restarting for the UMPTEENTH time!
gingercaroline76
Posts: 21 Member
HI! I'm starting over AGAIN. I've tried this before and failed. No reason. I need to do this this time, and I could use all the support motivation and encouragement I can get. I need friends to help me on this difficult and challenging journey so I don't fail this time. I promise to do my best to provide support to you too! 
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Actually, there are reasons that you failed. And until you figure out what they are, you will do the same thing again. Are you over restrictive? Planning a menu that leaves you hungry? Making too much work of meal prep? Not making a plan that can include family and friends? Reflect seriously on that has gone wrong in the past and make a different plan.0
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I'm in the same boat! I need motivation and support that I'm lacking in my life. Looking for new friends for the support daily. Someone checking on me and encouraging me. I'm ready to do this. To be healthy and strong for my kids and myself. 0
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SherryTeach wrote: »Actually, there are reasons that you failed. And until you figure out what they are, you will do the same thing again. Are you over restrictive? Planning a menu that leaves you hungry? Making too much work of meal prep? Not making a plan that can include family and friends? Reflect seriously on that has gone wrong in the past and make a different plan.
Sherry you're absolutely right. I know why I failed the last time (s) and I just need to be more determined to stick with it for the long haul this time. And follow the it more closely. I.e.. less cheating And I need to find a way to get ore exercise in per week. 0 -
Stop dieting and make a lifestyle change.0
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Ginger, quit quitting. Have a failure and keep going. Log through it. Life is full of detours. Plans change. It's okay! Keep logging. If you're logging, you haven't quit. If you're logging through a crisis, you better handle your food decisions in the crisis. If you are logging through the crisis, you're back on track as soon as your next meal.
Don't quit. It is your log, it is not your judge. The goal isn't to have the perfect log, it is to have the information that will help you gain awareness and then control over your eating and your weight.0 -
gingercaroline76 wrote: »HI! I'm starting over AGAIN. I've tried this before and failed. No reason.
If you don't know the reasons you've been failing, you aren't going to succeed this time, either.
First things first...
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gingercaroline76 wrote: »HI! I'm starting over AGAIN. I've tried this before and failed. No reason.
If you don't know the reasons you've been failing, you aren't going to succeed this time, either.
First things first...
Well, yes, you are correct, and I know the reason. ReasonS, actually. There are many. Mostly just bad excuses and unable to stay on track. Same reason many diets fail, which is why my goal this time is not to look at this as a "diet" but rather a lifestyle change, and if I have an "off" day I'll start over the next day and do everything not to give up. 0 -
gingercaroline76 wrote: »gingercaroline76 wrote: »HI! I'm starting over AGAIN. I've tried this before and failed. No reason.
If you don't know the reasons you've been failing, you aren't going to succeed this time, either.
First things first...
Well, yes, you are correct, and I know the reason. ReasonS, actually. There are many. Mostly just bad excuses and unable to stay on track.
Those aren't reasons. *Why* you fall of track is the reason.
Find that (it's different for everybody) and you'll find your key to success. Until then, looking for "motivation" here won't make a difference.
Good luck!
:drinker:
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I wish you luck op! Getting back on the horse is the first step. Sticking with it is tough, but the end results are so worth it!0
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Thank you for your advice Mr Knight but I do know my reasons. I apologize for the misunderstanding in how I worded my original post (by saying "no reason"). As you said my reasons are personal and individual to me. I have plans to change so this time I will succeed in my goals..0
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Whatever you do, make it something you're HAPPY to be doing. If you don't like doing it, you won't do it for long!
IMO, it's smarter to focus on your health than your weight.
Don't quit. Stumble, fall, get back up. Never quit.0 -
gingercaroline76 wrote: »Sherry you're absolutely right. I know why I failed the last time (s) and I just need to be more determined to stick with it for the long haul this time. And follow the it more closely. I.e.. less cheating
The problem with "being more determined" is that willpower is a limited resource. It's like losing weight (in reverse). You get a bit of willpower each day, and once you burn through it, you start eating up your willpower reserves. Run out of willpower reserves, and you crash.
The way to succeed is to make sure that you aren't burning through all of your willpower each day and eating in to your reserves. And that means finding something that is genuinely sustainable. Remember, this is for the rest of your life, so anything that chews heavily in to your willpower to sustain is going to come undone eventually.
So look at what went wrong. That doesn't mean "I didn't have enough willpower", it means identifying the things that taxed your willpower and seeing what you can do to mitigate them without stalling your progress. And that is going to take a bit of honest internal reflection...
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I may have used the wrong words in the wrong context. But I agree with you all and thank you for the advice! You've definitely given me things to think seriously about 0
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I am an Licensed Professional Counselor by day and while I agree it is important to look at your triggers, weak links, etc for what has held you back in the past - I disagree that "not having enough willpower" is irrelevant. ANY change we make, even the change of trying to change the thing that got in our way before takes just that "mental strength and power and a fight." Ginger it will be difficult to push through those stuck spots of yours whether you have identified them or not, just as the actual "lifestyle" change is difficult. That's the fact. But that doesn't mean you have to lose. I'm sure you have fought through other things in your life. Tap into her- imagine what that fighting version of yourself looks like if she was standing in front of you in physical form and step inside of her. And motivation can help!!! So I got your back girl!!! I would love to help motivate each other !0
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I've been there! I have a blog in which the first 3 posts were about me beginning...again. The difference between the first 3 attempts with what actually worked is that I was desperate for change, so failing or giving up again was not an option at all. I also focused on it being a journey and not a diet. For me, diets are about a quick fix, and being overweight most of my life, I needed a lifestyle change.
Here are the things that worked for me...- I learned what my triggers were and did things in lieu of going to the kitchen to get food. This included changing how I went into my office to bypass the kitchen full of free snacks.
- It's a lifestyle change. This means, scheduling time to work out. Example: I started off with a gym appointment on my calendar at work at 4:30pm every day. This prevented people from scheduling meetings during this time. The appointment is now at 11:30am.
- Told all of my friends and family what I was doing and asked for their support.
- Let myself be emotional when I needed to. I cannot tell you how many times I broke down crying on the treadmill in the office gym. I didn't cry because I was sad or defeated, but I was learning about myself and having some amazing breakthroughs in the process. Self realization is key!
- Fail. I haven't been flawless every day. But, I never let one day turn into 30. Let one day be one day and then get back on the horse. We are human, right?!
- I've taken my time. This for me is a journey and something that I will work on for the rest of my life. Because I know this, I'm taking my time to get where I need to be. Again, I'm human. I know there are people who are able to lose 100 pounds in 10 months, but this is not me. Had I done that, there's a good chance I would have gained every bit of my weight back. I'm about 30 months into this thing, and I'm down 67 pounds. I'm super focused now to get the remaining bit of it off.
- I don't only do cardio. I did only cardio early on, but got bored with what I was doing. I now do boxing twice a week, Tacfit twice a week, run twice a week, and hike/rest on the 7th day.
- And finally, I'm having the time of my life! I'm so lucky to have a gym at work with an amazing fitness program. My coworkers are so supportive and we have a blast pushing each other to be better each day. I encourage you to find a fun gym or people who you can actually workout with. I don't know if this is possible or not for you, but having people to workout with is great for accountability.
Way to go making that first decision to get healthier. We're here to support you, gingercaroline!0 -
SherryTeach wrote: »Actually, there are reasons that you failed. And until you figure out what they are, you will do the same thing again. Are you over restrictive? Planning a menu that leaves you hungry? Making too much work of meal prep? Not making a plan that can include family and friends? Reflect seriously on that has gone wrong in the past and make a different plan.
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i think that you should make mini goals, and work your way up. Like for example, set a goal to limit your intake for 10 days, then on the 11th treat yourself to something small (doesn't have to be food related, a little gift for yourself; if it is food then make sure its more than your normal caloric restriction but less than your maintenance calories (I only go over maintenance on designated cheat days). What I'm basically saying is don't bite off more than you can chew, people don't begin off by running marathons, you have to build up to it slowly, it takes time, and you WILL have setbacks, but its not an all or none thing, just because you had a rough food related day on Monday, doesn't automatically write off the rest of the week. So, if you fall off one day, just get back on the next, but don't let too much time pass, once it does, bigger problems arise, and motivation falls.
*edit, wow my run on sentence game is strong LOL, oh well.0 -
gingercaroline76 wrote: »Sherry you're absolutely right. I know why I failed the last time (s) and I just need to be more determined to stick with it for the long haul this time. And follow the it more closely. I.e.. less cheating
The problem with "being more determined" is that willpower is a limited resource. It's like losing weight (in reverse). You get a bit of willpower each day, and once you burn through it, you start eating up your willpower reserves. Run out of willpower reserves, and you crash.
The way to succeed is to make sure that you aren't burning through all of your willpower each day and eating in to your reserves. And that means finding something that is genuinely sustainable. Remember, this is for the rest of your life, so anything that chews heavily in to your willpower to sustain is going to come undone eventually.
So look at what went wrong. That doesn't mean "I didn't have enough willpower", it means identifying the things that taxed your willpower and seeing what you can do to mitigate them without stalling your progress. And that is going to take a bit of honest internal reflection...
I 10000% agree. My willpower sucks. It's much easier to go with planning and making things easy instead.
But it is helpful to know how and why things get hard for you, so you know *how* to make it easy.
In my case, poor organization was the biggest part of it. I used to wait until I was hungry and then scramble to get something easy or fast. by then, I'd be in a real state, so the things I picked were often high calorie.
Old school home economics type stuff made a HUGE difference. Planning meals for the week, making a shopping list. I also read about nutrition, and based on that, tested out which meals worked to keep me full on fewer calories. Look at this process like that - you're testing things out.
Even days you overeat give you good information, when you analyze your diary. You learn which foods, meals, macronutrient ratios, even timing if you make note of that, keep you full.0 -
Same here....add me if you want0
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Please spend some time understanding why you need to keep restarting otherwise you will just repeat yourself.
Learn how weight loss works.
Prepare properly.
Be realistic.
Commit.
I wouldnt start without a game plan and making sure I knew what I was doing.
If your reasons are known to you then thats good because they are idenified, but make sure you are being honest and if you need help then ask. Your plan should make sense in the cold light of day and make objective sense.0
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