And it was all going so well...

bad_hair_bear
bad_hair_bear Posts: 56
in Motivation and Support
(I apologise for the long post in advance - I'm just frustrated with myself and need a bit of a rant.)

Gah.

I was doing so well too. The past 4-6 weeks I've been eating the right things, mostly staying within my calorie goal, working out first thing in the morning. It was all going great, and the best part? I was enjoying it all to boot. Healthy lunches I looked forward to rather than ending up spending money I don't have in McDs. Doing the next run on my C25K plan or spending half an hour doing the nerdfitness beginners bodyweight routine were the only 2 things that could get me out of bed earlier than I really needed to be. I lost around 8 pounds, and my work trousers were starting to slip off my hips. There were the odd one or two days where I'd gone a hundred or so cals over, but nothing drastic and nothing I was going to beat myself up about.

And then this weekend happened. I knew it was going to be bad - my birthday was on Monday and I'd had weekend celebrations planned before I embarked on the whole weightloss thing. I tried to start well, but it just descended into chaos. A beer festival, much wine being poured, 3 meals out in a row... Over the Sat/sun/mon, I averaged 3000cals per day when my calorie goal is 1600. Yes, it was a celebratory weekend, I need to plan for these if the healthy lifestyle's going to stick. But it still made me feel terrible.

Not so bad, though, right? I can pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on track.

But that's just not working.

I feel pi$$ed off at myself for failing over the weekend, and can't see the point in trying to get back on track when I've likely undone most of the work I'd started in Feb. I've tried to make healthy choices, but I seem to manage to sabotage my own efforts. Tuesday night I ate an entire bar of chocolate (140g, around 700 cals). Wednesday I gobbled a bag of salted popcorn, a muffin and a bag of sweets at the cinema. I figured it can't do me any more harm than I already have done.

It doesn't help that this week I'm off work, so my usual routine is all out of whack. I don't have the ingredients for my usual breakfast, my lunch is no longer the typical salad I have. I'm snacking on the sweets + chocolate we have in the house because they're there and easy access. I have no motivation to get up early, or work out. I make excuses - it's too cold to go out, it'd be rude not to have the muffin if others are etc etc..

I know a lot of people (including me!) believe that it's not right to wallow in self pity, and that when you fail as you will inevitably do at some point, you need to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and carry on with life.

It sounds so easy, but how do you stop beating yourself up about the failures, and move on from them?
How do you get the motivation back?
How can you make sure you won't make the same mistakes again?

Replies

  • peopletalk
    peopletalk Posts: 519 Member
    i know it's discouraging but you already know how to get into the groove, so why not do it again? but you have to do it when you're ready.

    but think about it this way: in a year will you look back and regret not starting back up when you should have? a year makes HUGE difference and it flies by.
  • Mischieviousme777
    Mischieviousme777 Posts: 190 Member
    For starters- remember how pi$$ed you are at yourself in this moment!! Second, don't think for one second that you've undone everything. I promise you, you haven't. One setback, even if it's a week-long setback is not cause enough to throw in the towel on yourself. The weight loss journey is just like any other journey. One step, one meal, one jumping jack, one choice, one squat (and so on and so on) at a time. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities to make choices that will benefit you in the long run, or gratify you in the moment. Ultimately, it's your decision. You have to want it. But remember that it is a process.. Doesn't matter how long it takes to get there, the important thing is that you get there.
  • tlmclennan
    tlmclennan Posts: 26 Member
    You lost 8 lbs in 4-6 weeks! Wow that's just under 2 lbs a week. I'm happy if I lose 1/2-1 lb/week. Is there a chance that maybe you were depriving yourself a little too much before? You fall off the wagon for a weekend (we've all been there) and now you don't want to get back on. To me this says that you don't want to and maybe it's because you weren't that happy with the diet part of it? I could be wrong. You need to make sure, since this is a lifestyle thing, that you are not depriving yourself of anything or all you are going to do is binge when you get a chance. You should get back at it, but tell yourself that you can have one day to enjoy some "unhealthy" food and a day off from excercise. That way it's easier to stick to it the other days. Don't get discouraged, even now after maybe 5 or 7 days of not doing something, you can still get back into it. I wouldn't weigh myself for a couple weeks though, you don't need that discouragement.
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    This is why it's helpful to know what your TDEE is. Eating 3000 calories for three days won't undo the 8 lbs that you lost. You can still be successful having weekends like that occasionally. The key is to put it behind you and move on. I had a bad day today. Over my calorie goal and over my TDEE. But today has nothing to do with tomorrow. Just let it go and jump back onto your program and continue making progress. Sometimes it's two steps forward and 1 step back. Sometimes it's 1 step forward and 2 steps back. We can learn from both.
  • pattypureheart
    pattypureheart Posts: 44 Member
    You say you've done well for 4-6 weeks? 3 days of of binge is not going to totally destroy or undo 4-6 weeks of healthy living. Get it out of your system, forgive yourself and get right back into the game... sure you'll probably do it again but I'll bet not as severe or as long. Stay in the race and don't give up that 4-6 good weeks!

Categories