disheartened--how do you stay on track?

It's all in my mind. I just REALLY want it. I remind myself throughout the day.

It's all mind over matter. You just have to consciously decide, multiple times, throughout every single day, "Is this [insert food here] worth putting me over on calories today? Is it worth setting me back by this amount?" Some days, and some foods, those answers will be yes. Some days, and some foods, those answers will be no. The more conscious you are of your behavior, the easier it is to change it.

For instance, today it was worth it for me to have an iced coffee with lunch; it was 200 calories that I wanted to treat myself with. Coworkers offered me donuts... And I decided that the setback from those (cos I can't stop at just one ) wasn't worth it

My highest adult weight at 44yo was 246.5. I always get really up seeing results. That drives me. I too had great success a few years ago and lost sixty pounds and six inches on the waist. I stopped using the app or really counting cals but continued working out. I gained twenty plus lbs back but not In my pant size. I started using this app again for a cut. I realize how many cals I was eating when I wasn't counting. For me my body does really well on low carb high protein diet. Trying to cut out processed food pop sugar etc. Eating cleaner with mainly fish chicken and vegetables. Lots of salad. Finding a routine and seeing results drives me. Eating for fuel instead of for any other reason is control. Three weeks into the cut and I am 14.1 lbs down. 190.9 today. Pants fit a tad loose but not a size 32 yet.

Get excited, see some results in sticking to your routine.

One last thought is accountability. You are always accountable to yourself but if you have a person or two that may drive you. I am accountability partners with three guys right now. One I am doing the cut with, another is doing his own thing but checking in with me and the last I got him started in the gym. Today is his third day and I can tell you I am so proud of him working hard as he is.

tbiedermann101 wrote: »

Julia, I definitely do not have all the answers. This is the first time I've tried MFP, but I've been to Weight Watchers at least 5 times and have tried many other things like working with a personal health consultant. Whenever I've been the most successful, I've had a clear vision of what I wanted and I repeat to myself how I CAN achieve that goal. I have some visualization tools that I use when I'm feeling weak.

For me, I visualize my hiking poles or hiking boots. I LOVE backpacking and hiking. I visualize myself doing really hard hikes and looking like I belong on the trail. For every ounce I lose, it's like I invested in the newest high-tech gear that is lighter than my current version. I watch adventure movies while I exercise, think Wild, and imagine myself on the trail, hiking alongside the stars. If I feel like I might slip, I go look at new gear, compare it to what I have, then I think about how I can save that much weight just by staying on track.

You need to find that "thing" that motivates you. For most people "being healthy" isn't enough. When you find that "thing", you need to think about it, visualize it, and create a connection to it.

I can't tell you what a HUGE difference this makes for me. Instead of feeling deprived because I can't sit down and eat an entire bag of chips, I feel like I'm choosing something I love even more. I'm aligning my day-to-day choices with what I love to do most.

Wow...Strong first post.... I wish I could like this one..... Thanks

Like the little engine that could.....I think I can. Or to paraphrase Dory 'Just keep logging, just keep logging....'

Julia, if you figure it out let me know. I started MFP in Jan 2013 at 240. Worked hard to get down to 162 by May 2014. Then *kitten* hit the fan in my life, my diet & exercise plan went off the rails and I gained 40 lbs back. Just restarted 5 weeks ago at 210 lbs and I'm down to 197 as of this morning.

What works best for me is consistency. Staying within my calories. Exercising daily. Cutting WAY back/out on the drinking. Logging everything.

This time, coming back to MFP was MUCH harder. Even though I know what brings me success, I had several false starts. Being successful on MFP alone wasn't enough motivation to get through that first initial few weeks' hurdle of changing habits. And then one of my friends told me about dietbet. I'm doing both simultaneously, and seeing the weight results and meeting the weigh-in goals is doing wonders for my ongoing motivation until the changes become my "new" normal. Being able to breathe again when wearing pants certainly doesn't hurt either.

I gained some weight back. About half. I have three sizes of clothes and shoot for fitting into the middle size. When I am maxing out the largest size (like now), I DO NOT ALLOW MYSELF TO BUY CLOTHES. I stay miserable and motivated until I fit back into my other clothes. LOL. I also go back to logging my food as close to daily as possible, do not buy food I cannot control myself over for my house, shoot for daily exercise, and eat the least amount of processed carbs possible while upping my fruit and veggie intake. It all helps. I also talk about exercise goals with friends and co-workers to keep me accountable. It's hard to get going again and you feel like a failure, but as your efforts pick up, start looking back at the clothes and pics you loved from your weight loss and think - I am headed my way back there again. Good luck!

I plan meals ahead of time, try to get in exercise every chance I get. I also take lots of pics and measurements in order to keep motivated when the scale is being a jerk. You have to find our why and make sure you are doing it for you! NO ONE ELSE. Most of all remember that you are worth it!

It never ends. You can't take a break. You can't avoid all "naughty" foods for the rest of your life, you have to learn to incorporate them into your regular eating. Unless you get a very physically demanding job you can never stop exercising. I don't mean that you have a dedicated work out each & every day, but you must burn any calories that you eat over your resting amount. It stinks, I have friends that seem to be able to eat anything they want whenever they want, but when I took a real look at their lives they don't eat junk all day long. They don't over eat at every meal & they're constantly active. They've found a natural balance that just eludes me, so I continue to track & exercise & I budget in the treats and occasional junk food, but I'd say I eat 95% healthful, nutritious foods & move my body at least 30 consecutive minutes a day, which I expect to do until the day I die, unless I want to gain everything back.

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rockmama72 wrote: »

It's all in my mind. I just REALLY want it. I remind myself throughout the day.

This. Most people who stop for long periods of time seem to gain it back so I will never stop. It takes no time at all to log my meals. I figure I spend wasted time doing things like FB, this is too important.

Accountability - not just to my peers on MFP but myself. I usually log it before I eat it and if I don't like how it affects the rest of my day (like I can't have a reasonable dinner because I ate a lot of empty calories for a snack) I might decide NOT to have that snack or justify it by doing enough cardio later in the day to minimize the impact.

Long Term Goal - I have a goal with a expiration date and there's a picture of what that looks like hanging by my vanity mirror where I get ready every morning. I never lose sight that this goal is attainable but only if I stay focused and committed. I have to be truthful in my logging of food and exercise and I have to concentrate on that big picture: what I want to achieve and what I need to do (or NOT do) to get there.

juliatindell wrote: »

I used MFP like 2 years ago with great success. I was proud of the progress I was making. It lasted for something like 6 months before I went abroad. When I went abroad, I decided I wanted to give it a rest so I could focus on school and the experience. Bad idea.

2 years later I'm at my highest adult weight at 231 lb. Stepping on the scale and seeing that number (I was 175 when I took a "break" from MFP in college) was like getting hit in the head with a brick.

So I'm looking for ways to SUSTAIN the change. I've pinpointed a few of the places where I stumble, and I'm going to take care of that today. But I have two questions for you:

1. What sorts of changes did you have to make to remove obstacles from your journey?
2. What sorts of things do you do every day to keep yourself on track?

For me I did the following things. 1st thing I did was make me a priority.

Small steps at first. Moving just a little bit more and logging my food.

I upped the exercise to something "harder" and kept logging my food.
I started weighing my food and realized I could eat whatever I wanted just need to keep in calorie goal...sometimes that meant I exercised for ice cream but that's okay.

I exercised more and found something I love to do (2 years later I am still doing it)
I started lifting heavy weights and kept in my deficit because I realized it was the deficit that kept me losing.

I didn't give up the stuff I love tho....I eat chocolate, ice cream, drink beer, eat pizza...all those things you are told you "CAN'T" have...

this was/is sustainable for me.

What I do now is still weigh my food but I am not as strict if I am maintaining...I log it for the next week to see if I have wiggle room and that keeps me on track...that doesn't mean I don't go off that weekly plan tho...I do.

If I feel like having pizza I eat it (see yesterday's diary) I still have my fun etc.

So my situation is probably different from many others' here. I'm fortunate in that I've never had to deal with being overweight. Even throughout college when I was subsisting off of ramen, Cheerios, toast, frozen meals, hot pockets, and miscellaneous processed snacks, I don't think I ever weighted more than 160 pounds and was generally in the 150-155 range.

Nevertheless, about a year ago I became deeply interested in nutrition and its role in promoting health and longevity. As I learned more and more, I came to terms with the fact that my diet was putting me on a fast track to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. Over the course of about a month, I reduced and then eliminated many of my staple foods--cereal, milk, toast, packaged dinners--and began replacing them with healthier alternatives. I used The World's Healthiest Foods website (http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php) along with the Harvard School of Public Health site on nutrition (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/) to identify the foods that now form the backbone of my diet. I now eat these foods almost exclusively, although I will make exceptions for holidays and celebrations a handful of times per year (e.g., I'll have a slice of cake for my birthday).

Making these changes initially was fairly difficult. I definitely had to exert some will power. However, now that I've been eating "clean" (I don't like that term) for about a year, I find it effortless. It's simply become my default way of eating. Here are a few tips I've learned/picked up along the way:

1. Don't obsess over food. It's just one small (albeit very important) aspect of life. Learn to love eating without becoming fixated on it.
2. Don't expect perfection. It's okay if you slip up, everyone does. Guilt will only lead you astray.
3. Learn to become mindful. When you eat or do anything else worthwhile, make sure all your attention is devoted to that activity. Rediscover your senses.
4. Set concrete, realistic goals for yourself. The more practical the better. For example, you might set a goal of eating at least 5 vegetables every day for a week straight.
5. Focus on changing one thing at a time. Give yourself at least a few days to adapt to that change.
6. Instead of focusing on restricting/eliminating foods, focus on adding healthy ones. The more restrictions your diet has, the harder it will be to stick to it.
7. Drink lots of water. In fact, drinking only water is one of the simplest, most effective changes you can make (coffee, tea, and alcohol in moderation are okay).
8. Keep foods you don't want to eat out of the house. This will keep you from giving in to cravings as easily. Also, make it as easy/convenient for you to do the right thing. For instance, spend a Sunday afternoon preparing healthy meals for the week.
9. Make sure you get sufficient sleep every night (7-8 hours for most people, although you might need slightly more or less than that). This is arguably the single most effective way to immediately improve your well being and quality of life. It will also make sticking to a new diet easier as sleep lowers cortisol levels and regulates the hunger controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin.
10. Limit highly processed foods as much as possible.
11. Learn to live by the 80/20 rule, especially when you're getting started in forming a new habit. i.e. Eat healthily at least 80% of the time.
12. Have a way to measure your progress. If weight loss is your goal, obviously you can use a scale. Keep in mind that there are many other forms of progress as well. For instance, improvements in your stamina, strength, endurance, mood, etc.
13. Get used to using minimal amounts of condiments and oils. Spices and herbs are healthy alternatives to salt, butter, salad dressing, etc.
14. Tell your goals to someone you care about that's supportive. Surround yourself with people who have similar goals and who respect your own.
15. Eat lots of foods that you love. Learn to cook simple, great tasting meals using fresh, natural ingredients.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to write a wall of text. The main thing is to view healthy living as a lifestyle rather than simply a means to an end. To stay motivated, think of all of the progress you've made in the past. When you run into an obstacle, view it as a temporary challenge rather than a permanent setback.