I feel like I can’t do it anymore….
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Calliope610 wrote: »All the gym time in the world won't do much good if you're not eating at a deficit. Step back, start logging EVERYTHING - that means accurately weighing all solid foods, measuring all liquids. Once you have consistently maintained a deficit and see some weight loss, Then add or increase your workouts. BTW, is it really necessary to get up at 2am for the gym? ?
This exactly!0 -
I have hit this point before, and for me it required taking a break for a month or so. Not a full on, "eat everything, don't move at all" break. Just eating at maintenance (roughly, I didn't really track, just tried to be reasonable) letting myself off the gym when I didn't feel like it, even if that was all week. I found it mentally refreshing, and something about it being a conscious "break" rather than an "omg I keep missing my calorie goal and why am I so lazy that I overslept for the gym" kept me feeling in control, so that when I came back to it, I was ready to commit again. I think the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up - cut yourself some slack, acknowledge that you're not feeling it right now, and focus on just not undoing the good work you've done so far.
This. I found taking a break and eating at maintenance for a month, not really worrying about keeping my food diary or doing exercise, helped see me through the mentally rough times until I was ready to re-dedicate to losing weight again. The key is to not go overboard on the eating, just relax and enjoy yourself.0 -
QueenBee3200 wrote: »I appreciate everyone's input. I thank you all for your information.
Getting up at 2am is when is best for me to go to the gym. After work, I get home at 430 and honestly I don't feel like going back out after getting home from the office. SO doing it before hand works well. I work out between 3am and 4:10am. Then I get home by 430 and get ready for the day. When I do get home in the afternoon from the office its time to make dinner and get ready for the next day. I did find time to start a new exercise DVD called CIZE. It's fun to do and really gets the heart pumping too. Usually after all that I head upstairs for the evening and usually go to sleep about 7pm.
I really needed to just hear how others deal with that feeling of wanting to give up and give in. Food is the devil and the temptation is so great. I need to find other ways to deal with it. I know I can't be the only one to struggle with it and it helps knowing that there are other people out there like me. That's why i appreciate all of your information.
But you've already discovered that this isn't a sustainable plan. Are you going to get up at 2am forever? Can you go from the office to the gym? It might be more crowded, but the payoff of more sleep and a more sustainable plan might be worth it. I didn't check your profile, but my husband and kids would be bonkers if I was out of the house at 2am and came home at 430pm totally wiped out and into bed at 7pm...
There are other ways. Think outside of the proverbial box. Even youtube videos at 5am would be better.0 -
What type of exercises do you do at the gym? Why can't you do some ecercises at home? I do stair running at home. It wipes me out every single time. You could jump rope. Or do Fitness Blender videos. Or something that will allow you to have a normal life where you don't go to bed at 7pm.0
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You get up at 2am and do 2 hours in the gym? What do you do in the gym? If you're sticking to the same routine you will get bored. And why do you need 2 hours?
As a mum of 3 kids who is permanently sleep deprived, I have no idea why you'd purposefully deprive yourself of sleep! Surely you could wake up at a reasonable time, like 6am, then workout after work. 4:30 is not that late to finish. You could go to the gym after work, or do a class in the early evening (they tend to be 6:30/7pm here).0 -
This is why i have saturday cheat day lol..0
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I'm really impressed you can be so motivated that you go to the gym at 2am. Your are probably tired and its hard to make good choices and to stay motivated as I would. Since you like your DVD routine so much, cut back on the gym as it sounds like your time poor.
I agree entirely with rnelson88 evolution and not revolution. Make small changes to your existing diet each week. eg Change the size of the fries, soda and move from ice-cream to say yogurt or sorbet. Spread the butter on a bit thinner. Use a vegetable slicer to cut the cheese 1mm think etc Reduce sugar intake so you don't get a sugar spike.
It's particularly important to exercise whilst having calorie restriction as you don't want to lose muscle otherwise your basal metabolic rate will drop. You dont have to spend ages doing exercise you achieve a lot in 10 minute routine.0 -
QueenBee3200 wrote: »I appreciate everyone's input. I thank you all for your information.
Getting up at 2am is when is best for me to go to the gym. After work, I get home at 430 and honestly I don't feel like going back out after getting home from the office. SO doing it before hand works well. I work out between 3am and 4:10am. Then I get home by 430 and get ready for the day. When I do get home in the afternoon from the office its time to make dinner and get ready for the next day. I did find time to start a new exercise DVD called CIZE. It's fun to do and really gets the heart pumping too. Usually after all that I head upstairs for the evening and usually go to sleep about 7pm.
I really needed to just hear how others deal with that feeling of wanting to give up and give in. Food is the devil and the temptation is so great. I need to find other ways to deal with it. I know I can't be the only one to struggle with it and it helps knowing that there are other people out there like me. That's why i appreciate all of your information.
This does not make sense as a plan for someone working the usual morning shift. Which I think you have just found out. Do not focus on short term goals, focus on something that is sustainable. Being up all night is not sustainable unless you work night shifts (or not work at all and have no other obligations either)/
If you have no time for the gym, just stop. Go for a walk after work or walk to work, or go for a walk on your lunch break. Or do not workout at all and schedule some workouts on the weekends.
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I've gone through the same thing... I get tired of keeping this up, I want to eat real food, I want to drink wine... It's all fun and games until your favorite jeans are a little snug again.
Getting enough sleep is vital... I don't know where you are located, but it's spring where I am--a perfect excuse to sleep in a little and get outside after work. Even walking can be a nice change up! As for dinner prep--invest in a crock pot that will do the prep for you while you are at work. Or consider doing meal prep on the weekends when you have more time and popping them in the freezer for a later date.0 -
QueenBee3200 wrote: »Food is the devil and the temptation is so great. I need to find other ways to deal with it. I know I can't be the only one to struggle with it and it helps knowing that there are other people out there like me. That's why i appreciate all of your information.
This is a red flag. Do you really view food this way?
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I have hit this point before, and for me it required taking a break for a month or so. Not a full on, "eat everything, don't move at all" break. Just eating at maintenance (roughly, I didn't really track, just tried to be reasonable) letting myself off the gym when I didn't feel like it, even if that was all week. I found it mentally refreshing, and something about it being a conscious "break" rather than an "omg I keep missing my calorie goal and why am I so lazy that I overslept for the gym" kept me feeling in control, so that when I came back to it, I was ready to commit again. I think the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up - cut yourself some slack, acknowledge that you're not feeling it right now, and focus on just not undoing the good work you've done so far.
I second all of this. I just went through this too. Instead of beating myself up, I just decided to slack off for two weeks without going hog wild. I slept in, skipped the gym, ate crap. The last few days I kept reminding myself it was a break, so I was mentally prepared to get back on the wagon. And I stuck to my deadline. Sometimes, you just need to let it go.0 -
There are gyms open at 2 am? Flippin' heck! ! Get some sleep and get up at a more 'normal ' time?
Losing weight is all about eating at deficit.
Sleep deprivation does not help weight loss.
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I have hit this point before, and for me it required taking a break for a month or so. Not a full on, "eat everything, don't move at all" break. Just eating at maintenance (roughly, I didn't really track, just tried to be reasonable) letting myself off the gym when I didn't feel like it, even if that was all week. I found it mentally refreshing, and something about it being a conscious "break" rather than an "omg I keep missing my calorie goal and why am I so lazy that I overslept for the gym" kept me feeling in control, so that when I came back to it, I was ready to commit again. I think the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up - cut yourself some slack, acknowledge that you're not feeling it right now, and focus on just not undoing the good work you've done so far.
This.0 -
I applaud your effort! I could not get up that early and be worth anything the rest of the day lol.
It's easy to view food as evil, but you have to learn that it doesn't control you, you control it. It does get easier with time and effort.
As Mitch16 said, sleep is essential and should be the top priority. Water is the next priority, be sure you are drinking enough (which means a lot). Find ways to shorten your gym workout and you won't be there as long. Instead of doing single exercises, stack them in pairs or triplets and do cycles (i.e., bench press with rows, squats with lunges, etc.) Try adding 10 minutes of HIIT or Tabatas instead of longer cardio. You can get a super efficient workout done in 30-45 minutes doing this.
Track EVERYTHING you eat, even treats. Analyze your macros. This enables you to actually fit treats into your daily macros without blowing your plan.
If you feel really defeated, perhaps you are overtraining? Take a break from the workouts, up your calories a bit, and get more rest. Re-evaluate how you feel after that.
It isn't easy to change one's attitude about food, but it is worth it in the end. As others have said, small changes get you further in the long run for a sustainable lifestyle.0 -
I also have trouble with finding time to workout. I'm a teacher, so when I have a planning period (which isn't always guaranteed), I've started doing a five minute workout video on YouTube. I figure that 1) it revs me up for the next class I teach 2) small workouts count for something, so even if I can't get a workout in at home, I can feel proud I at least did this. I don't know if you have breaks at work where this is a possibility or not.
Lastly, I don't beat myself up for missing workouts, particularly if I have a good food diary for the day. If I don't workout in three days, then I know I've got to get my buns in gear.... if I let it go beyond that, then I tend to give up.
Shannon0 -
I know what it's like to struggle to find time to workout, but I cannot imagine that getting up at 2am for a 2 hour gym session is a sustainable way to live if you are working a regular M-F like it sounds like you are. It would seem you might be missing out on a lot of life if you go to bed at 7pm every night, particularly if you have a partner and/or children that work or go to school on similar schedules.
I used to put a lot more emphasis on the gym than I do now, and I was a lot unhappier then. I tried and tried to make it work for me during the week, but it just didn't. I've accepted that now and incorporated a lot more walking and running into my daily life. I now walk or run every night after dinner for 30-60 minutes, almost without fail. A 30-60 minute walk or run is a lot less of a time suck out of my weekday than the gym would be, and even with working 11-12 hours at the office all day, it still leaves me a little time to spend with my family. I go to the gym on the weekends now in order to do a little extra cardio and work with the weights. I'm so much happier now that I've taken the pressure off myself to need to be in the gym all the time.
Bottom line, it sounds like you need to find what works for you long term, and this schedule ain't it. Make sure looking ahead that you are working realistically toward your goals so that you can make healthy habits for life. Good luck!0 -
Whenever I've felt what you describe, kind of an all over oppositional sentiment, welling up inside I've taken a break and gone to maintenance calories and eased up my workout routines.
I've also played around with deficits at different points.
I always do two things, however: I always weigh myself everyday unless I'm traveling and I always log all my food for the day even if it's approximations without proper weighing & measuring. And a third thing I almost always do is walk 10-15000 steps. With just those simple behaviors in place I can take a breather & return to losing weight with fresh enthusiasm, without having gone off the rails and regained any weight. This isn't a race. Go at a pace that feels comfortable & meaningful to you!0 -
Also: food is NOT the devil. All or nothing thinking is a much bigger devil in my opinion!0
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I don't agree with the people saying to take a break from tracking your diet and working toward your goals. I think that's too much like giving up hope. You can do this! If you feel like you need a break, you could take a week or two off from the gym, or maybe reduce the amount of time you're spending there. But I think you need to double-down on tracking everything you eat. Even if you decide to just eat at maintenance for a week, you won't really know it's maintenance unless you're weighing all your food. Don't let up on that one habit, because that's the habit that puts you in control if you really embrace it. Want to eat a slice of pizza? No problem. But weigh it and record it, so you know exactly what you're doing, and not accidentally undoing the progress you've made so far.0
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She is not spending 2 hours in the gym as some have noted.QueenBee3200 wrote: »I appreciate everyone's input. I thank you all for your information.
Getting up at 2am is when is best for me to go to the gym. After work, I get home at 430 and honestly I don't feel like going back out after getting home from the office. SO doing it before hand works well. I work out between 3am and 4:10am. Then I get home by 430 and get ready for the day. When I do get home in the afternoon from the office its time to make dinner and get ready for the next day. I did find time to start a new exercise DVD called CIZE. It's fun to do and really gets the heart pumping too. Usually after all that I head upstairs for the evening and usually go to sleep about 7pm.
I really needed to just hear how others deal with that feeling of wanting to give up and give in. Food is the devil and the temptation is so great. I need to find other ways to deal with it. I know I can't be the only one to struggle with it and it helps knowing that there are other people out there like me. That's why i appreciate all of your information.
I would like to comment, and clarify a few things. First, I find it funny how some of you will criticize for someones gym hours, just because you don't think it's an appropriate time to train. Just so everyone knows, Queenbee is my wife. In Jan of 2014 I started out on my own journey to get in shape. I was very overweight and unhealthy. Several months later, my wife decided she wanted to get on board with going to the gym. I was already training at 3am, (as this fits my schedule, start work at 5am) So to help her out, when she got home from work at 4:30 in the afternoon, I would head back to the gym with her. Anyone that belongs to a gym knows this is prime time for members. So with travel time and gym time, we were getting back home anywhere from 6:30 to 7pm. Then dinner has to be made, and whatever else needed to be done before settling in for the evening. A few months later, she decided she wanted to try getting up with me to go early. (great for me cuz the 2/day workouts were starting to get taxing) It was tough for her as you can imagine, but as time passed she got used to it. So she's been getting up early for the gym about a year now. There are days she doesn't feel like getting out of bed, so she doesn't.
As far as rest, I believe she gets enough. She's usually in bed by 7pm, sometimes before, and sleeps til 2. That's 7 hours of sleep give or take. The gym is empty except for a few ppl, so there is no issue with waiting for equipment like there is in the afternoon. So we can make the most of our time spent there.
Some key things I feel she left out of her OP. She's already been to the doctors and had everything checked to find out why she is having so much trouble dropping the weight. They can't find anything wrong. Yes, her thyroid has been checked also. Except for being overweight, she's healthy, which imo is great. So we've tried different things, sustained cardio, HIIT, she's lifting weights now for a couple months on top of the cardio. One thing I do believe, and I have been trying to get her to understand this, is a lot of days she comes in way under her calories. I have explained how restricting calories can slow her metabolism way down. I believe this is what's happening. We are now closely monitoring her macros and intake to see if this triggers some loss.
I suggested to her posting here, because I knew there would be other females here experiencing similar issues. Those that have chimed in with ideas, thank you. Hopefully this additional info may lead to other ides.0
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