I was thinking about this the other day especially after labor day weekend. I am curious what your biggest challenge or obstacle has been in your weight loss journey? And what if anything you did to overcome it. One of mine is eating when I am stressed out or upset. It happened this weekend. First thing I did was go to the fridge but I closed it and instead went to get my walking shoes and took a long walk. When I got back I was no longer upset or stressed or hungry. Yesterday I was so stressed at work, so instead of going to the snack machine, I took a walk around the building. I won't always be able to take a walk when this happens so i will have to find other things to do to keep my mind occupied so I won't think of food.
Love to hear suggestions or your biggest challenges and solutions.
I'm at a stay-at-home mom, and I am 12 steps away from the pantry all day. This is definitely my biggest challenge. I just have to be really choosy in the groceries I buy, and I also have pretty good willpower.
first is a thin husband who can eat my entire calorie alotment for the day for breakfast
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I have the same husband. he eats and eats and it takes alot for him to put on weight. I think he has the fastest metabloism in the west. So even though we eat healthier, he can eat three times my portion. I have learned not to hold it against him but sometimes it is hard.
I used to snack alot at night but that bad habit has gone away. usually cause I have water, green tea or a glass of 1 % milk around 8:30. That usually fills me up till bed now. Or if I do get the urge, I come to 3FC and check in.
My biggest challenge has always been consistent exercise. I'd start a program and go hog wild for a month or so and then quit cold...to combat that I now walk for my main exercise and have a couple friends who will join me at least once a week each and I drag the dog the other days. My other issue is night time snacking...I loves me some chips and salsa while I watch CSI or whatever...like many of you I now drink herbal tea or skim milk. Now if I do "sin" I add a few fruit loops or something to my skim milk, but it can still be just as big a challenge today as it was 2 years ago.
It helps to hear how others deal and what obstacles they have overcome. I was reading another post and you said something that stuck about if you mess up at one meal that doesnt mean you have to continue doing it all day which is what i would normally do.
lovnmom
I too will go in spurts where I exercise like a fiend and then something wil happen to make me slack off, Either I get sick or hurt myself or I am just to darn tired. Then it is hard to get back into it. So right now I am just walking 30 to 45 minutes 4days a week at a moderate to fast pace ( I like to change it up). Next week i plan on adding some strength training. We have a gym at work which I joined several years ago and definetely was not taking advantage of it. I plan on getting my oneys worth
My biggest problem was a glass of wine or two to "unwind" in the evening. Then, what the heck, a few chips never hurt anyone, then "I deserve more, life is short..." since I have not had any alcohol in the home since mid-August the weight has fallen off (I've been keeping to my WW points and I find it sooo much easier).
I feel so much better now, I can look at the clock and say "Wow, it's 9 pm, I've kept to my points and not been hungry."
I am a housewife, also in and out of the kitchen all day, and all though I can inhale a ton of calories that way, at least I only have healthy foods in there. I can't get tempted beyond recognition by typical triggerfoods like potato chips or pastries. However, when I go down the mountain, into town a couple of times a week, that's where all of the temptation is, and I have to be really super careful to not let myself get too hungry, as when it is an errand day, so I've learned to bring some food with me to hold me over until I get home. I have a young and spirited German Shepherd I take hiking every morning, so that's non-negotiable , according to her I don't have kids or a husband that distract me, in fact, my husband eats less than me at dinner it seems (the only meal we share). My husband is very supportive of the idea for me to cook differently in order to lose weight, he is not a problem.
I have a real problem with low self esteem and a husband who doesn't talk much at all, which means offering praise, or approval, so I get very little in the way of "Hey ! Lookin' Good !" , I have to do it entirely out of my own motivation, which is good on one hand. Being the soul reason to better myself for only myself is a difficult task. I have so much in my life that I'm grateful for , as so much seems to have finally arrived how I want it. Perhaps it is .... stagnation ... has overtaken me in recent years. Middle-aged and going into weird times with perimenopause, the war in Iraq and world affairs in general, etc. all make me in constant anxiety mode, thus, I self-medicate with food.
So , anxiety and motivation are my big obstacles, for I can't maintain my discipline when my emotions are raging, or my lack of caring has sabotaged and I feel like breaking glass. Fortunately exercize greatly softens anxiety, and keeps the motivation up, so I suppose, I should exercize longer with greater intensity to make sure. I have to keep remembering I *am* really overweight, and it's *not okay* , and I will feel so much better on the other side of this journey, hey, even half way there will be a huge difference. Its all like a very complex puzzle, which piece fits in where and affects what in order for the next piece to fit in. Exercizing more often and drinking more water and staying out of negative self-talk and denial, are my answers at this time.
Last edited by Hermit Girl; 09-06-2008 at 10:03 AM.
For me.... I *think* attitude has been my biggest challenge.
I have always envied 'yo-yo' dieters because at least they could lose the weight. Losing weight is something I've never, ever been able to do. Unfortunately, I always believed that I could only eat less than 800 calories a day to lose weight. I'd literally starve myself for a month and lose maybe 10-12 pounds, and then, when I just couldn't starve myself anymore and I started eating again, I'd gain the same weight back. I've accomplished a few noteworthy things in life, including going back to school to get a degree in my 30s and then completing my master's degree. But, I could never lose weight. I've never been at an ideal weight, so I don't really even know what it is for me.
But... something happened this summer... I found this site and fitday... I guess when all the moons or fates or stars were aligned. I signed up at FitDay on August 1 and though I'd been reading here, I signed up in early August.
For the very FIRST time in my adult life... the last 23 years... I just KNOW I can do this. I refuse to even consider that I can't. I don't know what happened. I can't explain the change. At first, I kept expecting to wake up and it would all be a dream. But.. It's been 5 weeks now.. (almost) longer than I've ever starved.. longer than I've ever been able to stick to anything weight/fitness related. I'm as certain today that I'm going to succeed as I felt when I began. All I can really come up with is that somehow I got an attitude adjustment. I've been so grateful for it everyday.
Challenges and obstacles? Yes, to all of the above.
Stay at home all day snacker here --- I've combat that by leaving the house and joining every committee/club/board I can --- only to discover they serve donuts at most meetings.
Night time snacker too --- I took up knitting or watch movies instead of TV. I discovered it was a hand/mouth thing or a commercial break thing.
My largest obstacle is my unwillingness to exercise. At all. I lay in bed knowing it would feel so much better if I could say I walked today, but I don't.
I read all the motivation here and yet still I sit. Somebody kick me!
Hm. It's a really good question. I think there are two things for me:
One is that I own my own business so I don't have any real set schedule. W/out a schedule, I have to remind myself to eat on a regular basis. I have to plan and stick to my plan, otherwise I wind up missing meals and then eating like a horse in the evening because I'm starving.
The other is hopefully something that will change ... and it's just that I've been going through a huge amount of personal change over the last year, which has been incredibly stressful. I vacillate between not eating anything from stress and eating everything in sight because of stress. Neither one is terribly healthy.
However, I think those situations - all of them - may have turned a corner and things are finally starting to stablize, so hopefully I won't have to worry about *that* going forward.
I wasn't sure what kind of response I would get to this thread and I have to say this is great to hear that alot of us have the same obstacles and some advice on how they have overcome them or that they are still struggling with them. I love this sight and all the people in it. You make this journey easier to handle and I am so glad I found all of you.
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I read all the motivation here and yet still I sit. Somebody kick me![/QUOTE]
Consider yourself kicked into action. Just set a goal that you will walk 2 or 3 times a week. Post it on the fridge or bathroom mirror. That's what i had to do when I first started. Now I look forward to it. I am not a morning person so I only walk in the morning on the weekend or when I am off of work. It's hard enough for me to get out of bed in the morning to go to work. Otherwise I do it at lunch or after dinner. Even if it is just 15 or 20 min it's a start. So before you got to your committee club or board meeting tell yourslef I am going to walk first. Just keep telling yourself you can do it over and over. Give it a try it can't hurt right?
What are your biggest challenges or obstacles?
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