All or nothing mentality?

Sofitin2013 · March 2013

Is anyone else this way?

Either I am 110% on track - eating healthy foods, working out and doing super well - losing weight with a great attitude ....

Or I seem to have zero will power, skip the gym/have super lame work outs and am a miserable grump.

If you are the same way, how do you get out of the funk?

I could be doing so much better than I am now - I feel almost trapped in the second state and it sucks!!!

Thanks!!!

zillah73 · March 2013

I tend to be this way, too. I think the best way i have gotten out of funks in the past is to set a short term goal that will be challenging but achievable. It's rarely a weight-specific goal for me but more a fitness goal. It gives me a very specific focus and a very specific timeline. By the time I meet that goal, the dedication it took to get there is second nature again and I will be great until/unless something happens to derail me.

mikegl1 · March 2013

I am exactly the same way. I am also hurt currently so my workouts are also suffering.

How do I get out of it?? ..... just keep going to the gym, when I can, and not keep junk food in the house.
Also when I do go to the gym I use a nitric oxide supplement since for me it makes me be able to feel the muscles that I am working. (this is just what I do I am not advocating that for you since some of the early NO supplements have been linked to possible health issues )

Also I make sure if I am working more then one muscle group that day I choose one to concentrate on. For example today was Traps and shoulders. I really concentrated on the traps - just got home about 30 minutes ago and I feel fantastic. (makes me want to go back again).

98777 · March 2013

I experience the same thing. It might be that you are working yourself too hard. For example, I used to eat a 1200 calorie diet, only eat very healthy foods (restricted diet), and work out for 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week. Although i did lose some weight, I eventually fell off track because it was not a sustainable way to live. It was not really a lifestyle change, so I truly couldn't keep it up.
If this sounds familiar, maybe you should consider slowing down or trying to be more moderate in your approach....allow yourself more daily calories, more rest days, expand the things you allow yourself to have while using portion control, etc...That is what I am trying to do.

Also, there are some days when you are just not that motivated. Then you just have to do it without thinking too much and wait for the ambition to come back. When the weight comes off the next week it might replenish your drive. Best of luck to you!

AhlaWahda · March 2013

Is anyone else this way?

Either I am 110% on track - eating healthy foods, working out and doing super well - losing weight with a great attitude ....

Or I seem to have zero will power, skip the gym/have super lame work outs and am a miserable grump.

If you are the same way, how do you get out of the funk?

I could be doing so much better than I am now - I feel almost trapped in the second state and it sucks!!!

Thanks!!!

I'm exactly like that! Good to know there's more of us out there! My family points this out all the time. When I have an idea, I give everything to do it, like now with my weight loss. You could call me obsessed. It's all I think and talk about lol. I'm often this obsessed, super focused and motivated for many months and then I lose inspiration and motivation like you said and don't give a crap about anything. I think it's been kinda good though for my weight loss because you can have a break, eat at maintenance and adjust your body to your new weight before you start losing again. Don't beat yourself up for these hills and valleys. The important thing is that you start it up again. Look at pictures of yourself and your body idol, remember why you wanted this and take one day at a time. :-)

thefitfriend · March 2013

i am the EXACT same, ive been in an exercise slump for quite a while, still doing it but completely minimal, my eatings fine but i just have no motivation! im so glad im not the only one!

vkw1 · March 2013

I am like that but in the good zone currently.I am like that in all aspects of my life .eg I was not going to have kids but when I decided the time was right had 3 in very quick succession.I recently bought an exercise dvd with hand weights and have been doing it every day sometimes twice a day but realistically I know it will change.No advice but I know how you feel

disawell · March 2013

me too. it becomes "oh i'm going out for dinner on saturday night and won't be able to track -so why bother tracking the rest of Saturday' etc etc etc - forgetting of course that even if I don't track dinner, just the very act of tracking the rest of my day will probably mean I consume less throughout the day. overall it makes a difference because then I'm not eating crap all day - just one meal, and i physically cannot eat enough to ruin a week's worth of work in one sitting

Also when I can't track, I try to just eat till I'm about 80% full rather than stuffed. I feel better and save a bit of calories, even if I'm not sure how many I'm having (I'm a sucker for carbs).

I find the other thing that helps me is if i know I am going to have a few days "off" to have a very specific day to get back on plan, and write it on my calendar, and stick to it. I find that making it a weekday helps a lot. also I don't think of "cheat" days, occasionally I will just have a "day off" and view it the same way I might view an annual leave day from work - special occasion or holiday

Last Saturday I had an engagement party to go to - but i don't intend to have any days off till easter, and i will take all 4 days off as will be on holidays - camping. Also I love hot cross buns and chocolate and it's taken a lot of willpower not to just nom on them all the way from boxing day to easter, since they are in shops before New Year...

Friend me if you want to

missslinkypants · March 2013

I think that is basic human nature, I am also either doing really well or really rubbish

If I have one thing off track I tend to think " on well I have stuffed it anyway might as well eat what I want and start again on Monday " but f course Monday hardly ever comes

CaffeinatedConfectionist · March 2013

Hah, I am like this, too. Usually the only thing that gets me out of a slump (and I'm just getting out of a week-long, birthday-treat-induced slump now) is time and the feeling of self-loathing and disgust that comes with not exercising. I've found that as long as I keep my workouts on track, my eating will more-or-less follow, but if I stop exercising even for a few days, my eating will derail and I'll turn into a giant, lazy, face-stuffing schmuck. My most recent "nothing" phase was only a week, as I say, but in that week I managed to ingest so much sodium that my legs swelled up and I was retaining water in my midsection like crazy. I felt disgusted and disgusting, kind of like the blob, and that was the kick in the pants I needed to get my *kitten* in gear.

daphne_m · March 2013

I'm really black and white in most of my life. Which is why I frequently come across as an insensitive jerk. For me if I'm not "on" then I've failed completely and may as well take a bath in bacon grease before hooking myself up to a lemonade IV. I wish I had a solution.

jrhartley · March 2013

I am exactly like this and i agree with you guys when you say it's because i try SO hard and cut out or down on SO many things that it isn't easy to keep it up. I think I need to be in less of a rush and make changes I can keep up in the long run!

I'm back now from a few months of making excuses and I am desperate to make it work this time!

Good luck to us all! xx

All or nothing mentality?

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