How to make sure this time is different?

gr8xpectationz
gr8xpectationz Posts: 161 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'd tried to lose weight before, with no success. Weight loss is always hard, and PCOS (for some people) changes a lot of the 'rules'. About a year ago, I saw a bariatrician (weight loss specialist, not a surgeon), She prescribed a regimen that actually worked! (It included just 1300 daily calories, which is substantially fewer calories than MFP recommends. And lots of protein, and very few carbs). But it worked!

I fell into a routine of logging here, and generally staying within my doctor's tight and challenging recommendations. And I started getting more exercise, and surprisingly, loving it! I used Couch-to-5k to run my first mile in more than two decades. (It took 17 minutes, but I did it!) Anyway...things were going great. I started at 283 and got down under 250 over about 4 months.

Then I fell off the wagon, and over the course of the last six months, I've gained it all back. Now I'm starting again...and getting excited again.

So my question is, how do I make it a lifestyle change instead of some stupid wagon I could potentially fall off of? How can I make sure this time is different?

Replies

  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    You did it once you can lose again. Go with the recommendations but up the calories a little bit. This will help you keep to it. Also if you have a party or other occasion let yourself have an extra 500 calories or so for the day and don't beat yourself up. Just get back to normal the next day. Yes I said "normal". Making the right choices should be your new normal. The higher protein and lower carbs will be your new normal for the rest of your life even when you go into maintenance. Doing some form of exercise almost every day will be your new normal.
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122
    You have been successful so you will be again, 33lbs in 4 months. It appears you hit the 6th month mark and something happened. Why not set a goal (full 5k)/vacation/something that motivates you that will occur 1 year from today and work towards that goal. That should get you past the 6 month challenge and hopefully make this a permanent lifestyle for you. If you can replicate your previous weight loss totals you should be in the neighborhood of 75-100 lbs in a year using the program you have already shown works for you.

    IMO, once you see those changes and hit that goal a year from now, the excitement and motivation of your success will keep this a lifestyle and not just a "wagon".
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I was just thinking the same thing today. How can I make sure this time? I've lost 46-47lbs and I'm at the thinnest I've been in 20 years, but I've lost weight many times successfully over the past 30 years on almost every diet you can imagine, but I've never ever maintained my weight for even a year. This time around I've made the least radical changes to my lifestyle in order to lose the weight. I didn't include any exercises that I don't enjoy or think I'd do anyways. I only walk (for now). And I eat anything I want as long as I stay in my calorie allowance. Pizza, wings, cake, fast food...etc. If I want it badly enough I'll eat it but I'm completely accountable for it. Will this work??? who knows, but I'm really really hoping it will. At the end of March I'll be at one year on MFP and I should be at my new revised goal or close to it. Clearly from past experience this journey will never truly be done and logging will just have to be a part of my life from now on.

    So I guess my only advice would be don't create a dieting style that you wouldn't enjoy doing for the rest of your life.
  • cpusmc
    cpusmc Posts: 122
    I was just thinking the same thing today. How can I make sure this time? I've lost 46-47lbs and I'm at the thinnest I've been in 20 years, but I've lost weight many times successfully over the past 30 years on almost every diet you can imagine, but I've never ever maintained my weight for even a year. This time around I've made the least radical changes to my lifestyle in order to lose the weight. I didn't include any exercises that I don't enjoy or think I'd do anyways. I only walk (for now). And I eat anything I want as long as I stay in my calorie allowance. Pizza, wings, cake, fast food...etc. If I want it badly enough I'll eat it but I'm completely accountable for it. Will this work??? who knows, but I'm really really hoping it will. At the end of March I'll be at one year on MFP and I should be at my new revised goal or close to it. Clearly from past experience this journey will never truly be done and logging will just have to be a part of my life from now on.

    So I guess my only advice would be don't create a dieting style that you wouldn't enjoy doing for the rest of your life.

    This is excellent advice. In both diet and exercise, find what works for you and what you enjoy as if you dont enjoy you wont stick to it. In the end it is a lifestyle that never ends and remaining diligent and dedicated is the hardest part. So since it never ends, best to find diet and exercise methods that will keep you coming back, month after month, year after year.
  • laciehelfert
    laciehelfert Posts: 3 Member
    I personally think the best way is to have a plan. It takes the thinking out of it. I go into the gym knowing exactly what my workout will be, I don't have to come up with it. I also prep my meals for the week (all 6. NO excuses if it is ready) I think the best way to slowly adjust your lifestyle. You can't wake up one day and think you are going to do weight training and cardio 6 times a week without burning out! I started out using Jamie Eason's LivFit Program and loved it. It was really simple and eased into a regular gym/ healthy diet routine.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    My approach has pretty much been what LoriVaughan said she's doing (Hi Lori!)

    I was obese for 18+ years and tried just about every diet out there. A friend of mine asked me a few years ago - why do you think your last diet failed? (Back story, I'd lost like 50 pounds on Atkins and did well for a year but it didn't work long term and the weight slowly came back. And she's a personal trainer and never had weight problems so it was honest curiousity). At first I brushed off this question like "who cares, water under the bridge" but it just kept popping into my head so I gave it some real though and realized the one thing that ever diet I'd ever tried in the past had in common was deprivation. No carbs, low fat, low calorie, no sweets, no junk, etc. Of course that wasn't sustainable!!

    So this time around I vowed to continue to eat the food I enjoyed (with some slight tweaking for the sake of health/calories) as long as it fit within my calorie goal (or pretty close). And about 4 years in, I haven't given up once! It's been slow and steady but that's completely ok with me! And I'll be honest and say I've taken some breaks - don't log on vacation and the occassional weekend away but I've been pretty consistent - but I always come right back.

    First off, I'd advise you to think about why you fell off the wagon. If you're really honest with yourself, maybe the diet was too restrictive? Maybe this time you need a bit more calories or to allow yourself a weekly/monthly indulgence. Like I said, Atkins worked great for me for a year but once I fell off, I just could not get back on because I wasn't willing to make the sacrifice. You have to find a happy medium.

    Best of luck!
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    You have to reach a point where the pain of going back far exceeds the challenges of pushing ahead. Going back can not even be an option anymore. This is a tough battle, and it takes a true belief that where you're going is the ONLY place you can exist from now on.

    What are your goals? Do you have a strong vision of your end result? Not just looks, but how do you want to feel? How do you want your life to look after you've stepped into a "new" you? The stronger and clearer the vision, the more likely you are to fall in love with it. Envision an extraordinarily life to come, and never lose sight of it.

    Who you're becoming has to become far more important than who you are.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Recognize and embrace the fact that you are never done and that there is no finish line. The biggest mistake people make is hitting some arbitrary goal and then they're "done". You are never done...your health, fitness, nutrition, etc are lifelong endeavors...there is no finish line except the one you cross when they put you in a box.
  • Lld320
    Lld320 Posts: 81
    Find something you enjoy doing for exercise. Accept the fact that you are going to fail to eat well sometimes and either plan for it or make up for it the next day. Pretty simple, but just don't give up: you are going to go on vacation and gain 5 lbs at some point, just get over it and get back to work losing it. Momentum is everything, just don't lose it.
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    My approach has pretty much been what LoriVaughan said she's doing (Hi Lori!)

    I was obese for 18+ years and tried just about every diet out there. A friend of mine asked me a few years ago - why do you think your last diet failed? (Back story, I'd lost like 50 pounds on Atkins and did well for a year but it didn't work long term and the weight slowly came back. And she's a personal trainer and never had weight problems so it was honest curiousity). At first I brushed off this question like "who cares, water under the bridge" but it just kept popping into my head so I gave it some real though and realized the one thing that ever diet I'd ever tried in the past had in common was deprivation. No carbs, low fat, low calorie, no sweets, no junk, etc. Of course that wasn't sustainable!!

    So this time around I vowed to continue to eat the food I enjoyed (with some slight tweaking for the sake of health/calories) as long as it fit within my calorie goal (or pretty close). And about 4 years in, I haven't given up once! It's been slow and steady but that's completely ok with me! And I'll be honest and say I've taken some breaks - don't log on vacation and the occassional weekend away but I've been pretty consistent - but I always come right back.

    First off, I'd advise you to think about why you fell off the wagon. If you're really honest with yourself, maybe the diet was too restrictive? Maybe this time you need a bit more calories or to allow yourself a weekly/monthly indulgence. Like I said, Atkins worked great for me for a year but once I fell off, I just could not get back on because I wasn't willing to make the sacrifice. You have to find a happy medium.

    Best of luck!

    Hi Minnie! I think we're weight loss twins! :laugh:
  • pinaypanda87
    pinaypanda87 Posts: 20 Member
    Dont give yourself a deadline because when you hit it, it implies that youre done, and there is always room for improvement. Choose a routine you can be comfortable doing for ALWAYS, and allow yourself a cheat meal for your sanity and overall life happiness. Be healthy, eat healthy, and the weight will handle itself. Make self improvement a part of your weekly routine like work or feeding yourself. When its no longer an option, but a habit... youll find that your lifestyle has changed.

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