Can't seem to get going!

NicksWTB
NicksWTB Posts: 54 Member
Hi folks

I'm really struggling to stick to my healthy eating plan. It doesn't help that when I get stressed, I just want to eat all the wrong things like biscuits (especially biscuits!), chocolate and cake!!! Like many others, I started off January very positively and after 3-4 weeks I'd lost 6 pounds. I've had a very stressful few weeks at work, and wham bam.....it's all back on again.

The good thing is that I've come back and started logging my food again, but I just don't feel very motivated. I love to go running after work, but I've been working late, the weather has been vile and cold and I've just not felt like doing anything.

Can anyone help me get my motivation back please? I don't have any friends nearby who can be a running buddy with me as I'm a bit reluctant to go in the dark. I usually do a zumba class at least once a week, but I've not even felt like doing that!

I hope I'm not the only one who feels like this. I feel like a baby elephant and I hate it. I feel tired, fed up and overweight!!!

I'd really like either a) some good advice; b) someone to help motivate me; and/or c) a massive kick to get me going again!!

Thanks :-)

Replies

  • licorice_tea
    licorice_tea Posts: 59 Member
    Sorry to hear you're feeling unmotivated -- it happens to the best of us!

    I can relate because I don't know anyone else who is on a weight loss journey, and my partner whom I live with is one of those people who is shockingly thin, can eat anything, and loves to populate the place with biscuits! I don't know about you, but if foods I love are in the house, I will eat them, so I try not to buy them in the first place. You can't eat biscuits if you don't buy them, and I find it easier to stop myself at the till than at the cupboard. If it's someone in your house who brings biscuits in (alla my partner), are there any biscuits that they like that you don't like? I ask my partner to buy junk foods I can't stand to prevent temptation.

    The weather has kept me from exercising too, so I'm trying to compensate with indoor versions. Jump rope is a great running-like cardio that you can do indoors anytime, and hint hint, if you don't have a jump rope, you can just pretend you have one and move your arms like so. I learned that from the Jillian Michaels 30-day shred video, haha. You could also do the 30-day shread, which last I checked is on youtube, if you have weights, or in my case tinned-anything or bottled beverages, which work just as well.

    Sometimes I really lose motivation when I fall off the wagon hard, and especially when the scale creeps right back up to where it was before. It seems like it only takes one socially-important cheat meal for it to happen sometimes! I guess I don't have any magical advice there, but when I want to quit or I want to go eat something, I spend time reading the MFP forums instead. It keeps me entertained, and keeps my goals at the forefront of my mind. It's really hard to gorge on chocolate (I've found) while reading MFP :)

    And I'm sure many members here would say -- give yourself a treat every now and then! If you love biscuits and chocolate and cake, budget in a small amount every day to keep you going. Or maybe you'll find it easier to save all that stuff up for one giant junk food session (I find eating larger quantities more fulfilling so that's what I do!). Maybe book in a cheat dessert 1-2 times per week.

    Finally, feel free to add me! I don't consider myself super motivational I suppose, but I'm new here and would like to make some friends such that we can mutually kick one another back into action :)

    Best of luck!!
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
    I find the switch is either on or off. But what is motivating me at the moment is seeing some new year pics :noway: I hate the way I look and I dont want to look like that anymore!! :mad:

    So, stick an overweight pic of you on the fridge......or on the biscuit tin!! :flowerforyou:
  • emblu
    emblu Posts: 272 Member
    Get on youtube if you really don't want to go out in the bad weather. Its free, you can find absolutely every type of workout there is on it and you get to choose the length of time to do it. More importantly it will break the feeling low cycle you seem to be in........nothing better than a endorphine high from a workout to blow away the cobwebs and cheer you up:smile:
    Other than that do what I do; play rugby, you discover a fondness for training in most weathers and a new family lol x
  • cooky_monster
    cooky_monster Posts: 68 Member
    Thanks for the ideas guys! I know this isn't my post but I am having exactly the same issues as OP and finding this advice very helpful :happy:
  • First up, don't be too hard on yourself!

    You proved that you can lose weight, so you know what to do, but no one ever said this would be easy. I firmly believe that the body has evolved to preserve it's fat stores to protect it through the lean times, and it has various weapons at it's disposal, eg when you start eating at a deficit:
    1) you just move and fidget less, reducing calories burnt and eliminating hte deficit;
    2) you feel grotty, making it more likely that you will move less and eat more; and
    3) you feel hungry!

    To overcome this you need to persevere and push through. The advice about exercise is absolutely spot on.... this is the way to break the cycle. If you haven't already I suggest that you have a look at the Eat, Train, Progress group. there is an awful lot of common sense talked in that group that may well be just what you need....

    Good luck, stick with it (log everything, good or bad - become obsessed!) and let us know how you get on!
  • NicksWTB
    NicksWTB Posts: 54 Member
    thank you ALL so much for your brilliant advice. Over this last weekend, I've come to the realization that I really don't like what looks back at me in the mirror and I have to do something about it instead of moaning! So, the line has been drawn (I don't know how many times I've said this!), I've revised what I eat and have reduced my carbs (not cut them completely as I exercise frequently so need some carbs), and have stayed away from biscuits, chocolate, cake and general rubbish.

    The bonus is, that I've lost 5lbs so far, so I must be doing something right.

    I CAN do this and I WILL do this!!!

    thank you again everyone it's very much appreciated :-)