Finally realised why I kept going off track

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blossomnu
blossomnu Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My pattern for MFP was pretty much as follows:

- Record everything accurately, including weighing/measuring food for a few days.
- Stick to suggested calorie intake religiously, and eat (fairly) well for a while.
- Go totally off track eating double my recommended calorie intake (as dictated by MFP).
- Not log food because I was so off track.
- Put on weight, feel guilty, disappear for a few weeks, and then start again.

I've literally been doing this for years and losing weight and regaining it again.

Finally I decided to try something new and upped my daily recommended calorie intake myself. MFP recommended 1200 cals a day, which I think was just too low to be practical. I love hitting goals, so a day where I'd go over by even 100 cals made me feel psychologically rubbish. It's hard to get that low when you work in an office full time with mandatory restaurant trips once a week, love food, have a busy social life, and live with a boyfriend who can naturally eat 2500 cals a day and think nothing of it.

Weirdly, now I've upped it to 1400, eating 1200 has become easier. On the days I do go slightly over, I don't feel bad. It's better than 1200-ing for a week and then 2200-ing it for two weeks. It might take me longer to lose the weight, but I think it will be more achievable than yo-yoing all over the place. My goal is to have a graph with a downward trend and to log consistently.

Have you had any sudden realisations about things you were doing that weren't working for you?

Replies

  • LuckyMe2017
    LuckyMe2017 Posts: 454 Member
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    Glad you've found something that works for you!
  • olong
    olong Posts: 255 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I think I'm going to give this a shot. I'm on day 1500 today. I lost 35 pounds in my first 5-6 months (I lost a bit more, but couldn't maintain 143 pounds for my 47 yo 5'8" body, so, chose 150-152 lbs as my maintenance goal). I've creeped up and am trying to re-lose 7 pounds. It's tougher, in my mind, to maintain a weight than to outright lose a chunk of weight.

    I'm thinking that for me, I simply MUST exercise every day, even if just one hour walking on the treadmill. Skipping a day or two, then trying to "make up" the time on another day makes that "make up" day hard. I do weight everything that I can -- even to the point of keeping a compact food scale in my purse to weigh what I can when eating out. (Dear Hubby isn't embarrassed when I pull out the scale at a restaurant -- he's great!)

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