How do you get on track and stay on track forever?
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For me, I struggled with the same thing for years...I couldn't stay with it.I was not in the right mindset because I looked at it as a diet and exercise. This to me meant it was all temporary. Once I began to see it all as a lifestyle change rather than a diet and exercise, I was able to stick to it. It didn't happen overnight, but it was a matter of getting into the correct habits....finding a way to enjoy health food and portions...finding a way to enjoy going to the gym....learning to be more active...Now, I can't imagine living any other way. I miss the gym if I can't get there...the thought of eating like I did before is abnormal....Again, it was a struggle to get to this point, but well worth it...And at times it is not easy, but being overweight, and constantly failing at the diet/exercise was much harder....2
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It's already done. Google it! It even has Scumbag Steve's hatalwaysbloated wrote: »
-LOL, someone should make a meme for that. Please?kommodevaran wrote: »I also have those discussions with scumbag brain
I think I see a pattern of something that smells like OCD, or at least perfectionism. (I cut out most of your post - because I have nothing sensible to contribute to the other points.) The thing with nutrition is that it's not dependent on perfection; eating well, balancing your meals, is something you do over time. Yes, the point with food groups is that you eat meals made up from different food groups, but you certainly don't have to cover all of them for every meal. (I often point to the "healthy plate", but it actually annoys me; normal dinners where I grew up, don't include fruit and milk.) If you want a big potato, you eat a big potato. "They" have no business giving you a meal plan. A meal plan is something you make yourself, for yourself. If you don't make it yourself, but try to follow someone else's, that's when you end up doing it wrong and throwing out ingredients you can't use.I'm terrible at planning food. I'm scared of doing it wrong, wasting money or having to throw away ingrediants I didn't use.
I know to have a balanced meal you have to eat from different food groups and eat a mix of protein, fat and possibly carbohydrates. I'm like, I want a potato with tuna, and thats it. But a really big potato. Would be healthier to have it with a side salad and a glass of milk, and a smaller potato. Or have a piece of fruit with it. At least there's protein at least. I didn't like having a meal plan originally, because they mixed things I liked eating (a wrap with meat and salad) with something I didn't want to eat (nuts). They did this to add balance and I was like noooooooooo.
Neither. I eat three meals per day, and my challenge is REALLY to not eat too much.
Good habit. Do you have trouble eating enough calories, or do you have six meals a day?I eat at meals and only at meals..1 -
Weight management is so much more about fixing mind, than about fixing body.
Yeah, but:alwaysbloated wrote: »Well the "why" worked when I thought I was getting a free vacation out of it.
Mine would be:
-I always thought I would be happy if I had close to perfect health
-Life seems better if you are super fit
-I don't want my 1 year old niece to ever remember me being fat, I want it to be a shock for her
-Want to prove people wrong
-Meet someone
-Have a life outside of food
-Get a Border Collie
-Have more opportunities available to me, a higher payrate at work (because overweight people and women tend to earn less)
Losing weight if you're overweight will imrpove the health factors associated with weight. It doesn't guarantee perfect health. Good health does not guarantee happiness.
There's quite a distance from healthy weight and good health, to super fit. To be super fit, you have to dedicate all your time and give up a lot of nice things. To be normal weight and healthy, all you need to do is to act sensibly most of the time.
Kids like you for who you are, not for what you weigh.
People who don't really care about you, don't really care how much you weigh. Surprisingly, the people who care about you, care about you no matter what you weigh.
I believe a good guy is someone who loves you, not someone who wants a "trophy wife".
Having a dog could be a great incentive to be more active. (Don't you have dogs already?)
Even if statistics tells you something, and even if it's true, it isn't always clear what's cause and what's effect.
Maybe if you stop calling certain foods "bad", they will have less power over you.alwaysbloated wrote: »I don't tend to keep bad food in the house (buy with the regular groceries). I do special runs for it, where I only buy junk. Maybe it should be a rule that I'm not allowed to eat it at home at all.
Having certain times and places for certain things and activites, is a good idea. You're not a child, so stop thinking "you're not allowed". You give yourself the permission.
The words we use, shape our reality. Trying to lose weight means that you don't really feel it's in your power. But it is. A battle is way more dramatic description of your situation than it has to be. Beast. Really? Can you find a word that doesn't make you feel worn out just thinking about it?I've been trying to lose weight since I was 9. I would love to finally win this battle! (and keep the beast down).
It's something if it has a real impact. Many small changes can add up. But changing something that makes you change back something else to make up for it, can leave you short-changed. Which meaningful changes can you see yourself starting today, and also happily sticking to forever?The only changes that have stuck with me have been walking the dogs everyday, and using a low calorie sweetner in my tea. That's something I guess.0 -
I'm in year 5 of 'staying on track' and it feels easy...normal...natural now. It wasn't always that way but habits stick around if we practice them long enough.1
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alwaysbloated wrote: »I think my head needs more work than my body
Get a copy of The Beck Diet Solution and read it. It's a cognitive behavioral approach to managing the thoughts that sabotage our efforts to lose weight and keep it off.
http://diet.beckinstitute.org
https://beckdietsolution.wordpress.com
Dr. Judith Beck is the daughter of Dr. Aaron Beck, who developed Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.1 -
Not my quote, and paraphrasing bc I am at work and shouldn't be on here
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Being overweight is hard. Being healthy is hard. Choose your hard.4 -
I think treats is a better word. I think your allowance should be your calorie target. And tell your mom and sister to shut up. You're an adult, even if you live with them.alwaysbloated wrote: »Is treats a better word? What I'm allowed it based on my guts. If I eat what I want, I get screamed at by my mum and sister. This one thing makes me want to move out, but its not realistic at this stage. I just have to work around it.2 -
OP - I haven't been able to read all the replies, so just going to respond to your initial post. I understand where you're coming from. I've been a "serial starter" in the past, but as soon as I would hit a road block I'd hop off the proverbial bandwagon and go back to my old habits. It is so much a mind game. This time, I told myself from Day 1 it would be different; that I would have meals or days that I didn't want to track (I knew this about myself) but that I would not let it derail my overall goals. And so far, that's how it's been. I had a rough couple of weeks in February. I got the worst case of the flu I've ever had. For most of that week, I didn't track. I logged in every day because that's something else I promised myself: even if I don't track, I log in to MFP and just think about how I do want to lose weight. Not tracking wasn't a huge deal because the flu made me nauseous so I was in a deficit anyway, but when my appetite came back I still didn't feel like tracking. I still logged in every day, and within a few days I realized I had to start sticking to my deficit again because I have goals I want to reach.
TL; DR: I suggest creating rules for yourself that will help you stay closer to the mindset of losing weight. You'll have to tailor them to yourself in order for them to work.1 -
I have to force myself alot of the time. last night I was emotional and starving, I picked up pizza since we were home late, and ate 4 slices., then 2 small packs of swedish fish, then a few butterfinger eggs, ugh, But I made myself run 4 1/2 miles after that to burn off the extra calories. AND I did not bring left over pizza for lunch, I made a healthy lunch instead.1
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alwaysbloated wrote: »And stop taking 3 month breaks where you gain weight, when things don't go your way?
Recently, I stuck to my diet and exercise for a whole month, which is the longest I've stuck to it for two or three years, because I was offered a massive reward. I was originally motivated without it, but when it was taken away, I was upset, then lost my drive. I was told if I lost 20kg in 4 months, I would get to go to the Middle East, England and Japan, but after the first month, I was told that they could no longer afford the trip and it unlikely they could take me. Then I suffered with IBS issues and stuff, and I'm not completely sure why I stopped, but here we are.
I thought of making a list of all the possible road blocks, but the problem is, when I'm stuck I'm not neccessarily interested in problem shooting or finding a solution, I get very fixated on the very specific short term whim and I obsess. If I have a list of solutions then I might avoid following them, or avoid asking for help.
For example
Problem 1: I don't feel like doing my steps that day
Solutions:
1. Eat less
2. Do something else thats active
3. Go for a short walk instead
4. Eat leftover calories from another day
My mindset is
1. I don't want to eat less
2. Nothing active suits me
3. Can't be bothered, or its a small walk, what difference does it make? or I will trick myself into walking for longer and I DONT WANT TO DO THAT!!!
4. What leftover calories? hahaha. Or "I was saving those for pizza"
Problem 2
I want to eat 5000 calories worth of pizza in one day
Solutions:
1. Eat something else that is less calories but still a reward
2. Eat leftover calories from another day
3. Do some exercise
4. Only have 3 pieces of pizza
5. Order pizza with a thin crust
My feedback to that
1. NO! I really want pizza!!!
2. I don't think I'll have enough to cover it, and I'm not willing to walk for four hours for the next two days
3. But pizza day is treat day, and I shouldn't have to exercise on this day
4. Haha is that a joke? I have to eat the whole pizza to enjoy it
5. No! it has to be stuffed crust
Obviously I am the most ridiculous person in the world. Was anyone else like this? how did you get past this?
And how do you stay strong after three days or so? I feel like every few days or weeks I have to break out of my routine and just relax. I've never been good at sticking to things. The only consistent habits I have are checking the fridge and facebook several times a day (LMAO).
It just sounds like you lack self discipline to me.3 -
alwaysbloated wrote: »And stop taking 3 month breaks where you gain weight, when things don't go your way?
Recently, I stuck to my diet and exercise for a whole month, which is the longest I've stuck to it for two or three years, because I was offered a massive reward. I was originally motivated without it, but when it was taken away, I was upset, then lost my drive. I was told if I lost 20kg in 4 months, I would get to go to the Middle East, England and Japan, but after the first month, I was told that they could no longer afford the trip and it unlikely they could take me. Then I suffered with IBS issues and stuff, and I'm not completely sure why I stopped, but here we are.
I thought of making a list of all the possible road blocks, but the problem is, when I'm stuck I'm not neccessarily interested in problem shooting or finding a solution, I get very fixated on the very specific short term whim and I obsess. If I have a list of solutions then I might avoid following them, or avoid asking for help.
For example
Problem 1: I don't feel like doing my steps that day
Solutions:
1. Eat less
2. Do something else thats active
3. Go for a short walk instead
4. Eat leftover calories from another day
My mindset is
1. I don't want to eat less
2. Nothing active suits me
3. Can't be bothered, or its a small walk, what difference does it make? or I will trick myself into walking for longer and I DONT WANT TO DO THAT!!!
4. What leftover calories? hahaha. Or "I was saving those for pizza"
Problem 2
I want to eat 5000 calories worth of pizza in one day
Solutions:
1. Eat something else that is less calories but still a reward
2. Eat leftover calories from another day
3. Do some exercise
4. Only have 3 pieces of pizza
5. Order pizza with a thin crust
My feedback to that
1. NO! I really want pizza!!!
2. I don't think I'll have enough to cover it, and I'm not willing to walk for four hours for the next two days
3. But pizza day is treat day, and I shouldn't have to exercise on this day
4. Haha is that a joke? I have to eat the whole pizza to enjoy it
5. No! it has to be stuffed crust
Obviously I am the most ridiculous person in the world. Was anyone else like this? how did you get past this?
And how do you stay strong after three days or so? I feel like every few days or weeks I have to break out of my routine and just relax. I've never been good at sticking to things. The only consistent habits I have are checking the fridge and facebook several times a day (LMAO).
Far too much over thinking and analysis for my liking...just give it a try, you've got nothing to lose.
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It's a choice. Every day. Getting physically fit is almost as much about mental awareness and discipline as it is about working your muscles. I'd recommend starting to set some time aside for personal development each week, or each day. Have you read Miracle Morning? It's a great place to start! Starting every morning with some yoga and visualization really helps keep my goals and reasons at the forefront. Also, planning my meals so I'm never truly hungry without a planned meal or snack nearby. I keep a protein bar in my purse for the occasions when a meeting runs overly long or I can't get home to dinner until really late so I'm not tempted to hit up the vending machines.
Also, forgive yourself. If you eat 3 meals a day every week, and fall off the wagon for one... you're still eating on point 95% so don't spiral! Just enjoy the meal and get right back on for the next one.2 -
Can you "pay" yourself to lose weight? For each pound of weight loss you will put $5.00 (or whatever determined amt) in a jar, once you hit a goal you can take the money and purchase something fun, not food, related, keep doing this until your end goal. OR if a trip was your old motivator you could save it all until you reach goal and put it towards your reward trip. Once you get started and see results and push through the pain of being good with food and exercising you will start to enjoy it more, at least for me that is how it worked. Good luck on your journey, you are not alone in this never ending battle.0
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