Here we go again.

nettybby
nettybby Posts: 2 Member
edited September 2024 in Introduce Yourself
Hm let's see this is my what, 4th time doing this sort of thing. Joining a site and logging my food/exercise. It just never seems to work for me. I'm a horrible procrastinator and always put things off, like exercise and even eating. I don't really eat a lot but what I do it is not even close to being healthy. Vending machine snacks are a problem, especially at work. It doesn't help that I work the overnight shift either. Working 10hrs and eating what, a milky way and a small cup of microwave mac & cheese; and out of boredom a pop-tart, at least I drink just water, but still not exactly a balanced meal. At home I eat maybe a sandwich or cereal. And then I sleep all day. That's another big problem, figuring out when I should exercise, before or after work. It all boils down to lack of motivation and pure laziness. I hate that I've let myself gain so much but I sure can talk myself into putting it off, "oh I'll start on Sunday, oh ok the first of next month...no wait the 8th of next month.....no maybe the 3rd Sunday after 6 weeks from next Friday". Yeah.... But that's how I am with things, if it's not a requirement, I won't do it; if someone isn't constantly reminding me or bugging me to do something, I won't do it. I'm excellent at keeping deadlines and meeting goals, but only professional ones that are well, required (like for a job or school). Wow, this got kind of long. Haha. It's 4:22am, I'm at work and my lunch consisted of a twix, roast beef sandwich from the machine and fruit gummy snacks. :/ At least I'm drinking water! :D

Replies

  • LowCarbAmanda
    LowCarbAmanda Posts: 129 Member
    I can identify with you. I used to put off eating, and then go for something convenient rather than something healthy. I'd skip breakfast, not bother bringing lunch to work, and then buy Cheezies and Coke from the vending machine late in my shift, after most other people were gone. Then I'd not bother with dinner until I was hungry way later, around 10 pm, and who wants to cook? So, pizza pops it was. Eating well is so much more difficult. And it meant eating more. I find I eat WAY more now that I'm trying to be healthy. There are a lot more calories in Pizza Pops and Cheezies than in cauliflower and salmon fillets.

    And I felt zero incentive to change. In fact, my husband has even complained lately that there is less of me to enjoy. That's a disincentive, but I'm quite enjoying using my MFP app, and seeing my body change. It's actually quite fun! When I started in September, I expected to cheat and fail. I haven't cheated yet! I don't want to sabotage what I now know I have the potential to do. Good luck to you!
  • grillsergeant73
    grillsergeant73 Posts: 3 Member
    i feel the same way too. i would start off strong with logging in my daily exercise and food diary, but the longer i was on teh program, the harder it was to discipline myself to keep up with it. now that i am deployed, i HAVE to work harder to discipline myself to workout. i know that most of the people that i know, mostly guys, workout during their down time because they said there isn't much to do BUT workout. easy for them to say. i work at the dining facility and it is so easy for me to have access to the food. i am trying to balance my intake to limiting junk food and whatnot, but again, it's easier for me to have access to food than it was for me before when i was back in the states. the only exercise that i've done since i've been here (a little over a week ago) was walk to and from my workplace from my living quarters, which is 10 minutes each way. however, i can do calesthenics like pushups and situps when i get home. that is what i should do from here on out. i have a physical training test to take when i get back home. i am given 42 days to retrain my body after a deployment, but like i mentioned earlier, most people during deployments workout during their off time. nettybby, hang in there.
  • roland72
    roland72 Posts: 58 Member
    Hi, nettybby logging food and exercise alone wont really help you to lose weight. All you will get from logging your food intake is the realisation that you eat more calories than you should and the little message on MFP telling you how much more overweight you will be in 5 weeks ... not great for a motivation.

    I travel a lot for work (70% of my time) and spend a lot of time in airports, on the motorway, in hotels ... and it is very very easy to snack and eat unhealthy things and to come up with excuses. It is very tempting to fill up the car in the petrol station and while queueing to pay to add a twix or mars bar (or hey why not buy 3 for the price of 2 after all the deal is too good). It is very tempting to have a starter, main course and pudding in the evening in the hotel restaurant when you're not the one paying the bill. Or to have a full english breakfast in the morning because ... well it's there ... and while we are at it lets just take a muffin from the breakfast bar for on the road. You know you never know how long it might be till the next snack.

    Logging my food intake has made me realise that what I was doing was outrageous, I was eating 7,000-10,000 calories a week more than what I should have been eating for my lifestyle and level of activity no wonder the pounds piled on. I used to come up with tons of excuses why I couldn't exercise or why I couldn't eat healthy or why I couldn't stay on a diet, why they don't work for me. I used to blame external factors and everybody else but me for what was wrong.

    Bottom line is after a major scare a couple of weeks ago which resulted in me going to hospital with a suspected heart attack, which embarrassingly turned out to be muscle spasms due to shovelling snow, I have decided that enough is enough. I didn't want to wait till new year to make my resolutions but to start straight away.

    I have realised that there are NO reasons why I can't cook healthy, why I can't prepare healthier snacks in advance or why I can't exercise. There are no REAL reasons why I can't lose weight. None whatsoever. I'm the one that orders the extra fries, I'm the one that raids the mini bar, I'm the one that grabs the extra bar of chocolate, I'm the one that orders another pint of beer. Not my spouse, not my parents, not my upbringing, not my environment, not my work schedule. It's me, nobody else. The second I realised that a lot of things changed.

    For me it now all comes down to preparation and making time. At first things will take more time because you need to get into a routine, but it does pay off.

    Each saturday I take an hour to go through my week and plan what food I want to eat. Note not what I am allowed, but what I WANT to eat. Making a meal plan helps me to get things sorted in my head, and plan my calorie intake. It also helps to plan the shopping for my wife as she knows what she wants to get rather than both of us aimlessly walking along the aisles filling the trolley up with crap. If you don't like cooking or hate the prep time then buy frozen stuff. By that I don't mean frozen pizzas and burgers, but frozen veg or other parts of meals. Hate chopping onions and peppers? Buy them frozen, problem solved. I know that it may sound pretty straight forward and makes common sense, but if it does, then why isn't everybody doing it?

    My biggest downfall is snacks and it is something that I will not entirely compromise on. I have dieted before and one of the things which always made me fall off the wagon were snacks. I am always on the go so it is very easy to just grab a prepacked calorie and fat laden snack. And lets face it "diet snacks' don't exactly taste the same as proper snacks now do they? if you like chocolate eat chocolate, not some substitute, just eat less of it.

    I have found that little children's snack box sizes do the trick perfectly. They are smaller, but are still the same tasty stuff. So why not substitute a big adult bag for a smaller bag? I now also prepare little packs of snacks, naughty stuff such as nuts or other nibbles in advance. Just buy some small cheap sandwich bags, a pair of scales and a large tub of nuts and work out what a good portion is. Make bags for the whole of the week and incorporate them in the my foods section so that you can add them quickly to your diary.

    As far as exercise goes this may seem trickier but it isn't. Exercise doesn't have to be going to the gym, it can be a half an hour brisk walk round the block every day. But I guess any form of moving around is better than sitting watching telly as I used to do.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    It's hard for your body too working nightshifts. Our inside clocks are in sync with the day/night cycle and our bodies were meant to sleep and heal at night. It's got to be that much harder to stay on track with that kind of working shift.

    I'm not overweight (but losing 10 pounds wouldn't hurt) - just here to learn what I need to be putting in my body and to keep track of the fat, sugar and sodium intake. And to keep on track to getting fit. But it seems that every time the scale drops I start back up on the sugar. And lose another day of exercise in the week.

    The holidays haven't helped at all. The customers I support are giving me chocolates. People in the cubicles around me are passing around tins of cookies. It's hard to say no. I was at first but this week so far hasn't been good. At least I'll be at my parents house over the holidays. They won't have unhealthy foods.

    Just keep trying.

    On a good note. I had two pieces of chocolate last night. I just logged it and I didn't go over in calories, sugar, sodium or fat. They put me over on carbs and my dinner put me over on protein. That made me feel much better.
  • nettybby
    nettybby Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks everyone for the encouragement! :) I just walked my dog, 30mins around my neighborhood. I might make it a thing to do every morning when I get off work. ^_^
  • alliecarl2002
    alliecarl2002 Posts: 1 Member
    This is the second time that I am posting on this site, I had not worked out for awhile and I let the holidays snacks and foods consume me. I understand what you mean by starting and stopping and being organized with other things but not this. I have decided to make me a Priority from now on. I know it took some time to gain the weight and it will take even more time to lose it. I owe it to myself to make this happen. Good luck to you, I am sure you can do it this time.
  • roland72
    roland72 Posts: 58 Member
    well done for going out with your dog for 30 minutes ... all exercise counts to burning off calories. I'm sure your dog will be grateful too for the extra fresh air :)
  • jrlenig
    jrlenig Posts: 364 Member
    This too is not my 1st site or attempt, but it sounds like you may have had your moment, heck you started on a Tuesday, good for you, and working midnights and beginning do whatever workout that you feel comfortable with. Just know this ( I sound like a infomercial) starting healthy habits like walking your dog, taking the stairs could take the elevator ( did this all summer semester!), parking at the back of the lot at Wal-Mart instead of waiting for a closer spot, will make you take healthy snacks and lunch with you to work, cause who wants to put in all that effort and not see results! Good luck and welcome, I have found MFP to be the best online weight and fitness community ever, so shout out to my MFP sisters and brothers thanks for giving me help on this fantastic carnival ride!

    P.S. I am sure the dog would also love it if you stuck with it!
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
    @Netty - Welcome to your new 'lifestyle'. This is not something you do for awhile to lose weight. This is who you are and how you live. Losing weight is a happy side affect of this new life. It is not hard, once you've made up your mind that you don't want that old lifestyle anymore.

    You may fall along the way and revert back to some actions you did in the past. But you only need to forgive yourself and get up and move forward.

    See you out there...
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