How do you make it a lifestyle change?

I stopped letting the excuses win.

There is no better answer.

OP, your post is full of excuses. You can probably find excuses for all the other excellent suggestions in this thread, too.

But nothing will work until you stop letting the excuses win.

This may not sound 100% healthy but it works. If you get somewhat addicted to the whole thing, you won't be able to let yourself slide. Don't let yourself stay away from the MFP site.... log at least once a day. Spend time on other health and diet related web sites. Think often about planning healthy foods, exercise, etc and look in the mirror a lot. Feel areas like your stomach and hips with your hands to gauge whether you feel mostly soft fat or hard muscle, and measure your waist, hips, bust, upper arms, and thighs regularly. If your mind gets used to running on this track, when you start to move away from it, you'll miss it and won't feel right without sticking to your weight loss and fitness behaviors.

That said, definitely avoid ED behaviors like skipping meals, binging and/or purging, ridiculous bony thinspo pictures, punishing yourself with too much exercise, etc. You don't want to tip over that edge.

i TOTALLY agree with this. i may be obsessed at times and at first i was just totally obsessed but i had to be. and i still am although i have mellowed a bit. because i pretty much gained it by being obsessed. i was obsessed with food. and now i had to move that obsession into something else. for me i was constantly reading magazines (i like self and womens health and fitness magazine), to keep myself in the mindset with simple motivations and ideas coming in all day. i read up on nutrition, i read a nutrition book for kids to my son and then re-read my college textbook for depth. made sure i knew why everything and what would work best. just constant ly thought about how to turn it around and that obsession... was extremely important. i also got obsessed with fitness. working out gave me an even better feeling than food ever did and i push myself harder each time. i find i eat the most on weeks when i work out the least because i dont get that healthy energy, so i try to make calories give it to me, especially sugar.

One Day At A Time...

Planning is essential, so is forgiveness. I have been on MPF for about 18 months and only in the last 2 have I really cracked down and gotten on a good and reasonable path. It can take time to be mentally ready to make changes too. I started with small ones: eliminated trigger foods, planning breakfast for the week so I had fewer excuses to stop at Panera/Burger King/McDonald's; then moved on to planning lunches and dinners and snacks. I schedule my training sessions a month in advance and get a phone call/text if I don't show (I work with a trainer in small group sessions 3x a week), I also schedule my horse-back riding time so I have no excuses. Do you watch TV after the kids go to bed? Do mini workouts during the commercials.

Forgive yourself, don't stress over shoulda/coulda/wouldas or what you did in the past. It is over and done with, focus on making today better than yesterday. BTW, there are days when I take them an hour (or less!) at a time. I tell myself, you just have to make it to 3, then you can have chocolate. Don't cut out all the fun/"forbidden" foods either, make room for them in your meal plan. I plan chocolate into each and every day, if I don't eat it, I have a better deficit, or can have more of something else. The occasional overage of calories isn't the end of the world so long as it isn't happening every day.

I make daily goals; I will walk at lunch, I will work out with the trainer, I will stay under my calories, I will drink 8-10 cups of water, I won't kill/maim anyone today. I have long-term goals too but those are sooo big that the thought of losing 80+ pounds is overwhelming, so I work on each day, and don't focus so much on the big goal.

Get your family involved with the meal planning and prep, if everyone is on the same "wagon" you won't feel left out or deprived because they are having something you "can't".

Get a Fitbit or a heart rate monitor to track your workouts so you can more accurately calculate what you are burning for calories.

Repetition makes habits, habits make a lifestyle. Good luck and have FUN!!

A friend of mine says that an excuse is the skin of reason, stuffed with a lie. We all have excuses we can use, we can try and reason our bad choices but they may not be true. I have found that making my workouts and sticking to my meal plans a priority has really made a difference. I log in all my food, water intake, and exercise to MFP faithfully and I like the instant feedback of how much I would weigh if I ate/exercised like this everyday. I'm under 200 lbs for the first time in a long time and still have 25 lbs more to go, but I take it one meal at a time, one workout at a time, and I don't let myself get sidetracked. I keep my schedule flexible enough to be able to respond to any sudden bumps in the road. Planning and preparation are key also. I lay my workout clothes on the bed so when I get home in the afternoon I immediately put them on and go work out. I think out my whole meal plan for the week and buy groceries accordingly. I also cook several meals in advance. Go through the pantry and remove the junk. Take one meal a week as a cheat meal. Enjoy it and don't feel guilty about it. It's not what you do occassionally that will make a difference, it's what you do consistently that will. Best of success

Having someone take the journey with you is a huge help. You can be held accountable by each other. You both understand how difficult it can be at times to find the time to work out, plan meals, etc and be each other's cheerleader if discouragement sets in. Only someone going through the process themselves can truly understand how difficult and frustrating it can get at times. We can all use a pat on the back and a word of encouragement every now and then.

I've also started and stopped many times. Always gaining my weight back each time.

I started again in the last two weeks here. From what I've read above I'm noticing two recurring trends:

1. Baby Steps - several small changes over a long time seem to make for a new habits/lifestyle
2. Sustainable Changes - The baby steps above must be sustainable. IE: If you can't do it forever, then you failed before you started.

Thanks everyone for helping me realize what I also have to do.

I am with you OP. I did the same thing. I'm on my 71 day streak and this time i did a few things differently..


1. I realized that how i lose the weight is how i will have to maintain it. So no excluding carbs..sugar..or any food groups. i make my food tasty and eat what i like… i don't feel deprived at all. I also set my calories high..at 1640..and eat exercise calories back too.

2. I exercise so i can eat more and i feel much better too

3. I consider myself at maintenance already

4. i am not weighing myself until i get to how i want to look. I do measure and try clothes on… that way i don't let the scale get me down.. i'm just getting healthier.

Good luck..

Lots of great advice already.

I agree one day at a time and it has to mean enough to YOU!!!!

WHY do you want this?
Your healthy?
your kids?
To be around?

Etc.
Write it Down! Put it up someplace at the house. We ALL fall at times, but then look at WHY you want this and you CAN do it.
One day at a time,
One pound at a time.

Motivation is ultimately from within, but lots of people helping and cheering can mean a Ton.
We are here for you!

For me? It was starting to gain weight and feeling bad and then having my cholestoral (and my husbands) come back Really Low on the 'good' side. We had two very young kids then. Someone needs to be here for them! So Bam... I found the things I had to do to make me keep doing it.
A big part of that is being here, and encouraging others. It encourages me.

My numbers are Much better... not perfect, but better.
My husband hasn't made any changes and his numbers are exactly the same.

Each day you wait is another day your body is working harder to do the very basics.
Breath
Pump Blood
Digest food
Handle sugar.
Etc. etc.

We get One body... thats it.
What we do with it is up to us

Bump for later

Habit it is the key idea here.

“Watch your thoughts for they become words.
Watch your words for they become actions.
Watch your actions for they become habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
And watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
What we think, we become.
My father always said that... and I think I am fine.”
- Margaret Thatcher

If you enjoyed running stick with it! Sure races are fun, but you can still set running goals for yourself without having to participate in actual races.

pplastics wrote: »

I stopped letting the excuses win.

This is pretty much the only answer. Lots of good tips and tricks in this thread, but this statement is the heart of it.

Even being selfless and saying, "I'm busy helping the kids" or "I had to work late" is a poor excuse once reframed, "I was tired after helping the kids and didn't feel like cooking", "I stopped and picked something up after a late night at the office instead of planning ahead". Sometimes you just have to put in the grunt work.

Just my two cents.