I've never started a post before but I need to today to vent just a bit so sorry in advance.
I started losing weight again November 1st and have been pretty successful, I've stayed on plan almost the whole time, minus a 3 week vacation in January and have lost 10kg/22 pounds in the 3.5 months.
Anyway what really helped is tracking everything. I log my calories daily on MFP and have an excel sheet that tracks a ton. I have a sheet for exercise planning, another to track a weekly weigh-in, a third for tracking weight loss- including how long it took for me to lose each kg, each 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% loss and finally one for measurements. It may seem a bit obsessive but it really helps me to see that I'm making progress and how evenly spread out my weight loss had been. I think each of my first 3 2.5% losses took 21 or 22 days. And while I do weigh-in daily the weekly weigh-ins were a nice reminder that although I may yo-yo daily each week I was heading down.
I have the file saved on a usb so I can play around with it at school and at home. Which brings me to the problem. I don't know how but I accidentally stepped on the USB while it was plugged into my computer at work, I really don't know how this happened and it's broken. I tried unplugging it at work a couple times and plugging it back in with no luck, then I forgot about it and just assumed it would work at home. It's my 2nd USB in the last 6 months and the last one wouldn't work on that specific computer but worked at home. Well I'm at home now and it does not work.
I feel like my last 3.5 months was for nothing. I know this makes no sense as I'm 10 kilos down and clearly much healthier and that's so much more important than a stupid file. But I still feel like all that hard work is gone and I am going to have to start all over, again. I don't know why but I am really upset about this right now, it's TOM so I guess I'll blame that. But it also bothered me that my fiancé, who knows how much time I spend on the computer, either here, on MFP, or on that excel file, doing my, as I call it, 'my fat people stuff', doesn't understand why I'm so upset. Which is why I needed to rant, but rant over. Thanks for reading.
Firstly, don't get too upset, you've achieved so much already, 22lbs is no mean feat! So congrats
We all tackle weight loss differently and have to find the thing that works for us; in your case it was charting everything minutely. But I think you've tied that to your weight loss too much, so now it's all or nothing. Like, "if I don't have my charts and figures, then I can't lose the weight".
I think this might just be the break you need. It's healthy to just step back for a while and take a breather from it. That doesn't mean you have to stop losing weight; still use MFP to track but don't worry so much about the details, like how long it takes to reach such-and-such percentage. Like you said yourself, overall in the bigger picture, you ARE losing weight.
If you really need that kind of focus to continue on though, why not try a new challenge like tracking how many inches you lose?
First of all: :HUG: Sorry about the lost data. I may not chart as diligently as you but I've been messed up in the past by lost app data on my ipod and broken/lost flash drives so I get it. It's okay to vent and rant and get the frustration out. However, you've accomplished sooo much and in just 3.5 months, and nothing, not even lost data can take that away from you. You succeeded because of YOU, not because of the tracked data. The fact is that it's a lot easier to make up new charts than to lose 10kg. If tracking is that important to your plan, then you can start over and make even better charts based on lessons you learned in the past 3 months. Look at it as another rebooting point. You've done/are doing so well, keep going and don't let this bring you down!
It's not silly at all - I would probably feel the same way! Sorry about the loss.
But in a way, this might be a good thing - almost like a fresh start within your fresh start. At the point you're at, I tend to stall and get a little bored - when I see how far I've come, I start to get comfortable, etc. Maybe starting fresh with the data will feel like restarting fresh on your journey, from this new point.
It may also be a blessing in disguise because it sounds like you were way into the data (we all are!). I think it is counterproductive sometimes how focused I can be on numbers, the scale, the percentages, how much lost how much to go etc. It can be addicting in a way! Maybe stepping back, or stepping on (not funny, too soon?) from the data will keep you from being consumed by it.
One way or another, I am sure tomorrow will be much better!
Thanks for all the advice. I was already debating whether I should continue weighing in daily. I don't feel like I'm obsessed with numbers but it seems as though I am. I definitely am a numbers person though.
I was tracking measurements before and that's actually what I'm most upset with being gone. I know where I started off weight wise but no idea what my measurements were.
I think I am going to use this as a new starting point because I'm right around my lowest weight as an adult. So anything lower weight wise is brand new and it doesn't really matter where I came from.
It's amazing what a couple of hours will do to come up with a new perspective.
Upset and Frustrated
