Problems, hardships, and issues.
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I live with my husband who does not struggle with weight issues so there are some food items in the house that are not the best options. However, I have always been the one to bring the cake, cookies, and candy into the house. I can't seem to have them in moderation. I just eat them all at once. I'm going to try limiting carbs so I have some more calories for healthy snacks. Hopefully I can find a balance in the next couple of weeks. I'm just frustrated that I am going up and not down right now.0
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I understand; it's really frustrating those weeks where you plateau or worse gain back. But don't give up! Keep working at it - you'll have bad weeks, but you'll have good ones too, so it all comes out in the wash, as they say
Limiting carbs can help, and one way would be to limit the foods that are your weakness and that you find yourself mindlessly munching on. Also, if you are into baking or making food, there are lots of diet friendly recipes for alternatives to your favorite items. For instance, I've stumbled across recipes for avocado chocolate pudding. The recipe I found is a little high calories-wise but loaded with potassium and other good stuff. I made it and then parceled it out into 1/2 cup containers. I'm going to work on the recipe though, to see if I can get the calories down even more and to take the banana out of the recipe--the flavor overpowered the chocolate.
I've also started using truvia sugar blend or straight truvia in my favorite baked goods recipes to reduce sugar and calories. I was able to get homemade angel food cake down to under 100 calories a slice!1 -
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I live with my husband who does not struggle with weight issues so there are some food items in the house that are not the best options. However, I have always been the one to bring the cake, cookies, and candy into the house. I can't seem to have them in moderation. I just eat them all at once. I'm going to try limiting carbs so I have some more calories for healthy snacks. Hopefully I can find a balance in the next couple of weeks. I'm just frustrated that I am going up and not down right now.
Don't hate on yourself too much, this is an ongoing process of self discovery. What matters is that you keep adjusting and don't give-up.1 -
I've read about some people experiencing a sort of...weight dysmorphia as they start to lose, and I think I'm in it. I've lost about 30lbs from my highest weight in January, but I feel bigger than ever. When I try and remember how far I've come, 30lbs feels like a drop in the bucket. Logically I know I'm doing really well, but I think emotionally I'm having trouble reconciling it. I weigh the least I've weighed in probably five or so years and I'm only 10lbs away from college weight but I can't...shake it.
Anyone else going through this? Fortunately it hasn't seemed to cause me to stop trying, but it's...disconcerting and discouraging.0 -
I can relate, gazelle - I am a solidly built woman, and big. I'm 5-8", broad-shouldered, broad-hipped, with large, wide feet - I wear an 11WW in women's shoes! And I carry my weight solidly, by which I mean that I never look like I weigh what I do. My brother is the same way. So on the flip side, it's nice that when people guess my weight, they consistently guess way too low, but the bad part is that when I DO lose weight, I have to lose a significant amount before it really starts to show.1
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@bmeadows380 - Same, although I'm only 5'4" haha. I've always carried my weight really evenly and have never really 'looked my weight'. People are always surprised when I tell them how much I weigh! I think you're right - that's contributing to the struggle for sure. It's coming off my midsection (thank you, measurements) so I know it's happening but I don't look or feel a ton smaller. People haven't noticed yet really, either. I'm hoping in 10 more lbs or so it'll start to look noticeable.
Fingers crossed!! 0 -
I think I'm finally showing a little - Mom didn't say anything when I was down last week, but she mentioned on the phone yesterday that she had noticed it in my face - I just had to lose 50 lbs before it started being slightly noticeable!
I hit 325 lbs last week, and I think it finally started sinking in that it's working. I don't think it will really hit me that I've been successful, though, until I can get back under the 300 lb mark - and that'll be 75 lbs off by then.
i'm like you - I've also seen it in measurements, and I've started to notice my pants and skirts are loose. The last time I lost weight, I had to take most of them up, but then had to let them back out after I gained the weight back. I get a little discouraged when I wear them and see how much I had taken in because it indicates to me I've got a long way to go, but I try to find ways to remind myself to look at how far I've come. I'm not really good at giving myself credit, and tend to focus on all the negatives, especially the shame of having gained it back after losing it the last time. It's really hard to change the mindset and to forgive myself! It's much easier for me to encourage others and help them through their failures to get back on track; I don't seem to know how to extend that graciousness to myself lol2 -
Feeling a bit down today. All because of a look.
My mother in law picked up my son earlier and asked me if I was still doing my "calorie counting thing"? And was it going ok? The way she was looking at me made me feel like she assumed that I wasn't. It wasn't a nasty look, worse, it was a pity look!
I know that objectively I weigh less. I know that objectively I am smaller, because I've measured.
So why after two hours am I sitting here feeling sorry for myself as though I've failed?
Need to get a grub and keep repeating to myself that I have made progress! It is working!1 -
Yeah, I don't think my family has realized I'm serious about this long-term, either.
Sammy, you and I are doing this thing for real! Eventually they'll clue in, but for now it's enough that we know we're doing it right.3 -
thewindandthework wrote: »Yeah, I don't think my family has realized I'm serious about this long-term, either.
Sammy, you and I are doing this thing for real! Eventually they'll clue in, but for now it's enough that we know we're doing it right.
Yes! I know I'm serious! That's what's important!
They'll catch on! Eventually!
We got this! :-)
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I can completely understand, Sammy, and I sympathize with you. A few weeks ago, my parents were visiting. My brother calls and talks to me for a bit and then tells me he's going to have bariatric surgery. After we talk a bit, I then hand the phone to my mother. She goes into another room, but it was next door to my computer room, so I could hear every word she said. They were obviously discussing weight, and my brother tells her the same thing he told me: that he's having the surgery done because he's tired of losing weight and then gaining it back and that he can never get to the weight he feels he needs to be at, and he sees surgery as the only option left to getting the weight off and keeping it off.
Anyway, I hear my mother tell him, "Son you're just made to be a big person, like your sister. Bridget (me) will never lose a lot of weight; she'll always be big. It's just in your makeup."
Talk about lack of support! I get where she's coming from, because I've been heavy since puberty, I have PCOS and thyroid issues, so losing weight is difficult for me. And I've lost weight before but gained it back. I get it. But still - a little support goes a long way!0 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »I can completely understand, Sammy, and I sympathize with you. A few weeks ago, my parents were visiting. My brother calls and talks to me for a bit and then tells me he's going to have bariatric surgery. After we talk a bit, I then hand the phone to my mother. She goes into another room, but it was next door to my computer room, so I could hear every word she said. They were obviously discussing weight, and my brother tells her the same thing he told me: that he's having the surgery done because he's tired of losing weight and then gaining it back and that he can never get to the weight he feels he needs to be at, and he sees surgery as the only option left to getting the weight off and keeping it off.
Anyway, I hear my mother tell him, "Son you're just made to be a big person, like your sister. Bridget (me) will never lose a lot of weight; she'll always be big. It's just in your makeup."
Talk about lack of support! I get where she's coming from, because I've been heavy since puberty, I have PCOS and thyroid issues, so losing weight is difficult for me. And I've lost weight before but gained it back. I get it. But still - a little support goes a long way!
Yeah, it's unfortunate that the people we need support from most can turn out to be our biggest critic! Sometimes my husband says things to (without thinking I think). I'm glad of the support I get on here at times like that! :-)0 -
ugh - this week has been rough diet-wise!
I work for the power company on the high voltage transmission side of the business. My office, however, is on the same floor as the distribution business. Thanks to a series of powerful thunderstorms that rolled through Monday night, the other folks here are in storm mode, meaning they are working on clearing up outages, coordinating linemen, dispatching crews, etc. They work 14-16 hours a day until the work is complete and the customers are back on. Because they are here for so long during the day, the company provides them meals, and others will buy snacks and such for those working the storm. All this means that there has been a plethora of breakfast foods, pasta salads, sandwiches, cookies, sweets, etc. in the breakroom all week, and I have to admit my willpower has been failing me.
I couldn't stop myself nibbling yesterday, and ended up 190 calories over my limit, and today was worse - I'm already at -22, and I haven't even had dinner yet!
Tomorrow I'm out of the danger area here, but have to go to a training session where lunch will be provided. It's going to be tricky to behave myself tomorrow, too.
*sigh* oh well - I'm doing better than I would have, I suppose, and haven't been mindlessly snacking all day, so I think I've fairly closely kept track of the calories in. Now to just shake the guilt
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Sammy: so sorry that happened. It can be a bummer to be around people who can't keep in their criticism of the world around them. But it's a great opportunity to work on distancing yourself from the feelings of other people. You have your own "emotional weather system" to attend to. You don't need to start watching the "weather" of other people, just ignore rain that isn't coming from your cloud. Your journey is going fine, and you're fine, and the only thing that changed is that her weather came close to you. Develop an emotional umbrella and enjoy your own sunny skies!!2
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bmeadows380 wrote: »- I'm doing better than I would have, I suppose, and haven't been mindlessly snacking all day, so I think I've fairly closely kept track of the calories in. Now to just shake the guilt
It's a weekly calorie deficit! Add a little walk or cut a little somewhere else and it's not even shaking the guilt but mathematically addressing the issue. But also, no guilt! I'm impressed you controlled yourself so well!! I would have a heck of a time keeping it to a 200 calorie overage. So good for you! Minimizing the damage is also a victory!
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Sammy: so sorry that happened. It can be a bummer to be around people who can't keep in their criticism of the world around them. But it's a great opportunity to work on distancing yourself from the feelings of other people. You have your own "emotional weather system" to attend to. You don't need to start watching the "weather" of other people, just ignore rain that isn't coming from your cloud. Your journey is going fine, and you're fine, and the only thing that changed is that her weather came close to you. Develop an emotional umbrella and enjoy your own sunny skies!!
I love the weather analogy! You are a wise owl!1 -
I haven't weighed myself in two weeks due to my scale needing new batteries. I'm lacking in motivation and energy for anything. Also, PMS. I did not feel like making dinner last night so I ordered pizza. I, however, did not buy my usual cheesy bread and marinara. I got specialty buffalo chicken which in total is 300 calories less and low carb. After that though... I also ate a couple cookie brownies and a lava cake (it hit my sweet craving so well that I think I'm good on my cravings lol). Oooh, cannot forget the 2 liter of coke I had all to myself. I didn't drink it all.
I'm just blah about food and exercise right now. I want to eat good foods and workout. I'm just not putting the effort into it. I hope that changes soon. My mind is not in it but I'm constantly miserable. The struggle.0 -
I know that this whole journey boils down to CICO, but I am stressing out. I had hit a new all-time low of 227, but today I'm back up to 232. This is a slow creep from May 11th. 227...229...230...232. In one week I've eaten an extra 17,500 calories? 2,500 calories per day?
I'm trying to reconcile - I didn't track meticulously. I didn't make great food decisions. I drank while away on business much more than I normally would. I didn't work out as much as I normally do. I'm more stressed than normal. I'm changing medications.
These are all reasons for a 5lb gain...right? Right now I just feel so lost, like I'm slipping and I know on some level that 5lbs is not a big deal but it's just...frustrating. I'm trying to just double-down on efforts and get back to healthy routines but there's that little voice that says "You'll always be fat no matter what you do" creeping back in.0 -
Yeah, it's alarming to see a gain like that. But it happens, and it's normal! Right now I'm about five pounds above my lowest weight, too. In my case it's I have eaten much higher sodium than usual the last week or so, and I have been under an extreme amount of stress, both of which are working against me on the scale.
Try not to worry about it -- easier said than done, I know -- because it will come off. Keep staying under kcal goal, and this will be a tiny forgettable bump in the road. You got this!2 -
Yep, what wind says
I know how frustrating plateau's can be, and that little upcreep as well. I get worried when I see a flat-line week where I've lost very little at all, and like you, I have a very critical inner voice, too that often wants to give up, but I haven't given in to it yet lol
When you aren't measuring or tracking meticulously, its amazing how off we can be - we think "a little bit won't hurt" but what we think is only a little bit can be a whole lot. I know when I try to eyeball a measurement, I'm always way off what I think it is - if I think it's only a tsp, it's actually a Tbsp, or if I think it's 1/2 cup, it usually turns out to be 3/4's, etc.
But it also sounds like its not just extra calories - Stress can cause problems, too. You were out on business, so that meant eating out a lot, right? I know how difficult it can be when in that situation - I've had to go out of town for my own job as well, and there just aren't many good restaurant selections out there. Usually if you can keep under the calorie goal, you'll be way over on sodium - restaurant food it horrible for sodium! - so if your salt intakes been up, you'll be retaining extra water, and that could be a lot of it. Plus hormonal issues for women can cause fluctuations, and the new medication could be messing with those on you.
So don't worry about it, and whatever you do, DON'T listen to that little voice! She's totally wrong and only trying to sabotage you! You sound like you've noticed the issues and are making the right decisions to correct it by doubling down and getting back into your healthy routines, so you'll see a difference soon enough. Don't give up - you're doing great!1 -
@thewindandthework and @bmeadows380 — y'all are right. This community is amazing, easily the most supportive one I've ever been in.
It's taking me some time to get back on track, but I will. Took a walk this morning and reminded myself that I can be sad, or I can do something about it. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and it looks like as of this morning some of the stress weight came off. Baby steps.0 -
I am still over my lowest weight, but only by 1.2 pounds now. My reaction to the stress of this car accident has been to stress eat, and to let my food logging get interrupted.
I started today with the promise to log faithfully -- which I have done -- and to eat within my calorie goal -- which I've already messed up. I'll burn some of it off when I go running tonight, but it's just noon and I've already eaten over 1600 calories. Wow.
But being honest about what I'm doing will help me get it back under control. I'm not letting a couple bad weeks stop me in my tracks.3 -
I'm still 3.7lbs above my lowest low weight, but I shed 1.7lbs over the weekend, which I'm hoping is stress/water/etc. - but I feel infinitely better. @thewindandthework - we both got this! Tracking and moving forward.3
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I"m still 30 lbs over my lowest weight back in 2012; I don't remember what I weighed in college, but I think I was down to 250 at one point, though I'm not even looking that far yet! I'm striving to get under 300 right now.
My parents are up this week to help me get some jobs done so I can get my house on the market, and that always spells trouble for my diet - it's so hard to stay under my limit when there are other people in the house being cooked for! Hopefully, I can get a lot of physical work done in the evenings after work, and maybe that will counter-act the worst of it.1 -
Yesterday was my third day of drinking 100oz. Yeah, it's rough. I've just started chugging 16 oz at a time (once in the morning, try to drink another while in class, another when I get home before I eat, and so on.) Thats what works for me so long as I space it out to avoid water intoxication and not pee it out all at once
I miss my sweet tea, but I can't even imagine how many calories are in a glass of that.
I drink about 100-120oz/day. I have a 30oz insulated tumbler that I fill before work, try to fill again before lunch time, then again mid-afternoon/before I go home. And I also fill it again when I go to bed, because I sweat at night and get thirsty.
I gave up soda last year for iced tea, then gave up the tea for water when I received the tumbler for my birthday in January. I've noticed since I've been drinking water, I'm also down to 1-2 cups of coffee/week, and now i consider that a treat.
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Gave up coffee about a year ago do to heartburn. One of hardest things I have done. It was harder than giving up tobacco by far. I like you drank lots of soda but I also had 2-3 beers ever few nights. Big heavy 300-500 calorie beers. That was pretty easy to give up once I decided I wanted to loss weight.
For water I don't really even track it anymore. I drink when thirsty and I don't force extra water for some goal. I saw a pretty funny "Adam ruins everything" that made me rethink why I needed to drink so much.0 -
I'm on week 3 of being stuck at 199 pounds haha. Like, I made it to onderland but now I'm stuck right at the edge. I did weigh in around 197 the other day but was back to 199.8 today. Noticed my sodium intake was high last night so I'm hoping that's why. It can't be sodium stopping 3 weeks of progress though I'm not giving up but I'm antsy for progress. On the bright side, I finally have a sports bra.
What kind of pants should I get for running? All I own is jeans.0 -
I really like compression pants (the capris) for working out.0
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The last 2 weeks have been really bad for me. My parents came up last week to help me complete some projects that needed done at the house before I can put it on the market. The front porch landing (my house sits on a hill, so there are 3 steps down from the porch, a landing, and then a flight down to the lower ground level) was in terrible shape, and the whole porch and steps had settled. I had only planned to re-pour the top landing and try to level the steps up, but when Dad pulled the old concrete steps out, he pull the whole porch down. So we ended up spending the weekend leveling the porch, laying block, pouring concrete, and building new steps.
I'd go to work at my desk job during the day, then come home and work on the indoor projects with my parents until bedtime, such as building a wall in the basement. I took Friday off, and after finally finishing up the front porch work on Saturday, I pried off the basement steps treads and risers because they were in bad shape and needed replaced. We put in 2x4's to reinforce the steps and then put in new treads, and I was doing the cutting and fitting while my mother put the steps into place.
Then there was the hauling off all the scraps, putting tools away, mowing grass on Saturday, and of course cooking meals and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. And then yesterday, we spend 3 hours getting the old concrete blocks off the hill and over a bank out of the way, then I drove 3 hours to my ex-roommate's apartment to pick up my car that she had borrowed while hers was in the shop, and then drove 3 hours home, finally getting in bed some time around midnight last night. In short, the last 4 days have been exhausting!
With all that was going on, and with feeding mom and dad this week, my eating habits were terrible. I only halfheartedly logged, and didn't get it all in, and I know I was well over my calorie goal all week. All the physical labor I was doing made me ravenous, my will power was down this week as well, so I know I over did it badly. I had a lot of sodium intake over the weekend, too.
My official weigh day is Thursday, and I didn't even log last week's weight because I was up for several reasons. All I can hope for is to break even this Thursday, and hope and pray I'm at least flat-lined. I'm definitely not going to meet the mini-goal I wanted for myself, and I'm disappointed in myself. I'm easily influenced by the people around me when it comes to meals and snacking, and this week made that obvious.
But today I need to get back on track. I'm only 1/4 of the way I need to go, and I can't afford to stall out now! I'm trying to double down, re-commit, and see that scale go down again next week. I still have a lot of work to do around the house, so that's good exercise, but I need to learn how to curtail the hunger that comes with the extra exertion.0 -
Still struggling. Coming up on three weeks now. It's becoming clear that I'm not just gonna pick up where I left off. I need to make some changes to put myself on a path that will work. Eventually I'll get back into the swing of things.
I think part of the reason I haven't been logging is that I'm embarrassed about what I'm eating. I know that my friends understand what it's like to make questionable food choices, and that nobody is judging me, but I still feel embarrassed. So for now I am making my food diary private. This way I can get back into the habit of logging everything without worrying about what people think.
I'm also gonna make a change to the breakfast I prepare for work days. I've been getting hungry too soon after breakfast and making unwise choices in response.3
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