Hey guys I need some help.

Maybe if you feel deprived, you should look at how you're going about it from a different view. I of course don't eat every little craving I get, but I do enjoy an occasional treat. Perhaps you can incorporate your lifestyle so that you can have those things. Either way, it can be very difficult. Good luck!

What I keyed in on what you said is that you feel deprived a lot of the time. My first question to you is what is causing you to feel deprived? Are you hungry? Then, for me ways that I stay feeling full is to make sure I am eating plenty of protein and drinking lots of water. Are you focusing on what you cannot eat or are not eating? Then, I would focus on changing your thinking about your new healthier diet and how the foods that make us overweight are so terribly bad for us. I would really be interested in hearing your thoughts about what makes you feel deprived? I am really just starting my weight loss--still have about 60 pounds to go out of 80. I am an emotional eater and have been dealing mostly with my triggers and trying to find other ways to soothe myself other than with food. Susan

Hi. I too have hit a "pause" after doing this for 8 months and losing over 50lbs. What I am doing for a while is eating at maintenance calories and keeping up doing my daily exercise. I do not plan to eat back my exercise calories. I am finding, mentally, that this is helping me to feel more "in control". The mental part of losing weight is harder, for me anyway. I will take this little maintenance break, then I will resume a slow and steady loss when I am mentally ready. This may help you. Don't give up though. You can get through this.

ETA - my ticker is in Kg as I am living in Australia.

I am just getting very tired of trying to lose weight. It's so much effort, and I feel deprived a lot of the time. Does anyone have some good motivation? What do you do when you get in a slump?

Thanks,

Lizzy

Losing weight can be one of the most frustrating experiences, trying one's patience like nothing else. Advice? Acknowledge this and be aware of it going in. Learn to recognize the difference between cravings of the mind and actual hunger. Learn to recognize your relationship with food - do you eat to sustain yourself or do you eat because you're bored or looking for a reward?

It's a battle that I'm going through right now as I introduce intermittent fasting into my lifestyle. (Fast 20 hours, eat during 4 hour window) Am I really hungry? Nope. Do I want to eat? Yep. In fact, as I write this I'm trying an extra extension - 30 hour fast just to get over a weight hurdle I've been stuck at for over a week.

Another thing that helps me is recognizing that this is less about loosing weight and much more about being healthy and avoiding things like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc..

Are you really only eating 1200 calories a day? That is brutal, no wonder you feel deprived.

^^^This and this:

Maybe if you feel deprived, you should look at how you're going about it from a different view. I of course don't eat every little craving I get, but I do enjoy an occasional treat. Perhaps you can incorporate your lifestyle so that you can have those things. Either way, it can be very difficult. Good luck!

Also, why does your daily goal change so frequently? It seems like you're making it harder than it has to be. I'm at 160 and losing on over 1500cals/day. Go into your settings and change it to lose 1lb a week and just leave it until it tells you to update. You'll get to eat more, feel less deprived, and still lose weight. It really doesn't have to be so hard. This is coming from the laziest person ever who hates to exercise and does the bare minimum, and goes for fast food almost ever day. Trust me. It doesn't have to be hard and depriving.

ETA: *pfft* Just checked mine and it changes for exercise. You should still have a higher starting goal than 1200, though...

I agree with both of these. My settings are set at sedentary started out at 1590 calories a day. Now I'm at 1480. Still losing here. I think when you set your goals to 1200 calories trying to lose more weight faster you can burn out. I would re-adjust to only 1 lb. a week. We need to be the "slow and steady turtle" here.

Hi lizzie,

We all go through that, you can try to change your training habits, if you do the smae thing all the time the body can get used to it, so shock it every now and again try some HIT this can even be done when walking. And dont foget to treat yourself every now and again to keep you sane and focused, alao what is you short term goal if it 20lb then thats a big ask. Set smaller goals, chive them then aim for the next one as that will keep you focused.

First of all, CONGRATS! You have clearly worked really hard to get down as far as you have and that's amazing.

Make sure you're actually eating enough. Trying to take away too much too fast can put the brakes on in a MAJOR way. Trying a more moderated approach by actually upping your calories (scary, I know!) can help push you past your plateau.

Try mixing it up. Take a different exercise class, change your weight routine or buy a different workout DVD or try throwing in some early morning power yoga for 15 minutes before you get dressed. Check YouTube for some awesome yoga videos, I particularly like any of the PsycheTruth ones, the girls are so sweet and explain things really well.

If you feel overly deprived then you risk overindulging if you ever do have some of the not-so-good-for-you foods that you might be craving. Try kids portions or share something. The first bite (or two) is the best and honestly, sometimes I will throw away the rest because those couple of bites were really all I wanted. As so many people have said, this is a marathon and if you want to maintain this, THIS IS YOUR LIFE NOW. It has to be something that you can live with longterm. I know for a fact that I refuse to live the rest of my life without ice cream, so I have to find ways to fit it into my life and my calories.

If you find your food is too bland, experiment with herbs and spices. For the most part they are calorie-free and can make a ton of difference to plain meals. Chicken with steamed vegetables sounds blah but add some cilantro, a bit of fish sauce and some fresh lime juice and all of sudden we're having a party! Indian spices in particular have mega flavour for a minimal amount and a healthy, homemade chickpea or lentil curry is a great way to get in some fibre AND tastiness. Fresh basil with tomatoes and bocconcinis with a little balsamic drizzle is a fantastic lunch on a hot day with a little crispbread or something on the side.

Lastly, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP! You have come so far and it is really inspiring to see someone working as hard as you are. You might not lose steadily as you play around with some different options and that's ok. Don't panic, just keep going and it will work itself out in a little while.