Forgiving myself with stumbles?

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Anyone else had a bad day with food choices or watching the scale go the wrong direction, or both? How did you keep it from frustrating and discouraging you?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I don't think of food in terms of "good" or "bad"....it's food. I do put a premium on good nutrition, but I don't take some all or nothing approach. As far as the scale goes, losing weight isn't a linear process and body weight isn't a static thing. Fluctuations are normal. Your body is comprised of roughly 55-65% water and that composition always fluctuates. You will always have varying degrees of inherent digestive waste in your system, etc. Also, do the math. To gain 1 Lb of actual fat you would have had to consume 3500 calories over your maintenance requirements...and even then, the human body is very good at maintaining homeostasis which is why a consistent calorie deficit is necessary to lose weight and a consistent surplus is required to gain weight.

    Where your weight is concerned you need to be looking at the overall trend over time...individual data points will fluctuate but the trend over time will tell you what is actually going on. As nutrition goes, don't drown in the minutia of a particular meal or particular day...look at the big picture. You diet on the whole is what is important...what you're doing most of the time is what matters. Drop the all or nothing mentality, it only leads to undo stress and anxiety and there is zero positive that comes from it.
  • mlrtri
    mlrtri Posts: 425 Member
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    I agree that you have to think bigger picture. I weigh daily but I watch the overall trend and not the individual days. I do the same with food. I try to make each day count. But I don’t let it get to me if I have a day where I go over on my calories. As long as it doesn’t happen often.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 693 Member
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    I do not consider what I eat or what I weigh to be measures of my worth.

    I gained it over a long period of time, it's going to take time to lose it. No point beating myself up about it, plenty of other stuff to worry about. Just have to keep to the good habits I have worked to establish and will get there eventually.
  • IAmTheGlue
    IAmTheGlue Posts: 701 Member
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    Well, the time is going to pass anyway. Each and every day you get to make choice to help or hurt your future.

    If you get a flat tire, you don’t go out and pop the other three and bust out the windshield. No, you fix the flat and go on. Same thing here… just keep going.

    Say you don’t meet your calorie goal today & you give up…. nothing changes. If you just keep trying, you will get there. Every day is not perfect. I’ve got clothes sitting in the dryer right now waiting for me to put away that I’ve not managed to deal with yet today. I’m not perfect… but I just keep trying. Just keep going.
  • lucriciadelgado
    lucriciadelgado Posts: 6 Member
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    I truly appreciate all of the encouragement! I'm trying to do this: Recognize it for what it is-acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on!
  • _Bluebonnet_
    _Bluebonnet_ Posts: 8 Member
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    Anyone else had a bad day with food choices or watching the scale go the wrong direction, or both? How did you keep it from frustrating and discouraging you?

    I sure haven't figured this out yet myself!?!

    As you stated today, I also own it and stay aware. I am my own worst enemy.
    I gotta work SUPER HARD at changing my stubborn-bad habits-my bad choices...

    Of course, FITNESS/EXERCISE which in my honest opinion is the most important part.
    Gotta stay consistent!

    :)
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
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    Back in the late 2000s weight loss blogging was at its peak. I found hundreds of weight loss blogs and linked to them from my blog. I also tracked those who were actually losing weight (half weren't). With one exception EVERY blogger had a rebound before getting to goal weight. I remember that one exception. She was getting married and her inlaws had bought the couple a house. Her weight curve on the spreadsheet could only be described as "perfect". Fast at the start with a gradual tapering off.

    In case you were wondering, 1 in 6 reached goal weight and 2/3 of those who did gained (myself included). So don't feel bad about gaining temporarily. It's extremely common.
  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 432 Member
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    I log every single thing and move forward. My dinner last night was half a bag of Tostitos, salsa, and 3 to 4 shots of whiskey. Not even kidding. Woke up and put all of it in my log. Yes, I went over calories for the day. Weighed myself as usual this morning. I’m within my calorie allotment today. I’m in maintenance. Just. Keep. Going. Have more good days than not so good days. Don’t. Give. Up.
  • JoshIsRunning
    JoshIsRunning Posts: 22 Member
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    Every new day is a new day. Don’t let what happened yesterday hold you back today.
  • tegeusCromis
    tegeusCromis Posts: 3 Member
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    Don’t worry about the scale too much. I’m 3 lb down from yesterday. It bounces around like that. If I have a morning where it’s 2 lb or so higher than the day before, and I stumbled the day before, it just amplifies the negative feelings.