Giving up

I relate also. I am like you -- I love food - I love eating it - planning to eat it -- thinking about eating it, etc. My husband is trying to quit smoking. He talks about how hard it is to kick his addiction. Well, for lovers of food - losing weight is even harder. He's never really considered my problem "a true addiction" But it really is an addiction. And for those of us who are addicted - it makes it hard, because we can't just quit eating. We have to expose ourselves to food every day - avoiding the fattening stuff and eating the good for us stuff. Eating the good for you foods is not always the most economical and when money is tight it's harder to eat healthy for two reasons: (1) money is tight (obviously) and (2) stress makes you gravitate to what makes you feel better, which isn't always (most likely never is) the healthy choice.

I understand your frustration - I've been trying to get my weight down for years and keep backsliding. But I encourage you to stay with it. Even when the numbers are not changing stay with it - do it for yourself girl!! It's a frustrating road - but there are plenty of people here who will stick with you if you stick with you!!

There's nothing wrong with stopping - reassessing - and restarting. But I do recommend staying connected here - to make sure you restart. Keep logging your food, no matter what you are eating. It's easy to lose track of how much you eat if you don't keep it logged somewhere. I'm not talking so much about calories as I am about quantity and types of foods. Keep walking, even if the scale isn't moving. Exercise is good for you and helps you with stress relief, helps you sleep better, and many many other benefits besides weightloss. Eventually your body will give in and part with a few pounds if you keep at it. Keep your chin up! Maybe step back from weighing yourself - weigh maybe 1x per month. The book dt3312 mentioned sounds like something good to look into at the library. Something that helps me is to drink plenty of water every day. I find that I am moody and constantly tired if I get partially dehydrated which makes it hard to deal with anything...and something I plan to do this time that I did not do last time is measure. I get frustrated at the scale and I have a bad habit of weighing in too much - but I truthfully don't care about my "number" as much as I care about how I look and if I am staying healthy.

It seems like you have a lot going on - and what you are feeling right now is a natural reaction to everything. I think you can do this - and I think you will come to the right decision for you! Hugs & I am keeping you in my prayers.

It sounds like you're upset/stressed over other things (I assume the job situation is resolved now? I can't tell). Pretend you are your ideal weight. What is unhappy in your life? What do you still want to change or fix. The dieting may be making you miserable because food is a way to cope. It's distracting and comforting. I think you should go to maintenance mindset and focus on the other stressors in your life. See what change you can make in your mental wellbeing.

Ok so here's a success story for you. First let me say I'm not looking for congratulations or any of the typical blah blah blah. It's appreciated but not necessary and that's not why I'm writing this.

It took my 13+ years to get healthy so I took the slow and steady route. I did low carb not no carbs but low carbs a couple of times and would lose 10-15lbs and keep it off, I'd walk on occassion but never to the point of sweating but I'd move which is what I believe kept the losses off. At some point I'd get lazy and the frequency of my walks would drop, I'm sure I had excuses but at this point in time they don't really matter.
After a while I knew if I didn't stay active I wouldn't lose the weight I really felt I needed to get off my body, my knees hurt and I didn't want to be old before my time. So that's when I hit the gym 5-6 days a week for 2 hours every morning before work. I did tons of cardio and sweat like a pig and after 6 months I had dropped 15lbs. I was frustrated and angry, friends of mine were doing the same thing and losing 35-40 lbs in the same time frame so what was wrong with me? A little situation popped up on a personal level and I gave up the gym time to enjoy the time I had left with my furry best pal, she needed me and I needed her much more than I needed that gym at the time. Well I found out just how quick all that hard work could be reversed, because 3 months later I had gained back the lost weight from the gym, accepted I was doomed to be the fat friend and thought I'd moved on.

A few months after that I don't know where this brave soul came from but I made a life changing decision, I was going to move out of state, make a new path for myself. I applied for a job within the company I worked for and to my shock I got it, things were moving faster than I expected and it scared the stuffing out of me but I did it, I believed that this was my new path. I lived with friends for a couple of months (thankfully they were and are pretty awesome people) but soon knew I needed to pick myself up and brush myself off. I started Weight Watchers mostly to try and meet new people, no sense being in a new place and having no friends so I did it. I wasn't sure what I would find but I didn't make those long lost friendships with anyone else instead I made friends with myself. I lost 33lbs on WW, half way to my goal and then life happened, I bought a home in the new state and I sold my home in the other state and it was time my husband and furry kids made the final move. I mentally said weight loss is out, this is a life changing event and for life changing events you go into maintenance just maintain what you've done up to this point. I did it, for 18 months I kept that weight off then what did I do, I got lazy again, noticed very quickly that 15 lbs came back, my knees would sometimes hurt like crazy and then I got mad, I didn't work this hard to get rid of that horrible weight just to gain it back and become lazy again.

I got up, I dusted myself off and said this is it, I'm done, I'm embarassed to look at myself, no one else cared, this wasn't about them it was about me. I was so hurt inside that I didn't matter enough to myself to be healthy that I made the descision right there in brand new fat jeans on Christmas eve that this was the first day of my new life. That was Christmas eve of 2012, since then I have managed to eat according to the food pyramid, exercised without a gym (I do have an elliptical at home) and started putting my needs back on the list. I do exercises that are fun, that I see and feel results from and I make foods I enjoy, I don't make myself feel guilty if I eat a cupcake but I do make myself earn it because otherwise it wasn't worth it.

Here I am currently 87lbs lighter than I was that very first day I was disgusted with myself in 2000, 60 lbs lighter than when I joined WW in Feb 2009 and 50lbs lighter than I was on Christmas Eve 2012.

This is why you don't give up, right here. I am strong, I am healthy, I am happy and I am proud that I did this for me.

I hope this has helped you so see someone elses story and see that you don't need to get immediate results, frustration and set backs are all part of the process but if you keep trying you eventually get where you're meant to be. Take your inner strength and run with it, try new things, make them fun. It costs nothing to go to the playground and swing on the swingset, it costs nothing to play with your children, it costs nothing to do a push up or a squat if you want it, go for it!

thank you Dawnmcneil10 for your story as well as everyone else. Realize first and foremost, we are not perfect people and we will have set backs and make mistakes in life as well as our journey to be healthy. If you focus on why you want to do this that might help. If it is for other people, it will not stick. If it is for health reasons it might stick, if it is to feel better it might stick..the bottom line is not all of us (truthfully most of us) are not addicted to exercise and running a marathon. I wish I were one of those people. I have a friend that is training for the IronMan...but its not me and thats ok. The older I am the harder it is losing weight this time....by the way I said This time...yes I too have struggled many times in my life...I am now doing this for health reasons and because I am sick of feeling terrible and feeling fat. I have about 45 more lbs to go and while that does not sound massive for me it is because I use to be over 100 lbs overweight and so I don't want to go back there. I have lost 14 so far but it has been slow and the past few weeks very very slow...the point is...find what works for you...don't worry about what works for others, remember WHY you want to do this...even if it is a pound a month or an inch a month..you are still going in the right direction. Take care of yourself emotionally and take care of your home life and just take care to at least try to watch yourself so that you don't go backwards...going forward with losing weight may have to be on teh back burner for now..but hang onto what you have done. Don/t fall off the radar..keep in touch here, we are here for one another....my favorite saying
we are not here to see through one another but to see one another through.

I joined in feb 2013 also. It is a lot of hard work. But I don't want to go back being like I was, I felt disrespected, heck I had no respect for myself, I could not fit in any of my clothes. I love to eat and would love to continue eating but I had to get the discipline to take care of myself. I did not like the consequences of overeating. You really have to be willing to do the hard work, logging those calories is what worked for me.

Please don't give up! You are so worth effort. It is a hard road, but so worth it! You got this girl!

Everybody who is trying to lose weight goes through this. Your body is adapting to what you are doing. you have to remember you are in better shape then you were when you started. You have to increase your workouts. You can either increase the intensity. If you walk on a treadmill raise the incline or the speed some. You can also change the type of workout you do this will make your body adapt to this change and you will start seeing results again. You can also increase the time you workout either adding more time to your daily routine or adding an extra day. Be proud of what you have accomplished so far it is a great thing. Just remember you get better every day. congrats on your success so far.

That was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:happy:

Thanks for so many words of encouragement.

I've come up with this solution: I'm going to continue to log but take some time to reflect, and refresh my mind. I'm not going to go crazy and binge but I'm also not going to get upset for seeing red. I have SO much stress going on in my life right now and i know that is absolutely no excuse because stress is going to happen, every day, and you shouldn't put your goals on hold because of it. I definitely need to put myself in the right mindset to do this... whole-heartedly.

I need to do some reflection on how much I care about myself also. Right now, I don't much care for myself. I need to love myself before I can fix myself or want to spend the time to fix myself.

I loved all your inspiring stories. They really gave me a piece of mind that I should continue this journey and shouldn't give up. Thanks for the new friends I made too. I hope you don't give up on me when rooting me on if I fail you.

Reflection sounds good! But keep logging! No one is perfect, everyone has some type of setback. I know life can be stressful - kids, bills, food, car, family problems, etc. We aren't going to give up on you and you aren't going to fail!

I feel like I understand where you are coming from. I have lost the same 10 lbs over and over- I was 238 at my heaviest and came down to 189, I "took a break" and got back to 210 before saying this is ridiculous. I am not be perfect, but I want to be better off physically each month than I was the month before. To me that does not mean 10 lbs thinner necessarily, but stronger, with more endurance, etc. I try and focus on the NSV's and other measures, along with the scale. It often helps for me to put it into perspective that my actions today will translate into a better, fitter tomorrow.

We've all felt discouraged at times, don't give up....you got this sister!

I can't tell you how oftenI've heard similar stories!!! I'm even one of them. I started in April 2011, through March 2013, I lost 115 pounds, had weight loss surgery for another 26, then had a bit of a rough recovery and my dad passed away, so from April 2013 to May 2014 was my "year off". I didn't really log much of anything at ALL, and just gave in to my inner child basically. I gained back about 75 pounds during that time.

I had the hurt feelings of everyone else can eat whatever whenever and not gain. I want to be able to do that. I don't want to have to live the rest of my life doing what I did to lose that weight, even though it was doing it the right way, but I don't get back to where I was (376 lbs!!) either.

I'm sure the stress is contributing greatly to the monster plateau you've encountered. It'll wreak havoc on your body if you aren't able to find some ways to try to destress. I know exercise is supposed to be one of them, and you're doing that.

I'm not sure what exactly turned be back on again....I've been gearing up for it for a while. It was sort of like a revelation.....I remember my dietician asking me after about a month of not really complying with what she was suggesting I do, "Do you want to lose weight?" I said, "Yeah". A little voice in my head said, "Well then ACT like it." 2 weeks ago Monday, I started acting like it. I lost 5 pounds last week, and have done well this week.

I just started taking the steps, and I remembered, "Oh yeah...I remember doing this...." You do have to have a reason. My reason was that we promised our kids that we'd go to Disney in 2016. If I want to do that, I'm going to have to lose the rest of the weight in time to have another skin removal surgery and recover from it. I told them I wanted to go swimming with them next time.

Everybody slips. I think it's been going around the country, because I wasn't the only one who lost my "bad@*kitten*" as someone else on MFP called it. I saw a LOT LOT LOT of posts from people who have had the same issue....whether life threw them a curveball, or they hit a plateau from someplace very hot....

Try to focus on what's stressing you out, ways you can find peace, relax, monitor your input.....meaning if you always watch the news, and all that's on there is blood, guts, fires, murders, explosions, etc......that's all negative. Quit watching it. Or if you and your husband typically watch shoot 'em up movies. Quit. Start watching more lighter type movies. If you have friends who are grumps.....you know who they are....limit your time with them.

You'll know when you're ready to hit the ground running. I've been doing this for two weeks, and my husband is finally ready to get on track too....so he says anyway....LOL Last time it took him 6 months to get "in the game".

You can do this. Please don't give up. Life happens when you make other plans. It happens. Just means you're human. Find another path around the monster-hill in the road and come on along....We're not done yet!!!