Help! I've fallen properly off the wagon!

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BeccaSkinnyMoo
BeccaSkinnyMoo Posts: 6
in Motivation and Support
Hi there,

I've never posted on here before but I feel I need a bit of support and thought I'd turn to people who understand what it's like!

I've been using MFP for about the last 9-10 months and it really is fabulous - just before Xmas I was only 7lb from my target and the lowest weight I'd been in about 3-4 years :happy: I had lost just over 2 stone in total over the last few years and it really has been a lifestyle change as opposed to a diet. I made the fatal mistake however of telling myself I could have the Christmas week off and eat what I wanted (including gluten and dairy which I had avoided 95% of the time for at least a year previously) and not log my foods/exercise.

Well 1 week turned into 4 months! I put another 7lb back on and forced myself to try and restart logging/exercising - it lasted for about 4 weeks when a foot injury prevented me from being able to exercise for a few weeks. Extreme pressure/deadlines at work didn't help either, as well as finding out I have a stomach ulcer not a gluten/dairy intolerance as first though (which stopped me eating so many crap foods!) and pressures at home (running a small home business, taking on a new puppy etc) have made me really pile on the pounds even further! I daredn't even weigh myself now as I know I'll be gutted! Look in the mirror and feel so horrible with myself but just cannot seem to get motivated to start logging/exercising again. I really can't express how much I want to get to my goal weight within the next few months!

Has anyone else fallen off the wagon like this? How did you get motivated to restart and get exercising again? Feel I need some MFP love :cry:

Thanks,

Becca (notquiteSkinnyMooyet)

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    How did you get motivated to restart and get exercising again? Feel I need some MFP love :cry:

    you said you didnt like what you saw in the mirror, so thats your motivation!

    noone said it was easy, but you have done it before, so you can do it again. you just have to make it a priority... life sometimes does get in the way, but just because you have a busy few days dont make that an excuse to do nothing for weeks!
  • xAdrianax
    xAdrianax Posts: 269 Member
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    Hi Hun

    I can relate to you. I lost 30lbs with weight watchers a few years ago, then it slowly crept back on and i just told myself i hadn't put it all back on but when i weighed myself i had put 20 lbs of it back on - but i delayed sorting it out until i physically saw the number on the scale!

    I suggest you get on the scale, re-adjust your ticker to your true weight and re-set and evaluate your goals and start again TODAY!

    Just remind yourself that you have done it before and you can certainly do it again,

    Maybe re-do your profle - start afresh! YOU CAN DO IT!

    Within the first week you will start to feel better and that will push you to contnue

    xxx

    I have been trying to lose the same ten pounds for the last year and its been tough enough just to maintain - but when i get on the scale and see it going the wrong way i buckle down and re-adjust my ticker to motivate me.
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
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    There is another thread on here that might be just what you are looking for.Good luck.

    http://www.vicmagary.com/blog/fitness-motivation/
  • sam308lbs
    sam308lbs Posts: 1,936 Member
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    My ticker used to read "97 lbs lost" a few months ago.Same story as yours,I wanted to go on a 10 day diet break and now it has been more than 3 months :cry:
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    If you've got a puppy, it must need walks. While you're orting out your work-life balance those walks can be most of your exercise :happy: He probably needs a run too, so there's another bit!

    You've done this before. Only you can decide if its "worth the effort" - have you got some gorgeous clothes which won't fit any more? A special occasion coming up you want a new outfit for?

    You know you can do it, you also know its not just going to happen, you have to make the decisions to eat the right food, to move about more, you have to log your food and be accountable to YOU for the choices you make.

    You can put it off because you're busy/stressed. Or you can make the decision to remove one of the causes of your stress - being overweight.

    Feel free to add me for support and tough love:smile:
  • clairyfairy247
    clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
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    I have a very similar story to you!

    I lost just over a stone and, for once in my life, wasn't feeling self conscious when I got dressed anymore, I got a load of compliments on how well I'd done, and generally just felt great!
    Then I told myself that I could have the week off to go on holiday.

    It totally messed up my routine. It gave me back all my junk food cravings that I'd successfully managed to stave off for the previous 6 months which consequently made me not want to exercise anymore.

    I started to gain all the weight back, and the more I gained, the more demotivated I felt. In the end I gained back the stone I'd previously lost and then some.

    I started over on 1 July, so only 10 days ago. Just take responsibility for what happened, realise your mistakes, take a deep breath and start again.
    Forgive yourself for falling off the wagon, we're all human! That's what we're here for anyway. :smile: To give you the motivation to try again.
    The road to success never did run smooth.

    I'm proud of you for stepping up and saying enough is enough, I'm going to get my *kitten* back on it! :wink:

    Add me as a friend if you would like, I'm always more than happy to help whenever you need it.

    Be strong, you can do this! I believe in you! :flowerforyou:
  • lannabelle
    lannabelle Posts: 85 Member
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    I think we were passengers in the same wagon. It sounds like you've got your motivation - you're unhappy with the way you look. Hold on to that, make healthy food choices, exercise, and come here for support anytime you need it. My weight snuck back on as well when I stopped being mindful of my eating habits. No more. I refuse to buy bigger clothes. :)
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    here is what i see from your post:

    (and believe me!! I know where you are coming from - i could have written your post!):
    <snip>
    I made the fatal mistake however of telling myself I could have the Christmas week off and eat what I wanted (including gluten and dairy which I had avoided 95% of the time for at least a year previously) and not log my foods/exercise.

    <snip>
    ... it lasted for about 4 weeks when a foot injury prevented me from being able to exercise for a few weeks.

    <snip>

    ...Extreme pressure/deadlines at work didn't help either...

    as well as finding out I have a stomach ulcer not a gluten/dairy intolerance as first though (which stopped me eating so many crap foods!)

    and pressures at home (running a small home business, taking on a new puppy etc) have made me really pile on the pounds even further!

    So - when the going gets tough, you fall back onto the old habits. (not just "you" - i tend to do the same!). you need to find a way to fix this - deal with the "why". there's loads of advice here - stop before you take that bite. log log log. log before you eat. replace the unhealthy habit (snacking, grazing) with a healthy habit (take a walk, yoga, read a book).

    Remember - as much as we like to blame others/things/the world - it really is on us. NOBODY is forcing you to eat. not the puppy, not the pressures.

    You can and you will do this.
  • tdfarmer
    tdfarmer Posts: 176 Member
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    I can relate after about a year and a halfand maintaining for a while I regained half of what I lost. I have a couple good MFP friends pushing me. Really at this point its a day at a time. Trying to stay focused. Trying HARD not to beat my myself up, trying not to let myself think I'm a failurse. Just have to keep pushing myself and realize I'm better off than if I were doing nothing at all.
  • mamosh81
    mamosh81 Posts: 409 Member
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    look at old pictures before you lost your weight and ask yourself if you want to go back to that!
    I been there lost 90 lbs 6 years ago and then pilled them on double within 1 year now i am finally doing it for real (last time it was insane below 1000 cal diet drinks and 5 hours of exercise a day) with lifestyle change and all eat healthy move more be more active. Just remember where you came from and if you want to go back there
  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
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    Has anyone else fallen off the wagon like this? How did you get motivated to restart and get exercising again? Feel I need some MFP love :cry:

    Just think. How do you fancy increasing your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and generally dying young. You don't need to think about how you look, but your health. This on its own should be the only motivation you need.

    I also see excuses regarding work pressure and an injured foot. I'm sorry but these are excuses, and you should never allow yourself excuses, we only have ourselves to blame for who we are and what we become.
  • Change_is_Good_
    Change_is_Good_ Posts: 272 Member
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    I'm in a similar situation too!

    I went on Holiday in April/May and haven't been logging properly since, I've barely been to the gym. Luckily I've only put on a couple of lbs but I know if I carry on I'll go straight back to my start weight.

    I am the excuse queen and I get angry with myself after I've done it. My own worst enemy. Something just clicked for me this morning (mainly a slim friend complaining about being bloated).

    Don't think about what you did before or what you lost or put on, start again from now! This is your start weight and think about all the motivations you had which got you on track last time.
  • katgrz
    katgrz Posts: 7 Member
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    My story is the same, although with different facts. I'm just now restarting and am wondering the same thing. I feel like re-starting after falling off the wagon is about 10 times as hard than initially jumping on it. But we can do it!!!
  • Whipppets
    Whipppets Posts: 267
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    1. Being fit is probably the most exciting thing anyone could possibly do for themselves.
    Honestly no matter how many things go wrong I always think wow I am really fit and want to be fitter.
    2. If being fit and happy were easy everyone would do it.
    3. I read on the forum being fat is hard and being fit is hard choose your hard.

    Today is the day you change forever
  • BeccaSkinnyMoo
    BeccaSkinnyMoo Posts: 6
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    Thanks guys for all your support, kind words and in some cases, tough love! :wink: I'm overwhelmed at the response! :heart:

    I know that I'm the only one who can make the changes I need to get to where I want to be, it's just sometimes it's easy to forget that you can forgive yourself for falling off the wagon and start again from scratch! And that's what I've done! I've counted everything today - I know I'm way over my 1200 cals but expect that I'll need to work up to it and ween myself off the junk food and constant snacking!

    I've reassessed my goals and re-designed my profile accordingly. I've also input my start weight as what it was when I first started my weight loss journey, even though this wasn't using MFP at the start, as I feel that helps to encourage me seeing how far I've come! I've weighed myself tonight and it's not nearly as bad as I had originally been thinking it would be. I'm just waiting for the hubby to come home so he can puppy-sit then I will be back in my dungeon (aka the basement!) working out to my Ministry of Sound Eric Prydz Deanne Berry workout DVD (which I may add is brilliant - I love it!)

    Thanks to you guys, I don't feel like I'm the only person in the world struggling with weight loss and I feel I may have found that little bit of motivation to get me to dig out the scales, weigh and log my food, and stop making excuses to make sure I get my fat *kitten* into gear!!

    Thanks all - much love xxx :flowerforyou:

    PS my ticker pic is from uni about 10 yrs ago - reminds me of a fab and happy time when I was actually BeccaSkinnyMoo!! #motivation
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    I had surgery on March 29 to remove excess skin/fat from the belly area. I was having a rough road to recovery when they told me the last thing I needed to be doing while recovering was trying to lose weight. Of course, I took that as a "free pass" to eat whatever I wanted and not log it.

    Then once I finally did start getting better, we were getting ready to go to Disney. Couldn't start then! LOL
    Then once we got back from Disney, fiddled around for a week or two - then July 4 was coming up (Independence Day).

    Now really trying to get back into the groove. Ugh. I realized that part of the reason it's "so hard" is that I'm a different person now than I was when I first started trying to lose weight 26-27 months ago. What got me going then is not likely to get me going now (having trouble walking around and going places) because I can do that better now.

    What got you going before isn't likely to get you going now. Find something that bothers you enough to get "uncomfortable" enough to get back on the path or a big enough carrot to make you stretch for it.

    We've set another "goal" to go to Disney in 2016. My goal is to lose the rest of the weight (about 100 pounds), get any other plastic surgery done to remove excess skin/fat, and get healed in time to go to Disney, and THAT trip, I WANT to be able to wear a swimsuit!!! I'm still struggling, but I'm doing better than last week!
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    We all have the "fat lazy me" hiding behind the "I'm getting the weight off and keeping it off and exercising regularly me". The fat lazy one tempts us to have that piece of cake the co-worker brought in, to skip the exercise because we're hot/tired/hungry, to eat whatever we want at the BBQ "because it would be rude not to when they've gone to all this trouble". And thats how we ended up here in the first place.

    I wanted to be at my goal weight by my holiday, but with little over 2 weeks t go I know that's unlikely. So part of me, (fat lazy me) wants to say "oh well, just stick at this weight and switch your calories to maintenance because that's what you'll do on holiday anyway". But stubborn me says "no, even if I can just get another 1lb off then I'm closer to the GW, and if I do put on a bit over the holiday it will only be 2 week's worth not 4 weeks".

    No-one said it was easy. But its worth sticking with it.

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