss. It all started for me because of type II diabetes. Getting off all the various meds and getting healthy has been my focus since day 1. The # on the scale is irrelevant to me. I focus on inches lost, body fat % dropping, getting stronger and improving my overall physique. The weight loss is just a nice side effect. I consider myself falling off the wagon if I started slacking off. If I started to need to take medications again because the diabetes, high blood pressure, etc etc return.0
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Thanks so much for all the kind words and support. As someone said above, I'm just burned out....weighing everything, calorie counting, making sure I plan everything out in the morning and logging it all to make sure it's around 1250 calories.
I'm not a big exerciser, with twin 3 year olds and a full time job (at least 10 hours a day).....and planning meals for the family....I really don't have time for much more than a few walks a day.
I really need to snap out of this. I have come so far, when I started my goal was 82 lbs.....I only have 21 more lbs to hit my first goal.....then ultimately I would like to lose an additional 20 lbs.
Thanks for the advice....I'm hoping I snap out of this soon.0 -
Just take it day by day.
Lost over 100lbs and kept it off.0 -
You are on a slippery slope. Many of us have been there and afterwards we wish we could go back to where you are right now! let me say to you what I wish someone had said to me in 2007 when I lost 68 lbs. (I went off the diet the week of Thanksgiving. Ironic, right, since that just happens to be this week. My mom and I decided to enjoy the holidays and restart the diet in Jan '08. We never did.) Mom gained 75% of her weight back. I gained ALL of my weightloss back over the next few years plus about 20 lbs worth of bonus blubber. Many times I have wished I had taken only one free day for the holiday and resumed the diet the day after.
Like a game of Chutes and Laddders I climbed so hard toward success only to backslide all the way back to the starting point. Don't let that happen to you.
I suspect the awesome results you have had is contributing to your feeling of complacency toward dieting. You gained confidence as you lost weight. You love looking at progress pics. And with good reason, you've done a great job! When you were at your highest weight you could look in the mirror and see the changes you wanted to make, it served as motivation. But now you look in the mirror and see RESULTS and you feel proud and happy and you are loving yourself more than you have in a long time. It's hard to look at your current self and see room for more change. I'm glad you aren't picking yourself apart. I'm glad you are happy. But if you want to reach your goal weight you need to remind yourself why you picked that goal. Maybe its a healthy weight according to BMI charts. Maybe it's a certain size you wanna fit into. Whatever the GOAL is, focus on that. And scrape up whatever motivation you can muster and recommit to this process. Set some specific goals for the rest of 2012. Don't wait till New Years to set some resolutions.
Or you can re-evaluate your original goal. Even though you haven't reached it yet, do you still want to? Or are you happy in your skin now? Is your health good? If so, go to maintenance now.0 -
I have had moments when I would slip up but fall of the wagon and gained a lot back? No, the most I've gained back is like 5 lbs that wasn't water weight. For the most part I'm still losing. I just need to remember what is important to me. I have a sign I made on my fridge that says "Are you bored or hungry?" It usually makes me think.0
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You are on a slippery slope. Many of us have been there and afterwards we wish we could go back to where you are right now! let me say to you what I wish someone had said to me in 2007 when I lost 68 lbs. (I went off the diet the week of Thanksgiving. Ironic, right, since that just happens to be this week. My mom and I decided to enjoy the holidays and restart the diet in Jan '08. We never did.) Mom gained 75% of her weight back. I gained ALL of my weightloss back over the next few years plus about 20 lbs worth of bonus blubber. Many times I have wished I had taken only one free day for the holiday and resumed the diet the day after.
Like a game of Chutes and Laddders I climbed so hard toward success only to backslide all the way back to the starting point. Don't let that happen to you.
I suspect the awesome results you have had is contributing to your feeling of complacency toward dieting. You gained confidence as you lost weight. You love looking at progress pics. And with good reason, you've done a great job! When you were at your highest weight you could look in the mirror and see the changes you wanted to make, it served as motivation. But now you look in the mirror and see RESULTS and you feel proud and happy and you are loving yourself more than you have in a long time. It's hard to look at your current self and see room for more change. I'm glad you aren't picking yourself apart. I'm glad you are happy. But if you want to reach your goal weight you need to remind yourself why you picked that goal. Maybe its a healthy weight according to BMI charts. Maybe it's a certain size you wanna fit into. Whatever the GOAL is, focus on that. And scrape up whatever motivation you can muster and recommit to this process. Set some specific goals for the rest of 2012. Don't wait till New Years to set some resolutions.
Or you can re-evaluate your original goal. Even though you haven't reached it yet, do you still want to? Or are you happy in your skin now? Is your health good? If so, go to maintenance now.
Wow, you hit the nail on the head, and I didn't even realize until I just read this. But you are sooo right!! Thanks for the brutal honesty.0 -
I could have written this post myself! I had a goal to loose weight before a trip at the start of November and when it was done I got busy and lost my motivation. I am trying to get back on board right now and so I set myself another couple of goals (a race in a couple of weeks and now a trip in about 3 months...swimsuit...eek!!).
My MFP friends (lots of whom are struggling right now) and a running group that I joined on here are helping me!! At least we are all in this together!! you can do it!!0 -
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You're probably hungry because you need more energy. 61 lbs is about 177 days worth of calories, give or take. That's kind of a lot. While you've got that much stored, it's not too hard for your body to decide to go ahead and use up some of those stores. When you don't have them, it would rather you give it some fresh energy and not ask it to give up its little bit of remaining reserves.
Which is all the long way of saying: eat more food. Figure out your maintenance calories and ramp up to them. You and your body can stop fighting each other and be friends again; if you haven't hit your goal after, say, 6-8 weeks of that, then you can lower a little bit (like a 250 daily deficit, not a 1000 one) until you get where you want to be.
The options aren't just "diet" and "eat all the food" - you know this, but right now your body is getting nervous and yelling louder than your brain can. Be kind to yourself and trust that you can do this the right way.
Thanks for this! I'm no where near my goal but this makes sense for me. 0 -
I am literally right there with you. Sometime in October my willpower and can-do attitude went right out the window. I'm in the Midwest- don't know if it changing seasons, impending holidays, work travel, burnout or a bit of it all. It has been a fight to exercise and maintain calories pretty much every day. We can do this. Maybe just need a little extra encouragement and a listening ear?
Same here! Good, I'm not the only one feeling this way for the last several months. I keep thinking, MAN, I was SO motivated before and had willpower to either A. avoid the bad or B. portion control and not want to go back for a little "bite".
Still working hard and trying to keep myself accountable like everyone else here. We can do this!0 -
I think pretty much everyone who started out wanting to lose a lot of weight & had some success has been here before. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from weight loss, as some of the others said your body is probably tired of being in a deficit. (Congrats on your progress to date, by the way!) There's nothing wrong with maintenance for a while until you're ready to lose again.
What does concern me a bit is the "I hope it changes soon" attitude I'm sensing. Hope this doesn't sound harsh but it won't change on its own. If you wait around for motivation to come back, you may find yourself undoing much of the progress you've worked so hard to achieve up to this point.
I am not currently trying to lose weight even though I do have more to lose. I am by no means "done," but I took an honest look at myself & my circumstances & decided I do need a break from it. However, since I don't want to do too much damage, I am placing limits around it by setting rules for myself that I can realistically stick to:
- Even though I'm not logging food, try to keep water intake in the 1/2-1 gallon range to help control appetite & moderate effects of high sodium days
- Continue to follow workout program - this is not optional. I may be eating whatever I want, but if I wasn't exercising I would be guilt-ridden & that would make it not worth it
- End the year at a lower weight than I started - ideally there's a range I'd like to land in, but I plan to enjoy food this holiday season & have registered for several races to keep me accountable for the exercise piece
Only you can determine what will work for you. But I guarantee you if you have no plan, your results won't be what you want. Keep in mind that you don't NEED motivation to lose weight. Sure, it makes it easier, but you can get yourself to work or school even if you don't want to go on a given day, right? Don't accept excuses from yourself. You might fake it till you make it for a while, but the motivation will return. Hang in there girl, you can do it!0 -
You are on a slippery slope. Many of us have been there and afterwards we wish we could go back to where you are right now! let me say to you what I wish someone had said to me in 2007 when I lost 68 lbs. (I went off the diet the week of Thanksgiving. Ironic, right, since that just happens to be this week. My mom and I decided to enjoy the holidays and restart the diet in Jan '08. We never did.) Mom gained 75% of her weight back. I gained ALL of my weightloss back over the next few years plus about 20 lbs worth of bonus blubber. Many times I have wished I had taken only one free day for the holiday and resumed the diet the day after.
Like a game of Chutes and Laddders I climbed so hard toward success only to backslide all the way back to the starting point. Don't let that happen to you.
I suspect the awesome results you have had is contributing to your feeling of complacency toward dieting. You gained confidence as you lost weight. You love looking at progress pics. And with good reason, you've done a great job! When you were at your highest weight you could look in the mirror and see the changes you wanted to make, it served as motivation. But now you look in the mirror and see RESULTS and you feel proud and happy and you are loving yourself more than you have in a long time. It's hard to look at your current self and see room for more change. I'm glad you aren't picking yourself apart. I'm glad you are happy. But if you want to reach your goal weight you need to remind yourself why you picked that goal. Maybe its a healthy weight according to BMI charts. Maybe it's a certain size you wanna fit into. Whatever the GOAL is, focus on that. And scrape up whatever motivation you can muster and recommit to this process. Set some specific goals for the rest of 2012. Don't wait till New Years to set some resolutions.
Or you can re-evaluate your original goal. Even though you haven't reached it yet, do you still want to? Or are you happy in your skin now? Is your health good? If so, go to maintenance now.
ThIs
Wow, you are so insightful.
Years ago, I lost 100 lbs. Due to an injury I had to stop running and the weight came piling back on. I vividly remember telling myself Id start watching my weight and figuring out a new way of working out "tomorrow".... but then Id look in the mirror and still be pleased with myself for what I had accomplished, even as I got fatter and fatter. God I even remember saying that to myself after I had gained back HALF of what I lost.
Now here I sit with almost 100 lbs to lose again.
Dont fall into this trap...just dont!0 -
This happens to me on occasion until I learned some motivational secrets from different sources of fitness and success. My favorite one was the diet solution program. Heck I still go back to it when I'm feeling stuck in a rut! Seriously, read about it here: http://fantasticfitnessreviews.com/the-diet-solution-program-review/0
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