Starting weight loss again - give me some motivation!

Coral_Leigh
Coral_Leigh Posts: 14 Member
edited January 2023 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm starting on a weight loss journey after having a baby. I've just finished breastfeeding after 1 year (yay!). I've put on quite a bit of weight and it's been making me unhappy lately, I'm hoping to lose about 40 pounds overall.

Today was day 2 of intermittent fasting (16:8) and calorie counting. Have gone great so far, and had space for a wee treat after dinner.

Struggling with hunger as I usually find in the first couple of weeks of dieting. Hope I can see this through, especially running after a little one - it's exhausting and I use it as an excuse to overeat (particularly sugary stuff). Any words of encouragement or motivation for this tired Mumma?
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Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,252 Member
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,557 Member
    I'm sure yor recognized that you needed 500 or so extra calories when you're breastfeeding, eh? You just grew a whole extra human - how miraculous is that!?! So now, you're moving on from there . . .

    Even with that, give yourself some grace: You've been busy, in a big way. (!!!!) It's OK to taper downward with some flexibility when you feel hungry. For quite a few of us, protein, a few healthy fats, boatloads of varied/colorful veggies/fruits - plus maybe some grains - those are sating, in a typical case.

    Are you typical? Dunno! Experiment, you can figure out which combinations beat back appetite for you. It doesn't need to be perfect instantly.
  • Sinisterbarbie1
    Sinisterbarbie1 Posts: 711 Member
    Congratulations on the little one, and even more on doing something healthy for yourself.

    If you are really hungry — eat something healthy that will help you power through
    But if you are emotionally exhausted —recognize that and feed your soul with whatever it is that is important to you as an individual human being (not a mom or a spouse) when you get a chance.

    Until then figure out a mini pick me up that is not food or drink related to keep yourself going - maybe some good music, a 5 min phone call on speakerphone with a friend as you do other things, watch a funny tiktok video or take a photo of whatever mischief your kiddo has created for posterity (and as evidence when you tell your family and friends later!)

    Bottom line no matter what my goal is health wise, I try to look for strategies that will keep me committed to goals for the long term by understanding the real reasons why I am doing what I am doing, knowing what my challenges or triggers are and then finding ways to make it easier to face difficulties when they arise (either by diverting my attention, addressing the real issue that i am trying to fix/mask by eating etc.). I don’t know of any quick motivation hacks - I don’t think such things really exist. You can do things like reward yourself as you reach goals if you find that motivating, but if you know what would motivate you as a reward, you are at least part way there to identifying what challenges might be triggering your overeating and you might as well address them outright,
  • Coral_Leigh
    Coral_Leigh Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks for your words of encouragement and advice, it is so helpful :) I definitely needed the extra calories while breastfeeding, I was so hungry all the time. Plus I went back to work full time before baby was sleeping through the night so I was like a zombie for most of the year - I survived on a lot of junk food! Now bubs is sleeping through most nights & she’s weaned it’s a great opportunity to be able to focus a bit more on myself again.

    I only stopped pumping 3 days ago and wasn’t expecting such big changes with hormones, I’ve been a bit up & down since stopping completely. I’ve so far found the strength to work through it without leaning on food as an emotional crutch & I’m proud of that. Hopefully it lasts long term! However it goes, this little human was worth it a thousand times over.

    My husband & I are on a mission to make 2023 our year of health & wellness, bring it on!
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,646 Member
    I’ve just replied to your other post: with a baby and having just finished breast feeding, I would gently suggest you eat a bite more than 1,200 cals each day. You need your energy and a slower rate of loss would probably be better for you and baby..
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,242 Member
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.
  • Coral_Leigh
    Coral_Leigh Posts: 14 Member
    claireychn074 wrote: »
    I’ve just replied to your other post: with a baby and having just finished breast feeding, I would gently suggest you eat a bite more than 1,200 cals each day. You need your energy and a slower rate of loss would probably be better for you and baby..

    Thank you, I’ve increased to 1,300 to be safe. Bubs is my #1 priority!

    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.

    Yes I agree, I want this change to last long-term, and being really restrictive is tough. Gotta be careful because I do have a tendency to binge (“surely 1 more won’t hurt” quickly leads to “I’ve already gone over calories so might as well splurge”), a lot of it comes down to mental resilience
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,252 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.

    It's a catch 22. I deserve a treat, whoops I'm fat. Everyone deserves a treat, how about reward one's self with something that isn't food.
  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 443 Member
    edited January 2023
    Huge congrats on having a baby and being able to BF for a year :) After I had babies I had a list of things I would treat myself to for every kg lost. Non food treats, not particularly extravagant, but things I wanted. Stuck it to the back of the bedroom door, it was a nice reward - and that worked for me.

    If you're hungry, and actually hungry not like snackish, then I would eat something like a piece of fruit I am personally more likely to binge if I let myself get very hungry. The other thing I would say is if you are consistently really hungry then I'd review your calorie intake. Do you know what your intake was prior to cutting to 1300? If you were eating 2600 before then 1300 is going to be painful! If you know your starting point you could reduce over the course of a week to adjust. Especially since you just stopped pumping. Be kind to yourself! Also, there are lots of ways to work out recommended cals, beyond what MFP offers, so could be worth checking with a few online calculators for other opinions :)
  • Jacq_qui
    Jacq_qui Posts: 443 Member
    neanderthin wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.

    It's a catch 22. I deserve a treat, whoops I'm fat. Everyone deserves a treat, how about reward one's self with something that isn't food.

    Agree. But also everyone is different. If I tell myself I'm not allowed any chocolate whatsoever there is a much higher likelihood I will be miserable in the long term. If I'm miserable, I'm less likely to adhere to the eating plan. And more likely to binge. Most likely on chocolate (or whatever food I've restricted.) Plus this whole idea that a certain food is inherently 'bad' - it's only bad if you eat too much of it.

    The flipside of course is if I ate 50% of cals a day in chocolate I'd be hungry, go over my budget and find it harder I'd be feeding that sugar addiction daily. And I'd probably not get the much-wanted loss in.

    Finding that sweet spot between allowing yourself something nice but eating healthy most of the time is the only thing that works for me. Like I say, we're all different it's finding what works for you. Suspect there are some people who have foods that they just cannot eat sensibly and probably need to avoid at all costs. (For me, that's nutella!)
  • Coral_Leigh
    Coral_Leigh Posts: 14 Member
    When I say I’m hungry it’s more like craving junk food than actual hunger, coming off refined sugar treats is difficult - it’s like a drug.

    I’m on day 5 of calorie counting & have been doing much better than I anticipated. Cravings have been manageable & I’ve been able to distract myself. I’ve allowed for a chocolate treat at the end of each day & so far it hasn’t lead to binging. I will aim to cut that out altogether once we’ve run out of it in the pantry.

    Hubby & I have written a goal on our whiteboard - 30 day challenge to stick to our calorie limit. We did this in November too - no takeaways for 30 days & it was very motivating & we succeeded!

    I think this time around I’m in the right head space which is always the biggest factor for me. Physically it’s not a difficult thing to do, but mentally it’s challenging - a hard day = I deserve junk food to make myself feel better. Redirecting that to I deserve a massage, or a bath & hubby looks after baby for an hour is a much healthier approach
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,252 Member
    edited January 2023
    Jacq_qui wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.

    It's a catch 22. I deserve a treat, whoops I'm fat. Everyone deserves a treat, how about reward one's self with something that isn't food.

    Agree. But also everyone is different. If I tell myself I'm not allowed any chocolate whatsoever there is a much higher likelihood I will be miserable in the long term. If I'm miserable, I'm less likely to adhere to the eating plan. And more likely to binge. Most likely on chocolate (or whatever food I've restricted.) Plus this whole idea that a certain food is inherently 'bad' - it's only bad if you eat too much of it.

    The flipside of course is if I ate 50% of cals a day in chocolate I'd be hungry, go over my budget and find it harder I'd be feeding that sugar addiction daily. And I'd probably not get the much-wanted loss in.

    Finding that sweet spot between allowing yourself something nice but eating healthy most of the time is the only thing that works for me. Like I say, we're all different it's finding what works for you. Suspect there are some people who have foods that they just cannot eat sensibly and probably need to avoid at all costs. (For me, that's nutella!)
    Jacq_qui wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Skip the wee treats. Hope you find success. cheers

    If the wee treat fits your calorie budget then it's fine. Diets that are overly restrictive have no chance of being successful in the long run.

    It's a catch 22. I deserve a treat, whoops I'm fat. Everyone deserves a treat, how about reward one's self with something that isn't food.

    Agree. But also everyone is different. If I tell myself I'm not allowed any chocolate whatsoever there is a much higher likelihood I will be miserable in the long term. If I'm miserable, I'm less likely to adhere to the eating plan. And more likely to binge. Most likely on chocolate (or whatever food I've restricted.) Plus this whole idea that a certain food is inherently 'bad' - it's only bad if you eat too much of it.

    The flipside of course is if I ate 50% of cals a day in chocolate I'd be hungry, go over my budget and find it harder I'd be feeding that sugar addiction daily. And I'd probably not get the much-wanted loss in.

    Finding that sweet spot between allowing yourself something nice but eating healthy most of the time is the only thing that works for me. Like I say, we're all different it's finding what works for you. Suspect there are some people who have foods that they just cannot eat sensibly and probably need to avoid at all costs. (For me, that's nutella!)
    If Nutella was the only food on the island, I'd be learning to fish, Nutella does absolutely nothing for me and really really just taste like a fake food. On the flip side I made a dessert with 54% callebaut, hazelnuts, cream and real vanilla bean. Same, same but different. To be fair I'm what is referred to as a supertaster and I think it was the vanillin that gives me that impression as well as the mouthfeel of cocoa powder/milk solids combination, a little too grainy and the viscosity is off as well, imo. Cheers.

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