Why Can't I Stick To This???

Hi needlework! Sounds like you and I are going through the same thing. I started about a month ago, and did very well the first week. I lost 5 lbs. Then something happened and I stopped logging in and started giving in to the cravings. So far, I have gained 2 lbs. back, but i hate back sliding!!! I'm like you, I really want to get this weight off and keep it off. I too desperately need encouragement. I have been hanging on to old clothes for over 5 years because I won't buy any new ones that are sized bigger. So I have punished myself for years, and I'M TIRED OF IT!!! I've missed out on new styles, colors, and fashions because of it. So, I try to keep focused on a new wardrobe and I have a wedding to attend this summer. I want to wear a cute sundress and not show any back fat or love handles when I wear it. So, Think of something you really want , the real reason for wanting to lose the weight. When you get ready to binge, like I do, put that picture in your mind and move away quickly, to do something else. That's the only way I can do this!!! Please encourage me, and i will gladly encourage you!!!! I'm praying for discipline for the both of us!!!

jump on board with my friend challenge

I am challenging all of my friends to burn AT LEAST 200 calories EVERY DAY. That is a simple walk for most people.

When 50% of my friends can burn 200 calories or more each 24 hour period, then I'll up the number of calories.

We're currently at 35%. Feel free to join in on my friends list and participate - feeling like you are part of a team will keep you motivated to keep going

sometimes I struggle with the same thing. It's just important to dust yourself off and get back to it after a slip-up. Try to rid your house of all the trigger foods, and think to the emotional side of eating, as another poster wrote. Keep your hands busy as well, with crafts or whatever.

Also, go Jays go!

bump - anybody else want to chime in....i could use more advise/suggestions, please.

I have pictures on inspirational quotes all over on my bedroom wall, I also think of the reason why I want to lose weight which is for Cosplay and then I get happy and motivated.

Do you by any chance start all gung ho, healthy food, dramatic cut in calories and exercising like a demon?


If so then thats your problem.

Small steps. Start off logging your food, the good the bad and the downright ugly, get that habit licked then change a couple of things a week within that. Knock the calories down but don't drop from silly high to silly low. Get the calories under control for a while first then start working on quality of calories.

Up your exercise but if none is your normal then build up gradually.

Big strides tend to cause stumbles in many so aim for steady baby steps and you'll get there faster

What is it that you want to achieve?
What is it that you are?
You're FKing human
You are god's ultimate creation
You can aspire to be what you want to be
To do what you want to do
Because that is what we are
We are the ones that move forward in life
the ones that create, but not just materialistic things
but we create a purpose for ourselves
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?
WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?
WE CREATE OUR OWN DESTINY
don't whine and BTCH about it being too tough
Because life is tough
And we don't get no where in life without hard work and determination
That is the key to success
The key to being great
Being great isn't the title you own, or the pay check you get
Being great is being what you wanted to be
You want to create a better you
So that you can do what you want to do
To strive to achieve
This pain you feel is temporary
That greatness you achieved is forever
Your mind, reflects your body and your soul
If you change your mind, your body will change
We're human being for FK sakes
Take it! ITS YOURS
FK THE WORLD
FK SOCIETY
FK THE POLICE
Society will tell you to step down
your friends will doubt you
BUT BE DIFFERENT
IT"S OKAY
WE ARE UNIQUE
we all have our talents and our gifts
our individualism, our uniqueness
nobody is without these things
The obstacles you face may look devasting
but to over come it, you must be brave
don't be scared to take chances, to take risks
half the time, you'll fall ... get knocked the FK down and demolished
but get back up and try again
we are AWLAYS STRONGER than we know
we are GREATER than what we set out to be


Hope my words motivate you. (:

Modified version of my poem
http://epicpoet.tumblr.com/post/8688930322/human#note-container

I love this!

For me - it wasn't a weight loss thing, but I think it still applies.

I used to be super skinny and my diet consisted pretty much of junk food.

I decided one day I was going to eat healthier and replaced snacks with fruit. That was my first small step.

I got so much extra energy and felt so much better that it soon became a subconscious decision to pick healthy food over unhealthy because I genuinely WANTED it more.

I remember one day when we had a buffet at work. When it was mostly eaten and there were some bits left on a tray for people to pick at, I was walking past. I picked up the satsuma, not because I felt I should, but just without thinking that was my preference. There were pork pies, scotch eggs, bags of crisps and mini rolls on there and I genuinely didn't want them.

I didn't think about it until I sat back at my desk to eat the satsuma it hit me that clearly I had made a fundamental change to my attitude.

From there I wanted to make more changes because of how good it made me feel.

Work on making that fundamental change in attitude. You're going to have slip up days where you don't care.

But think of it this way - in the past, every day was like a slip up day. Even if you only make an effort one day a week, you're still better than you were. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Good luck.

I feel your pain. I have been losing and regaining the same 20 pounds for about the last 12 years.

This time though it feels different. I am motivated to use this site and track every day. I like challenging myself to stay within my calories (including eating back my exercise calories) and I'm definitely much more focused because I track every day.

I also happen to weigh myself everyday - no judging please - and found this website that another posted recommended a great motivation as it shows you that you're going in the right direction even if the scales aren't moving http://www.myweightracker.com/home

I also find I have to watch / read a lot of articles and advice to keep me focused - suggest you do the same.

Also, for me, although people seem to love to tell me that I won't be 'me' if I lose weight, that my character will change, that I'll be less fun, I know that if I see any more photos of me where I think I look godawful and other people say 'you look lovely' or 'thats you!' I'll cry.

When I look in the mirror I don't think I look that bad, but sadly the camera doesn't lie.

A couple of other things to try - have you done the 'jiggle test'? Stand naked infront of a mirror and jump up and down.. eugh right?

I have a motivation that I will see most of my friends and family in just over 4 months time. By then I would like to be a good 20lbs or less (plus the 6 I have already lost). I suggest you choose a date or a focus and work towards it. Only having a non specific goal like 'I want to lose weight / be slim' isn't enough, it needs to be SMART....

Good luck - and remember, if you're not focused on it, then maybe now isn't the right time to be doing it. You have to really really want to do it to be successful in peeling the pounds off. You can't just eat less calories for a finite time, it needs to be a mind shift and change...

good advice!! I am not a big fan of journaling, but recently I began one, and I'm making all sorts of inner discoveries as to why I self-sabotage!

Bump! want to read this after I've walked the dogs.....I've been a bit of a yo-yo dieter in the past but trying to stop that with the use of this site.

For motivation I'm always looking and comparing peoples bodies while out or watching telly and everytime I feel my motivation slipping I just ask myself whether I want to look like an overweight person or a fit healthy looking person.

Lots of reasons, for me I have good and bad weeks during my monthly cycle. Straight after I start my period and again straight after ovulation I have high motivation and commitment, the other two weeks I have to have a back up plan in place. i.e. give into chocolate cravings, but exercise more, cut down in other areas i.e. indulge for a day or two without going miles above the calorie intake.

Also - there are other ebb and flow factors, motivation will come and go, question is can you be kind to yourself when it's ebbing?

I am just approaching a stone lost - and it's taken nearly a year, I've had great losses and then months and months of stalling, and I'm still on the journey, the weight is still moving in the right direction and I lose weight when I'm ready.

A friend recommended the Dukan diet, which I'm not doing, but reading the book was an eye opener in that he says that the body has to learn how to be at the new weight, and for every 1lb lost, it takes 5 days for the body to get used to it. So I've gone from nearly 16 stone, to now 15, my body has got used to being 15 rather than 15.12 and now it's ready to move on again. And just like that I'm motivated and losing weight.

This is a patience game, and hope and acceptance.

Big hugs to everyone out there on this journey.

Jane

Nice one Jane .. agreed xx

Hi !! I have been where you are so many times in my life I cannot count them. One thing that I have learned is, just because you have a piece of cake, doesn't mean you have failed. You know what it means?? It means you had a piece of cake. People eat cake!!!! This is not an all or nothing thing. It is not pass or fail. Find what matters to you, focus on that. Keeping my diary, making friends, logging my exercise have motivated me so much!!! When I have felt like quitting (and there have been a few day!!!) my fitness pal friends have talked me off the ledge and gotten me back on track. Don't be so hard on yourself.

As far as exercise, walk. If you fell self conscious, walk at night!! Or even better, don't give a sh*# what people think. Plug in your IPOD and disappear into the memories that your music evokes!!! I usually end up walking laughing or crying (depending on the song!) My music is a time machine back to High School, or a ride to the beach with my cousins as a little girl. I even have a MP3 for the water for when I swim!!! Make your exercise something you enjoy!!

there is plenty of encouragement here!! Please add me as a friend if you like!! Go gettum!!! Today is gonna be a good one!!!

I fall off the wagon every couple of weeks, the reason I've lost nearly 100lbs is because I just wake up the next day and get back on it. Nobody is perfect but some people never get back up.

I know that for me I had to change my mind. I can't look at this as a temporary change or as a DIET, or that when I reach my goal I can eat and do whatever I want. No, this is a new way a new LIFESTYLE. So, this new lifestyle has to work for ME and I had to decide what I was going to manage to live with and live without. I started slow with just logging my food and was really shocked at Calories in the foods I was eating. Also, I know that I'm not going to live without pizza or without chocolate so I have to fit that in but I do know that I don't have to have that everyday. I prefer to eat healthier now because it gives me more energy and makes me feel better but no food is off limits for me if I want it I can have it.

I also exercise, at first it was only 15 or 20 minutes at a time. Now when I go to the gym I can do 45 or 55 minutes on the elliptical it's addicting and I love the way it makes me feel. I feel in control not out of control. I feel like I CAN do this. Which makes me want to go back for more.

I have a lot of weight to lose but I don't focus on how much I have to lose I focus on mini goals. If you really want this, you will make it happen because you have all the power you ARE in control. If I can do this..........YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! :flowerforyou: