Every Single Flippin Time....

Every three or four months I get tired of eating at a deficit, so I take a break for a couple of weeks and eat at maintenance (this usually coincides with illness or vacation...sometime I'm not working out as much as usual). Afterward, I am ready to get back to business! I don't gain fat during my break because I don't eat above maintenance. The psychological and physiological break is really welcome....and since I do it intentionally, there's no danger of feeling like I've already screwed up and then giving up.

Sometimes its good to build in a week of "food vacation", don't be awful, but let yourself indulge just a bit. I say build it in as part of the routine, like "two months good, one week off" That way there is a limit. You know you have to get back on the wagon, but hopefully it will both motivate you and keep you from getting bored or demotivated. Plus, this can help jumpstart weight loss again. I just took a carb vacation- I didnt watch them for a week. Now I'll g o back to two months of c.100g carbs, my body normally responds by losing weight faster for a time. It helps stop plateaus.

I also enjoy changing things up. If I get bored weight lifting, I go back to belly dancing or zumba, or kayaking. Class situations are particularly helpful because someone will notice if you arent there, and if you are cheap like me then I know if I PAY for something I'll go. I hate wasting money. But, even if you cant afford/have time for a class, you can find a lot of those types of workouts or lessons on youtube, vimeo, etc. Change things up, keep it fresh, do somethign with friends instead. If you make it an adventure its not so tiring, its not a pattern.

And dont exclude meditation or strolls in the park just because its not "exercise." These type of stress reliefs are really helpful.

And sometimes...you just have to do it. You have to persevere. What helps me is this "checklist" that someone made me create when I started. I thought it was some hippy-**** at first, but its actually been great. First write down all the reasons you want to lose weight, be reallllly honest, write what you are looking forward to, and then write down your success story as though you've already done it, and write down the top ten thigns that are best now that your goal has been met. Honestly, reading my "future" top ten as though I've already done it, and reading my success story as though I've already completed it, really breaks down a mental barrier for me. It seems so much more doable.

Good luck!

It is really amazing to hear the same stories that I am experiencing... just this morning I was telling myself to just get use to being 185. I too lost 60lbs. But my gut is still here. I look to MFP for motivation and focus, and for sharing similar stories. All of your words have really resonated with me... geesh, I am all veclemt (spelling...?)
Anyway THANK YOU for this post. It is as if I wrote it. I promise myself to not quit, TO SEE WHAT THE NEW ME IS LIKE...

thank you all for your honesty and your stories... greatly appreciated!!!

Marion

I haven't gotten to this point yet, but I know I will. My therapist told me something that really made sense to me. Most people who have an eating disorder or weight problems all suffer from some sort of anxiety. I know I do. When something comes along that I've never done before and don't know how it will end up I get anxious. This sometimes prevents from doing that one thing. I've never been skinny. Been overweight my entire life. For me it is the fear of what will I be like at a lower weight? How will I look? It's the unknown that scares me.

I know I'm not alone in this but my question is....How did you get past it? How did you dust yourself off and keep going?

That is the trick, eh? How do we keep ourselves on track. Well, first we have to accept the journey is not going to be linear. We won't ALWAYS want to track. there will be days here and there, or maybe even weeks during vacations of stress times we just don't need to think about it. The key is, that we make the better choices the majority of the time. By doing so we continue to break our old habits. This is simply making those better choices even wehn we don't feel like it or want to. Eventually we break through again and start feeling like we are on track.

Good luck!

BUMPING...because I experience the SAME thing!!!

I know I'm not alone in this but my question is....How did you get past it? How did you dust yourself off and keep going? Intellectually, I know the right things to do but something in me isn't clicking right now and it's both irritating and scaring me. If you could help share your breakthrough to success story, it may help me see something I'm missing & perhaps help others who can relate as well.

Thanks for listening,
Becky

This is my biggest fear! ...Well Junebugs are my biggest fear but this comes right after.

I got to such an unbelievable weight that I often wonder/worry about how I got there. I remember long stretches of activity and eating right in my past life but I can't pinpoint what brought that on, and more scary - I can't pinpoint what stopped that.

That is the scary part - every day or at least every couple of days I actually worry about what if I fall off track again tomorrow... What if whatever triggers me falling off happens tomorrow.

I do a good job of putting that to the back of my mind, but it is always kind of present.

This is now becoming one of my longer, more successful and more intense stretches of a new lifetstyle - as the time continues to build I find the most helpful things i have done are..

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1. Accountability/Support - Telling people about my weight loss. I waited unti I lost 75lbs because I was scared of hyping it up but I find it a lot more difficult to fall off track when so many people know I am working on it. People's support also helps. I think MFP is great for this too when you use the social aspect of it (something I am beginning to do).

I am also lucky enough to be doing this weight loss with my brother - having a "weight loss" buddy is super effective in keeping you on track.

2. Motivation - Staying motivated is a personal thing of course. Different people are motivated by different things. Find out what motivates you and study the **** out of it. For me some things that helped:

- Programming calendar app with motivational quotes and affirmations that pop up a couple times a day.
- Find motivating people and follow them. For me that includes people like Eric Thomas who I watch on Youtube regularly. CT Fletcher is an entirely different type of motivation but he is another guy who's videos I watch.
- Success Stories - I regularly check the forums here for them, I check reddit's progress pics and loseit subreddits. I check daily.
- Motivational Outfit - I just got into a shirt and hoodie three sizes smaller than my size when I started. I had bought it originally and hung it on my WALL in my office until I fit it. The good news Is I get to buy another one now.

3. Writing down Goals/Success - breaking my weight loss down into incremental goals helps a lot. In fact just having goals written down in general helps me a lot. I also do a morning todo list for work each day - I now incorporate my fitness/lifestyle todos as well.

Track your success too! MFP is good for that - it will let you track your weight and measurements. Looking at a report that has a steadily falling chart is pretty damn motivating...unless it is your retirement funds. Also - track your non scale victories! Sounds corny I know - but I keep a note in Evernote of my NSVs and they are quite motivating to check out when feeling down.

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The above three things have helped me "so far" - and I would rank their personal importance in the same order as above.

Will they be enough to carry me through - I hope so LOL I believe they will tho - maybe that will make all the difference.

Good luck!