In need of guidance and advice…cheat meal
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zfitgal
Posts: 478 Member
Hi everyone,
I’m in the need of some help and guidance. Since the beginning of COVID I developed a lot of GI issues. I went through many tests and we weren’t able to pin point what was wrong until now. Finally I am on the right track to fixing myself. Because of these GI issues I put on 30 pounds. It was so hard and depressing. I didn’t want to leave my house. So I was dealing with all this stress and just to add my daughter was badly bullied this past year in school and had to put a stop to it and I did. So this past year was a very difficult year for me aside for the whole covid pandemic. At the end of may early June I decided that it was time to take control over my life again. I went back to the gym and started tracking in MFP. I’m down 13 pounds and I should feel great but I don’t. I feel so lost and exhausted. I have accomplished so much but at the same time I feel like I haven’t. I feel everything I have went through with my daughter and my own GI issues took so much out of me. Before COVID I was very strong and empowered person. Very driven and focused. I had a cheat day once every 5-6 weeks and it worked beautifully for me. I was 15% bodyfat and had a decent amount of muscle. Now I’m driven but I’m tired. So tired. I find myself having cheat days every 4 weeks and I don’t like it. I don’t know why I am not the way I used to be. All I want to do is get back to the place I was before covid and all my GI symptoms and it’s taking some time and I’m just so tired. I had a cheat meal tonight because I felt like I needed one. My lifts in the gym weren’t good. My energy level has been down. And I just felt plain ilium tired and down. I enjoyed my meal but not the same way i used to. I looked at that meal as a bad set back. Like I was weak minded. I should have fought it. But at the same time I feel like I needed it.Do I feel happy now? No I feel exhausted and confused.I feel tired and I’m questioning myself now, did I really need this and the answer is yes,I needed this and wanted this. I have had to keep everything together for so long even though I was falling apart but at the same time the one thing I’m fighting for is to get my shape back. And I did something that pushed me back. Maybe I’m looking at everything wrong,I don’t know…if you have any advice on how I can move forward I’d really appreciate it.
I’m in the need of some help and guidance. Since the beginning of COVID I developed a lot of GI issues. I went through many tests and we weren’t able to pin point what was wrong until now. Finally I am on the right track to fixing myself. Because of these GI issues I put on 30 pounds. It was so hard and depressing. I didn’t want to leave my house. So I was dealing with all this stress and just to add my daughter was badly bullied this past year in school and had to put a stop to it and I did. So this past year was a very difficult year for me aside for the whole covid pandemic. At the end of may early June I decided that it was time to take control over my life again. I went back to the gym and started tracking in MFP. I’m down 13 pounds and I should feel great but I don’t. I feel so lost and exhausted. I have accomplished so much but at the same time I feel like I haven’t. I feel everything I have went through with my daughter and my own GI issues took so much out of me. Before COVID I was very strong and empowered person. Very driven and focused. I had a cheat day once every 5-6 weeks and it worked beautifully for me. I was 15% bodyfat and had a decent amount of muscle. Now I’m driven but I’m tired. So tired. I find myself having cheat days every 4 weeks and I don’t like it. I don’t know why I am not the way I used to be. All I want to do is get back to the place I was before covid and all my GI symptoms and it’s taking some time and I’m just so tired. I had a cheat meal tonight because I felt like I needed one. My lifts in the gym weren’t good. My energy level has been down. And I just felt plain ilium tired and down. I enjoyed my meal but not the same way i used to. I looked at that meal as a bad set back. Like I was weak minded. I should have fought it. But at the same time I feel like I needed it.Do I feel happy now? No I feel exhausted and confused.I feel tired and I’m questioning myself now, did I really need this and the answer is yes,I needed this and wanted this. I have had to keep everything together for so long even though I was falling apart but at the same time the one thing I’m fighting for is to get my shape back. And I did something that pushed me back. Maybe I’m looking at everything wrong,I don’t know…if you have any advice on how I can move forward I’d really appreciate it.
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Replies
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Honestly, you sound like you're burned out. Not sure if it's psychological or physical (pushing your body too hard) or both, but a week or two at maintenance level might help. That's what I would try if I were in your shoes, just take a diet break.
The increasing need for 'cheat days' just sounds like a symptom of exhaustion, no need to attach any emotions (like guilt) to that. Always be kind to yourself.
I don't do cheat days myself: I don't like the moral connotations that come with the word 'cheat' and I have 'treat foods' every day within my calorie budget (and sometimes above, as long as it averages out in the end). Being too restrictive (and then having cheat days to compensate) often backfires in my experience, but everyone's different.
But my main point is: give your body and mind a break, you sound like you need one 🙂5 -
I think maybe it might help you plan to have maintenance days instead of 'cheat' days or meals. Plan to take a day (or a week) where you eat up to your calorie allotment to maintain. That way you get more food - and sometimes we need that psychological break and it can be super good for weight loss (helps you drop water weight, limits metabolic adaptation, keeps your mind in the game) - but you'll know you're not going 'backward'.
Or just plain take a break.
You matter, your mental health matters and you're allowed to have breaks2 -
We are all depleted from the last year.
I am trying to enjoy the summer in anticipation of things picking back up in the fall (ready or not). I hope you can, too.0 -
Not sure where you got the 15% body fat figure. If it’s accurate, that’s an extremely low goal.
Are you perhaps pushing yourself too hard? Eating enough to fuel yourself?2 -
"The end of May, early June" was six weeks ago, meaning you've been losing about 2lb per week. If you only have about 30 lbs to lose, it sounds like you're going too hard, too fast and I agree with Lietchi, you're burning out. Take a maintenance break or redo the guided setup to lose half a pound per week and see how you feel.1
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Given what we have ALL gone through in the past 12-18 months, and what you have been through both physically and mentally with your GI issues and your daughter on top of "Covid-Times", it's no wonder you're not feeling like yourself--physically or mentally.
So you tried to comfort yourself in a way that worked before, but it left you feeling worse rather than better. Maybe instead of bashing yourself for being weak-minded, consider this an exercise in self-discovery: you've discovered that the cheat meals that used to be comforting no longer are. Lesson Learned, now what do you NEXT? How about exploring some different ways to relax, reward, and replenish your mind, body and spirit:- a different food way-- something that might not be as upsetting to your GI
- a non-food way like declaring 1 hour of "me time" and reading an escapist novel
- a little walk around the closest park
- reaching out to a long-lost friend and meeting for coffee or just text chatting for two hours?
- reset your weight loss goal/ exercise time by about half and give yourself some space to discover who you are NOW after being through what you have been through
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springlering62 wrote: »Not sure where you got the 15% body fat figure. If it’s accurate, that’s an extremely low goal.
Are you perhaps pushing yourself too hard? Eating enough to fuel yourself?springlering62 wrote: »Not sure where you got the 15% body fat figure. If it’s accurate, that’s an extremely low goal.
Are you perhaps pushing yourself too hard? Eating enough to fuel yourself?springlering62 wrote: »Not sure where you got the 15% body fat figure. If it’s accurate, that’s an extremely low goal.
Are you perhaps pushing yourself too hard? Eating enough to fuel yourself?
I have always been 15% body fat and I have maintained there for years…since covid started I haven’t been there0 -
rosebarnalice wrote: »Given what we have ALL gone through in the past 12-18 months, and what you have been through both physically and mentally with your GI issues and your daughter on top of "Covid-Times", it's no wonder you're not feeling like yourself--physically or mentally.
So you tried to comfort yourself in a way that worked before, but it left you feeling worse rather than better. Maybe instead of bashing yourself for being weak-minded, consider this an exercise in self-discovery: you've discovered that the cheat meals that used to be comforting no longer are. Lesson Learned, now what do you NEXT? How about exploring some different ways to relax, reward, and replenish your mind, body and spirit:- a different food way-- something that might not be as upsetting to your GI
- a non-food way like declaring 1 hour of "me time" and reading an escapist novel
- a little walk around the closest park
- reaching out to a long-lost friend and meeting for coffee or just text chatting for two hours?
- reset your weight loss goal/ exercise time by about half and give yourself some space to discover who you are NOW after being through what you have been through
I enjoy taking a day off from dieting and indulging but I’m not getting satisfaction anywhere. Yes the food was good but it wasn’t the same feeling as it used to be. I think I just want everything to go back to the way it was before covid and before my GI issues…I want my body back as well. And I know one day a month of going of program isn’t the biggest deal, it’s just that I have gained this weight because of an issue. And now I have to work so hard to lose it,because everything is effort at this point. In the past I enjoyed this…but I have worked so hard years ago to get to the place physically that I was at and to now have to reshape myself again upsets me and a cheat meal (which was needed) also gets in the way of me getting back to where I was.
If my weight was where I wanted it to be I would t mind treat days because that’s my balance. Im not the biggest foodie in general that’s why I can go so long without indulging. Because I like what I eat during the day in general. But I’m not where I want to be and it’s so upsetting. I feel like I’ve been fighting to get things under control in my life for a while now and I just need everything to be there already.
Sorry for this rant0 -
. But I’m not where I want to be and it’s so upsetting. I feel like I’ve been fighting to get things under control in my life for a while now and I just need everything to be there already.
Sorry for this rant
Oops, I forgot:- Rant. Get it out. Be pissed off. Demand that everything change and be the way you want it to be RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Ooh, or better yet,
- Throw a tantrum! Scream, throw pillows at the wall, stamp your feet, pout out your bottom lip and throw yourself sobbing on the floor and kick beat the carpet with your fists until you don't have another sob left in you.
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