Living At Dangerous Weights

Jane1320 · April 2011

I wanted this to be my blog title, but I couldn't figure out how to edit my present blog or start a new one. I don't always find MFP that user friendly.

Anyway I wanted to ask people how they keep themselves motivated to lose weight. I weigh 255 pounds presently at 5' 4" and intellectually know I need to lose weight for my health and if I want to live a long life, but I find myself still most of the times eating the wrong foods, giving one excuse or another. I think I realized that I've been living this way so long, I don't remember what real discipline feels like. About 16 years ago I lost the only real weight I've ever lost, 30 pounds. When I look back, I realize it was'nt easy, I woked for it, I have to convince my self to make the right choices and there was a lot of planning and preparation. Today I find myself looking at riends that are at a normal weight and fell like that have some type of magic that keeps them thin, but I know it's not true that thety just watch what they eat and excercise.

I do believe that I have an addiciton, dependency on certain foods ususally sweets. I've had perfect days calorie wise and with food choices and I blow it at night because I need my fix of something with sugar. I remember hearing in overeaters anonymous that you must fight the voice in your head to eat the wrong foods, It is a fight. I have a compulsion and I must get tough and fight that voice, I do have an illness, I think I must look at it that way to survive. I have gainned 5-7 pounds every year for the last 12 years that means in 5-10 years I could weight 300 pounds, THIS IS CRAZY. I have to get very serious and stay consistent.

johnthefatman · April 2011

Refined sugar is genuinely addictive IMHO - you have to get it out of your system - cold turkey - then after a while your taste will change and many of the things you crave now will seem way too sweet. That's my experience anyway - for evening snacking for preference I go to crackers with a little cheese had and pickles especially pickled vegetables.

jkestens63 · April 2011

bump

ifiwasurvampire · April 2011

I had the same issue. I weighed 220 at 5'2. I never took it seriously until feb this yr when I realized I need to better myself so I'm around to watch my daughter grow up. Unless you're serious about sticking to a diet and doing the work needed to lose weight you will never be ready. Yes at first its extremely hard eating less and having the motivation to work out. But if you try you can do it. Since feb 17th I have lost 24lbs! I wish you the best of luck!

catcrazy · April 2011

I'd start by not having the danger foods in the house, if they're simply not there you cannot eat them. If you have a shop close to hand that you will nip out to if the munchies strike then change into your night wear or something that you really would not be seen in public in...and put face pack/hair dye/ hair treatment on...anything that would delay you getting ready and leaving the house...in the time it takes you to get ready you may be able to talk yourself round.

The other thing, how strict are you being with yourself, if you ban this that and the other its inevitable that you will crave it. Make nothing off limits, build it into your daily calories, work out to earn the calories for that cookie/crisps etc

SueInAz · April 2011

I chose to go low carb because of my penchant for eating sweets at night. Since I can only have so many grams of carbs/sugar per day, I know that just one little piece of candy is going to destroy my whole day's hard work because it will have more sugar than I'm allowed for the whole day. That helps to give me the willpower to not eat it. After awhile, I don't even want or "need" it anymore.

I don't know if it would help you to try to think of sweets that way. They are saboteurs, underminers of hard work and sacrifice. If you allow them to rule your life, they always will. Kick them to the curb, find a more healthy alternative (preferably not food, but carrots, or sugar snap peas or something similar will do) to eating sweets and you'll find they have less and less of a hold on you as time goes by.

Jane1320 · April 2011

You're right, I have to give up the sugar...thanks for your reply

jane1320:flowerforyou:

Jane1320 · April 2011

Thanks for your repsponse, very encouraging to hear from another mom that's been in the 200's that has lost a good amount of weight and who can relate to how I feel. I've be fooling around for years now....I get serious counting calories watching the food etc, excericing than before I know it, I stop trying and so it has gone on since the last time I was at a normal weight in 1994. This is really ridiculous. I said to myself that I have to try to find some type of mental state that works for me, that motivates me, even though my counselor has used humiliation without success, I'm starting to believe that I need to use it with myself just a little bit and even anger..I know that my coworkers have watched me blow up...I say to myself wouldn't .it be great to shock the hell out of some of them and lose this weight,,,it will be interesting too to see how some of them treat me differentlhy...I have to have some type of a mental shift to keep me on course....committment to a food plan is the hardest thing for me....but what I'm realizing is losing weight IS NOT EASY, if it were, everyone including myself would be in great shape, it takes perseverance and commitment, I used to jog in my 20's and I remember when I first got into it, it was not easy, I had to learn to control my breath and I had to keep jogging every other day or I would have to start all over building my stamina....when I want to eat the wrong thing or overeat I need to think of my jogging and that eventually I ended up in great shape because I stuck to it.

Jane1320 · April 2011

Thanks...you're right about the sugar....it's the devil for me....I have tried low carb a bunch of times South Beach, when I'm serious I do watch the carbs and sugar in my choices.

Dawntodusk · April 2011

I was addicted to sugar. My daughter gave me a book called "Suicide by Sugar" which gave me the motivation to go cold turkey. It was hard for 3 weeks, but since then it's been easy. I was never more than 20 pounds over my normal weight, though, so you might have a more serious addiction than I did, so it might be different for you. I mean, although I was addicted to sugar, I still had pretty good eating habits otherwise, and have always worked out. But, as far as getting the sugar out of my system, I agree that cold turkey is the best way - and the belief that your taste buds will change. They really will.

Jane1320 · April 2011

Hi thanks for your repsonse....my addiction is more in control than it used to be....this started as a kid, it's learned behavior my mother has a sweet tooth and when my dad died passed when I was 11 she was disconnected from us because of grief and did not restrict what we ate, but we also learned to eat healthy food and I do eat healthy food to this day, addictions as you may know are both mental and physical, I do have physical cravings for the stuff especially when I'm tired, but I don't always go out and buy a big stash, maybe just one thing....but I do need to remove it totally from my diet, my overweight is a result of a lot of bad habits including the sugar, but I'm on day 2, back to MFP and feel good. I think what got me scared this time is I thought I gainned weight, I may have.....my home scale weighs one way and my docs always seem to be 3 to 5 pounds more....I do remember being around 252 before the holidays....and I've been picking up Easter candy here and there and finally said to myself you have to stop youre going to kill yourself

Living At Dangerous Weights

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