Why is it so friggin difficult..

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  • baileybiddles
    baileybiddles Posts: 457 Member
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    I noticed by your ticker you want to lose 17 pounds.

    Then I looked through your diary and wow, it is all over the place. Lots of days you're only eating 500 or 1000 calories. When you do eat more, you're not eating your exercise calories.

    You need to figure out your TDEE - 15% and eat the same amount of calories every day. Being all over the place with your eating habits will make the number on the scale all over the place. Eat consistently, you'll get consistent results.

    Start a lifting program.

    Give yourself at least 4 weeks of consistency before re-assesing.

    Thank you for the advice! The only thing I will say is that I do actually eat dinner each night - I often forget to log in and track after I get home. I track throughout the day at my desk at work and once I get home, I get so caught up in making dinner, doing laundry, homework, etc that I forget to log back in. This is my own fault and not an excuse.

    I actually don't even know what TDEE is. I suppose I'm sort of a newbie to all of this stuff. I started out doing this on weight watchers and lost 11 pounds. Now I'm to 13 pounds and I'm having a hard time. I actually want to lose much more than 17 pounds, I'm not sure why my ticker says that. It might be reflecting my goal weight by June, which is 175.
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I noticed by your ticker you want to lose 17 pounds.

    Then I looked through your diary and wow, it is all over the place. Lots of days you're only eating 500 or 1000 calories. When you do eat more, you're not eating your exercise calories.

    You need to figure out your TDEE - 15% and eat the same amount of calories every day. Being all over the place with your eating habits will make the number on the scale all over the place. Eat consistently, you'll get consistent results.

    Start a lifting program.

    Give yourself at least 4 weeks of consistency before re-assesing.

    Thank you for the advice! The only thing I will say is that I do actually eat dinner each night - I often forget to log in and track after I get home. I track throughout the day at my desk at work and once I get home, I get so caught up in making dinner, doing laundry, homework, etc that I forget to log back in. This is my own fault and not an excuse.

    I actually don't even know what TDEE is. I suppose I'm sort of a newbie to all of this stuff. I started out doing this on weight watchers and lost 11 pounds. Now I'm to 13 pounds and I'm having a hard time. I actually want to lose much more than 17 pounds, I'm not sure why my ticker says that. It might be reflecting my goal weight by June, which is 175.

    Fill this out and use the suggested calories as a flat rate to eat every day, meaning, you will NOT eat what you burn exercise.

    It is a different set up then what MFP uses (TDEE - 1000 calories). It's a percentage so you can eat a bit more and not worry about having to eat your exercise calories.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    ETA: Logging EVERYTHING is very important. Even if you just write it down and fill it in the next time you log on, you'll be able to see consistency of what you're eating and how much in relation to what you're losing.
  • TArnold2012
    TArnold2012 Posts: 929 Member
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    I play cards with the girls once a month. I have started taking my own grilled chicken this last month when they had pizza. It wasn't necessarily that I didn't want pizza but I want to reach my one year goal ( - 100). After a couple of really rough months I knew I had to set my priorities to make my goal. I approach it one bite, one meal, one day, one week, one month at a time. If I slip I get right back on my path the very next meal. Lots of small steps that eventually become habits with longer and longer time periods between slips.
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
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    I tossed everything, went to the store and bought good food. Then I got a food scale and learned how to make potions that worked. Took Sunday afternoons to cook meals for the week and freeze them - you need to change the lifestyle or you will never get it.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    I pre-plan everything. I will make a week's worth of meal plans on the weekend and won't deviate from those plans. I know what it feels like to fail at my plans, and I simply don't like that feeling. So I stick to what I've planned to avoid that regret and pain that I would have otherwise felt.
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
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    Why is it so friggin difficult.

    If it were less difficult, everyone would be lean and sexy. By working towards your goal and then achieving it, your self esteem and confidence will be through the roof....because you know you put forth the effort and had the resolve to solve a difficult problem.
  • LoseWithLaurie
    LoseWithLaurie Posts: 64 Member
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    <3
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
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    as everyone here has said, it is about self control.

    i havent tasted a Whopper, big mac or wendys double in close to 8 months now. im pretty sure id punch a puppy in the face to have one but i know if i do that will open the flood gates and i will go back to my old ways.

    i just went cold turkey on 90% of the things that were bad for me, fast food, soda/pop.

    i have recently cut diet soads/pop out and this is my 4th week without.

    why am i doing this? purely simple. i want to play basketball better, and so far it has.

    you have to find a reason you want to be healthier, something that is tangible. sure everyone wants to be healthier, but other than knowing you are eating better that in and of itself is not a tangible goal. fit in smaller pants. tangible. run 5 miles without a break. tangible. look better naked. tangible. get rebounds and box out better. tangible.

    until you locate that tangible item it will always be difficult to envision getting there
  • Energizer06
    Energizer06 Posts: 311 Member
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    Earn it to Eat it methodology:

    You want to eat cake, cookie, twinkie (ohhh well those are already gone), ice cream, junk, whatever it is above and beyond your goal for the day..........Well you have to earn it. Exercise till you earn enough calories back to eat it.

    That's it......Gotta Earn It First !

    Simple as pie....but your gonna have to earn it to eat it. Especially if you want pie!
  • slywon
    slywon Posts: 85 Member
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    One thing that was very important in my journey so far is MOMENTUM. I find that once I get through a couple days where I make the right choices it just gets easier and easier because I have momentum.
  • Soxgirl97
    Soxgirl97 Posts: 44 Member
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    I have the same problem. If I'm at home I don't have access to junk. I do not buy it. I struggle when I'm away from home. Yesterday I had a really rough day. I'm dog sitting for my mom while she's out of town and she has a bowl of Easter candy. I ate way too much of it. But you know what? I logged it all. And then I put the candy dish in a cabinet where I don't see it. Even though her house is full of healthy choices I stil want to eat the stuff I shouldn't have. But I log it and move on. Today was a better day. I woke up, accepted that yesterday was out of control and started fresh today.

    I don't have a magic answer by tracking helps a lot. It's a reality check. It's not "just" a cookie...it's a lot of empty calories. Also, if I'm craving something I drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes. Usually the craving subsides. Sometimes I give in. But I track it. It's a long journey and it's ok to indulge sometimes. The difference is now I only indulge once a week or so instead of every day.
  • baileybiddles
    baileybiddles Posts: 457 Member
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    <3

    :)
  • Elif84
    Elif84 Posts: 287 Member
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    I still have an addiction to food and I've lost 40 pounds. I would say it took me about 10 years to lose that weight because my battle with food addiction took over my life. More recently, I found that I wanted to change my body because I was SO disgusted with it. I hate the feeling of my stomach jiggling every time I take a step (it still does after 40 lbs so now I've been strength training). Honestly I told myself that I really wanted a new body, which helped me stick to my nutrition more. I envision myself in the body I want and how much better I would feel. I have at least a couple of binge days a week, but it's better than every single day of the week which I used to do. I plan ahead now and I feel I stick to it better if I didn't plan. For example, the night before, I prepare my breakfast and lunch for work the next day. I also write on the calendar what workout I plan to do. This helps me. I'm not 100% but it's a lot better than my life style before. So maybe planning ahead may help? I also feel if you really want something, you will find a way to go after it. :-)
  • StevLL
    StevLL Posts: 921 Member
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    I still have trouble with stress eating, but clearing the house of garbage, doing a lot of pre-planning and pre-portioning so I can just grab a lunch and go has helped. We weigh most everything and with healthy food, even when I do hit a stress binge it's with healthy stuff. I'm much better with how I deal with the stress (exercise, meditation etc), so I'm not turning to food as often yet it's not perfect. My wife and I do it together and that is very helpful. I still have up weeks and I have learned not to let that drive how I feel about my overall progress. you're recognizing your situation with food and that is the best and most powerful first step. You got this! Just remember to love yourself first and foremost.
  • dawnzothegreat
    dawnzothegreat Posts: 4
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    I work in a hospital, so it's pretty easy for me to stay away from snacks there. I just have to keep myself away long enough until the residents/interns go for it. Since we constantly have to be on them about washing their hands, I can convince myself one of them hasn't before reaching in and that keeps me away. I also look up calorie counts on everything before I'll eat it to judge if I think it's worth it. Maybe try and challenge a friend to a weight % or inches % lost for the next couple of months. Sometimes the drive to win is enough and by then it's more of a habit to look at the calories in everything than to just eat and log later. And my friends are great at keeping me on track and accountable. Keep at it! :)
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    You should be able to eat a handful of jelly beans and a small slice of cake occasionally. Unless you come up with a plan that you can sustain for the rest of your life, you will gain all of the weight back once go off the diet. Plan for some treats, make room for it in your calories. Otherwise you'll likely end up going overboard because of all the restricting.
  • Sieden76
    Sieden76 Posts: 127 Member
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    It was really tough for me at first because my boyfriend eats all of this fast food and he would have me go and get it for him. I would have to pass up getting myself something and actually come home and cook something while he ate the burger and dries... that's tough. It really just takes time, for me it was about 2 weeks of solid eating healthy. My body just started to crave the healthier items. I still had a hard time passing up the fast food, I would find myself searching to see if they had a healthy option for me but at about 4 or 5 weeks of eating healthy home cooked meals, I couldn't eat a single bite of fast food, it just made me sick to think of what it was made of. I can go out but I'm constantly thinking about making those healthy choices because I don't want all of my hard work to be tossed out of the window.

    You really need to make the decision in your mind and get clear about this... we don't live to eat... we eat to live

    Figure out the food that you need, make it, eat and move on. So, since you've built your life around food, you need to find lots of other things to keep busy. You might feel much like a person that has just stopped smoking. I stopped 4 months ago and boredom is crappy. Just Stay as busy as you can and keep your hands moving.
  • crshrsh
    crshrsh Posts: 1 Member
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    It is hard. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. It is not suppose to be easy. Stop thinking it will be easy. Everyday is a fight. Yes you will fall down sometimes. Get back up and keep going. The only thing to shoot for is that the good days will be more than than the bad.

    Counter your calories and if you go over then work it off. Trust me you will stop going over.

    It is simple but not easy. Either put food in your mouth or don't. Either you want to lose weigh or you don't.
  • MichelleRoseMurphy
    MichelleRoseMurphy Posts: 12 Member
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    you could have written this post about me. I have the same struggles. I work from home and although there is not typically junk in my house the last two weeks have been brutal. Between easter and birthdays there has been cakes, cupcakes and chocolate everywhere. I have been doing a lot of reading on real food and the over abundance of " fake" food we eat. The more I read the more I realize I have been addicted to sugary crap that has no nutritional value. It takes awhile and I still cave, but it's getting better. Educate yourself on what your eating, decide if it's really worth it. If it's a bad day and you feel the need to eat try to make a healthier choice or at least cut your portion down. I read a quote online recently that was something to the effect of " why do we call it treating ourselves when in fact we are torturing ourselves". Hang in there, my scale goes up and down, drives me bonkers. But this is not a race, I am learning more everyday. Eventually I will get better and so will you. Feel free to add me if you would like. I find talking to my friends with the same feelings about food helps.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    Log everything you eat. Do that first, even if you don't try to restrict your calories for the first week. Get into the habit of logging. Once you have some history you can look at your logs and see what you ate, and why. Then you can actually decide where to proceed from there.

    If you want to get healthy and keep the weight off you need to design a lifestyle you will be happy to live for the rest of your life, not just "until I lose the weight." If you try to cut out foods you like it is likely to just build up tension and come back at you later in the form of binges. Instead plan for 80% of your food to be 'good' foods (that provides the nutrition and fuel for your body) and allow the other 20% to be your junk food.

    Moderation is the key to being both happy AND healthy at the same time, instead of choosing either one or the other. You don't want to be the person who hasn't eaten your favorite food(s) for 8 months. Do not fall into the trap many people do of trying to cut out entire groups of food. All they accomplish is going from one type of unhealthy relationship with food to a different unhealthy relationship with food.

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