my attitude about weight loss is changing for the worse

fun_b
fun_b Posts: 199 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The last few months I have felt so positive about my weight loss and kept thinking about my goal. I have lost weight and got to my first goal but since christmas I have been two pounds over. It was more but after yoyoing for a week or so I am now two pounds over.

But my whole attitude is starting to change. I no longer think 'Oh I've eaten 100 extra calories' and instead thinking 'Who cares'. I am lucky because my weight seems to be steady at the moment but I know this sort of attitude has caused me to slip in the past and not bother to log.

I just want to be excited about my weight loss again.

Any advice?

Replies

  • minsch
    minsch Posts: 144 Member
    I am right there with you.....I am trying to wrap my mind around it and change. I have been reading the success stories and motivational quotes and stuff.....still stuck.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    It depends how much you want to change. Only you can do this for you, it just depends how much you want it. Or perhaps if you've been losing for a long time and maybe it's time to have a diet break - take a week or two eating at maintenance, then after the break you my be ready to get back into your cut again.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    When you ask yourself "Who Cares?" the answer to yourself is probably "Only me". You weight loss is your deal. If you have lost motivation, you have to fix that. If your whole attitude is starting to change - only you can change that. If you don't log - only you can do it.

    It's hard to maintain an "excitement" about weight loss if the scale is your only measure. This can't be about reaching a certain weight and then going back to your normal ways. What it is, is for the rest of your life. Forever. Eat so that you can do this forever. Eat what you like, but in moderation. Exercise to be healthy - not to lose weight. Do it because it adds to your life.

    When your mindset becomes about getting your body and mind in a healthy place - you will never have to seek motivation from outside. It must come from inside or you are destined to fail every time.

    Good luck!!
  • Jo2926
    Jo2926 Posts: 489 Member
    This is exactly what happened to me - so I sympathise hugely.

    I didn't regain my excitement for far too long. I put back on ALL of my weight. Which has left my self esteem in tatters.

    I'm back on the wagon now. I got my grove back by focusing on why I was doing this in the first place - my major goal is not my wedding dress or my holiday, or to look good, but to be healthy and start a family and be healthy for them.

    BUT by setting intermediate goals I can focus more easily on a day to day goal. Right now I'm taking part in a Nerd Fitness 6 week challenge and its giving me the boost I need to keep going.

    Why are YOU trying to lose weight? Why were you excited in the beginning? What is your ultimate goal?

    Good luck! And I hope you get your exercise grove back.
  • Danni1585
    Danni1585 Posts: 250 Member
    you care very much because you have taken the time to write this thread, so who cares?? the answer is you.
    Stick with us here, I agree keep going to the motivational success stories. The calories count, and so does the exercise.
    Its hard for everyone of us, so stock up on friends, and stick with it. The answer isnt to give up, you need to dig deep and think about the summer. good luck
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    For me personally, my weight is what is holding me back from my 5k and 10k times. I fixed it to a real world goal and something with a deadline and very publicly known.
    I don't really give a flying donkey about what the number on the scale says, even though I check it every day.

    100 calories is nothing in the grand scheme of things.
  • JaninaRello
    JaninaRello Posts: 11 Member
    You'll get back in the groove. You just need a "break". Don't force it. You'll be fine.
  • blackcloud13
    blackcloud13 Posts: 654 Member
    I notice to got to your first goal. Was that your real goal? Maybe you are happy with that, and you never really needed to set the 2nd? Maybe have a think about what your actual goals are - losing weight for the sake of it does eventually get boring!

    I would say that logging is not just for losing weight - even if you're staying steady, its good to keep track of what you're doing, just to keep yourself healthy.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    You'll get back in the groove. You just need a "break". Don't force it. You'll be fine.

    She speaks the truth. No need to force it. Just make the smaller changes from here on out until you are ready to make the bigger ones. Results will follow.
  • Ewa101975
    Ewa101975 Posts: 39 Member
    I know how you feel, I was doing pretty good before Christmas..but not so great since. I log my food but not as diligently as I used to and I just feel blah...everyday I tell myself its a new day, but somehow I always go over my calories. I just keep trying and I am here reading etc hoping that this will help me.

    Take care and keep trying!
  • parallax693
    parallax693 Posts: 40
    I agree with everyone posted, but especially with Beachlover...you have to cultivate habits that you are willing to live with for the rest of your life. If you don't, you will slip into old ways and gain weight back. and None of us want that.}. Stop the dieting for a week, but don't go overboard with your food intake.
    When I start to lose interest, I read motivational stories from other people that have lost the weight, and it encourages me that I can do it too. You can find those stories on this website, and also on Huffington Post/healthy living. I'm sure there are other places as well, but that is where I mainly find them.
  • cindyjoesousa
    cindyjoesousa Posts: 87 Member
    Who cares? You care!! We care!!! This has to be a life long change..once we get to our goal, we still have to put ourselves on a maintenance plan..
    Remember the reasons why you started this in the first place..keep your goals in mind..
    We all have good days and bad days..when you have a bad day, just get right back on track..I bet you have more good days than bad..I have to give myself this advice evryday!!
    Good luck to you
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Actually I like the "who cares" attitude to a point. Just don't get carried away with it. I think a lot of people here are eating less than they need to and still freak out when they're 50 calories over. Just keep monitoring all your food intake and exercise and don't let go of control completely.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member

    When your mindset becomes about getting your body and mind in a healthy place - you will never have to seek motivation from outside. It must come from inside or you are destined to fail every time.

    I so wish there was an up-vote or "like" button for responses. Beachlover nailed it on the head. I've done the "change habit for sake of weight loss" thing over and over just to end up back where I started after hitting my weight goal. This time it has changed into doing it for the sake of feeling good, both physically and mentally, and if I hit my weight goal, great. Give yourself a break and decide what you want from this journey. Once that happens, then go for what you want.
  • My0WNinspiration
    My0WNinspiration Posts: 1,146 Member
    When your mindset becomes about getting your body and mind in a healthy place - you will never have to seek motivation from outside. It must come from inside or you are destined to fail every time.

    LOVE THIS
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    The last few months I have felt so positive about my weight loss and kept thinking about my goal. I have lost weight and got to my first goal but since christmas I have been two pounds over. It was more but after yoyoing for a week or so I am now two pounds over.

    But my whole attitude is starting to change. I no longer think 'Oh I've eaten 100 extra calories' and instead thinking 'Who cares'. I am lucky because my weight seems to be steady at the moment but I know this sort of attitude has caused me to slip in the past and not bother to log.

    I just want to be excited about my weight loss again.

    Any advice?

    did you take before pictures? If you did, take some after pictures. Looking at them may give you insight and motivation. I took pictures of my thigh in early December and early January. I was gobsmacked when I saw the difference in tone in just 4 weeks, even though I had only lost about a lb.

    I use pictures a LOT to motivate me when the scale doesn't tell me what I want to hear. How can I stop when the pictures are telling me that there are HUGE changes in the way I look?
  • akern1987
    akern1987 Posts: 288 Member
    I totally understand, and believe me I know that the scale is never anyone's best friend. Don't lose hope. As we all know, it takes time to lose that weight, and different factors effect what the scale says...take a week or two and dont step on the scale, just keep to your calories and log everything. Take some time to read some success stories, or find some new healthy recipes (or maybe invent one yourself) that you love.
    Don't worry about the number, and just worry about sticking to it, then give the scale another try.

    Keep at it!
  • aliciagetshealthy
    aliciagetshealthy Posts: 946 Member
    When you ask yourself "Who Cares?" the answer to yourself is probably "Only me". You weight loss is your deal. If you have lost motivation, you have to fix that. If your whole attitude is starting to change - only you can change that. If you don't log - only you can do it.

    It's hard to maintain an "excitement" about weight loss if the scale is your only measure. This can't be about reaching a certain weight and then going back to your normal ways. What it is, is for the rest of your life. Forever. Eat so that you can do this forever. Eat what you like, but in moderation. Exercise to be healthy - not to lose weight. Do it because it adds to your life.

    When your mindset becomes about getting your body and mind in a healthy place - you will never have to seek motivation from outside. It must come from inside or you are destined to fail every time.

    Good luck!!

    This is very close to what I was going to say. I have found it much easier to adhere to when it became about what I can do forever, and not just right now. You don't have to be perfect every day; just be consistent on a regular basis.
  • jerbear1962
    jerbear1962 Posts: 1,157 Member
    Ask yourself...Why did I start this? You'll have an answer. I have started and stopped my weight loss so many times as a matter of fact so many I wouldn't want to count. I'd do real good lose a little weight then I'd start to add some of those old foods back. It is real hard around the holidays and getting back on the wagon. It can be done...you can do it. This time I've stuck to my program for 10 months. I've had periods of time that I didn't lose anything for 6 or 7 weeks at a time. Feel free to add me as a friend if you want someone in your corner.
  • chooriyah
    chooriyah Posts: 469 Member
    You'll get back in the groove. You just need a "break". Don't force it. You'll be fine.

    She speaks the truth. No need to force it. Just make the smaller changes from here on out until you are ready to make the bigger ones. Results will follow.

    I agree. I think it's normal to go through phases of feeling more excited and more motivated, and others of feeling a bit blah about it all and taking it more easy. I think the challenge is to recognise that you are having a break, perhaps even consider switching your calories to maintenance for a few weeks, and that in a few weeks you will get back on it. Don't let it become a downward cycle by obsessing over it. I definitely had a break for three weeks over the holidays when I didn't worry too much about logging, now I simply have to decide that while the break was lovely, I'm not going to reach my goal this way, and it's time to get back to it.
  • RobinC37
    RobinC37 Posts: 242 Member
    When your mindset becomes about getting your body and mind in a healthy place - you will never have to seek motivation from outside. It must come from inside or you are destined to fail every time.

    I have to disagree, especially the younger you are. It may not be "healthy" per se, and while I recognize that the only person who truly benefits from all this is me and my future family if I get married and have kids, most of my motivation as a young 20-something comes from the outside. It's a motivation to give a big F-YOU to all the people in high school who teased me. It's a chance to prove people wrong about who I am. And yes, it is a desire to walk into a bar and have every eye in the room give me the "DAMN!" look. I want every man to want me and I want every woman to want to be me. I want to get asked on the street if I'm a model. I want everyone who called me fat, ugly, Shrek, worthless, b****, giant, etc to choke on their words. I want to get a high-paying job in a very public industry where appearance determines who gets the job.

    I haven't failed yet using this to drive me. I've lost over 60lbs since 2010, and am getting closer to my goal every single day now that I've started up again, using MFP this time to get me the rest of the way. Just my .02. If it gets you off your bum and moving, who cares where the motivation came from?
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    I think some help from your forum friends will help. Who says you have to lose consistently? There is nothing wrong with taking a break..where you .maintain..and don't lose. Just think it is really like you're on maintenance. Just don't blow it and gain back what will take you a few months to get off again. Just maintain..until you get the eye of the tiger back.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I am right there with you.....I am trying to wrap my mind around it and change. I have been reading the success stories and motivational quotes and stuff.....still stuck.

    Me too. But I am also very happy about my weight loss (I'm less than 5 pounds from a final goal I thought I'd never hit). I still log every bite and do hit my goals. But I feel like my mind is moving towards maintenance, even if my calories have not yet.

    It's January. And hard to stay enthusiastic about anything :)

    I'm going to judge myself by behavior, not attitude. I think I'll have to do this rest of my life. I don't want it to be an enthusiastic obsession.

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