What is going to be your biggest challenge/ barrier to reaching your goals?

SKalltheway
SKalltheway Posts: 35 Member
I think I will have two, they have dogged me for years, and trip me up over and over...

1. Getting off track.
Usually caused by my bi-weekly poker games.
  • Late nights (may be up to 3 or 4am), usually Im in bed by 10pm!!
  • Beer and lots of junk food EVERYWHERE

Its easy to resist the first hour or two. Then I start to wear down. Little voice says "ENJOY, its just one night, just don't go too wild"... eventually I have a beer, then some chips, then more... blah.

The next day I wake up late, and my motivation and willpower vanish. I tell myself 'start again on Monday'... then its a weekend of bad eating... a week... a month. Sigh...

You'd think at 48 years old I would have conquered all this stuff... nope. nope. nope.

Not playing poker on those nights is not an option I'd like. I love my poker games... its one of my most favourite social outings. I just need to resolve myself to stay away from the calories!!!!

2. Emotional Eating
Im embarrassed to even write that. Im a 'grown up', Im a 'man.' (that sounds sexist I know... not intended!). Why in hell do I still have this issue? But I do. Emotional eating triggers my #1 above.

Emotions will not leave my life. How I deal with them need to change.

---
Steve

Replies

  • x311Tifa
    x311Tifa Posts: 357 Member
    1. Getting off track
    I go to have one treat day or enjoy a meal out, bring home leftovers, then it turns into two days. It's a spiral that keeps going and it will end up that I did it for a whole week. It continues even further after because then I lose motivation and wallow. Then I'm even further in the hole. It's a sad cycle...

    2. Emotional Eating/Binge eating to no end
    I've always been bad at it. I will eat something savory, then want sweet, then head back to savory, but want to finish with sweet. Binge days are BAD for me. It's rather sad too...
    And in terms of emotions.. I don't know. Ice cream and cheesy gooey things are happy places.

    I should find a better outlet, and have, but food seems to be the hole I return to when I'm REALLYYY down and out.

    ---
    ~Lynn
  • SusanLR9
    SusanLR9 Posts: 44 Member
    Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, author of The Diet Fix (the book/program I'm following), says many, many smart things including this, "The roles of food, as a pleasure, a comfort, and a social pillar, are part of the very fabric of the human condition, and if it's cheating to be human, well, that's a big problem."

    So, emotional eating, poker-game eating, cheesy gooey happy-place eating are part of us. Dr. Freedhoff doesn't think any food should be off limits. He also thinks it's counterproductive to forbid certain foods or severely restrict eating. He writes, "Oftentimes, the folks who rely on forbidding food as a weight management strategy are binge eaters. These are the last folks who should live overly restrictive lifestyles as studies clearly finger overly restrictive lifestyles as one of the primary drivers of binge eating."

    Anyway, I'm obviously a big fan of this book and I'll try not to go on about it.

    My biggest challenges are definitely going to be (1) making myself journal what I eat, as I eat it, on an ongoing basis, and (2) continuing to plan my eating over the long term. I think these things will help me have fewer over-eating incidents, and to move on with healthy eating following an over-eating incident.
  • x311Tifa
    x311Tifa Posts: 357 Member
    Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, author of The Diet Fix (the book/program I'm following), says many, many smart things including this, "The roles of food, as a pleasure, a comfort, and a social pillar, are part of the very fabric of the human condition, and if it's cheating to be human, well, that's a big problem."

    So, emotional eating, poker-game eating, cheesy gooey happy-place eating are part of us. Dr. Freedhoff doesn't think any food should be off limits. He also thinks it's counterproductive to forbid certain foods or severely restrict eating. He writes, "Oftentimes, the folks who rely on forbidding food as a weight management strategy are binge eaters. These are the last folks who should live overly restrictive lifestyles as studies clearly finger overly restrictive lifestyles as one of the primary drivers of binge eating."

    Anyway, I'm obviously a big fan of this book and I'll try not to go on about it.

    My biggest challenges are definitely going to be (1) making myself journal what I eat, as I eat it, on an ongoing basis, and (2) continuing to plan my eating over the long term. I think these things will help me have fewer over-eating incidents, and to move on with healthy eating following an over-eating incident.

    I love that!!! And for sure... Beginning to finally understand moderation and not to hate myself for having "treats" and then go into a downward spiral. Logging was a big pitfall of mine too.
  • zeeengele
    zeeengele Posts: 16 Member
    edited January 2016
    I think my biggest challenge or barrier of me reaching my goals is honestly speaking myself, my mental self, I realised that I'm fighting too battles - weightloss and my mind. I think once I accept myself where I am right now and love myself, I won't ever lost weight and have the body I've always dreamed off because I will never be happy.

    I'm not really sure how i'll overcome the battle of my mind but i'll try my hardest too and get to where I need to be
  • Back4Good2016
    Back4Good2016 Posts: 53 Member
    My biggest challenge is myself. I'm fired up at the moment, juicing during the day and a small meal every night, exercising every day. If I can keep focused I'll be fine. My biggest problem last time is that I stopped exercising. I thought I was invincible and would eat lots of rubbish promising myself to be good the next day. Never happened. This time I know where I went wrong so I'll do my best not to make the same mistakes. Maybe I needed that harsh lesson!
  • tlulabelle
    tlulabelle Posts: 2 Member
    Myself!! Making excuses and not ever following through has always been an issue for me when it comes to diet and exercise. I've struggled with my weight of as long as I can remember and watched my weight fluctuate within a 40 pound range over the last 5 years, being consistently the heaviest I have ever been for the last year with no considerable losses. I am so happy in every aspect of my life other than with my weight, and the fact that I have not been able to overcome the one thing that bothers me the most is beyond frustrating! I have a lot of work to do, but instead of sitting around my house in sweat pants shoveling food in my face because I'm too uncomfortable to go out and do anything, I'm going to focus this year on challenging myself to reach my goals.
  • Dibben9
    Dibben9 Posts: 35 Member
    Similar to you guys, my biggest obstacle is me!

    I done so well last year, but my 'break' went on too long, I ate badly and didn't weigh myself. If I had, I'm sure I would have stopped the slide. I had stopped using MFP by this point.

    Being on board with you guys now will I am sure help!
  • zcash_91
    zcash_91 Posts: 8 Member
    Similar to many of you biggest challenge is myself.. The late night snacks were the first thing I changed, however I still usually find myself craving something about 10pm or later.
  • charlottesky254
    charlottesky254 Posts: 14 Member
    Biggest barriers:
    1) Going over (from not logging as I go/drunk eating) and then writing off the whole rest of the day/week/month...

    2) Thinking I can eye-ball it! I've been at this for a little while so sometimes get cocky and think I know how much something weighs or how many calories are in it without logging... I'm usually wrong

    3) Eating in routine instead of eating when hungry- so having tea at tea-time instead of skipping/just having a light snack instead/sticking so heavily to a plan that I have calories I'm not even hungry for.
  • Dibben9
    Dibben9 Posts: 35 Member
    edited January 2016
    I've been thinking about this more. Where I struggled last year, was knowing how much to eat when I was stepping up my cycle training. I needed to eat as I was doing some bigger miles on the bike, but I am sure it was a little more than required. May need to actually look it up for this year...
  • Mjg2016
    Mjg2016 Posts: 27 Member
    A nice cup of hot tea with a little squeeze of fresh lemon is good for me vs. a late night snack.
    :) Try it!
  • Mjg2016
    Mjg2016 Posts: 27 Member
    Late night snacking is an obstacle for me. So I'm replacing that habit with cup of hot tea!
  • sherridmooney
    sherridmooney Posts: 6 Member
    My biggest challenge is definately healthy eating. I do pretty good through the day but as soon as I get home from work I struggle. I have 4 kids I'm cooking for so I find a lot of nights I end up making 2 suppers - something for me and something for them. That means twice the dishes and twice the time so it can be easy to cheat and eat less healthy. I tried the 21 day fix but I found the food prep was so long everyday.
  • sutibo
    sutibo Posts: 71 Member
    Interesting how many people 'slide' once one bad thing happens. It's exactly my problem - I skipped lunch so I can have pizza now, oh I've had 'bad' food I may as well have more bad food and start again tomorrow.

    When really I should say 'I've had pizza, it's within my calories so that's ok, it's not great but it's not' bad' so don't give up on the day/week.

    I need to change my mindset somehow. It's not about good/bad choices it's about informed/uninformed choices and knowing the effect they have.
  • Dibben9
    Dibben9 Posts: 35 Member
    edited January 2016
    A big mistake I made last year was get to a position where I was cycling lots - had lost a fair amount of weight, so stopped using MFP.
    Now clearly at my age (young!) and with my genes, I can't do this now - so looks like I'm going to be using MFP to watch my calories and converse with like minded people... I also need to respond better when had a bad day or 2 or 3 as Sutibo says above!
  • SusanLR9
    SusanLR9 Posts: 44 Member
    Sutibo...I totally agree it's about informed choices (the power of journalling our food is that it lets us make them) and also think it's about enjoying our lives. If pizza is enjoyable and fits in your day, it sounds like a great choice to me, and reason to continue on with pride!
  • sutibo
    sutibo Posts: 71 Member
    Dibben9 wrote: »
    A big mistake I made last year was get to a position where I was cycling lots - had lost a fair amount of weight, so stopped using MFP.
    This is me too - 12 mile commute each day + training for 1/2 marathon most lunchtimes meant I could eat pretty much what I wanted and lost a few stone. Then I stopped cycling but kept eating. Now I'm trying to redress the balance a but - I can't cycle to work but I can be more aware of what I'm eating.