Restarting....Again...
shoeloveramber
Posts: 291 Member
Starting today I am going to be tracking my food intake again as just eating "healthier" is not providing the results I want and need. I have had several bumps in the road and it's time to climb over them once and for all!
A few of my bumps...3 kids, a husband that eats huge portions (which leads me to eat more), thyroid issues (cancer, thyroid removal), PCOS, a sit on your bottom job and a HUGE sweet tooth.
I have been working on eating healthier and making better choices for a few months. I am drinking a protein shake for breakfast and bringing meat of some variety and veggies or a bag of salad for lunch. I stopped drinking Coke cold turkey the beginning of March and have not had one since! That is huge for me because I was seriously addicted to soda. The only time I didn't drink soda daily was when I was pregnant and even then I would drink Sprite fairly often.
My plan is to eat a lower carb diet as I have PCOS and thyroid issues (no thyroid due to cancer). I have read a lot about a lower carb diet being better for both of those. I'm not doing Keto because I have learned a super restrictive diet is not for me. Moderation wins the race.
My struggles:
- Even though I have given up soda and drink only water (with an occasional latte) I have severe
sugar cravings.
- I need to work on planning a healthy afternoon snack. I am at home for that time period and it's
my munchy time of the day so before I know it I have eaten half the pantry.
- Dinner planning needs to be worked on. I need to be consistent with healthy dinners.
- I need to exercise.
If you have any tips or suggestions to help with my struggles please post them for me!
A few of my bumps...3 kids, a husband that eats huge portions (which leads me to eat more), thyroid issues (cancer, thyroid removal), PCOS, a sit on your bottom job and a HUGE sweet tooth.
I have been working on eating healthier and making better choices for a few months. I am drinking a protein shake for breakfast and bringing meat of some variety and veggies or a bag of salad for lunch. I stopped drinking Coke cold turkey the beginning of March and have not had one since! That is huge for me because I was seriously addicted to soda. The only time I didn't drink soda daily was when I was pregnant and even then I would drink Sprite fairly often.
My plan is to eat a lower carb diet as I have PCOS and thyroid issues (no thyroid due to cancer). I have read a lot about a lower carb diet being better for both of those. I'm not doing Keto because I have learned a super restrictive diet is not for me. Moderation wins the race.
My struggles:
- Even though I have given up soda and drink only water (with an occasional latte) I have severe
sugar cravings.
- I need to work on planning a healthy afternoon snack. I am at home for that time period and it's
my munchy time of the day so before I know it I have eaten half the pantry.
- Dinner planning needs to be worked on. I need to be consistent with healthy dinners.
- I need to exercise.
If you have any tips or suggestions to help with my struggles please post them for me!
2
Replies
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It sounds like you have a pretty good plan. You know your weaknesses/triggers. Keep your head in the game. Most importantly, don't be too hard on yourself. Just take things one day at a time. Best of luck!
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Same here! Good luck!0
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I’m restarting too but your plan is more developed than mine. You got this!0
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i am restarting yet again too!!!! feel free to add me. i find that the bigger my support group the easier it is for me to stay on track 0
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shoeloveramber wrote: »Starting today I am going to be tracking my food intake again as just eating "healthier" is not providing the results I want and need. I have had several bumps in the road and it's time to climb over them once and for all!
A few of my bumps...3 kids, a husband that eats huge portions (which leads me to eat more), thyroid issues (cancer, thyroid removal), PCOS, a sit on your bottom job and a HUGE sweet tooth.
I have been working on eating healthier and making better choices for a few months. I am drinking a protein shake for breakfast and bringing meat of some variety and veggies or a bag of salad for lunch. I stopped drinking Coke cold turkey the beginning of March and have not had one since! That is huge for me because I was seriously addicted to soda. The only time I didn't drink soda daily was when I was pregnant and even then I would drink Sprite fairly often.
My plan is to eat a lower carb diet as I have PCOS and thyroid issues (no thyroid due to cancer). I have read a lot about a lower carb diet being better for both of those. I'm not doing Keto because I have learned a super restrictive diet is not for me. Moderation wins the race.
My struggles:
- Even though I have given up soda and drink only water (with an occasional latte) I have severe
sugar cravings.
- I need to work on planning a healthy afternoon snack. I am at home for that time period and it's
my munchy time of the day so before I know it I have eaten half the pantry.
- Dinner planning needs to be worked on. I need to be consistent with healthy dinners.
- I need to exercise.
If you have any tips or suggestions to help with my struggles please post them for me!
I will suggest this: knowing what you want in life is super important. However, what is - to me - even more important is to know what you do not want!
It sounds like you have been very honest with yourself. That can be a huge issue. It is really challenging to look yourself in the mirror and identify all the areas where you struggle. But, you have to do that. And, it seems like you did.
I will make one more suggestion: be kind to yourself when you "are less than"....meaning, when you have - before you know it - eaten half the pantry. It is not okay. But it is going to happen. Just be kind to yourself when that happens.
May I ask you if you have any rewards set for reaching goals? Do you have the one main big goal? Do you have that broken down into medium goals? Do you have a bunch of mini-goals - that lead to the medium goals - set up?
Don't be afraid to celebrate. Don't be afraid to reward your good efforts. And, don't be afraid to reward "failures".....or what - I think - most people would call failures. Here is what I mean....
So, you know that you have a sweet tooth. Let's just say that one of your triggers is a commercial for Snickers (they do have some pretty awesome commercials). So, let's just say that there are five different events that happen after you see a Snickers commercial that results in your having a snickers. As you have already figured out, half the battle is seeing the path to that snickers. So, do you reward yourself for sensing each of the five steps. Even though you had the snickers, for example, you still were very cognizant of each of the five distinct steps along that path. Eventually, you will be in a position where you sense the first step after seeing that commercial and you cut it off at the pass! A journey of 1,001 steps starts with the first step, right?
I was going to ask if you explored the Ketogenic Lifestyle (I follow it for health reasons - and LOVE it) but you answered that question. All good! If you can not simply follow the "best diet in the world" (whatever that might be) then it is no good for you. Good job on recognizing that. You do you!
I wish you all the fortune in the world. Sounds like you have very strong odds of winning!0 -
My wife has PCOS and since she's half my size I'm afraid I've led her to some unhealthy eating habits... that and I'm a cook by trade. I'm just restarting on here myself and I need to lose 182lbs.0
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Sounds like you’re doing amazing! Making the realisation you need to do something about it and forming a plan and starting it are the hardest bits I find, and you’ve already done that, so as another member said just tackle it a day at a time. Before you know it you’ll have tackled several months, all one day at a time and you’ll be looking back on your progress and be proud of yourself.
Restarting again too! In the past, using this I lost about 4 stone... but then over time I piled it all back on and more. Hoping to get into healthier food habits that I can sustain long-term and keep the weight off this time.0 -
LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »shoeloveramber wrote: »Starting today I am going to be tracking my food intake again as just eating "healthier" is not providing the results I want and need. I have had several bumps in the road and it's time to climb over them once and for all!
A few of my bumps...3 kids, a husband that eats huge portions (which leads me to eat more), thyroid issues (cancer, thyroid removal), PCOS, a sit on your bottom job and a HUGE sweet tooth.
I have been working on eating healthier and making better choices for a few months. I am drinking a protein shake for breakfast and bringing meat of some variety and veggies or a bag of salad for lunch. I stopped drinking Coke cold turkey the beginning of March and have not had one since! That is huge for me because I was seriously addicted to soda. The only time I didn't drink soda daily was when I was pregnant and even then I would drink Sprite fairly often.
My plan is to eat a lower carb diet as I have PCOS and thyroid issues (no thyroid due to cancer). I have read a lot about a lower carb diet being better for both of those. I'm not doing Keto because I have learned a super restrictive diet is not for me. Moderation wins the race.
My struggles:
- Even though I have given up soda and drink only water (with an occasional latte) I have severe
sugar cravings.
- I need to work on planning a healthy afternoon snack. I am at home for that time period and it's
my munchy time of the day so before I know it I have eaten half the pantry.
- Dinner planning needs to be worked on. I need to be consistent with healthy dinners.
- I need to exercise.
If you have any tips or suggestions to help with my struggles please post them for me!
I will suggest this: knowing what you want in life is super important. However, what is - to me - even more important is to know what you do not want!
It sounds like you have been very honest with yourself. That can be a huge issue. It is really challenging to look yourself in the mirror and identify all the areas where you struggle. But, you have to do that. And, it seems like you did.
I will make one more suggestion: be kind to yourself when you "are less than"....meaning, when you have - before you know it - eaten half the pantry. It is not okay. But it is going to happen. Just be kind to yourself when that happens.
May I ask you if you have any rewards set for reaching goals? Do you have the one main big goal? Do you have that broken down into medium goals? Do you have a bunch of mini-goals - that lead to the medium goals - set up?
Don't be afraid to celebrate. Don't be afraid to reward your good efforts. And, don't be afraid to reward "failures".....or what - I think - most people would call failures. Here is what I mean....
So, you know that you have a sweet tooth. Let's just say that one of your triggers is a commercial for Snickers (they do have some pretty awesome commercials). So, let's just say that there are five different events that happen after you see a Snickers commercial that results in your having a snickers. As you have already figured out, half the battle is seeing the path to that snickers. So, do you reward yourself for sensing each of the five steps. Even though you had the snickers, for example, you still were very cognizant of each of the five distinct steps along that path. Eventually, you will be in a position where you sense the first step after seeing that commercial and you cut it off at the pass! A journey of 1,001 steps starts with the first step, right?
I was going to ask if you explored the Ketogenic Lifestyle (I follow it for health reasons - and LOVE it) but you answered that question. All good! If you can not simply follow the "best diet in the world" (whatever that might be) then it is no good for you. Good job on recognizing that. You do you!
I wish you all the fortune in the world. Sounds like you have very strong odds of winning!
My big goal is to get down to my wedding weight (and a big trip when I get there!), little goals along the way is to get down below the xx0 and xx5 numbers along the way. No set rewards for the little steps right now, just plugging along and trying to find my way. I know clothing will have to be purchased along the way and that reward is nice!0 -
I'm going to chime in on the "exercise" portion.
I'm not sure what your personality is like..... some people like to work out, others do not.
I'm one of those people who really enjoy being active and I have to admit, it's a lot easier to be so once I started losing weight. I spent too many years standing on the sidelines watching and wishing.
The key is to find something you either enjoy or at least tolerate and just make it fit into your daily routine.
We schedule hair cuts, dr appts and oil changes..... sometimes we need to schedule exercise the same way.
You'd be amazed at how effective walking can be - it's sure worked for me. Or maybe there's a gym close to home you can get away to while your husband has a "parenting" evening?
I don't know how old your children are but perhaps they can be part of that exercise routine too? Bike rides together?? Depending on their age, kids can be great coaches if your honest and ask for their help.
Whatever way you go, just believe and trust in the process and you'll amaze yourself.
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“Here I go again on my own....” sorry, musician mind here!
Technically, I’m supposed to be on a temporary “diet” due to a prednisone Rx, but I want to keep it going. Let’s see how this goes.0
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