Falling of the Wagon - DAILY

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milliemu
milliemu Posts: 6 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi, I am new to the site and I just wondered if any of you have some advice for me regarding keeping my motivation going. I am one of those people that get up in the morning with all the willpower in the world and by lunchtime I am convincing myself that I can be happy with my figure, that it does not matter what my scales say and that I deserve to eat anything I want and as much of it as I want. I know I am only fooling myself but I find it incredibly hard in the moment to stay on a healthier eating path. I have a stone to loose and I do feel really uncomfortable like this.
Does anybody have any psychological tricks on hand? Or tips? Anything?

Thank you


Tami xxx

Replies

  • ThriftyChica12
    ThriftyChica12 Posts: 373 Member
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    my experience: it takes a couple days of healthy eating for the "Junk" to come out of my system, and to feel like i am on a roll and willing. so, at first, maybe you can leave positive affirmation post its around to remind you, make all your meals at home (restaurants and stores can throw me off sometimes), give your body really healthy treats (fresh fruits you love, hearty soups and rice, etc) to keep you full and enthusiastic. sometimes, getting a couple days of clean eating under your belt increases confidence and begins building new and better habits ;)
  • krrs1980
    krrs1980 Posts: 90 Member
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    No real tricks, but I literally go on this site 5-10 times a day just to see the Success Stories. That keeps me on track. I'd like to post my own soon, so that keeps my motivation going. I'm doing much better now, but I did that for the first 3 weeks.
  • kristina1709
    kristina1709 Posts: 119 Member
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    You really have to want it for yourself. This is the time to think about YOU! A time for you to get healthy. Think of the rewards that this will bring, you will feel better about your self and you will have more energy to do things you really wanna do.

    I have a TON of bad days. We have to learn to take one day at a time. One step at a time. Change wont happen over night. It takes time and patience. I have been on the WL wagon for a lot of years and Im still learning.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!!

    I don't know if you've ever heard the story of a hound dog lying on a rusty nail? Old farmer has a hound dog laying on the porch bellowing. His neighbor comes along and asks what's wrong with the dog. Farmer says he's laying on a rusty nail. Neighbor asks why the dog doesn't just move. Farmer says, "It doesn't hurt him enough yet."

    When where you're at bothers you enough, you'll take steps to change it. I was gaining weight until I got up to 376 pounds. I went to an event at my daughters school in April 2011. I could hardly walk to the door, and once I got in, I had to sit down and catch my breath. THere was noplace for me to sit, so I had to sit on the floor amidst all the people coming in and having to walk over me or around me. I was mortified, humiliated, embarrassed, you name it - I felt it. That was my, "Something HAS to change" moment.

    Just be sure you take it one step at a time. Don't try to change everything at once. Start with drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Once that's done and you're comfortable with getting that in, increase the healthy-lean proteins or start having salad's with lunch or add a fruit to a meal. Once a week or so, add something else that's healthy. Trick is not to deprive yourself. If you totally cut out chocolate, that's all you're going to crave. So get some Dove promises and have 2 of them a day. Or get a few "fun size bars" of your favorite candy, and have one a day - or one every other day.

    For what it's worth - and good luck!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Plan your meals for the week and pack everything. I found, especially early on, that it was really easy to fall of the wagon when faced with temptations but if I took the time to plan my meals and snacks and bring all that with me, I wasn't going to waste it and go with the other choice. I still plan at least 5 dinners for the week and mostly my breakfast, lunch and snacks are the same every week so it's really easy once you get into the swing of it.

    As far as psychologically, you really need to sit and think about why you want to lose the weight and get fit. Go to your profile page here on MFP and fill out those sections on the left... Really think about what you want to get out of this. I think once you come to terms with that it's much easier to stick with it and you also have a place to go to remind yourself when you get that idea that you're ok with how you look now.

    Also, with less to lose, you may want to consider two things. 1) Your weekly weight loss goal should be 1/2 to 1 pound (or 1/4 to 1/2 kg) per week. Any more than that is just not realistic. Also setting your profile up with this healthier goal will give you more calories so you won't have a huge deficit and be tempted because you're hungry. 2) Your dissatisfaction with how you look may have more to do with your body composition than the number on the scale. I'm not sure what you're doing for exercse, if any, but consider adding strength training. And don't worry about bulking up - it's really not possible for women to do that without specific regimented training and diet.

    Good luck!
  • bethFromDayton
    bethFromDayton Posts: 112 Member
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    Does anybody have any psychological tricks on hand? Or tips? Anything?

    I've been reading the "Beck Diet Solution, how to train your brain to think like a thin person" and it has really helped me adjust my thinking--in just a few weeks.

    When I think "I deserve to eat that" or "I don't care" that I can't eat something, I'm learning to respond to myself "I deserve to be thinner and healthier" or "Yes, I do care--I will care if I eat that donut and I will be happy I didn't eat it"

    Both this morning and this afternoon, I wanted to eat. It was the time when I'd wander to the snack bar and get a candy bar. I told myself "You aren't hungry. You just want to eat. You had breakfast this morning and it's only an hour until lunch. You don't have to eat now--you don't need to eat now. You'll be glad if you wait until lunch to eat." and "You've gone 3 weeks without a candy bar at work. You can get through today, too." And I did wait for lunch. And I was glad. And I give myself credit for recognizing that it was a desire to eat rather than hunger and I give myself credit for talking myself through it and not snacking.

    (Yeah, I really do talk to myself like that.) (And it worked)

    Dr Beck's approach has really helped me. It is not a diet plan (no recipes, no plan)--it is a a cognitive and behavioral approach to weight loss.
  • milliemu
    milliemu Posts: 6 Member
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    Wow, thank you so much for all your replies. Feeling rather overwhelmed right now, there is some fantastic suggestions from you all and I love the hound story. So true ;-)

    Yes, I will fill more of the profile in and make small changes instead of doing everything at once.

    Again, Thank you so much

    Tami XXX
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    Make sure you are eating enough - set MFP to a modest goal and eat back your exercise calories.

    Unless you have the willpower of God himself, it tends to help to focus on eating clean, with lots of fresh veggies, nuts and lean proteins as the foundation of your diet, with room for everything else in moderation.
  • ultim8fury
    ultim8fury Posts: 42
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    I struggle more at weekends when I have to really think about what I'm going to eat and evenings when I know I have to stop at the supermarket. There is no quick fix easy answer other than:

    planning in advance what you're going to eat that day.

    Never ever going to the supermarket without having eaten first. ( this is my golden rule)

    and Maybe start by treating yourself every other day then every third day and so on, until it's been a week or two of no guilty pleasures.

    All that said, I've been really slacking off recently and my weight has been bouncing up on the weekends and it's taking all week to get it back down. Net result is I'm losing only time. Every day is a fresh start so don't beat yourself up if you slip since thats a rapid path to eating more to feel better.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I love that you have these internal conversations with yourself!! I do the same thing and think way more people should do it because it can really help.
  • sannsk
    sannsk Posts: 203 Member
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    I read the success stories on this site on a daily basis :) Try adding some of the successful MFP-members to your friend list and ask them to encourage you.

    Or find a picture of a person with similar height who is at your goal weight, and stick it to the fridge (or the candy bar cabinet, or the snack cupboard... You get me :-) )

    Food is not a reward. If you feel like you need some comforting, some feel-good, treat yourself with a long nice warm bath, some pampering, buy new shoes, ...

    If you do fall, no worries... Just get back up again. As my profile page says: "He who gets up one more time than he falls, makes it through... "

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