5th day and already discouraged..

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  • almondbutterbay
    almondbutterbay Posts: 221 Member
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    Sometimes distracting yourself works best. I sometimes find myself spending way too much time worrying or thinking about food or exercise or weight and that's when I know I have to go watch a movie or concentrate on my friends or other aspects of my life for a while. Also try eating things that are filling but low in calories (meat, nuts, veggies fill me up and veggies are low cal and I should eat more of them) cause if you're not hungry then you're less likely to spend time thinking about food.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
    edited April 2015
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    If I had it to do over again, I would just log it. Log everyday. Log every bite. Don't worry about the calories or what My Fitness Pal tells you what you can eat for calories. (It wasn't enough in the beginning.) Just log it. Learn about yourself. What makes it easier to restrict calories and what doesn't. I've been on again off again for 3 years. I now know that eating some meat makes my next day better. So just log for now and get to know you :smile:
  • Oldbitcollector
    Oldbitcollector Posts: 229 Member
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    Another Newbie here.. I'm about to go into day 60.. I've lost 24 pounds and starting to feel great.

    You'll discover foods that weren't worth the calorie expense in your day as you track, and replace them slowly with better alternatives. It gets easier with time. Hang in there.
  • gizmom19
    gizmom19 Posts: 49 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    I think about food all the time. But I make it fun, for the most part. I enjoy pre-logging, and if there's something I really want for dessert, I log it first and work my day around it. A lot of times it's like a puzzle and I love seeing what I can eat to fit my calorie needs and macros. The other day I got to add dark chocolate to help me meet my fats goal.

    Relax! Eat the things you like. Weigh them on a food scale to be sure of the calories.

    Really like this idea! Fairly new to MFP (50 days or so) and kind mentally did this mentally to plan Easter dinner but logged after. I think this would be helpful to put that certain item I want in first and go from there.
  • GWehsling
    GWehsling Posts: 120 Member
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    I started my time here by spring cleaning my house - I removed all distractions and temptations and focused on what I wanted long term. It took a few weeks to get into the habit and there are days I don't want to go to the gym, but it can only be done by me, so I eventually just go. I haven't missed a day logging or training so far, but there have been many days I have wondered off course and eaten poorly. I still keep chipping at it because that, to me, is part of life - you don't win every day, but you get to keep the right approach and attitude and all those little adjustments you make over time, add up.

    Just keep swimming, even if the current pushes you back, just keep swimming.
  • maraq
    maraq Posts: 38 Member
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    The key is making sure you are eating enough so that you feel satisfied so you don't have to think about food all day long! :) That seems like an oxymoron because when we are trying to lose weight we feel we need to eat less - so we think it means we have to be hungry for weightloss to happen - but you don't need to be hungry. I'm not sure what types of foods you are eating but if you swap out anything that is typical diet food (low fat, low cal products) for real food - vegetables, fruit, avocados, high quality animal protein, beans, legumes, whole grains (actual grains like brown rice, quinoa etc - not products made with whole grain), nuts and seeds etc. you'll find you can eat a lot more good stuff for the same amount of calories. You'll feel satisfied by the food and you'll feel awesome about what you are putting in your body. Keep going - 5 days in is just the beginning and it can be easy to wish we could just snap our fingers and have the weight be gone! But it takes awhile to gain weight and it takes awhile to lose it. They say 21 days makes a habit - focus on eating well and getting some movement for that many days and I bet you will see and feel a difference and it will make you want to continue!
  • sheldak
    sheldak Posts: 5 Member
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    Friend and I have set goals and rules to use along with MFP. Each time one screws up its 2 dollars in the others jar along with an encouraging pep talk. 3.5 weeks in and 11lbs down! I'm determined NOT to lose my money and I'm NOT buying her a new outfit. It has made it more of a fun bet than a diet but its working for both of us :-)
  • Havasufalls
    Havasufalls Posts: 53 Member
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    Such great ideas. Thank you guys for your comments, seriously. Much love.
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
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    Now off to eat some chicken and veggies for dinner...something that I have noticed that helps me is putting in my dessert in the morning, like SF FF jello , so I can look forward to that and not veer off track :)

    Good choices and a good start.
    Start small. Take a week and just log allll your food - good or bad. Then examine your day and see where you can change some things. Then think about going for walks, increasing your activity.

    Don't approach it like you have 120 pounds to lose, approach like you have 20 pounds and two new habits to form. Then create new, small goals.

    You can do it.

    Yes log everything . A great point that don't look at the 120 lbs. make a small goal, 20 lbs-10lbs and work towards it. You didn't gain 120lbs in a month, so don't expect to lose it in a month. Small goals & small habit changes.
    maraq wrote: »
    The key is making sure you are eating enough so that you feel satisfied so you don't have to think about food all day long! :) Keep going - 5 days in is just the beginning and it can be easy to wish we could just snap our fingers and have the weight be gone! But it takes awhile to gain weight and it takes awhile to lose it. They say 21 days makes a habit - focus on eating well and getting some movement for that many days and I bet you will see and feel a difference and it will make you want to continue!

    My favorite desert Dannone Greek yogurt - lime, coconut or pineapple, a tasty treat.

    5 Days is only 1.4% of a year. Give yourself more time to work things out.
    Not to discourage you but it took me a good 2 months to get a good grasp on everything and that is when my weight started to drop, so give yourself lots of time and be patient.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I have 120 pounds to lose and I am so embarrassed to say that I am already discouraged and it's my 5th day!I feel like all I do is think about food and I so badly want to get healthy and reach my goal weight. How did you deal with food cravings, mind set etc when you first started?? Thanks :)

    Don't be embarrassed. You'll find you aren't the only one who has faced discouragement.

    I was going to write a long story but changed my mind and will try to relate what worked for me, quite by accident, not by any design of mine.

    When I started (Aug 2014) I didn't "diet". I didn't count calories in. I checked my weight once at a community pool and haven't done it again until just last week. Honestly... that first time made me afraid, and discouraged.

    What I did do is identify my biggest single problem - I'd gone from a fit active life to quite a sedentary life. The reasons are not important. I ate healthy food, just a bit too much, and over 8 years following the sports injury at the start of my long decline, "just a bit too much" each day adds up to a lot of pounds.

    Right or wrong I figured I first had to fix my fitness problem, so in August 2014 I set about working on that. I used to be a runner so naturally I wanted to use running as my tool of choice. This proved incredibly hard on me for both physical and emotional reasons as the delta between fit me and unfit me had grown so incredibly large I feared I'd never get anywhere near where I once was. I feared I might never improve meaningfully. Those early days were... awful. Fear of failure stopped me from going out some days, but somehow I kept on going.

    A supportive wife helped, a lot. She'd run with me and patiently wait while I had to stop... so many times at first.

    Long story short, I kept up with it, and by the time the horrible wet windy winter weather descended upon Vancouver, I'd made running a habit again. I even made a point of going out for runs on the absolute worst days of the year. It's too easy to say "tomorrow" when the weather is awful. I'd done that for years... but no more.

    Fast forward, I've dropped about 50 pounds and have a little less than 50 more to go. I'm on notch 5 of my belt; I started on notch 1. The size 38's that were my wake up call were donated to the Sally Ann.

    I still have a ways to go but now the outlook is nothing but positive. I know I'll get there, I know it will still take longer than I wish, but I'm ok with that. Just accepting that helps. A lot.

    Could I have arrived at this point faster had I adopted at the very beginning a rigorous calorie in-calorie out regime of observation, combined with exercise? Yes, undoubtedly so, but I probably was not ready at the start to do all that.

    Instead, putting the focus of my efforts at the start into exercise (and sleep) worked for me and got me to the point where everything else is now pretty easy given the huge motivation provided by visible results.

    I'm not saying ignore your diet but if you find developing a total program for yourself is too overwhelming here at the start, maybe focussing on one thing at a time - just to get a firm foundation of improvement in place - can work for you.

    Stick with whatever you decide to do. You'll find before long those first weeks pass, you've started to adopt new ways of living (eating / food / exercise / sleep / whatever you are adjusting) become habits. And one day you'll realise... wow, it's really working. From there it just gets easier. :smile:

    Oops, I did write a long-ish story. Why say in 20 words what you can say in 500?
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
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    I get so demotivated sometimes but I'm only on day 20 - I haven't seen the scale move for a week and it's just making me fed up!

    It's right what people say it's a marathon not a sprint. Make small changes - one of the best things I did the first time around was change from drinking diet Coke to flavoured water and that's a habit I kept up even after I fell off the wagon for a while. Pre-log your food and try and plan your meals. And just log everything - if it's a "bad" day it can still inform you of bad habits that you need to address, show you how much you are currently eating etc. If you find you used to be eating 3000 calories, for example, you can't cut straight down to 1200 it'll be too hard to sustain. I was averaging 3000 a day so now I aim for 2000, will drop it in a few weeks once I'm comfortable with eating that much.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I started 105 days ago. The first week was hard. REALLY hard. All I wanted to do was stuff my face with all the bad stuff. But I figured I wanted to be slimmer more than I wanted to pig out so I stayed strong. I had earlier night's when it was too much to deal with.

    105 days down the road, I still have days where I'd love to eat my body weight in grease but I don't. I've learnt that giving in isn't an option. It doesn't make you a failure if you DO give in but I'd rather not. I eat my fave things in moderation and within my calorie goals. It can be done and does get easier. Honestly.

    Concentrate on WHY you are doing this. WHY it is important to you. My new mantra is eat to live, not live to eat. x
  • toofatnomore
    toofatnomore Posts: 206 Member
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    When I first started I used to ask myself...am I more discouraged being obese, or more discouraged by trying to lose weight?
    The answer was, it is always more discouraging going through life fat...hang tough.
  • CockneyLady2014
    CockneyLady2014 Posts: 199 Member
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    Nicola you appear to have said it all yourself - the reasons not to give up. Have you used the facility in MFP to work out your basal metabolic rate? This will tell you how many calories your body is using to survive. Once you know that to lose 1lb per week you need to reduce by 500 calories a day. However knowing this doesn't mean to say to have to jump in feet first and do it. What it may do though is to go some way to explain why you may not have lost any weight over the last week.
  • nicola8989
    nicola8989 Posts: 381 Member
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    thank you cockney lady - to be honest I think some of it is water retention/DOMS and some of it is my calories being too high x
  • ValkyriesCharge
    ValkyriesCharge Posts: 11 Member
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    Pre-logging the food really helps me stay on track. Everytime I think about food, I drink water. I also try to think about what I'm feeling when I want to eat. Bored? A craving? Feeling emotional and want to escape? It seems to help me identify at least if I'm actually hungry. I'm usually not, or at least not so hungry that I can't wait until my next meal.

    I've false started soooo many times! I think most of the times, the reason I fail is I do too much at once. Cutting down to super low calorie, adding in exercise, etc. This time I started logging food first, no changes. Just to get an idea of what I was eating. Then I started cutting the calories when I felt ready for that. Nothing too drastic. Then I'm going to see where I am in a couple weeks. Adjust the calorie intake if I need to. And I'm hoping soon I'll want to exercise, rather than force myself to. Baby steps. If you can talk to a nutritionist or naturopath, I highly recommend it! Some supplements might help!
  • amy8400
    amy8400 Posts: 478 Member
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    OP, when it feels the worst that means you're close to seeing good thing happen. Your hard work now will pay off eventually (don't be surprised if it takes 2 weeks for that stupid scale to go down...that's normal). Focus on the here and now. Drink more water to keep yourself hydrated. Weigh everything. Log everything.

    Be accountable to yourself and at the end of the day, be proud of your accomplishments. One day it might be that you stayed under your calorie goal even though you fought back awful cravings at 10 p.m. Another day it might be that you walked 2 miles in 30 minutes. Or that you drove past all the fast food joints on your way home from work and said no to a quickie burger or taco. Those are the little victories that you need to start with and then you'll progress to seeing the scale move, clothes feeling looser or your face looking thinner.

    You can do this. Just be patient and know that you are making postive changes for the rest of your life. It will be worth it!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    It took months before I stopped thinking about food so much, and it is still a daily routine. No getting around that. If you're not craving it you are calculating how many calories it is. It sounds like pre-logging is working for you.

    I suggest you set yourself mini-goals, like sitting down two weeks from now, working though your progress to date, and setting new goals.

    Weight loss is not a goal, as so many factors out of our control can affect weight gain on a single day. Your weight can go up or down five pounds in a single day, on water weight alone! That's not a good measure of success or failure.

    Preferable goals in a two week period are behavioral goals, as in pre-logging all desserts all week.

    Now of course you have to weigh yourself once in a while just to check if you are going in the right direction but please don't wrap up all your happiness in a number on the scale.

    I've been at this for many months now, and this is spoken from the heart. It's a long game, progressive habit change, and the weight will move...given time.