Will it be like this forever?
shewasthewalrus
Posts: 23 Member
Trying to go through this weight loss process is difficult and also rewarding. I am in the early stages, but I can already start to tell a difference. I am just wondering, will it be like this forever? As much as I enjoy the MFP community and my new healthy lifestyle, I don't want to live the rest of my life counting every calorie. It doesn't seem realistic. Once I get down to my goal weight, will it be easier to maintain by making good choices or am I going to be subjected to a life of "dieting?" I don't want to consider this a diet, it's a lifestyle change. But I'm making such major cutbacks and becoming so much more active ... it's a little overwhelming. My mother and two siblings are all naturally skinny/athletic. I know I'll never have it that easy (and I'll always battle my love of food), but I would like to believe that one day I won't have to live on a meal-to-meal basis. Is that a possibility or a pipe-dream? 
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I understand how you feel, but I think of it as learning to ride a bike. At the beginning, you concentrate on every single move - and you fall, a lot. After a while, it will become second nature and hopefully I won't really think about it. It will just be habit.0
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Perfectly said Kiesha.0
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Thanks! I really hope it is like that. Tracking my food is so tedious. I just know that when life gets really busy, it will be hard to keep it up all the time. I want to be able to live without relying on something like MFP, because it might not always be available. Also, I hope that exercise gets easier. I know that easy isn't the point, but I hate being the person in my fitness class who is always struggling.0
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if you have ever lost weight before and gained it back, then you probably have a habit of not being mindful of what you're eating.
If you internalize logging to the point that it is a regular part of your life and isn't a chore, you should not have to worry about it "being like this forever," because it won't be a big deal.0 -
This same thing has been in the back of my mind as well. But like already said - you will get the hang of what to eat and what will cause weight gain/loss and what upsets your body and what makes it feel good. You won't have to rely on counting calories forever. I agree it is very tedious and can be annoying, but it's a great tool to help you get to where you need to be
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I have noticed I have a few successful friends on here that don't track their food anymore but still get on to converse, so I am guessing it's harder at first and then hopefully become a pro. I still have a long way to go, and have wondered the same thing as you. Thanks to this site I can now be pretty accurate in my food choices when it comes to fat and calories- now choosing those better foods is a different matter entirely!0
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It won't be like this forever. Please take my advice. I started my journey at my Worst weight. 340 lbs. And in just over a years time, I have managed to lose 147 lbs. My struggle was tough and I had to be very disciplined, but I feel absolutely Amazing in my life right now. When I first started, I felt like I had Such a huge hill to climb. The thought of being under 200 lbs. seemed completely unrealistic. And there were so many times where I wanted to give up and just continue down the path of destruction, essentially. But as you keep going and implementing new work outs and meals etc. to your life, it becomes motivating. And once you start seeing the results of your hard work, THAT is when it is completely rewarding. That is when it gets easier. I could barely get into a size 28 pant one year ago. Today, I can walk into any store I want and slip into a size 10 or 12, depending. It Does get easier. And as you keep tracking your progress, you'll see that it really Does work and it's worth it. Just like most things worth achieving, it's never easy at the start. But, you get to the point where it becomes part of your life. Like working out. I do 4 times a week. And it's just routine for me now. I don't think twice about it. Once you get to the point where you start maintaing the weight you want, you'll be laughing at how easy it is.0
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I understand how you feel, but I think of it as learning to ride a bike. At the beginning, you concentrate on every single move - and you fall, a lot. After a while, it will become second nature and hopefully I won't really think about it. It will just be habit.
What she said.0 -
Also, I still track my food every single day because it's a useful tool to me. I need to see What and How much of something is going into my body. It helps me to keep track of what I'm doing and to keep on top of everything. I don't view it as a chore at all. I usually know what I'm having for all of my meals of the day. So I get online for 5 minutes when I get to work, and log. And that's it.0
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I have friends who still log after three years, though they do not have weight loss goals. Once they got to goal weight, they set body fat goals so that they would "look" trim and fit. They watch macros and want to make sure they are fueling workouts adequately to reach goals.
I am finding that the same thing happened to me. I don't just want to look "skinny", I want to look fit. So, for those goals, yeah, discipline is needed. Sometimes, it is a pain. But most disciplines are.
It is rewarding to go another month and see a comparison pic and think: "I do look a little better than I did a month ago. It's subtle, but I see it." In another month, I wonder where I'll be? I wonder if I'll see my arm muscles, or more ab muscle?
It's rewarding to be in control of what you eat and not have every special occasion and every doughnut dictate your life and outcome
It's rewarding to get to the end of the day and not think, "Another day, and I didn't work out. I am so undisciplined."
It's rewarding to try on clothes that didn't fit before and know that what you did mattered. Every little bitty step is a reward. A measurement. A weight. Clothing. Pics. Body Fat. And...it takes them all to keep you going some days! Food can call very loudly! Keep treating yourself well. Buy new fruits, veggies, and foods just for you. It's somehow more fun when you are treating yourself to new choices.0 -
if you have ever lost weight before and gained it back, then you probably have a habit of not being mindful of what you're eating.
If you internalize logging to the point that it is a regular part of your life and isn't a chore, you should not have to worry about it "being like this forever," because it won't be a big deal.
THIS. years ago, i lost 70 pounds, only to slowly regain it, b/c i thought that now that i was thin i did not have to be as diligent. mind u, i did not start binging or anything, just stopped logging and paying attention.
gained it all back. this time around, i know that daily work and attenetion to my food is a gonna be FOREVER for me, and i dont mind at all0 -
I think you'll find your 'goal' changes as you continue this journey. At first I was logging everything, every bite, every crumb and counted ever single exercise calorie. Yes, it drove me nuts...but then my body started to change and I started to focus on the exercise program I was on at the time instead of putting al the focus on just losing weight. I started to shift my concentration on finishing a program or doing one more push ups or jump just a little bit higher...and eventually you don't worry so much about the scale anymore and your body is still changing.
Don't get me wrong, I still weigh myself and I still want to get to my 'goal' weight but it doesn't 'weigh' (ha!) as much to me as before and eating less, eating better, move more becomes second nature.
The best advice I can give you and others have given me is simple: Don't ever give up. If you want it bad enough, you will find a way to get there but just don't ever give up.
Good luck to you!0 -
Once you get into it, it gets easier. I notice I'm full faster these days, and if I binge, I usually end up feeling pretty awful physically, as well as disappointed in myself, so it's easier to put the food down. Knowing that my tummy will hurt if I eat too much crap (vs. months ago when my body just felt like crap all the time and I didn't notice), keeps me from overdoing it too much (I still mess up). I don't have to think about it all as much, though. I know how to portion my food better and if I don't measure/weigh it, I at least know I'm closer to a real portion than to a giant portion.
I'm looking forward to my goals, though, so I can change my calorie intake to "maintenance"!0 -
Learn to embrace and enjoy planning and logging. If you think of it as a chore or a burden, you're much more likely to stop doing it. Working towards the day you can stop is probably the wrong way to approach it.0
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There are literally millions of people that have lost a lot of weight only to gain it back (include me in that group). There's no secret as to why we gained it back. Here's what happens. We get to a weight we are happy with, and maybe not at first, but we eventually we go back to our old ways. We stay away from the scale, we don't pay as much attention to what we were eating, we exercise less, we stop measuring ourselves and when our clothes started getting tighter, we starting saying "tomorrow" again and making excuses for what we are eating or why we're not exercising. You know, "I'll get back on it tomorrow." You know the drill, we all do. So you need to start right now devising your plan on how you are going to maintain your goal weight when you get there. I know I will be stepping on the scale once a week for the rest of my life. I'm not necessarily planning on logging my food forever, but I won't hesitate to if the need arises.0
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Start doing spot checks now with sizes/portions.
If you weigh protein, etc. Take out what you want/plan on eating, estimate how much you think it is and then weigh it. Train yourself mentally to be able to spot portions it will help in the long run. It will be less restriction and more common sense.
I eat the same now as I've eaten all my life. My issue has always been portion control and I "blind" check portions every few days and a lot of it has become second nature, I just spot check myself so I don't cheat and say, oh that's a little more than normal but it's ok, because it tastes so good!
Examples:
It takes 2 handfuls of spinach to make 50g
23 almonds is approx an ounce
Counting to 3 is a tablespoon of coffee creamer (Ugh, when I think of how I freely poured before. It was more like 6 tablespoons and it doesn't taste any different between 2 and 6tbsp. Just wasted carbs)
The top crease of my index finger off a round eye roast is 4 ounces
It's just becomes habit and I don't feel it's as much dieting as it is with being honest with how much I should eat versus how much I could/want to eat.
I can even "blind" portion ice cream at 1/2 a cup now and it tastes just as good if not better than 3 cups, which I probably easily used to eat.
Don't restrict yourself just be honest with yourself.0 -
I think it is really important to include foods, and meals you like and learn how to fit them into your diet. Use the recipe builder and save it. it really helps.0
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For me the key is to get rid of the perfection. I can focus all my energy on picking the perfect food, tracking every ounce, taking a ton of time to play, to put the specific detailed log entry, etc. I lost weight this way, but I can't do it forever. I'm TERRIBLE at tracking 'good enough' and making healthy choices long term. That's my new hurdle. The lifestyle of a healthy eater. I'm focused on tracking closely enough to be accountable, but not so closely that it becomes an obsession.0
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bump0
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It gets easier over time. As others have said, you will figure out what works for you, what doesn't, and "trim the fat" from what you need to do to keep healthy habits. You need to find something that will work for you for the rest of your life, but it may take some trial and error to get to that spot. Good luck!0
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It depends what your goals are. You know what is tedious?? Being fat and unfit. I would rather log every day, not eat any **** and exercise like a maniac than go back to being the girl who could barely walk down the street without whinging and complaining and feeling like I was going to die, having no clothes to wear that could hide the fat, and having not a scrap of self respect coz I hated myself so much.
If you honestly believe its a lifestyle, then make it your lifestyle. You don't wait until you are thin to make healthy choices, you are the one with the power to change things, and unfortunately weight loss is literally as simple as calories in versus calories out.
Stop stressing about the long term, that's one of the things that will throw you off track.
Think about why you started this journey and ask yourself if those goals are still important to you.
If the answer is yes, then find a way to make it happen.0 -
I totally agree. At some point it's time to let go because you're mostly doing the right things (healthy eating & having an active lifestyle) and it's become a fundamental element of your being. People aren't perfect and life is meant to be experienced and enjoyed. There are so many things to embrace and feel in the world...we can move on to those! 0
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Fitness is a lifestyle. Loosing weight is a byproduct of being fit. Eat healthy, stay active and reap the rewards.0
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