How long did it take you to hit your stride

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Mom2SS
Mom2SS Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
What I mean is, how long did it take of sticking to it until things "clicked" and it became less effort?

I've been down this road before, and I remember early on it being difficult sometimes to stick to it, but at a certain point, I started feeling better because I was eating better. I really enjoyed the occasional treats I had without needing them all the time. It may not have been "easy", but it was feeling natural.

Right now, I am have just started. While I am ready and have the right attitude to do it, I am still at the point where I am constantly reminding myself to stick to it. I'm thinking a couple weeks before it starts feeling more right?

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  • Mom2SS
    Mom2SS Posts: 16
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    What I mean is, how long did it take of sticking to it until things "clicked" and it became less effort?

    I've been down this road before, and I remember early on it being difficult sometimes to stick to it, but at a certain point, I started feeling better because I was eating better. I really enjoyed the occasional treats I had without needing them all the time. It may not have been "easy", but it was feeling natural.

    Right now, I am have just started. While I am ready and have the right attitude to do it, I am still at the point where I am constantly reminding myself to stick to it. I'm thinking a couple weeks before it starts feeling more right?
  • Starchaser
    Starchaser Posts: 69
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    Took me around four weeks to form a sustainable routine.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
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    I found it instantly got easier when I saw the scale start to drop about 3 weeks in. It never gets completely easy... old habits are hard to break.
  • hartkid13
    hartkid13 Posts: 1,551 Member
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    About three weeks. I've always heard that it takes 90 days to establish a true habit, though.
  • stevieg_fan
    stevieg_fan Posts: 51
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    for me it's a pattern of a couple weeks of struggle to fight the urges and remind myself that eating healthy feels better, tastes better, treats me better and is worth it before it feels natural to choose the apple over the peanut butter cooke most times anyway. And then after a while my mind starts poking at me with burgers and fries and pizza and cake and I feel like I"m back at square one. For me, this cycle seems to be part of settling in to the fact that healthy is forever - this isn't a weight loss diet, it's a lifestyle diet. And in my life I do eat burgers and cake - I just try to keep them within my calorie range and I try not to let one burger lead to a cookie right after and so on....

    Anyway- I guess the answer for me is also a few weeks. And my advice would be to hang in for a few weeks, work on making the click happen, but don't get discouraged if you cycle back 'cause it is a lifestyle forever thing ... it's learning how to be healthy in every day within the full spectrum of the foods available to us.
  • Mom2SS
    Mom2SS Posts: 16
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    Thanks. That seems about right to me, and I am looking forward to the point where it will start to feel natural. I also get motivated when I start seeing the pounds coming off, and given how much I have to lose, I know I'll have a couple decent losses at the very beginning.

    I do believe that you have to be ready to make major changes in your life, and I am truly ready this time. Having said that, I know that for at least a little while, I am going to have to be mentally on guard to stay in this state of readiness.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    What I mean is, how long did it take of sticking to it until things "clicked" and it became less effort?

    I've been down this road before, and I remember early on it being difficult sometimes to stick to it, but at a certain point, I started feeling better because I was eating better. I really enjoyed the occasional treats I had without needing them all the time. It may not have been "easy", but it was feeling natural.

    Right now, I am have just started. While I am ready and have the right attitude to do it, I am still at the point where I am constantly reminding myself to stick to it. I'm thinking a couple weeks before it starts feeling more right?
    Its habit now for me ..11 weeks ..but lets call it 33yrs *winks*

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