Blowing 23 3/4 hours of discipline in 15 minutes - regularly

jodielariviere66 · February 2018

Help me with ideas, guys. I lost 20 pounds 2 years ago and have kept it off, so I know I have it in me to do the last 30.

I eat a good breakfast, run 3.5k over lunch, eat a balanced lunch, cook a healthy dinner - and almost always at some point in the day I have 15 minutes of madness that takes me well over my goal of 1400 calories (1500 on run days). For those 15 minutes, I don’t care what I do to the plan.

Sometimes it’s an extra helping at dinner, sometimes it’s the birthday cake at work, sometimes it’s cheese and crackers just before bed. It’s not like I don’t treat myself- I usually eat a mini chocolate bar (85 calories or so) on work days. The surge of pleasure I get, not from eating the extra food, but from feeling RELEASED from all that discipline, is what I am after, I suspect. Anyone else struggle like this? Im really pissed at myself. It’s frustrating to be working against myself like this.

rebeccamorgan58152 · February 2018

I don’t have any advice but I understand where you’re coming from, having faced the same problem myself. I can only say that if you keep picking yourself up and trying again the next day, at some point it will stick. Perhaps your deficit is too high?

elfin168 · February 2018

i am inclined to say EAT more. The is no point trying to keep too high a deficient if you are going to blow it daily and keep spinning your wheels. Eat more. Eat more of the foods you enjoy also within your calorie budget

snowflake954 · February 2018

elfin168 wrote: »

i am inclined to say EAT more. The is no point trying to keep too high a deficient if you are going to blow it daily and keep spinning your wheels. Eat more. Eat more of the foods you enjoy also within your calorie budget

This. If your calorie goal is too low it's very hard to stay within it everyday. Better to up your cals, lose a little slower, but lose something. The last 20 lbs are harder to lose and you don't have much margin. Once you can hit your goal you'll also feel better about yourself and that leads to success.

TavistockToad · February 2018

what are your stats?

why so much 'discipline' that you have such joy at not doing it? that doesn't sound healthy and obviously isn't sustainable?

jodielariviere66 · February 2018

Some excellent advice here, guys. I’ll up my calorie limit and see if that makes it more do-able. Just thinking of doing that makes me feel good, so that’s probably a good sign.

jodielariviere66 · February 2018

TavistockToad wrote: »

what are your stats?

why so much 'discipline' that you have such joy at not doing it? that doesn't sound healthy and obviously isn't sustainable?

I’m 52, and weigh 180. 150 is a reasonable goal, I think. I don’t know how else to approach weight loss except to be disciplined, but I’m baffled as to why I find it so hard to maintain. Maybe loosening the reins will help

kommodevaran · February 2018

This is what I've learnt after three years in maintenance, after losing 50 pounds: Nothing wrong with discipline, we all need discipline, no healthy plan in the world is so perfectly balanced and delightfully easy that you won't need discipline to stick to it. But you need a reasonable plan and a feeling of purpose, in order to stay disciplined.

lucerorojo · February 2018

Either up your calories or take a diet break. When that happens to me I know I need a break for a couple of days. A cheat day (for me that's logging about 500 calories extra --about maintenance now, nothing too crazy) will keep me balanced.

88olds · February 2018

We seem to have some things in common.

I’ve lost 100lbs total in 2 stages. I lost about 65 lbs on my own. Then stayed stuck there for years. In desperation I joined Weight Watchers. Not plugging WW, but it’s where I learned tracking, and got to goal. And stayed there.

I kept my food journal for over 5 years. I’ve now gone long streaks without it. And have gone back to tracking 3 times for short periods as needed. Also, I didn’t take diet breaks or think of myself as falling off the wagon if I ate too much, because I tracked no matter what.

The reason I am telling you all of this is I’ve never thought of myself as disciplined. When I found that tracking worked for me I was overjoyed. I started to tell myself that WW was my new hobby. My head was filled with all these plans and calculations. Everyday was a puzzle. How would I get as much eating satisfaction as I could for my WW points? How much should I allocate for volume, how much for treats? How do I stay out of the office donuts?

Your daily ration of chocolate? I had LF ice cream. Ice cream! Everyday! How disciplined could I be eating ice cream? But my after dinner ice cream came as part of a deal. If I give into the office donuts, no ice cream. All food decisions became part of the same problem solving puzzle game.

Back to you- with a run everyday, are your calories set too tight? Is your exercise properly fueled? Do you eat something in advance? May keep you in check after. Can you come up with a strategy to stay out of the birthday cake, at least short term? Mine- “Looks yummy but I can’t. No really, I can’t. Thanks.” I stood in front of the mirror at home and practiced saying no.

Get rid of the cheese and crackers. They are a harmless sounding calorie bomb. Find something you can save for just before bed. I have some frozen mints in my freezer. About 30 cals.

Sorry this is so long and hope it helps but this last- life has limits. Somewhere between discipline and RELEASE are somelivable limits. We might not live as long as we’d like, or keep our health as long. Maybe we like to have more money or love or more recognition at work. Maybe we’d like to eat more chocolate cake without gaining weight. It’s just a matter of limits. We can’t choose everything. And- it’s ok. Just the price of living in a physical universe.

Really last- instead of disciplined, I think of myself as having good habits and accepting some limits. Good luck.

Blowing 23 3/4 hours of discipline in 15 minutes - regularly

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