[milliondollarbbw]

So, my diet has not been good lately, I must admit. Though, I have been dealing with this weird issue of not feeling hungry and also dealing with nausea when I eat even a tad bit of a full meal, so, keeping food down has been hard, to say the least.

So, I am a bit surprised that my jeans are a bit too tight, though, the weight difference is only about 3lbs. Sigh.

How do you all stay motivated when the weight doesn't want to budge?

I have also been more stressed this past month than usual, so I am thinking the stress may have been messing with my cortisol levels. I also having been getting enough sleep. Yes, I think I have been a bit of a wreck lately.

I am about 3lbs over 300lbs now. Ugh.

[kbj0123]

Don't beat yourself up and let it get out of control! That is the mistake we often make, then we end up eroding all the good we have done. Acknowledge how far you have come, what you have accomplished and even if that pants is a little tight, try on other clothes that were tight at the beginning of your journey but are slack now. Let today be your new start, join a challenge and keep it moving!

[time2lose]

I hope you don't mind me saying this, but is there any possibility that you could be pregnant?

[carter]

Originally Posted by milliondollarbbw

How do you all stay motivated when the weight doesn't want to budge?

I just broke through a plateau, my first real plateau in which I did everything right, ate on my plan, exercised on my plan, and did not see any loss over about 6 weeks.

I stayed motivated by believing in my plan, believing that it would work if I gave it time, and reminding myself each time I was tempted to stray "because it's not working anyhow" that going off plan wasn't going to make it work any better.

I can't point to anything except force of will. I didn't give in. I just decided that I am sick and tired of being fat, and nothing but sticking to my plan was going to end that for me.

And I'm delighted to say that once the plateau broke, about a week ago, it broke with a vengeance. Several pounds have melted off and my body has changed too, all in the space of a week.

I hope you have the same experience. Just stick with your plan - you know it works.

[cfmama]

Pregnant was the very first thing I thought of too! Any possibility???

[synger]

I agree with carter. Staying on plan isn't a whim, it's a DECISION. You know the plan works. Stick with it and let it work. There are all sorts of reasons why you might be up a few pounds of water weight. But if you're staying within your plan (and your plan doesn't include 3500 extra calories over time) you WILL lose weight. You have to.

I find that I go two or three weeks with nary a budge on the scale (or a nudge upward, even!), then drop five pounds overnight. That's just my pattern. It's still discouraging during the weeks I'm not losing, but I KNOW my plan works. So I keep at it. And the weight DOES drop off.

Looking back at my weekly/monthly progress also helps a lot. Even when I feel like I'm not losing at all, I can look back and SEE that I've been losing 6-8 pounds each month. THis month won't be any different. It's the long-term averages that make the difference.

Another thing that helps me bully through the bad times is to focus less on the RESULTS of my plan (weight lost and scale numbers) and rather to focus on the BEHAVIOURS of my plan (planning my meals and snacks, eating on-plan, counting my calories, exercising regularly). If I am focusing on that, then the scale just becomes a tool I can use, not the dictator of my mood.

[rockinrobin]

Warning: Some tough love ahead...

So, my diet has not been good lately, I must admit.

How do you all stay motivated when the weight doesn't want to budge?

The scale won't budge unless you manipulate it to budge. You determine whether or not it budges. So I don't think this is a case of an unexplained plateau, but rather a self induced one. Which is good! Means you can get things moving fairly easily.

If I recall correctly, a few months ago, you mentioned this about your hunger level and what not. And we talked about quality of food and how many calories they contain.

Weight loss won't just happen to you. You must make it happen. You are the orchestra here. You pull the strings.

I don't mean to be sound harsh, but you really can't expect it to budge, if you're not consistently, day in, day out, day after day, after day, week after week, month after month staying on plan, staying within an allotted calorie budget. You can't have it both ways. You can't eat off plan and have the weight loss. It just can't be.

You want that scale to move - than you've got to put forth the continuous effort. You've got to put the work in.

And make no mistake about it - you CAN do this. You CAN make that scale budge and budge a LOT. But you must decide to do so and of course be willing to do what's required and necessary to move it on down.

Take a look at the two quotes I have at the bottom of my signature; I think they may be appropriate here.

[milliondollarbbw]

Thank you, everybody!

Nope, I doubt I am pregnant. I mean, that would be sort of difficult, but, no, unless it is by osmosis or something, I don't think pregnancy is causing my nausea.

[shannonmb]

Okay, girlie, I think I'm going to do some tough love here, too. If you can look in your heart and honestly say that you are ready to continue with this challenge of losing weight, then you have to get rid of every single excuse and just start doing it. I'm not necessarily saying this based on this post, but I also remember some of your previous posts and I know that you have a lot of stress, feel undervalued at work, were having some man trouble (which I hope you are done with that guy, btw), weird appetite changes, and some other stuff that you felt were hindering your progress.

1) Have you seen a doctor about your nausea? It is going to be imperative that you eat on a regular basis, and if you can't eat, you need to go to the doctor to find out why.

2) There is always going to be some stress or outside influences that make focusing on yourself and your health a challenge. So whatever they are currently, you have to figure out how to work around those.

3) Whatever your plan is, and I hope you have a safe, effective one that provides your body proper nutrition and fuel, you have to make it happen. It is going to take some work at the beginning to get yourself on a schedule and learn about portions, replacement behaviors for when you are wanting to eat out of stress, boredom, etc, and how to get everything ready for yourself. But after awhile, it starts to become almost automatic and the work starts to pay off. IMHO, weight loss is next to impossible unless you are willing to make active steps to make it happen.

4) I would personally advise you to stop focusing so much on the scale itself, and start to spend a lot more time focusing on the behaviors in #3. Until you get that straight, you are just probably making yourself crazy thinking about those 3-4 pounds in the last few months. The scale is going to go nowhere but up until you really start taking care of yourself, so why bother worrying about the numbers unless you are making active steps to change?

I really hope you take this as it is intended -- with kindness and respect. I just hear your struggle in every post you make, and it makes me sad. Keep fighting the good fight, keep posting, keep thinking about your plan and tweaking to make it something you can live with, and don't forget to love yourself, too!

[Lori Bell]

What kind of food do you eat? Food intolerances can cause nausea...and when a person has a food allergy/intolerance they will often crave the very food they can not tolerate.

Gluten (wheat containing products) and casein (dairy products) are often the biggest culprits.

My advice is to go to the DOctor. According to several of your posts in the 300+ club this nausea went on for weeks, subsided, and was followed by a total sugar/carb fest . I don't understand I guess...is the nausea back or are you still binging on bagels and stuff like you said in a previous post?

[milliondollarbbw]

So, I am recommitting myself to losing weight. I have gained like 10lbs in a month. Yikes!

I do realize that while my portion size has drastically gone down (on some days, I would bring only a scone and an energy bar to cover both my breakfast and lunch, and I wouldn't be hungry---which is unusual for me), the amount of carbs and sugar has greatly increased. So, I am most likely swapping the lower portions with the higher intake of sugar via well, sugar, and carbs. I know a lot of it was stress as I just didn't want to get on the scale AT. ALL.

So, I need to get back on track. I am not going to buy the carb heavy foods, cut back on any sugary drinks, and make sure that each meal I have has a good amount of protein. There were some days when the only protein I had was maybe in the milk in my coffee! Not good!

My nausea has gone down a lot, though, I can't get too crazy with eating the amounts I used to eat. When I see my doctor, I will try and talk to her about it. It is difficult as so many doctors see the weight, and well, they just get this preformed image in their minds and I feel like they become a lot less helpful.

I need to get this weight down as my self-esteem is not doing so good. I am worried about being able to pay my bills (money concerns), finding love (not sure that is in the cards right now), being able to progress in life and achieve more in my career (I don't think my bosses really respect me, and the market is so hard right now to find something better), and just actually feeling happy in my life.

I hope that with the change in diet, the increase in exercise, and focusing on keeping in my mind the life I want to lead, that I can be more of the person that does what makes them happy, versus the person I am now----who sits at home looking at how great everyone else seems, and wishing I could live the life that I want to live and be able to be happy, versus being angry at the world.

[SassyPoppet]

Good for you - recommitting to what you believe in can be extremely empowering if you recognize the power it takes to make it so. Please hang in there - take it one day at a time. I can do a day, but thinking of having to do this for months can be overwhelming. Baby steps! Oh, and no matter what, wear lipstick and mascara every day hehe, this always! makes me feel better.

One section of your last post that really resonated with me is the following: "I need to get this weight down as my self-esteem is not doing so good. I am worried about being able to pay my bills (money concerns), finding love (not sure that is in the cards right now), being able to progress in life and achieve more in my career (I don't think my bosses really respect me, and the market is so hard right now to find something better), and just actually feeling happy in my life."

So a tid bit more of the "tough love"... honey pie don't try to take this all on at the same time when you're valiantly trying to take care of yourself. If you're not loving yourself and struggling to regain self-confidence to strengthen your self-esteem - believe me when I say this low energy will overshadow everything else you're trying to do, and may in fact be permeating your relationships. There's really nothing wrong with taking a few months (like 3).. and do the following:

1. If you need to save money, make a budget, and track your money like you do your exercise and food/water. Stay within a range and save everything else.

2. Finding love... everyone in this world deserves to love and be loved by someone, and while you may want to love and be loved at this very moment, you may not be in the right place yourself to be able to do either. Take the time to get yourself on track (it will also allow yourself to save some money).. but take a rest - focus every ounce of energy on you. It's hard to do, believe me, but it's very empowering to know that you don't have to do anything but make yourself strong. Get out and walk, breathe in some fresh air, read a good book, learn some new healthy recipes, do some bicep curls, clean out that closet... take a deep breath and smile at yourself and love who you see.

3. Bosses and respect - being a "boss" myself, one of the biggest things I have learned is that when I am my busiest, I am the shortest and take the least amount of time to assist and make strong my biggest assest - and that's the people I work with. Bosses have a responsibility to take care of those that work for them... but its a hard lesson and one that not everyone takes to heart or continually works on. I guess what I'm trying to say is that your bosses may not even be aware of their behavior (which isn't an excuse) and is not something you can control. What you can control is your own attitude and their lack of consideration or empathy parrellel to your own admitted sensitivity makes for the perfect storm. Control what you can - do the best job that you can, be timely, accurate and full of integrity and you really can't go wrong. If you can honestly say you're doing this, and not being a gossiper, negative nellie, or any of those things - then you must have an open an honest conversation with the powers that be and articulate your concerns (I'd be more than willing help you phrase the conversation if this is the path you go down)...

Happiness - well, happiness is always a work in progress and you're tackling a number of things to get you in the right frame of mind and body to give yourself a solid foundation in which to act. It's not going to be easy, but dammit it's going to be sooooo worth it. Every step you take forward gets you one step closer to goal, and that is something that's very doable - one step at a time. If you take a step backwards - cry, scream, vent, rave, run around the block, up the stairs and down the street - but get it out, deal with it to the point you're able to stand tall and take another step forward.

Remember we are incredibly strong people - not many can do what we're doing and that is taking a good hard look at ourselves and working our bodies and mind to be exactly what we envision. Take that power and run with it babycakes, run!


Sass

[SassyPoppet]

PS - I forgot to mention this too... do you take a daily vitamin in the AM? if so, I've gone through a phase that it makes me very very queasy to the point of wanting to throw up. I find that if I eat and then take it I'm ok, or take it with a little OJ it works better. Just something to consider if you do this...

[rockinrobin]

Originally Posted by milliondollarbbw

So, I am recommitting myself to losing weight. I have gained like 10lbs in a month. Yikes!

I do realize that while my portion size has drastically gone down (on some days, I would bring only a scone and an energy bar to cover both my breakfast and lunch, and I wouldn't be hungry---which is unusual for me), the amount of carbs and sugar has greatly increased. So, I am most likely swapping the lower portions with the higher intake of sugar via well, sugar, and carbs. I know a lot of it was stress as I just didn't want to get on the scale AT. ALL.

So, I need to get back on track. I am not going to buy the carb heavy foods, cut back on any sugary drinks, and make sure that each meal I have has a good amount of protein. There were some days when the only protein I had was maybe in the milk in my coffee! Not good!

My nausea has gone down a lot, though, I can't get too crazy with eating the amounts I used to eat. When I see my doctor, I will try and talk to her about it. It is difficult as so many doctors see the weight, and well, they just get this preformed image in their minds and I feel like they become a lot less helpful.

I need to get this weight down as my self-esteem is not doing so good. I am worried about being able to pay my bills (money concerns), finding love (not sure that is in the cards right now), being able to progress in life and achieve more in my career (I don't think my bosses really respect me, and the market is so hard right now to find something better), and just actually feeling happy in my life.

I hope that with the change in diet, the increase in exercise, and focusing on keeping in my mind the life I want to lead, that I can be more of the person that does what makes them happy, versus the person I am now----who sits at home looking at how great everyone else seems, and wishing I could live the life that I want to live and be able to be happy, versus being angry at the world.

I'm glad to hear that you are ready to re-commit!! That's exciting. I am fairly certain that once you clean up your diet, you will be feeling much better.

You mentioned that you will cut back on the sugar-y drinks? How about eliminating them altogether? I know for me and loads of other successful folks around here - that cold turkey is the way to go with the sugar (and flour). After an initial difficult period (for me it was about two weeks), as you detox from the stuff, it than becomes, dare I say - easy.

You have to remember that it is no hardship to not eat this stuff. It is no deprivation to not eat these foods. The deprivation is actually eating them and remaining fat and underutilized and not living life to it's fullest. No more settling for second best, not when first best is well within your reach.

Will you be counting calories? For me, it's forced portion control and ESSENTIAL. I need something to guide me, since my intuitive eating nozzle is missing. Please set yourself up for success - journal your foods, track your calories, set yourself some boundaries, get rid of the garbage, add in the good stuff, plan ahead, and than plan, plan and plan some more.

You CAN do this. You've got the ability to lose the weight. You don't have to be fat if you don't want to be. Get excited about the changes you are about to make, as there's a whole new wonderful world about to open up to you.

[dragonwoman64]

if you're eating/drinking a lot of carbs and sugars, the spikes and drops of your blood sugar levels might make you feel queasy and affect your appetite. it also can affect your mood and energy levels (and sleep patterns).

the jeans being tight could be water retention from food, salt, TOM; could be the jeans going through the wash.

it's easy to get overwhelmed when you pile a lot of stuff (love, job, weight, money) together. you might want to try focusing for a while on one or two areas: eating healthy, budgeting (just a suggestion, pick what's most important to you, but I definitely would have eating healthy as one item, since I think that may be key to letting you focus on other areas).