How far in was your hardest stage?

lemonsurprise · August 2014

I've only been doing this 2 weeks and just finding it suspiciously easy. I've never even attempted to diet before (god knows why not) but my whole attitude to food has changed, I have no desire to eat chocolate, crisps and coke, I actually enjoy cooking and planning meals, I can go hours without thinking about food (which was unheard of) and I know it obviously doesn't have to be the case but when I think of never eating a takeaway again - that's fine! I just can't wait to start seeing the changes! My calories have dropped about 3,000 on average from my old diet. I did actually think that I was addicted to food - I now know I DEFINITELY wasn't.

That said - nothing excersise related has changed, I'm still lazy!

Has anyone else experienced this when they first started? Is the start usually the easiest and I've still got the worst to come?! Surely all the while I feel that I'm not depriving myself, it will be easy - right?

healthygreek · August 2014

You are kinda in the honeymoon stage of changing your habits-enjoy it but from one who tried everything, take it from me, you need to add a treat often (within your calorie goal) or the day will come when you just go nuts eating your favorites.
The key to success is learning to eat everything you love in a moderate way.
It's not a "diet"-its a change you're making that will be permanent for you, i.e.-eating what your body needs-NOT more than it needs.
Although you don't need formal exercise to lose, it helps to move more and eventually find movement that you enjoy doing.
As you get closer to your goal weight and loss slows considerably, more movement will allow you to eat more at a time when your calorie goal gets decreased.
It's also great for you health, well-being and energy levels.
I'm so glad your doing so well, but this journey is long and there will be times when you want to quit-but don't-the rewards are many!

Edited for spelling

pensierobello · August 2014

I'm struggling at the moment. It's been three months. It's actually because of illness, which is limiting what I can eat and has been stopping me exercising. This is why I put on weight in the first place - illness. And it is once again causing issues. I think it's all fine and dandy when you're well and enjoying the summer, once anything in your real life hits, things become much more of a struggle.

Liftng4Lis · August 2014

At the two and a half month mark when you hit a plateau, then sit at three weeks with no loss....OH wait, that's NOW.

rrowdiness · August 2014

The first part goes through plateaus here and there but nothing major. It starts to bite about the fifth / sixth week mark, then flows again after that, and then you go through repeated cycles of the same, around six weeks per iteration (before you drop to the next weight level). It seems to go in fits and starts.

The hardest part for me was at 18 months when I'd hit goal weight and didn't know what to do next, had 500 odd days non stop on MFP and couldn't be arsed with it any more, got impatient with exercise, it was winter and cold and boring, got injured....very hard to stay on track.

Cerakoala · August 2014

Probably about months 1-4 going into my change were the hardest. I hadn't made this a lifestyle yet. My food choices were all over the place, learning what foods to pick to hit my macro's etc. Exercise still felt like a chore to me and something I didn't want to do. Over time of being on MFP, learning what others did, researching nutrition and finding something I loved to do exercise wise made it easier. It easily turned into a lifestyle after that and something I do without thinking

healthygreek · August 2014

Bump

Ninkyou · August 2014

I think the first 3ish weeks were the hardest. Adjusting to a new lifestyle, wrapping your head around the things you need to do to make things happen, incorporating a new exercise plan.

After that, it's like the flood gates opened and it was smooth sailing from then on.

I never hit a 'plateau' or anything. There were a couple weeks I didn't lose... like 2 weeks... but after I nailed down the pattern of my cycle... ovulation, period, etc, it became clear to me what fluctuations were hormonal and which were food related, etc.

MattLBennett · August 2014

The first 3 weeks and maintenance.

BigT555 · August 2014

for me the easiest was the start, especially since the scale moves pretty fast when your just starting out so i had a ton of motivation from the scale number. the past couple months have been the hardest for me because i find myself getting complacent now that im within sight of my goal, and its alot easier for me to justify a night of drinking or a bowl of chips at night thatll bring me up to or past maintenance, and since my deficit is smaller i cant really afford those as often as i did in the past

eta; that being said, with counting calories weight loss is much easier than expected in general

sentaruu · August 2014

Like most, the easiest part of this was in the beginning. the first 30 lbs just fell off. the next 60 were fairly steady too. I'm at close to 110 lbs down right now and it has definitely become more of a challenge.

yopeeps025 · August 2014

I would say the beginning was the hardest when all of those cravings were happening. Now I do IIFYM.

Craving free

happysherri · August 2014

When I hit so close to my goal, within about 5 lbs. I started to feel comfortable and better and thought I could splurge more. Just because you hit maintenance does not mean "You're Done". I still need to keep up my healthy lifestyle!

Meerataila · August 2014

Mentally it was when I was morbidly obese and looking ahead at long years of effort. So I broke it up in little pieces with shorter goals (some involving the scale, others involving fitness or clothing size) and celebrated every step of the way.

Physically this is by far the hardest. This last little bit does not want to come off, I crave more than I ever did, I have more capacity for stuffing myself than I did when I was 245 pounds, and one little slip up puts me in maintenance or gain mode rather than loss mode, and even when I'm in loss mode, it's slow!

dopeysmelly · August 2014

First 2 weeks were tough, mainly because my office is right next to my kitchen at home and it was too easy to graze all day. Once I broke that habit and stopped thinking about it, it has been pretty easy all the way. So, 2 weeks of an insatiable urge to snack, 27 weeks of being pretty easy and actually great fun.

I'm like you, OP. I've really enjoyed learning new recipes, adapting old ones, learning about nutrition, learning what nutrients are in individual foods and that's apart from watching the scale come down.

aarnwine2013 · August 2014

The hardest part for me is now. I've been at it since March. I think because I'm changing my goal and my body feels like it needs something different.

I've been doing low carb and although I love it, I'm beginning to think it's not going to be a long term solution for me. I can't explain it really it's just a feeling I get. I'm surprised because I thought I could do this forever. I've added some carbs to my diet and although the weightloss is much slower, I feel better.

I started strengh training and watching the scale go up is difficult but not as hard as I anticipated it would be.

Staying on here and reading sucess stories and focusing on changing my body really keeps me motivated. I am liking the results so far. I guess we just have to keep on keeping on and reach for the stars!

jemhh · August 2014

I started on January 1. At the end of April, when I had lost just over 30 pounds, I had a six week spot where things really got slow and frustrating. I lost a bit less than four pounds during that six weeks. Then I decided to take a one week maintenance break. After that, I switched to using IIFYM's calorie calcs (TDEE-20%), which had me eating about 200 more calories per day. That helped immensely and I was on my way again.

BarWench11 · August 2014

Once I resolved to lose I went cold-turkey on my biggest crutches - sugar and refined carbs. I was absolutely fed up with feeling like a frump, so this burst of willpower meant the first month or so was by far the easiest. Lucky, because I didn't really start to see noticeable physical change during this time.

I work in a commercial kitchen, and I remember quite clearly when the cravings started hitting me, because I would stand around ogling the pastry cart and honest to god, I would fantasise about sticking my head in buckets of brandy custard. This was around the fourth week, and coming up to Christmas.

The worst had passed by the end of the second month. I fought through it and lost around 20kg in four months. Maintenance is my next challenge.

amusedmonkey · August 2014

My hardest stage is about now. In the past I used to lose a lot while eating a lot because I was quite heavy. Now I'm not as heavy, but still not lean. The beginning is easy, because you still have the enthusiasm. The ending is hard but focused, because you can see your goal right in front you of you and you are motivated to push through.

Being somewhere in the middle, especially in the exact middle where you are thinner but still fat is the hardest stage in my opinion, at least for me. I have chosen to take a 'let them fall where they may" kind of approach and just eat at a deficit when I feel like it or around maintenance when I don't. Basically just randomly eating whatever I want within a broad range of calories rather than a hard set limit. This makes it much less stressful for me.

And to answer your question, yes, I did (and actually still do) find it easy. That's mainly because my eating habits haven't changed that much really.. I've always gravitated towards what many people consider "healthy". I just need to control for portions now that's all - and that means REALLY control my portions when it comes to candy.

Jdigs88 · August 2014

In the past, and typically, the hardest stage has been when I plateau. After about 20-30lbs, it becomes pretty difficult to shed weight from doing whatever I've been doing to that point. It becomes demotivating, and generally more difficult.

This time around, outside trauma has made 3 weeks in the tough part. My mom died, and grief is hard to work through. It's hard to keep track of things and put the energy into it when you're using so much energy with your emotions. Point being, you don't know what will happen in life (job gained/lost, relationship ending or starting, death, etc.) and things like that can make what may have been an easy stage super difficult. All we can do is prepare by trying to make habits and routines during the easy stages!

If you're finding it super easy and motivating right now, why not use that energy and ease to incorporate physical activity into the routine and habits? If you wait until the 'diet' part gets hard to do it, you may never do that aspect of things.

StaciMarie1974 · August 2014

For me it was just getting started. Had a few false starts, where I said I was going to start moving more/tracking/eating less but didn't follow thru. "This" time (started Christmas Day) maybe I just meant it, or perhaps it helped that I shared my goals with family, friends. When you tell yourself you're going to do something its easy to back down. When you tell others, its a bit harder.

How far in was your hardest stage?

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