Starting Over for the Millionth Time

Only person who can make the change is you, but encouragement is never a bad idea. You can add me as a friend if you like, I've been on a 60+ day streak and I don't take BS excuses

I think your goals are incredibly aggressive and unlikely to be sustainable. Set more realistic goals and you'll probably find yourself less discouraged and more successful in the long run.

Just remember: sweat is fat crying.

Take it day by day and keep moving.

Think of it this way, every single one of us start over every single day. You decide to make a change and you make the change and you do it every day, this is starting over, each day. And when you start having more days than not with these changes, then you will have success.

Advise you to not entirely eliminate any certain foods of food groups, just learn to fit them into your calorie goals.

Choosing 2 pounds per week is not a realistic goal since you don't have very much weight to lose. You should target 1 pound per week.

2 lbs a week is aggressive because (while you dont think so) you dont have all that much weight to lose. Try for 1 lb a week, exercise 3-4 days a week and drink at least half your body weight of water in ounces.

I have been on MFP since April but I was 179 lbs on August 10, 2013 (my wedding day) and today I am 157 lbs. I am 5'4" also. Thats about 4 months. I did it by setting MFP to 1 lb a week weight loss and eating all those cals MFP gave me, plus eating back all the calories I burned during exercise based on my HRM. I also wear a fitbit so I ate the calories it gave me also. Most days I was eating 1800 or more cals. Every week since I started this journey, I have lost at least 1 lb a week. EVERY WEEK. And I eat food. Not always the healthiest choices either. I eat ice cream and M&M's and popcorn and hamburgers. And Pizza. Frequently. But I also eat my protein and veggies.

You can do this, but you have to take it a little slower than 2 lbs a week. You just dont have the extra weight to lose it faster.
Use a food scale to weigh and measure you food.
Set MFP to 1 lb a week weight loss and eat all the cals it tells you.
If you have afford it, Use a HRM with chest strap to figure out your fitness cals burned.
If you can afford it, get an activity tracker (like a Fitbit) to measure your cals burned outside of fitness.

I give these suggestions because this is exactly how I did it and it works. You need to eat to lose. I know its counter-intuitive but it really does work. My diary is open so you can see that I am being honest.

Just curious what about them is aggressive?

Also for the person who said not to eliminate food groups, I totally agree. The only reason I'm trying to reduce my wheat intake is because of the allergy. I'm realistic in knowing I can't cut it out completely because I like things like pizza too much

That amount of weight at that rate, the net calories, odd wheat restriction, and workout schedule... Given your admitted history of giving up on a healthier lifestyle, these all seem way too aggressive. Start with a reasonable calorie deficit, add exercise if you can balance both, and you'd be surprised at where that gets you. It sounds to me that you've got unrealistic hopes of losing weight to look good in Cabo. Are you going to give up when April rolls around and you're not 145 lbs? Maybe sooner if you realize that you're just not going to meet that goal?

I'm not saying that you can't lose the weight, but I think you should get the idea of a "goal date" out of your head and make the necessary lifestyle changes to provide healthy and sustainable weight loss.

ETA that I saw your response about being ok with not hitting your goal by April and I'm glad. I really hate to see people give up when they don't get the results they expect.

Have you figured out why you failed before?

Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Accountability, motivation, and support from peers is always great. But above that, hold on to this:

"More importantly, I want my clothes to fit better and to feel toned and healthy again."

When you hold on to your "why", come hell or high water or regardless of who supports you, you will go in and take it to the max everyday. Motivation, accountability, and support will always be an additive and an extra to your journey, but it's not the end all, be all, your why is. You got your why, you got your will, you got your way, all you have to do now is make the commitment to execute based on those things everyday and you'll be good. Best of luck to you. :0) \o/

This is what worked for me. Always keeping my eye on the prize. Helps me make better eating choices & makes me enjoy exercise because I picture the results.

Sorry for you thinking we are being critical of your plan. I understand that you have been successful in the past with your plan but your title says you are starting over for the millionth time. Obviously what ever worked, did not last. And you came here seeking help with your plan. No offense but if you did not want info from the collective users of MFP, then why post a thread seeking info from us.

Losing weight for the long haul is a lifestyle change and is not done quickly or based on a planned event. You do it because you are no longer happy with the way you look or feel. You do it because your health and being active is more important than being fat. Every single time I lost weight because of an event, I quit working on my goals after the event and ended up fat again. This time, I just went for it and changed my life. I lose weight the same way I will live my life after the pounds shed off. I eat pizza and sushi and chicken wings and drink beer now because I love those things. I am learning how to make them fit in my day or eat less of them so I can still lose weight.

We suggest taking it slower because we want you to stay on track and make this a lifestyle change. If you bang out 10 lbs but then stall out, you will get discouraged on your own. We dont want you to stall out.

As for the fitbit you lost, my husband lost his and emailed fitbit about it (from their website). It fell out of the case also. They sent him a replacement FB for free, shipped too! Best customer service ever. You might want to try emailing them to see if they will send you one also. Save the gift for something else you want.

Hello billionth timer! Lol. I was in the same. I did the hcg diet, herbalife, weight loss pills, lemonade cleanse. You name it, I've tried it. Nothing has kept me going like MFP. Not even so much the social part of it but just logging in and of itself. I also have a fitbit that keeps me motivated and reminds me that I'm always burning calories

I always said God made me a fat person because I really love love food. I still get bottomless stomach pit days during my time of month, but I do indulge a little when a craving comes around. I started with cutting corners on calories. For example, I would make open face sandwiches and now I use a high fiber tortilla. I love fruits and veggies so I eat a lot of that. I even will snack on a cookie but will only eat half first then if I still crave sweet, then I'll nibble the second half in pieces.

I started at 173 and am at 153 in 60 days. 2 lbs a week is possible. It's not to say every week will be 2. Some will be more and some will be less but it will all equal out.

Add friends on MFP for accountability! you can do it!

I'm going to be honest this is a little discouraging that several people are being what I perceive as critical. I clarified all of the goals in my subsequent post (working out at lunch with a coworker, etc.). The wheat thing is an allergy, not a random thing I decided to not eat. I also clarified that the goal in April is not a hard goal and that I won't be upset if I'm not 145, just that I want to feel good by then. I understand everyone loses weight differently, but I didn't think anything I listed was especially aggressive. In the past, I've stuck to a strict diet of 1200 calories with no exercise cals, worked out 6 days week stringently, etc. (very unhealthy) so to me this seems like a realistic, more sustainable approach.

I don't mean to offend with this post and maybe messages are just getting misconstrued via the internet, but I was hoping for more support.

I was thinking the same thing about the negativety as I was reading!!! Set your goal and go for it as long as you are seeing changes. You are right at first you will see huge weight loss on the scale then it not so much, but you still keep working it and you may or may not hit your goal but you will be better than where you started. Like you said everybody is different, you know what works for you and your body! don't give up and push yourself

Like others have said, take it one day at a time. Dont' be discouraged if you don't meet your dates for weightloss... dates or times (in X amount of days I want to be X amount of weight)don't always pan out how you think they should.... you can only control the here and now... so do your very best every single day and you'll see progress

I believe health should be the number one reason for being here! Looking good and fitting into clothes is just a perk. Just my lowly opinion. :bigsmile: