This lifestyle change is difficult, but not for the reasons I expected

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Replies

  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    It was easier than I thought - I just had to follow directions. I'm in my 50's. It was my first diet. I lost 40 pounds and have maintained 4 years.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Great post. Not much else to say. The process is definitely simple, and once I figured that out it has been easy ever since.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Oh, the irony :s I have an endless row of posts behind me where I have adviced people "if you're struggling, you're doing it wrong". I can't have been very convincing, when not even I believed me :p
  • sunshira
    sunshira Posts: 14 Member
    Great post and great replies. .some days I still have cravings and do give in a bit but not like I used to. I still eat normal food and treats and stay within a 3 pound maintenance range. Been on maintenance for 1 year. I feel bad when people restrict so much as that's tough to maintain. Society has taught us so many black and white eating rules which don't work
    There's big money in the diet industry
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,322 Member
    I love mfp …yet.. all the obsessing and over thinking weight issues is disheartening. To me, it is a form of eating disorders..i think logging every single bite forever is really weird. I find it happy news to learn that many of you find it easy. Thank goodness!!!
  • robingmurphy
    robingmurphy Posts: 349 Member
    What do you think is the difference that makes it feel easy to some people, and so torturous, maddeningly difficult for others? Is it that the "easy" people are trying to maintain a more natural weight and the others are striving for something that is difficult for them to maintain? Or something else?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited September 2016
    That explanation certainly makes sense, @robingmurphy. Maybe also, attempting several big behavior changes at once is harder than doing a couple small changes really consistently. Both that and reaching for a less "natural weight," as you say, can be less sustainable over the long haul. Expectations play a big role, too. If someone expects to go back to pre-weight loss habits, it will be tough. If they expect to maintain by doing the same thing they did to lose, not so much torture.

    On the other hand, life experience has left some people just tougher than others. Used to work with a guy who was a Navy Seals commander. If nobody died and everyone got a meal, it was a good day in his book, no matter what else was going on. Great perspective to have.
  • Return2Fit
    Return2Fit Posts: 226 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    A little planning and awareness is actually pretty huge relative to how many people go through life.
    The days I struggle the most are days I live without a plan.
    And that's true for fitness/health as well as business, emotion management, personal relationships, real estate investment and driving to some unfamiliar address.
    Planning works... :)
  • hikernut53
    hikernut53 Posts: 43 Member
    bioklutz wrote: »
    For me it is just the opposite. In the past I would want a piece of cake or some ice cream. I would worry and fret that I might gain weight. I would feel guilty if I was trying to avoid high calorie treats and gave in. I find it really freeing to know that I can eat what I want - and know how much I can eat while meeting my goals.

    I'm learning (and relating to) much of this conversation. Last night I attended an event and several of us shared a bowl of homemade brownies with ice cream and caramel sauce. At first I just passed it along, but then I took a few bites (it was delicious!) Surprisingly, I didn't instantly gain back the 50 lbs I worked so hard to lose! :) It was good, I shared it, and I logged it. I did a few extra fitbit steps (mostly because of where I parked, but it was helpful!) and today I was down .5 lbs! I think this time I might be successful with maintenance. I think differently about food now. If I have days where I want to eat something that isn't nutritionally "good" - it's okay! I eat it and move on without beating myself up. I like where I am now.

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    What do you think is the difference that makes it feel easy to some people, and so torturous, maddeningly difficult for others? Is it that the "easy" people are trying to maintain a more natural weight and the others are striving for something that is difficult for them to maintain? Or something else?

    I think it is "non-restrictive boundaries". A personal set of habits that regulate your intake/output to keep a healthy weight, and something that you can happily live with. Happy maintainers also settle on a weight that feels good, and don't continue to "force" off the "last X pounds".
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,470 Member
    edited September 2016
    I'm in a similar place ...

    Slender and fit most of my adult life.

    Gained a bit of weight for various reasons, but generally speaking still ate a decent diet and still exercised. I gained at a rate of about 80 calories per day which isn't much at all. Just a bit too much to eat or a bit too little exercise.

    So December 2015, I increased my exercise and started losing weight. Then in February 2015 I joined MFP and lost the rest of the weight mainly through diet.

    But I was also increasing my exercise and started doing events ... and somewhere around Christmas last year I started maintaining because my focus was more on exercise and less on food intake.
  • myfitnesspale3
    myfitnesspale3 Posts: 276 Member
    bioklutz wrote: »
    I did not make any dramatic sweeping changes to my diet and fitness. It has all been small changes and never felt painful. But those small changes really add up. I eat drastically different than 10 years ago.

    I just noticed this too, From the past 3 years. From no change and no attention to diet, Then taking many small steps that made me today's low-carb weirdo. The change never felt like a painful revolution.

    Three years ago I never imagined that potatoes could become an unusual treat.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,784 Member
    What do you think is the difference that makes it feel easy to some people, and so torturous, maddeningly difficult for others? Is it that the "easy" people are trying to maintain a more natural weight and the others are striving for something that is difficult for them to maintain? Or something else?

    Maybe it's the same general category of difference that makes it easy and fun for some people to draw a sketch of their cat, but difficult and frustrating for others, or that makes some people enjoy dancing and be good at it, while others have no rhythm and hate even trying.

    We're all wired differently, in soooo many ways.
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
    Yes. It just clicks, you finally get it. Which I did a year and a half ago. Food, cooking "was" a hobby, pleasure or whatever of mine. No more. Tasteless, boring food ? Ha ! Had to laugh. Went to lunch recently with friends. Not impressed with the food, ate maybe a third of what I was served. The owner of the restaurant inquired...was I not happy with the food ? Bottom line. I thought I have finally figured out just because you have a plate of food in front of you need to eat it all. Seems to be the norm, clean plate club. No way. If it's boring, I am not eating it.