It's been said that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. I know it to be true, but I'm really struggling with that mindset today. I keep asking myself "why am I still not thin?" and thinking "I'm never going to reach my goal weight and should just enjoy a pizza."
It really doesn't help that I keep reading all over Facebook about how diets are bad, diets don't work, just eat real food and your weight will magically normalize. It makes me want to go eat a batch of maple syrup sweetened oatmeal cookies made with butter and say "Hey, it's real food!"
I hear you :/ I frequently find myself asking stupid questions about food because the more I read about what to eat, the more that seems to become "forbidden" and "dangerous".
Thing is, you should be able to enjoy the occasional pizza and cookie. But you should enjoy them in a spirit of happiness, not defeat! Cause then it WILL lead to guilt. I say have that cookie or pizza slice you want, don't over indulge and keep on your plan. You CAN do this, people do it all the time!!! Browse the goals and see just how many people have made it.. And look at the progress you've made thus far. It's all real!
I find you have to constantly adapt, especially at the lower weights.
Weightloss is, or at least easily can be, a mad sprint at higher weights. At 281lbs I was dropping 4lbs a week all the way down to 180. It was awesome. But for the last year or so I have been stuck between 165 and 180.
When you are down low, my advice is to keep playing with exercise and food combinations and quantities. Try eating less. Exercising more. Cut some foods. Add others. And see what works. You might get another 5lbs out of it but then you will have to change again.
And, for what it's worth, pizza won't be making a comeback. OK, once in a while. But not every week like in the old days. That's how I got heavy in the first place.
I understand how you feel bc I've struggled with these thoughts for years. I've even struggled with them this week in particular. Unfortunately, me giving in to them is how I got so big. Every time I think it's impossible I go to the goals photo album. I know it's kinda weird to troll through people's random before and after pictures but I find it helpful to know that REAL people have had the same the same struggle and overcome it.
Hmm. Yes, it is a marathon, in a way. But, on the other hand it is your LIFE!
We get one body! The goal weight, in my experience, is just a number.
What we need to find is a balance! A balance of "good health" loving all of the good things, about your body, embracing those things, quit fretting over things you can't change, and the enjoyment of life.
The number on the scale, is arbitrary. That number does not define us. It defines the relationship of our body, in relation to gravity, and some numbers, math people came up with.
According to traditional, BMI numbers, and what ever choice of who is doing the measuring, I've seen numbers all over the place. My son, 5'11", built like a brick *sh*t* house, a state trooper, and swat sniper that trains all the time, can run 400 meters, in 53 seconds, bench 250, squat 350, never break a sweat, 10 reps in a row for each, weighs 185, health insurance, says he is "FAT!" There is no fat on him anywhere.
Quit fretting about 125. Be healthy and happy and balanced!
Weight management is neither a sprint nor a marathon, because it isn't a race at all. There are no rules, there is no finish line, and you get to choose how fast, how far, and where you want to go. You can change your mind and make different goals and differenr choices any time you want.
I've chosen to focus most on making healthy food and exercise choices. "Not gaining," is a minor goal, and I try to look at losing as a side effect, bonus reward for those choices.
When weight loss isn't the actual goal, not losing isn't failure, so there's no reason to stop exercising or following my food plan.
Ironically, giving up weight loss as "the goal" and thinking of it as a happy accident or reward has allowed me to lose more weight than I ever did when weight loss was not just a goal, but pretty much the only one.
As always, Kaplods is wearing her "big girl panties", and I believe what she says is the truth.
However, I feel your pain. I am a sprinter by nature and it is very hard to overcome that mind-set. I would skip the maple syrup flavored cookies and just put a straw in the jug of real vermont maple syrup! It's organic! It's real! And besides, I am skipping the waffles entirely.
I guess that if you're comparing it to a race, that for many people, weight loss is a marathon. I think it's kind of a stupid analogy, though. Both are races that begin, go-go-go and then end. Weight loss isn't a continually forward-moving thing for me.
If I had to compare it to physical activity, I think I'd pick hiking. You walk, you take breaks, you stumble occasionally and might lose your way, sometimes you sleep, but if you stick with it and don't give up...eventually, you reach the summit (or your destination.)
If you don't like the "marathon mindset" then pick a new one.
As far as wanting to quit, that's a choice you have to make. The thinner you get, the harder it is. It's much, much harder to lose at 170 than it was at 250. I know when I'm at 155, it will be even harder than it is now.
You have to decide whether all the work is worth it or not. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. That's a personal decision.
Really struggling with the marathon mindset
