How many times did you quit?

mayas135 wrote: »

gebeziseva wrote: »

I haven't quit. But I take it very slowly, take major breaks twice a year (a month long summer holidays and Christmas) where I gain around 2-3lbs which are planned gain and never torture myself if I really want to eat something. I never aim to follow some plan perfectly. I don't aim to be at a steady deficit. I don't aim to have login streaks. I only aim to lose weight whatever the rate.

I started 2+ years ago and have lost 30lbs and have 5-6lbs more to lose. Started at 165lbs, 135lbs now. The second year I've lost 8lbs total. Currently I eat at around 150cal deficit per day which is around 1lbs loss per month if I do it every day. But I don't.

Why did you quit OP? Is it the same reason or different reasons each time? What do you do when you quit? Do you plan to gain when you decide to quit or just maintain? How long do you need to not log your food to call it a "quit" officially? When you quit do you feel like you want to quit for good or just for a while? I've found that when I get fed up with being diligent and decide to eat more, it takes me only 3-4 days or less before I feel satisfied with taking the rest and I can go back to eating at a deficit. I never call those times "quits". They aren't really.

I hope you succeed this time.

But how do you do it!? It's so hard to stick. I can't even remember how many times I've quit. I'm always saying tomorrow I'll start. How do I just do it?

This is often a matter of trying to do too much all at once and ignoring that this is all a process. I've never seen anyone have long term success when they just try to do a 180* and flip a switch...and everything is 100% healthy and gotta do all the exercises for all the hours, etc.

I also find that in many cases people just have a really myopic view of what constitutes "healthy" and they restrict so many things because they think healthy means bland and boring and endless salads, etc.

The third main issue I typically see is overly aggressive calorie deficits that most people can't really sustain for the long term combined with an all or nothing mentality.

You can't ignore process. 5+ years ago after a visit to my doctor and some really bad blood work I decided that I first and foremost had to start eating healthier and probably lose some weight. I just took baby steps...I didn't do anything drastic. I looked at what I was eating and decided I was way to low on vegetables and fruit...so I made it a point to eat more veg and fruit...I was drinking 4-6 sodas per day, so I weened myself off of those over the course of about a month. I noticed that by and large, meat wise I was eating almost exclusively red meat...so I started cooking more chicken and fish. It all became kind of this grand adventure and being on pinterest and looking for new recipes, etc.

Exercise wise, i did nothing except walking and focusing on moving more throughout the day. At first it was just a few days per week for about 30 minutes...then 5 days...then pretty much everyday unless the weather was bad or something. Once I was up to about an hour per day I started a C25K plan. A couple months later I joined a gym to get back into the weight room and lifting again.

The point is that you have to embrace the process and understand that breaking bad habit and forming new healthier habits takes time...it doesn't happen overnight.

I'm 5 years maintenance...MFP 5+ years ago was my first and only attempt at weight loss. I knew that it had to be an evolution kind of thing and that it was going to take time. I didn't put time constraints on anything. I didn't have any unrealistic expectations of perfection. I just worked on things bit by bit and chipped away.