To put it simply... I feel hopeless sometimes
Replies
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I've been around the weight loss block a few times with varying degrees of success in the past. My current journey is the most successful so far which is great. I've managed to shift nearly 30 kg from my 5'6" frame and still have another 5 kg to go. The important thing is to keep going no matter what. Keep going when the scales have a win for you and keep going when they don't. Try not to let a plateau get you down. They will happen at some point and they can be incredibly frustrating times but, they are a necessary part of the journey. So, don't use it as an excuse to give up. Just change things up until you bust through it.
This time around I've stuck to real food and measured out my portion sizes with scales or measuring cups/spoons. I'm not a fan of 'diet' food either as it sometimes has a strange after taste or it's loaded with sugar. You can still have the full fat versions of milk, cheese, yoghurt as long as you're mindful of how much you're having. Stretch yourself with exercise but, be kind to yourself. It's no good going out hard and coming home with an injury. Stick to walking if that's easy and start increasing the intensity or duration until you get better at it. Then, increase the other. These are all things that have helped me get to where I'm at. Hope they help you too.0 -
The good thing is, you're young. It's a bit easier (but still WORK) to lose weight when you're that age. Here are my top tips, and I know they work. It's STICKING TO IT that's difficult! haha
Log everything, EVERYTHING
Prep meals
Ignore the naysayers
Remember to not buy trigger foods
Prepare all your food (one day a week, not too hard)
Remember that good food is providing fuel for your body, and bad food is just harming you
It takes about five days to get over the cravings. That's all. You can do this! Defeating yourself is the hardest part, but if you switch your mindset so that nutritious food and exercise is NOT punishment and junk plus being lazy is the real punishment, you will have jumped the first hurdle. It's so awesome that you are at just the start of a long, and hopefully healthy, adult life. It's also amazing that you posted here! So brave! Good luck in your journey, and every time you hear that little voice telling you to eat junk or that you can't do it, punch it in its GD face! x
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And for real, this is motivating as hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyhOmBPtGNM0
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Hi there feel free to send me a request. What worked for me was strictly thinking about my health and body. Forget about weight loss and the scale. Just think about your body, the only place you live in and what is all yours and a work of art God made. Now all the bad foods out there think how disgusting they are made, how fake and how much types of cancers they cause.
Also realize that exercise cures a lot of stress and gives you confidence, forget about the weight loss, it just makes you feel REALLY good for some reason. Make your place spotless every day or go to the gym and find exercise you like. Again think how easy it is just by eating natural foods vegetables, nuts, Fruits that helps cure serious diseases out there.
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I went from morbidly obese (BMI of 40) to slighly overweight (BMI of 27) in 1.5 years a few years ago, and have been maintaining ever since (now lost/losing some more vanity pounds). I would definitely advise just taking it step by step.
Get a food scale if you don't have one. Try to cook as many of your own meals as possible and weigh everything you put in your mouth, including oils, condiments, nut butters etc.. Cups and spoons are rather inaccurate for everything but liquids. Make that your first step: Honestly and accurately logging everything.
Reduce your portion sizes gradually. You can of course change your diet as well but it's not necessary for weight loss—all you need for that is to eat less than your body burns. Make it a goal to meet your MFP calorie goal but don't spiral into negative thinking (or out of control) if you eat too much one day. You could even start by setting MFP to maintain and then simply strive to come in below that (it's an approach that works well for me). A 500 calorie deficit per day will result in a loss of about 1 lb per week on average. That doesn't mean you'll lose a pound week in week out even if you stay at a perfect 500 deficit every day because weight loss will never be linear or even predictable like that—don't get discouraged by that. But over the course of a few weeks and months, you will see a downward trend. Link your FitBit to MFP and log your non-step based exercise on FitBit to get your MFP goal adjusted. Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss but try to find some form of movement that you enjoy—it provides a bunch of physical and mental benefits that can help a lot on your journey to weight loss and especially better health.
Successful weight loss is as much about mindset as it is about diet and exercise. Don't assign moral labels to food. It's just food, it' not good or bad, clean or dirty. A healthy diet doesn't hinge on one food item or one meal (unless you have food allergies/intolerances obviously), it's a matter of context and overall balance. I still love food, possibly even more than when I was obese because I enjoy it much more consciously now. In fact, I'm typing this while eating a (heavenly) brownie cake with buttercream (leftover birthday cake). I never cut out anything from my diet, I just reduced portion sizes and frequency of eating calorically dense foods. Yes, you can still eat chocolate/cake/ice cream/whatever you love as long as it fits in your goals. You can even make a conscious decision every now and then that a special occasion is worth going slightly beyond your goals. Just don't do it too often and get back to meeting your goals the next day. You can definitely do this!0 -
How many calories is your account set to eat per day?0
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I have received encouragement in the past and even had heart-to-heart talks with myself, yet here I am. My intention on this post was just for suggestions and support because there are definitely times I feel I could not get that motivation needed to complete my exercise or eating healthy that day.
Like I mentioned in my post, I do tend to get my motivation from other people around me, which is helpful in the long run.
You made good points. I just wanted to share some of my reasoning instead of it coming across differently than I intended. The one thing I have learned from this post is that different things work for different people, which I'm sure it obvious. Tough love may work on some, but maybe not so much on me right now.
Good luck to you, too!
Firstly, I flove your attitude—you're respectfully listening to what everyone has to say, and taking what you can use. And you're absolutely right—everyone is different. So it'll take trial & error to find what works for you.
Here's something that's worked for me. It was my 2014 new year's resolution, and has helped in so many aspects of my life: Talk to yourself at least as kindly as you would to any of your MFP friends. No negative self talk. It may sound naff (cheesy), and it was way harder than it sounds. But like anything else it got easier the more I did it.
I hesitate to call it "one weird trick," but it really is! Treat yourself like an MFP friend. Celebrate every NSV (non-scale victory).0 -
uconnwinsnc1 wrote: »Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, quit.
or
Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, fail, win.
What do you pick? This *kitten* isn't easy. If it were this site wouldn't exist. You will fail so many times. Keep failing until you succeed.
That's a great point. If it was easy, we wouldn't have hundreds of sites on the Internet. I like your way of thinking!
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LadyLots2Lose wrote: »I've been around the weight loss block a few times with varying degrees of success in the past. My current journey is the most successful so far which is great. I've managed to shift nearly 30 kg from my 5'6" frame and still have another 5 kg to go. The important thing is to keep going no matter what. Keep going when the scales have a win for you and keep going when they don't. Try not to let a plateau get you down. They will happen at some point and they can be incredibly frustrating times but, they are a necessary part of the journey. So, don't use it as an excuse to give up. Just change things up until you bust through it.
This time around I've stuck to real food and measured out my portion sizes with scales or measuring cups/spoons. I'm not a fan of 'diet' food either as it sometimes has a strange after taste or it's loaded with sugar. You can still have the full fat versions of milk, cheese, yoghurt as long as you're mindful of how much you're having. Stretch yourself with exercise but, be kind to yourself. It's no good going out hard and coming home with an injury. Stick to walking if that's easy and start increasing the intensity or duration until you get better at it. Then, increase the other. These are all things that have helped me get to where I'm at. Hope they help you too.
You get me - and I appreciate that. I keep telling myself "baby steps" and that seems to get me farther than I knew. Thank you for the advice!
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It will be okay. You have decided that enough is enough and that is the push that people need to really initiate some change. I like to post motivational stuff on MFP and my personal facebook because I've been discouraged myself but if I can brighten someone else's day, it helps me feel better as well.0
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The good thing is, you're young. It's a bit easier (but still WORK) to lose weight when you're that age. Here are my top tips, and I know they work. It's STICKING TO IT that's difficult! haha
Log everything, EVERYTHING
Prep meals
Ignore the naysayers
Remember to not buy trigger foods
Prepare all your food (one day a week, not too hard)
Remember that good food is providing fuel for your body, and bad food is just harming you
It takes about five days to get over the cravings. That's all. You can do this! Defeating yourself is the hardest part, but if you switch your mindset so that nutritious food and exercise is NOT punishment and junk plus being lazy is the real punishment, you will have jumped the first hurdle. It's so awesome that you are at just the start of a long, and hopefully healthy, adult life. It's also amazing that you posted here! So brave! Good luck in your journey, and every time you hear that little voice telling you to eat junk or that you can't do it, punch it in its GD face! x
Ah, I also heard it is better to lose when you're younger, which you know, can't be young forever. Sticking to it is definitely difficult!
Great tips! I like preparing your food just a day - which I haven't been doing done, so I might have to try that!
Five days? I didn't know that. I have to remember that this isn't a punishment! It's what I want.
Thank you so much!
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LiftAndBalance wrote: »I went from morbidly obese (BMI of 40) to slighly overweight (BMI of 27) in 1.5 years a few years ago, and have been maintaining ever since (now lost/losing some more vanity pounds). I would definitely advise just taking it step by step.
Get a food scale if you don't have one. Try to cook as many of your own meals as possible and weigh everything you put in your mouth, including oils, condiments, nut butters etc.. Cups and spoons are rather inaccurate for everything but liquids. Make that your first step: Honestly and accurately logging everything.
Reduce your portion sizes gradually. You can of course change your diet as well but it's not necessary for weight loss—all you need for that is to eat less than your body burns. Make it a goal to meet your MFP calorie goal but don't spiral into negative thinking (or out of control) if you eat too much one day. You could even start by setting MFP to maintain and then simply strive to come in below that (it's an approach that works well for me). A 500 calorie deficit per day will result in a loss of about 1 lb per week on average. That doesn't mean you'll lose a pound week in week out even if you stay at a perfect 500 deficit every day because weight loss will never be linear or even predictable like that—don't get discouraged by that. But over the course of a few weeks and months, you will see a downward trend. Link your FitBit to MFP and log your non-step based exercise on FitBit to get your MFP goal adjusted. Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss but try to find some form of movement that you enjoy—it provides a bunch of physical and mental benefits that can help a lot on your journey to weight loss and especially better health.
Successful weight loss is as much about mindset as it is about diet and exercise. Don't assign moral labels to food. It's just food, it' not good or bad, clean or dirty. A healthy diet doesn't hinge on one food item or one meal (unless you have food allergies/intolerances obviously), it's a matter of context and overall balance. I still love food, possibly even more than when I was obese because I enjoy it much more consciously now. In fact, I'm typing this while eating a (heavenly) brownie cake with buttercream (leftover birthday cake). I never cut out anything from my diet, I just reduced portion sizes and frequency of eating calorically dense foods. Yes, you can still eat chocolate/cake/ice cream/whatever you love as long as it fits in your goals. You can even make a conscious decision every now and then that a special occasion is worth going slightly beyond your goals. Just don't do it too often and get back to meeting your goals the next day. You can definitely do this!
Great advice, thank you!0 -
OK, no nasty foods lol! There are healthy but also delicious preparation methods that don't pack in extra unwanted calories. If you don't have a good set of spices, now's the time to get them. Explore what vegetables can be roasted in the oven, such as certain types of winter squash. It's all about good quality ingredients plus preparation method. Olive oil, in moderation, is your friend. It helps stick the spices to the vegetables and it increases food satisfaction. Meats can be baked or seared rather than fried. If you skin the chicken before baking it, just cover it loosely with tin foil to prevent it drying out. There is a site called skinnytaste.com, and there's Cooking Light, and probably many others I don't know about, that can help you with recipes.0
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OK, no nasty foods lol! There are healthy but also delicious preparation methods that don't pack in extra unwanted calories. If you don't have a good set of spices, now's the time to get them. Explore what vegetables can be roasted in the oven, such as certain types of winter squash. It's all about good quality ingredients plus preparation method. Olive oil, in moderation, is your friend. It helps stick the spices to the vegetables and it increases food satisfaction. Meats can be baked or seared rather than fried. If you skin the chicken before baking it, just cover it loosely with tin foil to prevent it drying out. There is a site called skinnytaste.com, and there's Cooking Light, and probably many others I don't know about, that can help you with recipes.
I'll check it out, thanks!
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Set small goals that are realistic for you and achievable and celebrate these victories, then establish new goals. Don't do anything drastic as this is never sustainable. What you are doing is making small changes now, which will have dramatic impact later.
The key to this is logging - and logging honestly. If in doubt overestimate your intake. Exercise, even just walking 30mins/day will have a tremendous impact over time.
Build up a routine that makes you successful - this is where logging becomes critical. If you know you get hungry at noon, drink a glass of water at 11:30.
Lastly and most important don't make weight loss your goal. Find a higher motivator. You want to get in shape so you can travel and hike any distance - just tailor this to something personal.0
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