Are you an "all or nothing" person?

The "al or nothing: syndrome is one of the traps we have to stay out of in order to be successful at long term healthy changes. Congratulations on succeeding in this endeavor for YOU. Since I adopted a one day and a time attitude, my self sabotage has decreased. Even though I haven't lost much since January due to personal issues that keep me from doing as much exercise as I was doing, I still feel successful because I am NOT gaining, and I am still keeping track of the food choices I make. When a consistent schedule of exercise can be re-introduced into my schedule, I know I will continue to lose.

I am the exact same way and was just thinking about it yesterday. Having the "all or nothing" perspective is very self defeating. I've looked back at weight loss successes and thought, "why did I let myself gain it all back (and then some)?" I realized it was because once I slipped up, I would revert completely to the do-nothing MO, because of disappointment in myself or loss of motivation. I would be so hard on myself about a slip that I'd lose confidence that I could do it. I'm learning that it's better to forgive yourself for slip ups and also to understand that the big picture is much more important. Realistically, if you slip up a bit, it is not going to make a huge impact if the majority of your habits are on track. Balance and moderation are words I'm trying to become more comfortable with. And this site is helping me tremendously. I had taken a several month hiatus and I logged in and found that the site was giving me encouragement even when I wasn't there. Their words were kind and motivating, and I thought I should take a cue from them to learn how to encourage myself too when I'm not following my diet/exercise regime perfectly.

I definitely use to be before MFP. But then I realized that I could have a "bad lunch" but make up for it with some extra excersize or better dinner choices. I no longer try to hold myself up to impossible standards but at the same time I keep my eye on the prize! I love how each day starts with a clean diary page

I am a naturally compulsive person....when I set my mind to something I will usually do it.....past diets have often resulted in large weightloss due to my ability in saying I cannot eat anything....once I went without food for 2 weeks but obviously once I ate again I gained it back in a matter of weeks.....So far, I continue to restrict myself and stay to my 1200 cal diet and exercise depending on how much i want to eat and I haven't had a single slip up day in nearly 4 months.....due to my nature I know that if I have a day I go "I'm just gonna eat what I want" I will slip rapidly into old habits....or at least thats what I thought.....for the first time since doing any diet I am doing it sensibly....eating healthy and just enough and I am fianlly happy to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week as I've seen the personal benefits of regaining my confidence as slowly seeing ym body change....its better than any chocolate could possibly taste....I am very curious to see what happens when I want to maintain as at the moment I never order takeaways, I haven't drunk any alcohol since NYE and I am slowly beginning to not even miss it.....the difference with this compulsive behavior is that there is nothing detrimental to my health plus to have a bad day would literally make me feel horrible.....its nowhere near worth it.

I'm proud on myself and my biggest goal of being "overweight is literally like 10 lbs away and the last time I remember being that weight was when I was perhaps 16.....this website is so helpful too....i can mention anything I like that I wouldn't say to friends and relatives. This is the last time I ever want to be on a diet to lose weight.....maintenance is the way forward

x

This is definitely something that I struggle with. I throw myself fully into something, but when the initial excitement dies down, I find myself bailing out entirely. That just doesn't cut it with long-term health. I need to realize that I need to make good choices the majority of the time and exercise more days than not, but I don't have to eat perfectly or spend hours a day working out to see long-term success.

I am a recovering 'all or nothing person' :happy: I would get excited when I started a weight loss plan and then when the weight loss would slow down I would get mad and give up :grumble: . This is the longest I have stuck with a plan (3 months now) I take it a day at a time and if I have a moment (like eating a cookie or a few french frys) I recognize that is all it is, just one moment. The way I am eating now is my plan for a lifetime and I don't even consider it a diet. :flowerforyou:

I was (or maybe still am!) an all or nothing person too. In the past I would do a few weeks of extreme diet and exercise and get good results but then once I was off the wagon - I was OFF. zero exercise, zero concern for what I ate.
Using MFP this time round has really helped with that, I've been going 6 weeks and sure, i've had some 'bad' days but continuing to log them inspires me to get right back to being good the very next day rather than start on that slippery slope.
This is the longest I've stuck too a diet and exercise plan, and the first time I truely feel that I can and will make it to the end!