Does anyone feel like they are on a mental rollercoaster with their fitness journey

Jambalady
Jambalady Posts: 155 Member
edited November 29 in Motivation and Support
Lately, I feel like I'm up/down/all over the place. And it's only happened because I'm making much more of a conscious effort with my eating, limiting my drinking, working out more and getting a personal trainer.

I feel like when I was half-a$$ed "trying" (but let's be honest, not really trying) I was much easier on myself because I could admit that I wasn't giving it my all.

But now, that I am, my emotions are all over the place, from being high on endorphins from a great workout, to super depressed because I'm not seeing results fast enough or something was really hard and I struggled. One bad day at the gym or eating sets me off and can send me in a mental spiral for 2-3 days.

It's like back when I didn't try, I didn't care, and it didn't impact my mood as much but now that I'm trying, it has become an obsession and it greatly affects my mood day to day.

Anyone else experience this? And if so, how did you deal with it?

Replies

  • cactuswren55
    cactuswren55 Posts: 6 Member
    I've been that way all year. I tend to try to give up but hang in there because I remember that at 5' I shouldn't weigh more than my 6' 2" brother.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    It's not a good answer, but my answer is that I just have gotten used to it and have learned to recognize when I start to get into a funk. Depending on lighting, time of day, how/when I've eaten, and angles a glimpse in the mirror can seemingly make or break how I'm feeling about myself.
  • pammielnik
    pammielnik Posts: 3 Member
    I went into full depression as I was trying to work all this out on my own. Googled and found so much different info. It did my head in as I was also changing all my eating habits to ( another google nightmare). But I'm over it now and back on track now. Family is the hardest to not fully understanding. But ive only been at it for 6 months so I will keep plugging at it bit by bit :smiley:
  • Jambalady
    Jambalady Posts: 155 Member
    pammielnik wrote: »
    I went into full depression as I was trying to work all this out on my own. Googled and found so much different info. It did my head in as I was also changing all my eating habits to ( another google nightmare). But I'm over it now and back on track now. Family is the hardest to not fully understanding. But ive only been at it for 6 months so I will keep plugging at it bit by bit :smiley:

    How did you start to get over it? I'm trying to rationalize with myself, but I feel like so much of day goes into thinking about what I'm eating or how and when I'm working out, did I do too much, do too little. It's obsessive and I hate it.

  • Jambalady
    Jambalady Posts: 155 Member
    steveko89 wrote: »
    It's not a good answer, but my answer is that I just have gotten used to it and have learned to recognize when I start to get into a funk. Depending on lighting, time of day, how/when I've eaten, and angles a glimpse in the mirror can seemingly make or break how I'm feeling about myself.

    I guess that's the one good thing. I am conscious of what's happening.
  • StargazerB
    StargazerB Posts: 425 Member
    Absolutely yes. I was becoming very obsessive about my workouts and tracking my food and trying to have what I thought was the perfect body. I actually took a break from mfp and just recently really started using it again. I also stopped tracking my food for a few months and now I'm only loosely tracking. I think I just needed to take a step back so I could really decide what I wanted and so I could get some perspective on how much of my life fitness should take up.
  • HeathieM
    HeathieM Posts: 173 Member
    Honestly, i found that overeaters anonymous was the missing piece for me. They talk about the obsession of the mind a lot and i can relate with struggling to eat "normally". I don't have normal eating behaviors and i get discouraged very easily. The program reminds me that it's about progress not perfection. And i try to focus on my behavior rather than the scale because the scale can mess me up and ruin a whole day. So i just log my food, and hit the gym and remember to take it easy because tension is harmful. I don't let myself talk bad about myself... i don't tolerate any negative self talk. I get frustrated a lot with my feelings and my food issues but i just keep doing the next right thing and focusing on just what's right in front of me... this mindset has not only let me have serenity, it lets me progress however slowly i progress and still call that success.
  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
    Absolutely feel you on this one. The high of seeing results, knowing you’re making progress, everything is “on point” ugh it’s addictive. But like any other addictive thing it never ever lasts.

    I was working out every day, had my meal plans locked in, lifts were good, I was improving my running times, leaner than I ever thought I would be then I completely crashed and burned. Something snapped. It’s not sustainable. Not for my mental health and not for my body. I got so anxious about missing workouts I ruined a birthday trip with my sister, I skipped a family funeral because I didn’t know what/when I was going to eat and I panicked, skipped dinners with my dad because I didn’t know exactly what he was going to cook. Thats no way to live.

    Right now picking myself back up again I’m not forcing myself to do anything I don’t want to do. Eating well and moving your body should feel good. It does feel good! Constantly holding yourself to a standard that isn’t practical only feels good for those days everything just happens to run perfectly and the rest of the time it’s horrible. That’s not balance and it’s not worth it for me. Perfection is the enemy of the good and all that.

    So my advice is just to do what feels good. You want to be happy and healthy and I don’t think you can be healthy if you’re not happy to start with. Will it make you happier to skip this workout because you aren’t up for it or will it make you happier to push through it? Will it make you happier to relax and see some friends? Will it make you happier to just focus on eating well and not perfectly? The fitness world has a nasty habit of being all about pushing through everything, constantly being on the edge of failure, always striving to put in the max effort but if you don’t enjoy that way of life? You don’t have to do that. Not if it doesn’t make you feel good. You can be happy and healthy without being perfect.

    That was a lot of words sorry, but there’s my perspective for what it’s worth.
  • bleepboop8422
    bleepboop8422 Posts: 21 Member
    It sounds like you’ve been making a lot of changes at once, which is definitely overwhelming. You’ve got a lot on your plate!

    Back around April I was in a similar state. I was super controlled with my food intake and exercising at least 5 days a week. I think the breaking point for me was when I went home to visit my family. I was eating way more than usual and couldn’t exercise. One day I just broke down and started crying because I wanted to go out to eat with my dad but I was also so anxious about not knowing the exact calorie count.

    I think a big part of calming down from that point was adopting the mindset that as long as I’m not gaining weight, I’m having a good day. So if I eat a little extra or if I skip a workout, as long as I’m at or under maintenance, that was a good day. Even if I go over maintenance a day or two, that just means I might maintain that week, and not lose. I think about how in a year from now, I won’t care how fast I lost the weight, as long as the weight came off eventually.

    Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps and wish you the best of luck in your journey!
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