Desperate for help. When did losing weight start to click fo

It has never just "clicked" for me. I had to move my weigh in date to Sunday so I don't over eat ALL weekend...because I would do the same thing as you! Now, I am on week 2. I eat great all week and then Sunday morning, I weigh in and use Sunday as my "cheat day" then am back on track Monday. Eating always has been...and always will be an everyday struggle for me. good luck to you.

Have you considered putting more 'structure' into your weekends. Structure appears to be why you are successful and on track through the week.

Sidesteal really? it has nothing to do with "wanting it badly" it has to do with self control....Plan your meals on friday night when u get home from work for the weekend i find that helps me though the weekend.....pre prepared meals help me alot

I am not accusing, I am asking a question. It "may" have to do with wanting it badly enough. It may be an issue of self control, it may be a combination of both.

I kind of know where you're at (I lost a similar amount of weight, have been stagant for ages, am careful during the week).

I think when I lost the weight originally I was *super* motivated. Now I'm close to goal I've probably 'relaxed' a bit, and it's hard to turn down the social events at the weekend, that usually come with food and drink. That said I don't go crazy, and I'm much more sensible than I used to be – but at such a small deficit it's easy for me to undo the week's work with one meal.

I try and simply do more exercise at the weekend so that the extra food doesn't impact so much. Can you do that? Fit in an extra hour each day to exercise?

It has never just "clicked" for me. I had to move my weigh in date to Sunday so I don't over eat ALL weekend...because I would do the same thing as you! Now, I am on week 2. I eat great all week and then Sunday morning, I weigh in and use Sunday as my "cheat day" then am back on track Monday. Eating always has been...and always will be an everyday struggle for me. good luck to you.

This is exactly what I was going to say! I use Monday morning as my weigh-in time. Since I know I always have and always will have an every day struggle with food, this helps me stay on track over the weekend. I also weigh myself on Friday morning. Since I pretty consistantly eat well during the week, typically my weight is good on Friday. This also helps motivate me to do well over the weekend. Good luck :flowerforyou:

I find that when I can structure my dieting and my eating around my day i find it much easier. When i get to work at 8.40 that is just enough time to eat my breakfast and then start working, my 15 minutes break at 11a.m. is just enough time to eat a yoghurt and some fruit, my hour for lunch is just enough time to eat my salad, drink 2 pint glasses of water and catch up on emails etc, I grab a quick 10 minutes in the afternoon usually around 3 and have a smoothie and a piece of fruit or some crackers and hummus, then I finish work, head straight to the gym, then I get home wrecked from my day and have just enough time to eat my dinner. At the weekends I find I have more time than I know what to do with and while I might be busy sometimes I found I was too busy to eat structured meals and ended up stuffing my face at one point during the day or I'd be having such a quiet weekend that I'd be gobbling food just because I was bored.

I don't go to the gym at the weekend unless I miss a weekday (I go everyday Monday-Friday). I know this will sound so cliched but I found structuring my weekend helped me a lot. What I mean by this is that I make sure I get up at the same time on Saturday and Sunday and eat breakfast because I think this gets my body going along the same track that it's on during the week when i eat like clockwork.

About an hour before I'm schedule to eat my lunch/dinner or have a snack I do something, like go out and run around with my dog for a while or go for a walk or sort the washing and i put on a timer on my phone so that when the timer goes off I get myself straight in the kitchen and make something to eat and I am feeling that bit hungrier because I've been doing something rather than just lounging around. The timer thing really helps though. It snaps me out of my weekend buzz and reminds me i have to keep up my good work.

If I'm staying in on a Saturday i do find that I'll be planning on nachos or something bold so I take time on saturday and chop up carrots to have with hummus and have them ready in the fridge so I can't moan about how preparing a healthy snack will take time because it's just there ready.

Part of my Sunday is taken up with preparing my salad veg and my soup veg for the week so not only does that take up time where I could be stuffing my face, it also puts all this healthy food right in front of me and makes it hard to think about chocolate when you're facing with loads of chopped up veggies.

I agree with Dunkirk. One thing that has really helped with my weekends is trying to plan as well as I can. If I know I'm going out with my friends later, I try to eat light and got some exericse in. Also, when I go out, I try to make good choices with food and not overdo it with the drinking (being DD helps with this - gives you an excuse to be good if your friends pressure you). It's acutally something I learned while on WW. Just because you're not the one doing the cooking and cleaning doesn't mean you can eat and drink like there's no tomorrow. It's just another meal in the grand scheme of things and should be treated as such. You can still have fun and enjoy an evening out without going completely overboard.

And actually I do agree with sidesteal a little too. It may be harsh but if you want it badly enough, you will make the necessary changes. That doesn't mean you have to change your whole life, just make little tweaks and changes so you can be healthy and still enjoy everything.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. It's really making me feel more confident already.

Maggieq87: I too feel like I'll never be able to really lose weight. Maybe believing that I can will be the first real step.

Sidesteal: I know you weren't accusing, and I think on some level you're right. Maybe I don't want it bad enough if I can't sacrifice for it.

lynzyn: I really like your idea of planning my weekend meals out on Friday night. That will definitely help add structure to my weekends, which is what I really feel is lacking.

dunkirk: I think you're really hitting the nail on the head about weekend structure.

The point I am dancing around is for you to evaluate why losing weight, or getting in shape, is valuable to you and you need to decide HOW valuable it is. I think this will help drive you to make better choices, or at the very least, give you some clarity on what's important in your life. You may conclude that your weekend activities are more valuable to you right now, and if you do, then good for you as this is your choice to make.

One day I woke up and I realized I was killing my body. I realized that every processed, fast food, junk, pizza, chocolate, garbage the I was putting my my mouth was showing up in my apperance.... I realized that I was dying from the inside from the fuel I was putting in.... So I did research and I basically scared myself in to eating healthy. Look up things about processed foods or what ever it is that you over indulge in. It really helped for me to become educated on health and nutrition to realize that I needed to treat my body better.

Maybe you're a downtime eater and you don't want to be "aware" during your downtime. Maybe you want to escape? Is there a way to escape without food? Maybe you can think of lots of ways to give yourself treats (massages,"guilty-pleasure" movies, time set aside for an absorbing, beloved hobby) without food, so you can escape and fill your soul instead of your stomach.

You also seem a bit obsessed with the thought that if only you could conquer the weekend, you would be good. Why not try breaking the weekend up into smaller bits of time? Then you can extend your good times gradually. For example, one weekend you might be able to add Saturday Morning to the good week. The next weekend you might be able to add all of Saturday until supper. And if you mess up Saturday, you have all of Sunday to be good and start off your next healthy week. You might find that you are really only eating poorly for six hours every Saturday. Then be extra-vigilant during those tempting hours.

Also, what about promising yourself a little reward on Sunday evening if you do a good job? (It could even be a food reward. Eating a well-earned plate of Nachos or Hot Fudge Sundae is better than eating ALL weekend. Then maybe later you could switch it to a non-food reward.)

Be kind to yourself! If you're eating well all week, and not so well on the weekend, or part of the weekend, then you are eating well over 70% of the time, and that's great!

For me .. i learned how to make some yummmy but really healthy recipes.. and now that i eat healthier thats what my body craves instead of junk. Just find yummy meals and snacks to make that are good for you. and then the pounds started shedding. Its making me feel so good im automatically focused proud and determined

It has never "clicked" for me either... I have struggled all my life with my weight. When I would try to loose weight I would never have the support from my husband. He was my worst enemy because I would buy the healthier items for me but STILL HAD to buy the unhealthier things for him and my kids. They just never got how having that food in the house is such a temptation and made it difficult for to be true to myself. I have will power and I can resist lots of things but it makes it so much easier if those items were not ALWAYS around. We have a neighbor that has been doing MFP for a while now and he lost about 55 lbs. My husband took note of this and then HE WANTED TO JOIN. He did and then next week I did (I had to make sure he was commited to this too). So now I buy more healthy items and not all the high calories foods as before. We still have "junk food" in our pantry, with 2 growing boys you gotta have SOME things for them, but I have cut down or switched items they eat as well. Since I now have the support of my husband it is easier to stay on track, although he tends to use the weekends to "eat more". And it has now become a small compitition between me and him on "how much have you lost"? I just wish I could get him to exercise more, but a knee injury is making it difficult for him to do certain things, and also to drink more water. Is there anyone in your family or friends that can you compete against? Who worked out longer on any given day? Who lost more this week? Who drank more water...etc? I am very competitive so this helps me STAY ON TRACK ON WEEKENDS when I see him eating something that he shouldn't. It has helped me and right now I am in the lead with the most weight loss, but barely, but still I am in the lead- Good luck!

Sidesteal really? it has nothing to do with "wanting it badly" it has to do with self control....Plan your meals on friday night when u get home from work for the weekend i find that helps me though the weekend.....pre prepared meals help me alot

Exactly. This sounds like a good idea!

What if you decide to eat healthy on Sundays but you leave Saturday as your "whatever I want" day. Then if that is successful you could limit it to just half the day Saturday. And gradually you could eliminate it altogether.