Can't Stay Healthy For More Than 3/4 Months

Mattkaz85
Mattkaz85 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 14 in Motivation and Support
Hi, I've been using the MFP app for while now but have never posted on here. I love coming on here and looking at the success stories and the before and after pictures.

I have always been up and down with my weight lose for about 12 years. In high school I lost probably 90lbs all by myself and since then there has probably been 4-6 times I've lost 20-40lbs. I could've been the super in shape if I would've stuck with it but I can't. My last stint with MFP I had logged in for 125 days and lost around 37lbs. I even ran for 3 miles non stop, a new best for me.

I get super motivated and into it and lose a bunch of weight and then I quit cold turkey and ruin it all for the next 7 months or so and then get back on it. Every time I stop caring my peak weight gets higher than the last time. Its not a matter of what I need to do physically or my diet but how can I stay consistent? I like working out and the way I feel when I'm healthy but then I'll slowly start eating out for dinner and allowing eating bad "once and a while," that soon turns into more and more and then I don't care.

When I'm eating good and working out I'm such an expert on the dos and don'ts of losing weight but I get kinda get discouraged when the weight doesn't come off as fast as I feel it should. I also feel bad because I don't see that much of a difference, even though I hear it from people and feel it when I can work out better. Doing this so many times I've educated myself about everything, I should care more when I fall off, right?

When I'm heavier I don't really feel like I'm fat or it bothers me. I eat TERRIBLE and it doesn't bother me one bit. When I'm hungry I want to eat a bunch of food and I then eat a bunch of junk and I then feel like I can think clearly ("why did I eat that poison"). I always have to finish 100% of my food. I eat enough for probably two people. I absolutely know that what I'm doing is not good at all and that fast food is complete garbage but when I'm in my "off season" it doesn't bother me. Its weird too, I know I'm kinda almost back to dieting because its bothering me a little now and I get disgusted with myself afterwards. I know notice this is how I feel and before I get back into diet and exercise.

When I'm eating healthy and exercising you'd swear that I would never go back. I get obsessed with it, which may be my problem? I want to get back to being eating right and exercising but I don't want to fail again. I'd love any suggestions or feedback to help me stay committed for the long run.

Replies

  • ginsmar
    ginsmar Posts: 12 Member
    I am not an expert by any means, but have been using the MFP over 3 yrs, plan was a 4 yr process and I am 85% to my goal. I use the diary every day, currently closing in on 960 days in a row, it is part of ma day, it is my sort of medication to guide my health. For the most part I have set plan to lose .5 or 1 lb per week, and exercise plan was and 3-4 times per week. Keep plan workable, and allow yourself a treat once per wrek, we used to have chip night, now can't remember last chip night we had.
    Another good motivation is heart monitor unit, measures heart rate when exercising, you will see progress. Lastly don't just rely on scales, measure different parts of body, arms, thighs waist etc each month, calculate inches lost, many times more than scale will show.
    Trust this may help, good luck, I know I changed my life with this, hard journey , but better off for it.
  • Mattkaz85
    Mattkaz85 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for the input. Wow 900+ days is crazy!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Are you really unhealthy when you go off the fitness/diet bandwagon for 3/4 of the year?
  • Mattkaz85
    Mattkaz85 Posts: 3 Member
    Yes. I don't work out at all and eat whatever.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    All you yo yo dieters are bonkers. Cant hink of anything more depressing of loing gaing and losing the same weight. You are smart enough to have identified the points where the wheels come off, so be smart and work on a plan B and C to make the next time different. That means you have a strategy in place to deal with the situation and get you past it. You will need to commit and then focus on it because otherwise its going to repeat.

    Knuckle down and sort it out. You are responsible for yourself so you need to turn cant be bothered into can.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

    Albert Einstein


  • rumijs
    rumijs Posts: 218 Member
    I understand where you're coming from. I've never been more than 30 lbs overweight, but I've experienced the same type of thing. Where I'm really good for a few months, and then I just fall off after I've lost 10-15 lbs. I've never felt extremely overweight, either. So bouncing back a few pounds here and there was/is discouraging, but it never sent me into a discouraged depression or anything (like it does some people). I just went with it, got back on the wagon about 2-3 months later and did it all over again. Yes, this seems crazy to many people -- to continue to sabotage your body. Why go through all that work and undo it so easily? Great question! I don't know!! Seriously. It doesn't make any sense, but that's the problem. If it did make sense then there wouldn't be so many yoyo dieters. I think the problem is more deeply rooted than "finding triggers" or "meditating", which is what a lot of people say. Sometimes we simply lose the ability to care about the weight or ruining progress.

    Finally, about 3 years ago I got to the point where I might fall off, but I didn't gain the weight back, I just maintained and was less toned (yes, this would be more fat than muscle but sometimes it's just the numbers on the scale that I worry about even though that's not right). Depending on how you look at it, it is a little bit of progress. I still had less fat than at the start of it all.

    Recently, I've gained it all back. Still no more than the 30 lbs overweight I've always been, but a disappointment now. Since I made that new "maintenance" weight a few years ago, I tricked myself into thinking that I could eat whatever and stay there. Truth is, I could have. IF it was only a couple months of eating like crap and not exercising. But it wasn't. It was almost a year, and I gained 15 lbs because of it.

    The funny thing is, like you, when I'm in it, I'm IN IT. I push it 110% in workouts and nutrition. I know the dos and don'ts. Hence the ability to drop when I need to. It's just the lifestyle that I have a difficulty keeping up with. I'm bad about discouraging myself because I like consistency. So if I miss a workout, or have a really bad nutrition day, it kind of spirals out of control from there. I'm still learning how to not punish myself for being normal and to take it in stride. To miss 1, 2, 3 days of exercise, and pick back up with 110% without getting down on myself. To eat a couple of cheat meals in a day, and realize that everything ISN'T screwed up because of it.

    So that's where I'm at now. Trying to make this into a lifestyle instead of a daily goal. If you'd like a friend in your journey, I'm here :)
  • MindySaysWhaaat
    MindySaysWhaaat Posts: 401 Member
    Mattkaz85 wrote: »
    When I'm heavier I don't really feel like I'm fat or it bothers me. I eat TERRIBLE and it doesn't bother me one bit. When I'm hungry I want to eat a bunch of food and I then eat a bunch of junk and I then feel like I can think clearly ("why did I eat that poison"). I always have to finish 100% of my food. I eat enough for probably two people. I absolutely know that what I'm doing is not good at all and that fast food is complete garbage but when I'm in my "off season" it doesn't bother me. Its weird too, I know I'm kinda almost back to dieting because its bothering me a little now and I get disgusted with myself afterwards. I know notice this is how I feel and before I get back into diet and exercise.

    From the two lines I have put in bold, I can guess a couple things. Please tell me if I'm right or wrong. I can assume that you have foods you consider "good" and "bad" and chances are when you are on your healthy mode, you are restricting yourself from eating a lot of things. I had this exact problem. For me, when I was yo-yoing it would really only last a month because I was restricting and bingeing. This time what I've been doing different is that I don't consider any food good or bad. I'm working on portion control and moderation more than worrying about "what" I'm eating. Also, I don't beat myself up when I have bad days, because it just keeps me in a rut of having more bad days. I've done better when I can just accept the fact that I've gone over, and move on.

    If what you've been doing is not working long term, maybe it's time for a change of perspective? Good luck.


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