It's been a battle

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The past, let's say month possibly two? It's been a struggle. I was doing really well at 1400 calories per day two lose 2 pounds a week. From there I was losing an average 1.5 lbs a week (2 lbs here, 1 lb there, it averaged out). Today I stand before the mfp community 47 pounds lighter than I was in the beginning. Huge huge HUGE achievement. Yet I've been faltering.

I can see why they say that those who lose weight typically gain it all back and more. I'm trying my damnest not to reach that point, I've come too far, invested too much time. It's hard though. It all started once I increased my deficit for the first time. It's like those extra 200 calories opened some sort of floodgate. More sugar and coffee at work left me barely meeting my goals, if I did at all. It was getting difficult. Then there's the fact that I was taking food from work home more and sharing it less; that was out of spite of my family who was upsetting me at the time but then the trend continued. Even having snacks I used to be able to keep in the house and occasionally have began to stress me out.

That's where I realized I was starting to obsess over food. I thought a food scale would make me feel better; that way I would know exactly how much I was eating, track it accurately, pre-portion my snacks, and everything would be good. Nope. That was probably a mistake. I think it made me obsess over food even more.

Another change was the placement of my desk at home. It's closer to a clock. And somehow that has also messed me up. Because now it's so easy to glance up and say, "oh hey, I haven't eaten in x hours, guess it's time to eat." Which is strange cause I never looked at it like that before. I would always either wait for my mom to cook or until I was hungry; whichever came first. Now I'm letting time dictate whether I'm hungry or not. If I could move it back to where I used to have my desk or cover or move the clock I'm sure I'd be fine but it's not mine.

It's scaring me. I'm trying to delve back into this as if it were day one. I keep telling myself I kicked my dependence on soda so I can do this. But the past week or two I've noticed I've been physically ill to my stomach. Maybe because I'm trying to reregulate my body and it's rejecting those notions. I don't know. But it's really hard.

I considered just not logging anymore, but after the first day of that notion I at least wrote down what I was eating and logged it because it was off the charts bad so I don't think I can do that or I really will gain it all back. I weigh myself tomorrow but I'm half tempted not to. I'm trying to tell myself not to freak out if I gained cause I can lose it again but it's just so difficult. I also try to tell myself it could be 100% worse if I didn't exercise everyday and log what I eat; because then I wouldn't have any sense of control over my intake and I wouldn't be burning off at least some of the excess.

I just kind of needed to get all these thoughts out there. I'm fine if you guys wanna throw some advice or whatever my way, advice and motivation would probably do me some good.

Replies

  • little_schmidt
    little_schmidt Posts: 27 Member
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    Sounds kinda like we're in the same boat! Which is not so awesome. I lost about 20 lbs (only half way to my goal) and was interrupted by schooling and just got into a new job and I gained 15lbs of it back. I was so mad and disappointed. I wanted to give up. I'm still trying to find my footing in between busy times but I have noticed (according to the scale) I am slowly but surely headed back in the right direction. Just had to pull my head out of my *kitten* and set some limits for myself.

    But it is true, if you've done it once you can do it again. You CAN turn the car around. You just have to follow the steps of how you did it before. Easier said than done but trust in yourself. If you want it bad enough, you'll go get it.

    Good luck in your quest. Feel free to add me as a friend. I try to be as supportive as I can!
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Right that is another thing. School throwing my already whacky with getting a job schedule out of whack =^= I know I can do it, just gotta get my bearings back. Like right now as I type I'm standing with my laptop on a counter as I type to stay away from that stupid clock and letting myself be distracted by other things I'd rather be distracted with. Also formulating a plan and all that~!

    You can do it too, fam! Glad to hear you're going back in the right direction c:
  • little_schmidt
    little_schmidt Posts: 27 Member
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    That's something I have a HUGE problem with is boredom hunger. I'm bored so I think I'm hungry and so I eat. But I'm not hungry. Just bored. So the more I distract myself with other activities (crafts, outdoor work, video games, cleaning, etc) the less I eat. School does horrible things to a schedule. So I had to take a break to focus on my job and my health. On a good week, I can make it to the gym 4-5 days out of the week. When school was a thing, HA! Gym??? Yeah right!

    Keep that steady level of distraction going. It saves me a lot of calories.
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Sometimes I get distracted by other things and I'm still thinking about wanting to fill my mouth with tasty food. But I think that's more a byproduct of conditioning as of late than anything cause otherwise I think it's boredom hunger as well.

    I'm gonna try! That and I do still manage to fit some sort of gym or walking into my days. It is hard, though.
  • little_schmidt
    little_schmidt Posts: 27 Member
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    It is. Free time is so scarce. Damn adulting! Lol.

    I'm sure you'll make your goals. Just gotta be patient with yourself and not beat yourself up if you mess up. That will only make things worse because when your self-esteem is down, so is control over yourself.
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Adulting is so hard. Being a responsible adult, at least.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Do you think that maybe you're just not into this anymore? That maybe, deep down, you don't want to work on weight loss right now?
  • fireball1970
    fireball1970 Posts: 38 Member
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    Try cutting your carbs back a little bit. It will help with your cravings & might help you get back on track. Don't give up in yourself!!!
  • rebeccaEsmith
    rebeccaEsmith Posts: 1,136 Member
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    You can do this, you need to change this up your body is used to what your currently doing. Good luck
  • Medilia
    Medilia Posts: 230 Member
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    You are singing my old song!

    It took me two years to kick my butt into gear and it is really just over the last 4 months that I have made any real progress.

    For years I would lose only to gain it all back.

    I would love to chat with you sometime and give some real advice that is more personal and hopefully help you out.

    But here are some of my quick tips:
    - If possible invest in a bike. This is my number one thing exercise is fantastic and the bike is the funnest way to do it, especially when you get friends to join you. I have been riding to work since the start of August and gone from a 14/16 to a very comfortable size 12 and on my way to a size 10.
    - slowly ditch the junk food. Starting in January I slowly eliminated junk food from my diet. It still comes in now and then but I don't enjoy it like I used to. After ten months my only weaknesses are hot chips and cakes.
    - Don't look at the scales - This has been one of the hardest for me. All through August my weight was exactly the same. Nothing changed at all. I was so demotivated, until early September when I turned up to work and my size 14 pants were falling off. Even though my weight was the same, my shape was changing without me noticing!

    If you want to message me and have a chat feel free to!

    Good luck! You can do it!!!
  • last_jennifer
    last_jennifer Posts: 75 Member
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    Keep Journaling! I loved how well you expressed yourself. I was very impressed! I know you can do this, I believe in you.
  • valetat
    valetat Posts: 1 Member
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    Hang in there and press forward. It is normal to have a setback from time to time. Life happens. The beauty of it is there is always the next moment, hour, day, sometimes week to do something different. Don't give up!
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Thanks for the input everyone. ^^
  • mysteps2beauty
    mysteps2beauty Posts: 494 Member
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    It is a challenge. I lost 45 lbs 10 years ago with WW. My 1st week in maintenance, I ate this fabulous chicken and it was over. Why did this chicken do me in? It was because I was denying the things I liked to get to goal fast, fast and faster! This is not a race, unless you decide it is. If not, take your time.

    You have to decide what vision, or mission statement you want to have as being representative of your life, at whatever age you are.

    Ask yourself:

    How did the decisions or non decisions I made last year affect where I am today?
    What will the future look like if I (a) don't change (b) change a little (c) change a lot. Which appeals to me the most right now.
    Do I remember the meal I had two weeks ago? Why and what was it that made me remember it. If it was not memorable, will my future choices be the same, mindless eating?
    What is the worst that could happen to me, if I keep eating like this every day for the next year. Do I like the picture. Do I hate it enough to make a change now, even if it's a minor change per day, per week?


    Feel free to change it at any time and circumstances dictate. But make a decision and own it.

  • JessiBelleW
    JessiBelleW Posts: 815 Member
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    I can offer a couple of practical solutions? Take the clock down! Place it facedown - if you can't see it no problem! You could stop taking things home from work? Try playing with your calories in the other direction (instead of lowering them raise them a little and aim to only lose .75lbs a week). I know it seems like that's a crazy idea but better to lose a little slower than undo all of your hard work! Another thing you could do is every time you get up to go to the kitchen is to pour yourself a cup of hot water and use that time to see if you are really hungry or just eating for the sake of. Are you getting enough sleep? When I'm tired I tend to devour everything in sight
  • fireball1970
    fireball1970 Posts: 38 Member
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    I hope you did your weigh in today. If not that's OK just pick another weigh in day & make it happen. I know you shouldn't focus on the scale too much, However, whenever I go long periods of time without weighing myself I always gain weight. Keep it going girl. You can do it :)
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Yeah I weighed in today at 150.2 pounds. I only gained one pound and I'm doing a pretty good job not beating myself up over it. And I am trying not to bring stuff home from work, like last night I turned down cake pops even though I really wanted to take them and I only had a miniscule sample of ice cream the shift made us. I think I'm getting better, I just gotta keep working hard to find myself again.
  • omnipotentmiku
    omnipotentmiku Posts: 107 Member
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    Thanks for your input guys