When does it start feeling like enough is enough?

It's only been a week. Just keep logging your food and be honest.

Just drawing from my own struggles, this is the first time I've felt like I'm doing something that could be a sustainable lifestyle for me in the long term. In the past 10 years I've gone from 210 to 135 to 160 to 140 to 180 to 150 to 176 and now 154 and still chugging along, hoping to get to my goal of 135-140. The most important thing for me is accountability. I've incorporated fitness into my life, not just cardio to burn calories like I have in the past. I also used to tie exercise into diet, so if I wasn't eating at a deficit for a day, I'd skip exercising with the mindset "what's the point of working out if I'm eating way too much?" The point, is that I am currently losing weight eating about 2500 calories a day. This is after eating 1600 for a while, then switching to 1800, and 2200 and so on. I've gradually increased my intake while lifting weights and am now more interested in body recomp than weight loss.

Figure out some fitness goals for yourself, ones that require commitment and practice. Lift weights. Eat food. Be awesome. Drink water if you're thirsty, don't just cram it in because you're "supposed to." Give yourself 4 weeks on your plan and then look back at what you've done.

Serious question: What's the coconut oil lifestyle?

I use coconut oil, too, but not exclusively. It has too low a smoking point to fry anything :bigsmile:

I bought and use a Nutribullet -- Protein shakes on weight mornings -- Fruit/vegi blends on run mornings

I started C25k and though I've only been going a week ( and will be repeating week 1) I can see myself going the distance

I am careful to maintain my deficit, though it's NOT perfect and will sometimes be under or slightly over ( given my exercise calories earned back)

I am currently weight training at home, though it's very moderate. ( Oral surgery in one week...will be joining the gym when the pain is gone)

I am now living the coconut oil lifestyle.

I am drinking more water daily than I ever thought a body could hold.

So, at what point will it feel I'm doing enough to get the body I want? I understand it takes "time" and "patience" and "dedication"...I admit I'm extremely short on patience.

I just can't help feeling I'm not doing ENOUGH, quickly enough.
I don't think I'm really looking for answers, just needed to vent some frustration with the seemingly empty hours of my day when I feel I should be running again, or working out again, or maybe another protein shake to see faster results. ( Really drinking them to meet my dailies....have had a hard time of it, even with eggs and tuna)

Any insight would be appreciated though, or feel free to vent YOUR frustrations.

My question is are you planning on doing this for the rest of your life? Not to put a downer on you I've seen this quite a few times on MFP. Someone decides to change absolutely everything and it just ends up as unsustainable after the first few weeks of eagerness it slowly slips. Small changes that are sustainable over the long term and limit the chance of reversion. I hope you do manage all you wish for but would caution you to just take a breath and slow down. Have a look around the boards see what the successful people are doing and just have some patience

Good luck with your goals

GIVE IT A MONTH of working out 3-4 times per week and keeping calories around 1500. I'm on my second weight loss journey, and both have been pretty much the same. My first significant weight loss was in 2000 when I was 32; I lost 60 pounds in 4 1/2 months by restricting calories and running. Simple as that. I kept the weight off for almost 8 years before I had some major life changes and gained it all back, and then some (I gained over 100 pounds). On April 1st 2014, I weighed 254 pounds. I decided to change my life and implement a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. The first two months, I could only walk, and it would take me 20 minutes to walk a mile (I'd walk 3 miles per day). As the days went by, I began to walk a little faster and by the third month I was even jogging some. Today I'm running over a mile without stopping and have gotten my mile time down from 20 minutes to 12 and I've lost 45 pounds in the last 3 1/2 months! Now I jog 3-4 times per week and work in two other workouts in between (elliptical or kettlebell). Am I where I want to be? NO! But I look at how far I have come in such a short period of time and I have a hard time being discouraged. As far as dieting goes, I keep my caloric intake under 1500 cal/day. I don't swear off carbs, I eat pasta and bread, I eat desserts, but I log EVERYTHING I put in my mouth in a food journal and stick to the 1500. I have even gone 'all out' on a couple of special occassions and ate whatever I wanted, but was back to the plan the next day. I too am VERY short on patience and am constantly 'beating myself up' for not losing more or being able to do more exercise (i.e. run father, run faster, lift more) than I currently can. I get discouraged all the time but I refuse to let the negative talk get back into my head! I have about 60 more pounds to lose before I reach my goal weight but I know I will be able to do it before the end of the year if I just keep moving forward. Every step, every day, every bit of effort makes a huge difference. Maybe not immediately, but collectively!

Don't give up!