Nothing like starting over for the millionth time...

I wonder what I can do differently this time that will make me continue and not give up. We shall see!
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Replies

  • Me too!! I've reset my mode from "diet" to "lifestyle change"... hoping that this will make a difference! :smile:
  • kmidash
    kmidash Posts: 21 Member
    I figure starting over is better than continuing on the "wrong" path. So for the millionth and one time- here I go-lol
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    Not saying this is good but what happened to me this year was I went on a break (due to other factors in my life) and I was eating crappy, not working out and then one day I was like WTF am I doing? I worked for 2.5 years to get to this point and I'm not throwing it all away so I got up and went to the gym and it was like a kick start to my next goal.

    Because I didn't gain much during my time off but I wasn't working out my body started to get lazy and then going right back in help to really drop weight.

    However, you can do this - just one day at a time. Don't look at it like OH MY - I have XX lbs to lose and I'll never get there, look at it like I want to lose 10 pounds by summer, another 10 over the summer, etc etc. Those small goals help to break down the big goals and make them more attainable annnnnnd do not forget to treat yourself every now and then, totally erasing all good non-nutritional value foods will really hurt your progress if you start craving them and it's all you can think of

    Best of Luck to you :)
  • Ryandecheney314
    Ryandecheney314 Posts: 139 Member
    Sorry if I am so "blunt" but if you want it bad enough then there would be no need for starting over again and again. ITs not about what you can do differently but more about what you can do to change your lifestyle around and stick with it. weight loss isnt easy, if it were obesity wouldnt be such a big factor these days.

    The first thing you need to do is have the right mindset. If you have any doubts going in your chances for success are going to be slim to none.

    The second thing you need to do is find something and STICK with it. Find a program, stick with it, if you dont lose weight after a few weeks instead of giving up or changing to a new program because your current one "doesnt work" just lower your calories a little bit. no matter what the program is the main concept is "calories in vs calories out"



  • jillmarie125
    jillmarie125 Posts: 418 Member
    Sorry if I am so "blunt" but if you want it bad enough then there would be no need for starting over again and again. ITs not about what you can do differently but more about what you can do to change your lifestyle around and stick with it. weight loss isnt easy, if it were obesity wouldnt be such a big factor these days.

    The first thing you need to do is have the right mindset. If you have any doubts going in your chances for success are going to be slim to none.

    The second thing you need to do is find something and STICK with it. Find a program, stick with it, if you dont lose weight after a few weeks instead of giving up or changing to a new program because your current one "doesnt work" just lower your calories a little bit. no matter what the program is the main concept is "calories in vs calories out"



    This. You have to want it more than anything. It isn't easy... but it's worth it.

  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    I yo-yo dieted for most of my life, here's some of what I did differently this time:

    1. Did not overly restrict - in the past I thought I had to cut back and eat nothing but plain chicken and salad, I was always hungry, and if I kept it up my husband would have divorced me cause I wasn't a pleasant person. Find a reasonable calorie deficit.

    2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.

    3. Setting unrealistic goals - I used to tell myself I had to lose so many pounds per week or I was a failure... nope if I log and follow the plan consistently the weight will come off. Learning it's about more than just a number on a scale helped too, changing the goals to health and physical goals helped too.

    4. Taking personal responsibility for all my choices - this is a big one for me, no one forced me to get fat and no one is going to help me get fit, this is my decision and totally up to me if I succeed or fail.

    5. Learning to have patience! This takes time

    6. Learning about portion control & moderation

    7. Being completely honest with myself

    8. Learn about nutrition, if you hear some diet idea - question it, research it, question it some more, don't blindly believe everything. There are no magic pills, diets, etc. there is show up, put the work in consistently, and get results.

    9. Don't compare my progress with anyone but myself. Always try to be better than I was yesterday.

  • Colleen118
    Colleen118 Posts: 491 Member
    I yo-yo dieted for most of my life, here's some of what I did differently this time:

    1. Did not overly restrict - in the past I thought I had to cut back and eat nothing but plain chicken and salad, I was always hungry, and if I kept it up my husband would have divorced me cause I wasn't a pleasant person. Find a reasonable calorie deficit.

    2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.

    3. Setting unrealistic goals - I used to tell myself I had to lose so many pounds per week or I was a failure... nope if I log and follow the plan consistently the weight will come off. Learning it's about more than just a number on a scale helped too, changing the goals to health and physical goals helped too.

    4. Taking personal responsibility for all my choices - this is a big one for me, no one forced me to get fat and no one is going to help me get fit, this is my decision and totally up to me if I succeed or fail.

    5. Learning to have patience! This takes time

    6. Learning about portion control & moderation

    7. Being completely honest with myself

    8. Learn about nutrition, if you hear some diet idea - question it, research it, question it some more, don't blindly believe everything. There are no magic pills, diets, etc. there is show up, put the work in consistently, and get results.

    9. Don't compare my progress with anyone but myself. Always try to be better than I was yesterday.

    THIS. Only you can take control of you. This is a life changing thing and should be something that is sustainable for the long term. Anything you are doing "just to lose 10 pounds for the holidays" is not likely going to be something you will continue. You have to find a deficit you are comfortable with and maintain it. Get active if you aren't, become more active if you already are and can.But you have to be responsible for you and you have to make a change that will be permanently sustainable. Want to indulge in chocolate? No problem, just be aware of how it is fitting into your over all goal. One piece is not going to derail you, unless you let it derail you.

    Find a "program" that makes you happy and works for you.
  • ruffnstuff
    ruffnstuff Posts: 400 Member
    I yo-yo dieted for most of my life, here's some of what I did differently this time:

    1. Did not overly restrict - in the past I thought I had to cut back and eat nothing but plain chicken and salad, I was always hungry, and if I kept it up my husband would have divorced me cause I wasn't a pleasant person. Find a reasonable calorie deficit.

    2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.

    3. Setting unrealistic goals - I used to tell myself I had to lose so many pounds per week or I was a failure... nope if I log and follow the plan consistently the weight will come off. Learning it's about more than just a number on a scale helped too, changing the goals to health and physical goals helped too.

    4. Taking personal responsibility for all my choices - this is a big one for me, no one forced me to get fat and no one is going to help me get fit, this is my decision and totally up to me if I succeed or fail.

    5. Learning to have patience! This takes time

    6. Learning about portion control & moderation

    7. Being completely honest with myself

    8. Learn about nutrition, if you hear some diet idea - question it, research it, question it some more, don't blindly believe everything. There are no magic pills, diets, etc. there is show up, put the work in consistently, and get results.

    9. Don't compare my progress with anyone but myself. Always try to be better than I was yesterday.

    **slow clap** YEP! It really works, but you have to put in the work and give yourself a break. None of us who have been successful losing weight have been perfect. Just keeping moving forward and the consistency will help you.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
    edited November 2014
    I yo-yo dieted for most of my life, here's some of what I did differently this time:

    1. Did not overly restrict - in the past I thought I had to cut back and eat nothing but plain chicken and salad, I was always hungry, and if I kept it up my husband would have divorced me cause I wasn't a pleasant person. Find a reasonable calorie deficit.

    2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.

    3. Setting unrealistic goals - I used to tell myself I had to lose so many pounds per week or I was a failure... nope if I log and follow the plan consistently the weight will come off. Learning it's about more than just a number on a scale helped too, changing the goals to health and physical goals helped too.

    4. Taking personal responsibility for all my choices - this is a big one for me, no one forced me to get fat and no one is going to help me get fit, this is my decision and totally up to me if I succeed or fail.

    5. Learning to have patience! This takes time

    6. Learning about portion control & moderation

    7. Being completely honest with myself

    8. Learn about nutrition, if you hear some diet idea - question it, research it, question it some more, don't blindly believe everything. There are no magic pills, diets, etc. there is show up, put the work in consistently, and get results.

    9. Don't compare my progress with anyone but myself. Always try to be better than I was yesterday.

    I agree with this.

    You do not want to have to post another thread come 2015 saying this is the million and one time trying again. So make a plan and stay consistent.




  • 2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.


    I think overall this is my problem. I try to be so "good" in the beginning that if I mess up I say heck with it and the whole thing is ruined. I need to stick with it even if I have a bad day or two.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    ..except failing for the millionth time.

    DON"T BE THAT GUY.

    Be open minded. Have a learney attitude, one of humility.

    Seek out the successful.

    When someone links you threads consider reading them.

    When another person links you the same threads really think hard about reading them.

    When a third person links you the exact same threads again, KNOW you must read it before you do another single thing, don't even get up to pee until you have read and re-read that thread 3 times to make up for the times you arrogantly ignored it.

    Good luck!

    YOU GOT THIS!!
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
    grnice39 wrote: »
    I wonder what I can do differently this time that will make me continue and not give up. We shall see!

    You only fail when you give up.

  • shfoster0721
    shfoster0721 Posts: 239 Member
    Everyone has a bad day from time to time. If you fall down 7 times get up 8. Just because you have one bad day doesn't mean it's ruined. I have lost 119 pounds since January. If you think it wasn't easy to get here, you are wrong. I had hiccups along the way but I really want it. I made a plan, stuck with it, and made a lifestyle change. Feel free to add me if you need extra support or motivation.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
    Change your mindset.

    You're not actually starting over. You're not at square one. You are now armed with knowledge of both nutrition, and your own personal habits and foibles, that you didn't have when you started this journey. You are better off already.

    We have to stop thinking of fitness in terms of black and white. This is not a win/lose or pass/fail scenario. It's a very broad spectrum, and every choice you make throughout the day is either on the healthier or less healthy side of that spectrum. Drinking a glass of water instead of a soda tips you toward healthier, taking a walk, running some intervals, passing on the butter, weighing your ice cream to get only the amount that will fill out your calories for the day instead of eating the carton...it all puts you on the healthier side of the spectrum.

    Start from here. Make some good choices. Not every choice has to be the best one, but start trying to tip the overall tone of your choices into the healthy side, and stop agonizing over every choice as if one less-than-ideal decision can derail or reverse all of your progress. You'll be not only fitter, you'll also be happier and less stressed.
  • gle8442
    gle8442 Posts: 126 Member
    I feel you! What I tell myself is that it is a process. Sometimes it also helps to look at how far I have come. When I think about the past I can see that nowadays, even during the periods when I gain weight, I still eat cleaner and exercise more regularly than I used to when I was younger. When I was in my early 20s I dieted all the time and my diets were very extreme (and they worked, because I had a good metabolism!) whereas now the line between "dieting me" and "regular me" is pretty thin. Hopefully eventually I will reach the point we all aim for, where eating healthily and exercising regularly becomes a lifestyle that I never give up, even for a little while, but in the meanwhile it helps to think of the path towards reaching that place as a spiral, rather than a straight line. That is to say that I might have some good days and some bad days and even some good years and some bad years but overall the trajectory is in the right direction. So if you hit a rough patch, don't take it too hard, just pick yourself up and brush yourself off...
  • theDollyB
    theDollyB Posts: 8
    edited November 2014
    Me too!! I've reset my mode from "diet" to "lifestyle change"... hoping that this will make a difference! :smile:

    This is what I am doing! Before, I literally would last about a day.
    Granted, I've only started this lifestyle change a week ago, but I haven't quit.
    Researching what I was putting in my body made feel horrible. I immediately quit the sodas and just started drinking water and limiting my calories a bit.
    I did a personal grocery haul (I live with roommates), and when I'm hungry, instead of grabbing a freezer meal, I drink a bottle of water, or grab some fruit.
    So far I've lost 8lbs in a week which shouldn't happen, but cutting out the sugar, I'm sure it was just bloat that went away.
    It's a difficult challenge nonetheless!

  • MzCoats
    MzCoats Posts: 3 Member
    Im starting again as well!
  • D_squareG
    D_squareG Posts: 361 Member
    Don't consider it "starting". You are working on learning new habits and getting rid of old ones. You won't be perfect everyday, but you will continue to try to learn new habits and get rid of old ones. Be realistic in your goals. Log your food, all of it, even when those old habits sneak back. Don't stop logging your food. Eventually new habits take hold.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
    edited November 2014
    grnice39 wrote: »



    2. I always thought I had to be perfect, the typical all or nothing attitude. - Not this time, if I go over my calories or my macros look like crap for a day no big deal (my diary today is a good example of this), it's fine, delicious food logged and tomorrow is a new day.


    I think overall this is my problem. I try to be so "good" in the beginning that if I mess up I say heck with it and the whole thing is ruined. I need to stick with it even if I have a bad day or two.

    OP, remember your first day of grade school. Sure, you were a little unsure, but more than that, you were excited, holding your Big Chief tablet and brand new pencils. That's where you are now - starting a new learning adventure. Learning about food, nutrition, exercise, fitness.

    When the teacher asked you to write your first "a", it wasn't perfect, was it? Maybe yours was, but mine wasn't. It was a wobbly circle with a haphazard line in close proximity. It was horrible. By the end of the day, I had a page full of wobbly "a's" - not very pretty, but a beginning. But I didn't "fail" penmanship that day. And the next day I tried again and did a little bit better. By the end of the school year, I could write the entire ABC's with relative legibility and extreme confidence because I consistently practiced what I was taught.

    That's what weight loss it like. Consistently practice what you are taught about food, nutrition, exercise, fitness - there are SO MANY MFP members who have successfully changed their lives for the better through health and fitness who REALLY WANT TO HELP YOU - and you will improve and see great results.

    Now, go pick up your Big Chief tablet and new pencil and starting writing the letter "a".

    Best of luck,

  • MichelleV1990
    MichelleV1990 Posts: 806 Member
    I'm on my 2nd time around, too. The only failure is in quitting. As they say, the older you get, the more difficult it becomes to shed unwanted pounds.

    I used to be one of those all or nothing types also. I realized how unrealistic that is. Changing your lifestyle doesn't mean you have to give up everything you love...that just sets you up for failure. The key is portion control and diligent logging. I try to log everything as I eat it so I know how many calories, etc., I have left to work with. Just because you earn calories through exercise doesn't mean you have to eat all of them back, either.

    I know it's hard for younger people, but they really need to think ahead to when they are older. The normal wear and tear on our joints happens to all of us, but is compounded when extra weight needs to be carried. Don't wait until you're old and in pain to begin taking better care of yourself....Do your future self a favor and start being the best you can be in each day you are given.

    People on MFP are extremely supportive and will be the last to judge when minor setbacks occur. The support of my MFP friends has been a huge motivator in keeping me on track. When you have that many people cheering you on, you are bound to be a success! Take one day at a time, and break it into mini goals. Each step you take in the right direction is a victory in itself.

    Good luck on your journey...You have more people rooting for you than you realize!