I Just Can't Keep This Up!
krystalraven
Posts: 50
Hi there folks! I'm really, really struggling with my new lifestyle...the first couple of weeks went really well and I felt almost euphoric and lost 10 pounds! However reality is starting to kick back in and I' finding it so hard to resist the temptations of the foods I love. This is always the pattern for me...a few weeks doing really well and then I blow it! I'm just so frustrated with myself! Aaaargh!
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Replies
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Stop "dieting."
Really.
If your new "lifestyle" isn't part of your "reality" it will never work. Congratulate yourself for having lost the 10 lbs on what I'm going to guess was a plan that shocked your system into losing water and muscle and adjust your plan to include realistic weight loss, a healthy and sustainable diet, and an exercise routine that you can legitimately live with...day after day after day...for the rest of your life. No starvation, no marathon fitness plan, no extreme anything. If you can't live with it, you'll spend the rest of your life fighting this cycle of gaining, losing, gaining more, losing, and gaining even more. "Diets" don't work!0 -
Stop "dieting."
Really.
If your new "lifestyle" isn't part of your "reality" it will never work. Congratulate yourself for having lost the 10 lbs on what I'm going to guess was a plan that shocked your system into losing water and muscle and adjust your plan to include realistic weight loss, a healthy and sustainable diet, and an exercise routine that you can legitimately live with...day after day after day...for the rest of your life. No starvation, no marathon fitness plan, no extreme anything. If you can't live with it, you'll spend the rest of your life fighting this cycle of gaining, losing, gaining more, losing, and gaining even more. "Diets" don't work!
I fully agree, there is usually no way to sustain a "diet" but maybe you can make little changes and build on them.0 -
How many changes did you start with? 10 pounds is awesome, but it sounds like you might have done a huge lifestyle change to get there. That is what I've done every time I lost weight, and it never lasted. This time I am going really slow and making changes in steps.
First I started working out with a program called Focus T-25. I didn't even take pictures or measurements my first week. I did it every day for a week, so I took measurements starting week 2 and kept going, trying to eat slightly healthier, but not counting calories or anything. Made it through week 2 and week 3 doing that, but had gone back up a pound at the end of week 4, so I decided to start counting calories. I'm not very good at staying under my 1400 calories a day, and always eat back my workout calories and am still over, but I continued to workout every day during week 5, even though I had to drive 1800 miles for work. I camped for 2 nights on the drive, and I still set up my computer and did the workouts at my tent site in the dark!
Exercise is becoming a habit, so now I can focus more motivation towards counting calories and eating well and exercise keeps going in the background! I'm not getting huge results like losing 30 pounds in a month, but this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. I feel better about myself, I can do more in my workouts, and I fit in a pair of shorts I haven't worn in over a year! I will make it to my goal weight eventually, but more importantly, I'll STAY there this time!0 -
You can still have the foods you love but just not as much. Lifestyle change means you do things differently, and if you're depriving yourself a lot just to lose weight then you will fail. You have to get some balance in your life and start exploring foods that taste good to you but with less fat/calories then start working them into your weekly meals. Don't give up, remember it takes about 12 weeks to make something into a habit.0
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Hi, congratulations on your weight loss so far you are doing great! you need to go back and read on your profile why you wanted to get in shape! It says it all there, you can do this you are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Just keep thinking how much you want this and is it worth going back to old habits and risk the health complications that come with being overweight? I was a yo-yo dieter for over 25 years and my health & happiness have suffered in that time. I wasted all them years being ill and miserable instead of doing something about it and sticking with it!
Good Luck :flowerforyou:0 -
Let me guess: you're trying to subsist off 1200 calories a day, right? That's not enough for you, unless you're under 5 feet, and already at a healthy weight.
Google "TDEE calculator", and eat 20% less than the number it gives you.0 -
I echo the others here who have said to really, truly look at it as a lifestyle change. Change takes time.
What all did you do differently the last few weeks to lose the 10lbs?
Look at your food diary for the past month, look at your exercise minutes/calories, look at your net calories, and tweak them. You know it worked, but if it's running you ragged then it won't work long term. Tweak it to where you can easily continue to make healthy choices and still live your life. You have to do what's right for you, but when you do too much too fast it'll all go to hell in a handbasket if you aren't ready yet.
Just pick one thing and focus on it for a week, then add in a second thing the second week, and little by little you won't feel so obsessed or tired from it all. Good luck.
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If you lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks, please consider whether you made a sustainable lifestyle change or went on an unsustainable crash diet.
Start by determining your TDEE or BMR and decide where you will go from there. 1 to 2 pounds losses per week are the maximum that are considered healthy and SUSTAINABLE. You may not be able to keep up the "this" of your most recent two weeks but you can keep up a healthy and sustainable lifestyle change resulting in slow but continuous weight loss.
Give me a holler (message me) if you want help walking through the process. You are significantly younger than I am so I am not suggesting you duplicate what I do, but I can help you find the information that will let you make informed choices that work for you.
Heidi (the retired librarian who grooves on helping others find the info they need)0 -
One of My favorite quotes that hit home with me finally was "When your Sick and tired of starting over, stop giving up" You have to break the cycle of having the mentality that this is a Diet, until you commit to this being a lifestyle then you will continue to play the Yo Yo game... On a side note may I ask how many calories your trying to sustain your weight loss at and I take it you have completely removed all trigger foods from your diet and are practicing abstinence currently???0
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For me, it was the complete opposite. It was enormously hard the first couple of weeks, and only got easier. I was constantly hungry the first weeks (I probably went from eating 2500+ calories a day to 1200) but I guess my body adjusted and I stopped being hungry. As far as keeping it up goes, I agree with everyone else. When people ask me about dieting and stuff, it's a tricky thing to get around because I don't view myself as being "on a diet". The very phrase itself seems to imply that it is only a temporary thing, and if you're looking at it that way, that's a big first issue. Making your new life style sustainable should be your first goal. How can you make yourself happy enough and still reach your goals? For me, the answer was not limiting foods, but quantities. I have a snack/dessert at least once a day to indulge myself. When I first started, I needed this because food was so important to me. Now that the habit has been developed, I could really take or leave the cake/cookie/chips.
I guess the second thing would be to be realistic with yourself. Marathon runners don't start off running marathons, because that's an outrageous expectation. If, in the past, you have had trouble sticking with your goals, make a promise to yourself to change your goals and gradually get more expectant. In the beginning, offer yourself and 500 calorie extension, and agree to make new weekly or biweekly goals. This way, you can work yourself into a routine that is attainable, and you still feel good about sticking to your goals. Keeping morale up is half the battle, and for many people, it's the tougher half.0 -
My advice, if you don't do it already, is to plan a once-a-week maintenance-calorie day. It's a lot easier to resist temptation for six days knowing you can indulge on the seventh.0
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Allow yourself a treat now and then. Don't give up0
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I echo the others that say you might not be eating enough. I crashed and burned on 1350 a day, but when I bumped up to my TDEE minus 20%, I started losing and loving life again.0
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Stop "dieting."
Really.
If your new "lifestyle" isn't part of your "reality" it will never work. Congratulate yourself for having lost the 10 lbs on what I'm going to guess was a plan that shocked your system into losing water and muscle and adjust your plan to include realistic weight loss, a healthy and sustainable diet, and an exercise routine that you can legitimately live with...day after day after day...for the rest of your life. No starvation, no marathon fitness plan, no extreme anything. If you can't live with it, you'll spend the rest of your life fighting this cycle of gaining, losing, gaining more, losing, and gaining even more. "Diets" don't work!
Agree.0 -
Hi, You are doing great and you will keep on going!!! Simply do one thing for YOURSELF: Remember that you EAT FOOD TO LIVE YOU DO NOT LIVE TO EAT FOOD, no matter what it is!! Have foods you love, its okay to do so,just add them in to your meal tracker before you eat them so you can still stay at your needed calorie level to lose weight. I bet with a 10 lb weight loss in two weeks you were way under in the calories you ate, so you can afford to add back in foods that you really love or just to add a treat for yourself, and even if you slip up and eat to many calories one day, just get right back to the tracker the next day. Have a great weekend.0
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Lifestyle change hunny! Switch to wheat bread instead of white. Learn to like water. Instead of fried, do baked, stay away from fast food. If u have to eat McDonalds, have a GRILLED wrap instead of a burger & drop the fries and get diet soda. This will make your change easier......0
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I hear you! I've been naughty myself and gained the 3 pounds I lost.
My daughters are encouraging me and they are both doing very well. They log on even when they eat something that isn't in their best interest and they have both been successful. So I am biting the bullet and doing this for REAL! 10 pounds good for you. You did it, you can do it again. hang in there, honey!:flowerforyou: 0 -
It's not a lifestyle. It's something you've done for a few weeks. If you don't think you can keep it up, then tweak it until you find a way of eating and moving that allows for moderate weight loss that is something you can live with. A way of life for you.
It doesn't have to be what works for your friends. It doesn't have to be what works for the 20something boys on here. It has to be something that works for you.
You can do this, you just have to find a way that works for you. Feel free to PM me if you want. I lost weight a long time ago and have kept it off by learning how to eat and finding a few principles that work for ME.0 -
Stop "dieting."
Really.
If your new "lifestyle" isn't part of your "reality" it will never work. Congratulate yourself for having lost the 10 lbs on what I'm going to guess was a plan that shocked your system into losing water and muscle and adjust your plan to include realistic weight loss, a healthy and sustainable diet, and an exercise routine that you can legitimately live with...day after day after day...for the rest of your life. No starvation, no marathon fitness plan, no extreme anything. If you can't live with it, you'll spend the rest of your life fighting this cycle of gaining, losing, gaining more, losing, and gaining even more. "Diets" don't work!
So all of this. If you can't live with the way your eating for more than a few weeks then stop eating that way instead of berating yourself for not being able to handle it. Work REASONABLE amounts of the things you love into your daily macros. If you are craving chocolate then buy one or two of the lindt single serve chocolates (by the register at my grocery store). If you want chips then buy a snack size bag and that's it. If you're just dying to eat a donut then buy a SINGLE donut from the bakery dept and make room for it.
Here's a great place to get your TDEE (http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#mostaccuratecaloriecalculator)
So, raise your calories to TDEE -20 % (25% if you're obese) and prelog 3 or 4 days in advance. Give yourself 3 meals, 2 snacks, and a dessert every day. Work your food around to fit in the macros as you prelog. You'll know what you're going to eat and WHEN. If something comes up during the day and you can't live without that (snack) bag of chips you can shuffle around the rest of your day to fit it in. Keep in mind the size of servings when you pre log. YOu want food that will give you the maximum bang for your buck. For example one tiny serving of fries compared to 5 cups of salad with dressing and veggies on top. Guess which keeps you full longer! :laugh:
You can't 'diet', lose a ton of weight, and expect to go back to eating the 'old way'. Doesn't work that way, you have to change your life and that change has to be sustainable.0 -
What everyone above me said.....you are dieting.., don't diet... Eat what your body feels like...in moderation...10lbs in 2weeks is to much, check out threads on tdee and BMR and eat correct amount of food.
If you go off your DIET you will pack on what you lost plus another 10lbs
If you want links message me... This is a slow and steady wins the race eating plan... Not a quick fix.0 -
This. I never have to resist temptations, because I've never given up a single food I love, so I'm never tempted by them. I never fall off the wagon, because I have no wagon to fall off of.Stop "dieting."
Really.
If your new "lifestyle" isn't part of your "reality" it will never work. Congratulate yourself for having lost the 10 lbs on what I'm going to guess was a plan that shocked your system into losing water and muscle and adjust your plan to include realistic weight loss, a healthy and sustainable diet, and an exercise routine that you can legitimately live with...day after day after day...for the rest of your life. No starvation, no marathon fitness plan, no extreme anything. If you can't live with it, you'll spend the rest of your life fighting this cycle of gaining, losing, gaining more, losing, and gaining even more. "Diets" don't work!0 -
One of My favorite quotes that hit home with me finally was "When your Sick and tired of starting over, stop giving up" You have to break the cycle of having the mentality that this is a Diet, until you commit to this being a lifestyle then you will continue to play the Yo Yo game... On a side note may I ask how many calories your trying to sustain your weight loss at and I take it you have completely removed all trigger foods from your diet and are practicing abstinence currently???
First, listen to this man! He is a rock star. Read his story and the stories of many others on MFP who have lost weight, shaped up and/or decided to live a healthier life. Get and stay inspired!
Next, get a support group going here. Find friends--read through posts, add like minded friends, communicate often!
Open your food diary and read the diaries of others. Try new foods and recipes.
Read health and fitness blogs, websites and magazines.
YOU CAN DO THIS. It will be slow and hard and, frankly, a real pain in the butt. But it will be worth it!0 -
AND NO SLIM FAST SHAKES!!!
(I saw your last post!)
But seriously, no. Just, no.0 -
if you think you can't, you can't. just sayin.0
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Congratulations on losing 10lbs in 2 weeks. That's remarkable!
But as you're finding out, it's not sustainable. So modify your diet. Make it easier by allowing yourself more food. 2lbs per week is the MAXIMUM you should be aiming to lose at the moment - and that will taper off as you lose weight. If you rush at "this diet business" like a bull at a gate you won't be able to sustain it.
Realistically, it's going to take a year, maybe more to lose all the weight you want to lose. But that's OK, you've got a whole life to lose it in and keep it off in, so taking things slower now is fine.
Why not open up your diary so that people can make constructive comments on what you've been eating? I'll bet you've not been eating enough, and that's a CERTAIN SURE recipe for getting the feelings that you have now - that you can't continue.
Just make small changes to whatever is "normal eating" for you, let those new better ways of eating become habits and then make a few more small changes to a healthier lifestyle.0 -
...please consider whether you made a sustainable lifestyle change or went on an unsustainable crash diet.
Amen! Well said! (Leave it to a librarian! Crash diet, indeed.)0 -
I eat all the foods I love, up to my deficit limit of 1800 calories/day. It's totally doable and it's shameful how easy it is to stick to. My diary is wide open and full of both whole foods and naughty foods prepared by the Devil himself :P Must be working cause I'm halfway to goal Don't give up, change something. 0
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That's what he said.0
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You can still have the foods you love but just not as much. Lifestyle change means you do things differently, and if you're depriving yourself a lot just to lose weight then you will fail. You have to get some balance in your life and start exploring foods that taste good to you but with less fat/calories then start working them into your weekly meals. Don't give up, remember it takes about 12 weeks to make something into a habit.
This is great advice. I still enjoy all of the things I did before I started this journey only the quantities are more controlled. I always have the choice to go overboard in eating them but so far I have chosen not to. I know the adverse affect it will have on my plan because I plan days ahead and log in anything I eat as I consume it.
I could play the "I can't" game too since I am disabled and physically unable to do any exercise but guess what, I CAN and I CHOOSE TO !0 -
Hi there folks! I'm really, really struggling with my new lifestyle...the first couple of weeks went really well and I felt almost euphoric and lost 10 pounds! However reality is starting to kick back in and I' finding it so hard to resist the temptations of the foods I love. This is always the pattern for me...a few weeks doing really well and then I blow it! I'm just so frustrated with myself! Aaaargh!
Congrats on your weight loss! I remember when I first lost a little weight it felt so great! Adjusting to any life style change is not going to happen overnight or even in a couple weeks. There was a lot of foods I had to completely take out of my daily foods but you have to live a little. If you give up everything you like, you will end up splurging and going overboard. Enjoy something that you really like in moderation every week. If I feel i want some chocolate one day, I adjust my calories so my daily intake allows me to.
Of course I agree with the comment, don't diet. But realistically speaking even without realizing it thats exactly what we are used to calling it. So I don't even fight the word anymore. As long as I am eating good and exercising, if the word diet slips out, its okay lol.
Good luck and you can definitely break the same cycle! I have a file of inspirational quotes, pics, and whatever I want to keep me motivated. So when I feel like throwing the can in, I go there and realize why I started in the first place. Maybe you should get some inspirational stuff if you haven't already.0
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