How do we carry on?

dhcwong
dhcwong Posts: 49
edited September 24 in Motivation and Support
Back again to my fitness pal. After losing about 3.5kg and being happy for the wedding in 2008, i continued working out and increased muscle mass. I put the weight on but stayed happy with my body shape because my measurements showed that it was mostly muscle. Then my weighing scales broke, and winter hit us and we decided to move to australia! Between sept 10 and jan 11 I've put on another 3.5 kg and even though i am fitter and slightly more toned, i am back to the same place i was in 2008. Clothes getting to tight, muscles underneath the flab, unhappy with going to the beach in my swimwear.

How does one stay thin forever? Am i resigned to calorie counting for the rest of my life? When does it ever get easy? How do all of you manage to keep the weight off without turning into militant calorie counters with a minor obsession with weighing and measuring food and updating your iphone apps at the dinner table?

Help!!

Replies

  • kaitlyn12osu
    kaitlyn12osu Posts: 26
    bump
  • Beth_1217
    Beth_1217 Posts: 29
    I'm wondering the same.... it seems like I can't stay trim unless I'm practically obsessed about it... I'm not even at my goal yet and I'm already stressing about it! :ohwell:
  • Silky815
    Silky815 Posts: 367 Member
    I think it has to be a continuous lifestyle change for us all. If we revert back to our old ways, we will look that same way. We have to continue to workout and eat healthier, for the rest of our lives. Good luck to you.
  • ahartery9891
    ahartery9891 Posts: 139 Member
    I don't think you necessarily have to count calories for the rest of your life.

    I think once you find how many calories you get to eat, and get used to eating that way, your lifestyle will simply adapt to this. You will know when you eat too much, or too little. It's all about a lifestyle change... I mean, I am by no means Ms. Healthy over here in the least... but what I find helps me is if I know I ate fatty foods the day before, I will try to eat healthier the next day. I'm in a job where, often on a busy shift, pizza and pop is a common dinner. The next day, I won't even go near carbs :P

    For me, I found the healthy foods I like and I roll with it. And you HAVE to have the option to eat what you want. Its just all about portion control :)
  • gebnpb
    gebnpb Posts: 166
    I'm trying to change my habits now but I feel it will always be a battle for me. No matter how healthy I learn to eat I will still always have those cravings for the stuff u shouldn't eat. Soooo I have come to terms that this will be something I have to watch until I get really old and don't care if I get fat !!!:sad:
  • nehushtan
    nehushtan Posts: 566 Member
    My aunt who is over 60 but has always been beautiful and thin and looks like she no older than 43 says that she weighs herself every morning and if she has gained a few lbs she cuts back on eating over the next few days. I don't know if this will work for me but I want to be a long-term success, not just lose weight for one year. I think we need to figure out a decent strategy.
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    I believe over time we will know how much food is too much. We'll be able to eyeball things better and the need for measuring and counting won't be there at every meal. They do say, though, that those who keep food diaries have more success keeping weight off than those who don't. I don't plan on writing my food down for the rest of my life, though. I think this is learned behavior which is replacing my old learned behavior that got me fat in the first place. Meaning I think this new "habit" will become second nature and the discipline I am learning now will help me stick with it.
  • tamanella
    tamanella Posts: 500 Member
    I've come to the realization that I'm a food addict and I will be in recovery the rest of my life and that means counting calories and measuring food, etc. I know it seems daunting, but after awhile it becomes second nature and the results are so worth it to keep going and doing what we're doing. And the key is watching the weight on the scale after reaching goal and if the pounds start to creep back on then that's the time to stop and readjust what we're doing instead of waiting until it's really out of hand.

    Good luck!
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    I've wondered the same thing! In the last 3 years I had lost 50 pounds, gained back 13 right before my wedding and since my wedding I've put on about 20....I am now just 15 pounds away from my original heaviest weight :sad:


    I'm working to get it back off again, but I too worry, will I ever be able to get it off AND keep it off? Somedays I like counting calories, but other days it makes me feel like I'm in prison. When I am not counting, I tend to drastically overestimate the good, and underestimate the bad. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to do it without counting. We're going to start trying for a baby next month, so I am worried about that too, keeping a healthy weight during pregnancy and once I'm super busy with a baby.

    So I have no real advice, just wanted to say I know exactly how you feel and I struggle with the same things. Though I do like someone else's suggestion of weighing in everyday and adjusting my eating accordingly.
  • dhcwong
    dhcwong Posts: 49
    it's soo difficult! I'm terrible at portion control. I love food and when i am dieting my belly shrinks and i feel fuller faster. Then i eat a wee bit more and a wee bit more and suddenly, portion sizes are huge and nothing fills me up anymore :(

    What i did learn was that once my scales broke, i went mad and put on all the kilos. So maybe i will have to weigh myself everyday forever, and resort to counting calories immediately when i put on a pound, instead of 5! Nip them in the bud i guess.

    Until the day.
  • dhcwong
    dhcwong Posts: 49
    indeed. it's a life long strategy.
  • Erindipitous
    Erindipitous Posts: 1,234 Member
    I find myself wondering the same quite often.. I am hoping that once I am done this hectic time in my life, I can become addicted to working out in my free time.. Right now "free time" is nonexistent.. Which puts me at a serious weight loss stall.

    I guess I'll just try to eat healthier options going forward, and when I don't have a good day, cut back a little or work harder at the gym the next. Part of my motivation to get a hold of portion control is to practice setting good examples for my eventual children.. Better start making it a habit now.

    I must say that when I was at my comfortable weight of 112, I weighed myself every day. That number showed me how I was doing. If it went up a pound or two, I would monitor it (since it could be TOM or other factors) and choose healthy food, and I would usually see it go back by the end of the week. Once I stopped weighing myself, that's when I packed on 15.. Real quick.

    The scale is your friend when you're maintaining.. Not so much now when I'm trying to lose -- The scale and I aren't talking on a daily basis anymore.. He stresses me out too much. :P
  • nehushtan
    nehushtan Posts: 566 Member
    Here is the main resource people look to for research on long-term maintenance of weight loss:

    The National Weight Control Registry: http://www.nwcr.ws/

    I think there is a lot, a whole lot, to learn about this issue. I don't think I will consider myself "successful" until I've kept it off for at least five years. Hopefully by that point it will be a life-long habit and I will have learned with it takes, whatever it is, that makes it last. I've thrown away all the old clothes and am actively planning to figure out how to keep that weight from coming back.
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