Recognizing your "weak links"

Nataliea87
Nataliea87 Posts: 29 Member
in Getting Started
I understand, this weight loss thing is all about a "lifestyle change". It means I need to change the way I live my LIFE, if I want to not only want to lose the weight, but keep it off.
But, I'm going to be honest with myself. I like my life. It's very comfortable for me just as it is. If I didn't like it, then it would be much easier to change, because there wouldn't be any residual attachment to certain habits. However, I DON'T like being overweight, and out of shape. Which is why I'm here, and tracking what I eat, and exercising on a daily(ish) basis. And hoping, of course, that at some point I'll come to enjoy this newfound lifestyle, as much as (or more?) than my previous one. But currently, when I'm 20 minutes into a Zumba routine, I'm usually thinking to myself: "15 more minutes, and then I can take a nap today." I know, horrible. Intrinsic motivation is sure to come eventually, probably when I actually start to see more definitive results of my efforts. Hopefully.

So I thought I would start a thread to draw attention to the weak links that everyone is experiencing along their journey. Because, being honest again, my biggest obstacle is myself and I have the feeling that goes for a lot of people here. I'm of the mindset that if you identify your "weak links", the awareness alone can sometimes be enough to override them. If not, it can at least give you a chance to think up some defenses to prevent the undoing of all your good dieting/work for the day. Take yesterday, for instance. So good all day! Packed a lunch, tracked my calories ahead of time, made great decisions...until I got home. And it's as if I walk through the door in my house, and it magically erases all of my good feelings about my previous good behavior, and replaces it with "Ahh, yes! I'm a skinny 21 year old again! Diet? What diet? Exercise, pshaw! My metabolism is through the roof!" and chaos ensues.

Slightly stale bag of cheddar cheese combos? Oh, don't mind if I do, that sounds like a DELICIOUS snack!
Baked ravioli for dinner? Let's make that a double serving, I'm feeling a little peckish.
Exercise? but the Avengers is on....I'm pretty sure by watching them run around, I am vicariously participating in exercise.

And so on and so forth. So, I've taken to making little post-it notes, and putting it on stuff to "remind" me to stay on track. Literally. The Double-Stuf oreos in the cupboard have a post-it note on it that says: "Eat 1 of me, 20 mins of Zumba."
And, I have a piece of paper with a picture of me from when I was actually a skinny 21 year old taped to it, with a few things to remember such as:
-if you weigh X, you'd be able to fit into your Taverniti jeans again.
-If your waist line gets to be X, you can wear this dress again
And finally, my personal favorite:
"If you get to XXX (goal weight), you are hereby authorized, with Hubby Approval, to go out and buy 3 new pairs of shoes, and 3 dresses/outfits to match, because obviously you're going to look fabulous and you'll need some new outfits to match said fabulousness."

So, how about you? What are your weaknesses, and your tactics for dealing with them?

Replies

  • LazyGuy91
    LazyGuy91 Posts: 171 Member
    Dealing with stress is mine, especially since I can barely get to the gym anymore because of my schedule.

    Staying motivated is key for me. Just gotta keep moving sometimes.
  • laura3773
    laura3773 Posts: 67 Member
    My big weakness is mindless snacking - especially with things like goldfish or cheez its or tortilla chips. I've found that the only real way for me to combat that is to keep that stuff out of my house as much as possible. I'm not going to gain weight mindlessly snacking on cucumbers (which I do sometimes, I love cucumbers!), but I will gain weight if I eat the entire carton of goldfish in two sittings.

    If I DO bring my trigger foods into the house (I have a toddler, hard to avoid goldfish forever), I buy the smallest container I can. Then at least when I go nuts the damage is somewhat limited and can be worked off with a little extra exercise.

    Edited: I DO eat my share of chips and such, I just go to Wawa and buy a single serving pouch when I'm really craving something like that.
  • reneb28
    reneb28 Posts: 13 Member
    I have 2 young boys and a Boyfriend who don't share the eating habits that I've changed to. So I ALWAYS have tempting food in my house! I have to muster up some serious will power, which i usually do. On top of that we are on a tight budget so sometimes I don't have the option to buy what I want, so I end up caving, it's hard to resist Doritos when you're out of your favorite healthy snacks! As for the mindless snacking (I'm guilty) so I've tried putting out a bowl on the counter of whatever snack it is, just ONE serving and every time i go into the kitchen that's what i reach for and I know I ate a serving of that snack. That way i don't "lie" to myself and think I only ate one serving when I actually ate three!
  • rrowdiness
    rrowdiness Posts: 119 Member
    I think one of the hardest things to get across to new starters to MFP is that lifestyle changes occur over a long period of time, and while we can comprehend a long term goal, we're used to instant gratification - and that's most people's 'weak link' or 'temptation'.

    When I started MFP it felt very much like someone had taken things I enjoyed away from me, out of my life, it really sucked. But I agreed with myself that I'd give it a go and be honest about it for a month (by 'honest' I meant I would log absolutely everything and be honest about what i ate).

    That first week was a huge eye opener because it was literally all the temptations or things I used as a reward that were causing me grief. And of course you don't lose weight instantly so forgoing temptation with no reward felt like masochism.

    So rather than going cold turkey on everything, I thought of what I'd be prepared to give up for one month, and what I'd be prepared to do for one month, to hit my daily targets. Not big changes, but little ones targeting a little temptation. For instance - reduce the size of my glass of orange juice, and at the same time, walk to the train station and back instead of driving.

    Funnily enough I got used to both REALLY quickly - in 2 weeks. So one day I halved the glass of orange juice again, and poured in water to fill up the glass. A week later, just water. And that's how I got rid of 120 calories per day over 3 weeks, whilst adding 120 calories of walking. That's close to two thousand calories a week, for a single incremental change in attitude - I don't NEED to drink this juice.

    One of my life metrics is now to resist temptation - if I'm tempted to do something (buy a Slurpee on the way home, get chips from the vending machine, cut short a run) I parse that for whether I will get more out of resisting the temptation, or giving into it. Sometimes it is the latter - when it's been a heavy day and I've done a big burn and have heaps of calories spare, or whether being cold and wet and rained on 8km from home is worth it - but most of the time it's the former, and I gain by not giving in.
  • horsehockey
    horsehockey Posts: 24 Member
    Lack of patience is going to be my weakest link. When the first inevitable plateau hits, for example.
  • blackcat487
    blackcat487 Posts: 2
    My weakness is social eating a drinking. I love hanging with my girl pals, talking 3 hours on end and eating/drinking the whole time. I don't even think about dieting then. There is no diet at this time! Once home and realizing I drank 900 calories in beer and 1,800 calories in food later... regret.

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