Ruts Sucks

sammidelvecchio wrote: »

Jane, that is an amazing suggestion. I am also in a rut, and I have been so hard on myself about all the things i've gotten off track with. But thank you, I am going to do this and pick just one thing to focus on over the next week.

OP - try to keep your head up. This process can be so trying at times!

I'm glad it resonated. I think we all have those times when we're struggling to find our spark and it can be hard to remember to treat ourselves well. Best wishes!

Sometimes we look at our situations and feel we cannot change anything about them or it'd be an awful lot of work. I bet you could find a thing or two to change and make your present health a bit better. Look at the foods you're eating and choose healthier ones; as was suggested maybe bring something from home instead of eating the greasy junk they offer. An apple and a banana, some yogurt or cheese, turkey breast and whole wheat bread sandwich, might be options as opposed to the junk so try packing your own lunch some of the time and see how it goes.

Looking at the whole picture can feel so overwhelming. Take it one change at a time, one improvement at a time. Do you track calories on MFP at all? That's been such an eye-opener to me, seeing how many calories different foods have.
Life is all about choices. It's ultimately up to each one of us to change our situation. Good luck!!!

wmweeza wrote: »

I know it may not be possible at the moment, but in the future either your commute or your job may need to change so you can live longer.

Or you can make changes AT work. And at home. In spite of them remaining the same.

You can get up and walk around 3 minutes every hour of your 10 hours. Bathroom on another floor? Visit a colleague at a different location? Tell people your back is hurting a bit and you need to stretch so that you can work harder when you get back to your desk. This doesn't come out of your current me time.

You could add a 15 minute walk during lunch time. You could compensate by eating at your desk.

If the greasy food is served in a dinner plate, you can hand the server a salad plate for them to fill for you instead. And a plate of salad ingredients and toppings you select.

Eating salads is not an automatic "low calorie" option, by the way. It could be if it is individual items that you put together. But if the salads are prepared with dressing already included or have high calorie toppings it is not clear cut that the salad option would be "better". I really don't see the need to bring food; but, it certainly would be an option too and then you can totally skip the "eating room".

People have already asked about snacks and drinks. Is the issue truly the food at work, or is the issue the food at work plus at home plus snacks in the meanwhile? You could change snacks to apples! Actually this might be a marginal caloric change, but it could quite possibly change your satiety level! And make you feel better.

Then you (and your family I supposed) may have to decide that some things are a priority. You can either go to work 15 minutes early and go for a walk on arrival, or have a 15 minute walk before leaving. Same on the way back home.

We've now added 45 minutes of walking a day. Not including weekends where there exists no restriction. Plus another 30 minutes in 3 minute increments during the day. We've just moved you from being sedentary to being somewhere closer to between lightly active and active. With benefits of its own for your health over and above and separately from weight control.

I mean, as people have indicated, you can do nothing. Or you can slowly work into what you've got.

Will you have to make changes? Well, duh, yeah, I would say you probably will have to make some. But they don't have to all be made at once!

PAV8888 wrote: »

wmweeza wrote: »

I know it may not be possible at the moment, but in the future either your commute or your job may need to change so you can live longer.

Or you can make changes AT work. And at home. In spite of them remaining the same.

You can get up and walk around 3 minutes every hour of your 10 hours. Bathroom on another floor? Visit a colleague at a different location? Tell people your back is hurting a bit and you need to stretch so that you can work harder when you get back to your desk. This doesn't come out of your current me time.

You could add a 15 minute walk during lunch time. You could compensate by eating at your desk.

If the greasy food is served in a dinner plate, you can hand the server a salad plate for them to fill for you instead. And a plate of salad ingredients and toppings you select.

Eating salads is not an automatic "low calorie" option, by the way. It could be if it is individual items that you put together. But if the salads are prepared with dressing already included or have high calorie toppings it is not clear cut that the salad option would be "better". I really don't see the need to bring food; but, it certainly would be an option too and then you can totally skip the "eating room".

People have already asked about snacks and drinks. Is the issue truly the food at work, or is the issue the food at work plus at home plus snacks in the meanwhile? You could change snacks to apples! Actually this might be a marginal caloric change, but it could quite possibly change your satiety level! And make you feel better.

Then you (and your family I supposed) may have to decide that some things are a priority. You can either go to work 15 minutes early and go for a walk on arrival, or have a 15 minute walk before leaving. Same on the way back home.

We've now added 45 minutes of walking a day. Not including weekends where there exists no restriction. Plus another 30 minutes in 3 minute increments during the day. We've just moved you from being sedentary to being somewhere closer to between lightly active and active. With benefits of its own for your health over and above and separately from weight control.

I mean, as people have indicated, you can do nothing. Or you can slowly work into what you've got.

Will you have to make changes? Well, duh, yeah, I would say you probably will have to make some. But they don't have to all be made at once!

Very good post on how incremental behavioural changes can make a real difference.

I used to consider a two McDouble meal and large fries and regular Pop a normal meal. In fact without moving to quarter pounders it was a lighter meal.

I've had that for early lunch and then went for all you can eat fish and chips with free all you can drink pop for dinner.

I've had a McDouble and I've had fries this year. I've even had all you can eat fish and chips.

Not on the same day.
Not all the time and every day.

I also now mass approximately 55% of my maximum. And have done so for 3+ years.

If you're on your feet all day you're not sedentary.

Even if you don't control what you eat you do control how much of it you eat.

And nobody is stopping you from bringing some raw or steamedbveggies or some tomatoes in a container are they?

Are you currently gaining weight or are you currently weight stable?

In either case start by cutting no more than 500 calories a day.

How can you tell what a small initial calorie cut will be?

Well that's "simple". Before you eat anything you record it on your phone. Before. Using accurate entries!

just taking the time to record that will probably result in a deficit when you first start and see in black and white what you're consuming. And, if, every time before eating you consider whether you really want to eat what's in front of you because you're hungry or for some other reason!

Yes you do need to second-guess yourself and then ask yourself questions.

We can agree, I think, that if you're eating for reasons other than being hungry then your weight is going to eventually reflect that.

So here's your first challenge. Write it down before you eat it. Ask yourself why you're eating it and whether you're hungry for it right there and then or you can set it aside to eat later.