Help please

debbiebyf · February 18

Can anyone help or have any suggestions as to how to stop sabotaging a weightloss journey. I started with a 16 day tracking streak, lost 2.4 kgs and I was really positive. I had some stress at home and I started emotional eating and now it’s back to only 1.1 kg of weightloss. I am in this cycle of yo-yo up and down the scales. Has anyone been through this and got any tips how to break the cycle ?

Your thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated thank you

benningfiledc · February 18

I feel like I have been dealing with this the last 5 years, it is so hard to prepare yourself mentally for this, but we must keep trying. I WILL succeed and you WILL too, don't give up. Best of luck to you

totameafox · February 18

1. You only fail if you quit. Never quit.
2. Leave the past in the past. Even if it is only yesterday. Just because you had an off day yesterday doesn't affect today at all. It's brand new. Live in it.
3. Don't buy what you don't want yourself to eat. Nothing lasts in my house. If I buy ice cream that should last 5 days. It might last two... or even only 1. Can I have ice cream? I won't deny myself but I will have to leave my house to go get it.
4. Find a different way to cope with stress. Want to eat? So take a nice long bath with some soothing music. Or go on a walk. Go to the gym. Work on a hobby. You have options. Figure them out before hand.
5. if you absolutely need to eat food I can put so much food on my plate with 1200 calories a day that I would want to cry at the thought of having to physically eat it all. It think there are communities or posts that deal with increasing the volume of food that you eat. You can look into that if the above doesn't help you.

Ultimately you have to realize that you will never 'lose' control. Even when you don't feel like you have control, you are still making decisions. I have a thread to vent in my community. You are welcome to join and use it. Perhaps voicing your stress to people you will never meet face to face could help as well.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/147555-speak-friend-and-enter

Corina1143 · February 18

It may help to allow yourself to eat at maintenance on rough days.
When you feel like reaching for the chips, fill a big plate with your favorite veggies like celery, carrots, broccoli, green peppers. Maybe add a few crackers and a little cheese. Put it right in the middle of the table so you can't miss it!
Remember to drink. Iced water in a pretty glass. Unsweetened tea, herbal tea for a sweet treat. Add a twist of lemon or orange to make it special. Remember you are special and you deserve the best.
Prelog tomorrow (or the day after the stress will be over) with your goal calories to remind you to get right back to it.
It may take you a little longer to lose the weight, but it beats quitting and continuing to gain.
Weight control is life long, not a quick done and through.

Alatariel75 · February 18

For me, I had to take it off the optional list. There's things in my life I do because I have to, and things I do because I want to/have capacity to do so.

In the first basket are work, laundry, cleaning the kitty litter tray, feeding the pets, buying toilet paper, showering etc.

In the second are recreational things, self care, hobbies, relaxation etc.

The things in the second category are very important, and vital to a happy and balanced life, but are also sacrificable for a period of time when stress or urgency hit. The stuff in the first category, I have to go come rain, hail, shine or basically barring all out disaster.

I put my healthy eating in the first category. It's a must, not a would-be-nice. With preparation (even just mental), planning and forethought, it's no harder for me to have a meal within my calories (even a take out or meal on the run) than to grab something which will blow my calories. "Comfort" eating is a bullhockey term to me these days, I used to use it then realised - what's "comforting" about adding guilt and stress and a feeling of failing myself to my already long list of stresses? It doesn't make me feel better, it makes me feel worse!

After decades of yoyoing and looking for motivation and jumping from one plan to another, this change in mindset was really what stuck. I treat considering what I eat like it's my job, or my chores. Not fun, but vital.

debbiebyf · February 19

Thank you all for your comments. Some great tips and ideas to keep me going. Wishing you all good luck on your weightloss journey x

csplatt · February 19

Keep in mind that scales yo-yo even when you aren't falling off the wagon. Our body is made up of lots of stuff that causes the scale to go up and down -- food waste, water. A woman's hormone fluctuations throughout the month will change the scale. These things are unrelated to fat going up and down. Thus -- just because the number on the scale went up some doesn't mean you put on new fat. Just as every time the scale goes down doesn't mean we just lost ALL of that in fat pounds/kgs. Carry on!

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