Starting to lose my motivation despite excellent results

Lenco007 · May 2016

I am at a fork in the road. Have lost 48 pounds in last 6 months to feel better and improve my health (diabetes and high blood pressure) This is the first time in over 15 year I have been under 200 pounds. People notice and compliment me constantly. I have bought new clothes 3 sizes smaller love it. Feel better.

However, the past week I have found myself overeating all the time, especially at night. I even eat back all of the exercise calories plus! I've asked myself why, but have no answer.

Has anyone had this experience and how did you motivate yourself to deal with it? I still have at least another 30 pounds to lose and am scared to death that I am heading down a slow slippery slope.

cmriverside · May 2016

It's possible that you need to recalculate your goals. With only 30 pounds left to lose, your goals here should be no more than "Lose 1 pound per week." Even 1/2 pound would be good. If you are now set at "Lose 2 lbs a week," recalculating will give you a different calorie goal - likely 200-400 calories more, which is huge when you are at the point you are at. I had the same issues at about the same point in weight loss and I added 300 calories a day. I felt so much better and I continued to lose.

Eating at maintenance for a week always helps me reset. Congratulations on your loss! You know how to do it! If you are having trouble sticking to it because you're legitimately hungry, there is likely a reason for that.

emmaprocopiou · May 2016

All of the above^^

I have been at it this time round for 6 months and it can definately be hard to keep up the motivation but trust the process.
Maybe a week or more at eating maintenance will help , definately look into your deficit for the week. Whenever I feel like it's just not enough food I drop the deficit to .5lbs to gain a few more cals.
I also tend to pick on the evenings.
I now pre log in a treat ( ice cream cookie chocolate etc ) first thing and work my day around this. For the moment it works keeps me focuses and I look forward to it.
Also getting a few more cals from exercise really helps on those hungry days.
Don't stress you've done amazing already and the last pounds are always the hardest to shift but you can do it
X

tulips_and_tea · May 2016

Great job so far! Also, good advice given by the two previous posters.

Time for a re-evaluation and adjustment. Your original motivation was your health (and still should be). Once you saw the numbers improve it's easy to say, "Well, good enough!". Time for a new focus. Set fitness related goals instead of scale only goals. Change up your routine at night or eat less during the day so you have more calories for the evening.

The hard part about this whole lifestyle change is that it constantly evolves. What worked for your first 48 pounds probably won't work for the next 30. That's okay. That's normal.

Lenco007 · May 2016

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I will revise my goals so they keep me motivated, and focus more on fitness and less on scales. It is easy to fall into that numbers trap.

sashayoung72 · May 2016

after losing 50+ i was getting compliments all the time and even though i logged, i was going over my calories, and I even started to gain, and still if i get alot of attention it's like I freak and wanna eat. Soooo I know I never want to go back to MORBIDLY OBESE, i'm down 81 and I just keep plugging along. I still have minor glitches but I keep an eye on the prize so to speak, I want to be in the healthy bmi range eventually. I also play with the 2 lbs a week to the .5 a week so I have variety.

treesha450 · May 2016

I lost 50 pounds. Gained back 20. Now I'm really feeling motivated again to take it off. Something just clicks. It is helpful for me to have a goal to reach. I want to lose 5 pounds by the time I go to the Joan Jett concert. Or I want to lose 10 pounds before my nephew's wedding. That seems to help me.

Starting to lose my motivation despite excellent results

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