Struggling to get back at it!
loulouowens
Posts: 103 Member
Hi all
Well ive been on this journey 15 months and in that time ive lost over 90lb. However stopped tracking for my 2 week annual holiday bakc in july and since then ive been unable to get back at it.
I am eating like ive been starved everyhting in sight! Ive already gained 27lbs back in 2.5 months
I feel like all the determination has gone and im back feeling rubbish about myself, whats more scary is how quickly i have returned to bad habits that i thought i had put behind me. Binging, Eating until uncomfortable, sneaking food, eating lots and lots of chooclate i just cant stop!
How can i have been so disciplined before and so out fo control now? I know logically if i carry on i will end up where i started, but the thought of going back to the "weighing everything tha goes in" fills me with dread. I just dont think i cna mentally go back there, it took so much effort when cooking family meals, family gatherings etc i know it works but jeez, really. Weighing everything for the rest of my life?
Sorry for the rant!
Thank you for reading x
Well ive been on this journey 15 months and in that time ive lost over 90lb. However stopped tracking for my 2 week annual holiday bakc in july and since then ive been unable to get back at it.
I am eating like ive been starved everyhting in sight! Ive already gained 27lbs back in 2.5 months
I feel like all the determination has gone and im back feeling rubbish about myself, whats more scary is how quickly i have returned to bad habits that i thought i had put behind me. Binging, Eating until uncomfortable, sneaking food, eating lots and lots of chooclate i just cant stop!
How can i have been so disciplined before and so out fo control now? I know logically if i carry on i will end up where i started, but the thought of going back to the "weighing everything tha goes in" fills me with dread. I just dont think i cna mentally go back there, it took so much effort when cooking family meals, family gatherings etc i know it works but jeez, really. Weighing everything for the rest of my life?
Sorry for the rant!
Thank you for reading x
6
Replies
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Well, the best time to start is today. You lost 90 pounds and regained 27, which means that you've lost 63 pounds. That's HUGE! You know how calories in/calories out works. If the idea of counting calories and weighing your food fills you with dread, then don't do it, but if you want to lose weight you do need to figure out a way to consistently eat less than you use. If you're interested in some reading material, I would suggest "Smart People Don't Diet" by Charlotte N. Markey. She offers a lot of great tips for losing weight without ongoing counting or weighing - basically most people have fairly limited/repetitive diets, so she suggests logging your food for a week and then slowly implementing strategies for cutting back. Even if you end up counting (as I did) I found it a very reassuring and grounded read. Good luck!6
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Maybe take a break from meticulously weighing and just trying to estimate things.
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You could start looking at your routine, see if you can figure out what your choke points are, then make minor adjustments. Don't try to jump back to where you were all in one go. You can do this5
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Just take it one day at a time, don't worry about getting back to a long term routine, just do it for today, then tomorrow just do it for tomorrow as so on. One day at a time will ease the pressure, and you'll soon be back at it.2
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I've done that before. I think it's just the thought of restricting again after eating what you've wanted for awhile is like going over the hill again, but with more knowledge. Before, you didn't really have much of an idea and it was all discovery, but now, you know what it entails and how your eating habits will change. It might be a bit of anxiety or you restricted yourself too much.
Just go for it, start with your diet again, but know how to eat right. Maybe increase it to 1 lb a week instead of 2 lbs or where ever you were losing at. If you can't control your diet, explore to see if there are emotional issues or triggers preventing you from being successful before working in exercise because the majority of this will be based off your diet to lose weight.3 -
I am in the same boat!! I lost 35 lbs and have gained 15 back0
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The first thing that comes to mind is what did you do to take the weight off in the first place? It may have been that you deprived yourself so much that as soon as you took a break, you went crazy overboard in the other direction. Did you cut out foods you really love, drastically cut calories or do a restrictive diet like keto, vegan, etc. I'm not knocking any of those things. I'm just wondering if you did something that wasn't sustainable for you over the long run?0
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It's really fun to eat that yummy, but fattening food. And as much as we want, without a care in the world. We've ALL been there. It's why we're here now. Eating that way isn't consistent with maintaining a healthy weight. It sucks, because I'd love to eat a bag of candy or a half a pizza whenever.
So, now that you went to the pre- new lifestyle, and gained 27# in 2 1/2 months with no end in sight, it's time to get back to your alternative reality. That reality consists of limiting what, and how much you eat, for forever. What your reward is is to get to live a long and relatively healthy and active life. You'll be able to keep up with your friends, kids, and grand kids. You'll be able to go hiking, climb stairs, and eventually run a marathon, if you want. But, you have to restart. There's no time like the present.6 -
Maybe you should get back on the wagon, but with an easier routine.
I've recently been weighing my food, but in most cases I've found measuring with measuring cups is just as accurate. The only food I found I'd been underestimating calories for was peanut butter. However I'd been overestimating whipped butter, so it all leveled out. Maybe measure things instead of weighing for the sake of convenience.
Frankly entering food in the diary with a busy life does suck. It's hard. But it keeps me in check, and I feel so much better when I'm not overeating. I bet you will, too.o1 -
We can do unpleasant things for a while as long as we are determined and see results, but going back to something we didn't like, from something we do like, is very difficult.
To lose/maintain weight, all you have to do, is not routinely overeat. It's simple, but simple is not the same as easy. You can control your eating in a number of ways. If it's the cooking and weighing you hate, you can pick another method. But changing habits permanently without an attitude change and a food environment makeover, is almost impossible. Finding a way to eat appropriately that you like, will make weightloss and maintenance almost effortless. But if you just don't want to stop overeating, no weight will be great enough to change that.1 -
loulouowens wrote: »How can i have been so disciplined before and so out fo control now? I know logically if i carry on i will end up where i started, but the thought of going back to the "weighing everything tha goes in" fills me with dread. I just dont think i cna mentally go back there, it took so much effort when cooking family meals, family gatherings etc i know it works but jeez, really. Weighing everything for the rest of my life?
Sorry for the rant!
Thank you for reading x
After 15 months you probably have a much better idea of portion sizes than you did before, I have been at this for around 11 months and I certainly know the difference now between what I thought was a portion of pasta/cereal and what is actually a portion.
Maybe just start with a week of logging your food again, either without weighing food or just weighing those you're not in the habit of using regularly or those that are particularly calorific.
Have you re-assessed your weight loss rate? It might be worth dropping it down to a smaller deficit until you're in the swing of things again or starting at maintenance and gradually dropping down your daily intake down by 50-100 calories over a few weeks.
Were you perhaps too disciplined? leading to feelings of restriction, which in turn makes you want to binge, try factoring smaller bits of things you like into the day-to-day so you don't have a massive blow out.
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