Struggling To Stay Positive
 

I know that this is a pity party but I'm really struggling this past few days to stay positive and need to find a way through it.
On my weigh in on Friday I only lost a half pound which is my lowest loss for a long time and I was gutted. I'm trying SO hard with my eating and exercise plan and have been upping the exercise slowly each week.
This weekend we've been away and I've still been working hard. We went for a long walk on Saturday which ended up with me having a bad fall which has left me with lots of bruises and feeling very stiff.
However I still got up yesterday and went to try my first jog outside which, although hard, I did almost an hour walking and jogging.
Then I got on the scales this morning to find a 2lb gain :?:
I think I'm retaining water because my engagement ring that has been getting looser and easier to get off is hard to remove today, but I'm so frustrated.
I'm nearing the lowest weight I've been for years, more or less since I got married 11 years ago and I'm also getting so close to Onederland. But this past few days it feels like I'm never going to get there, like a carrot is being dangled under my nose then whipped away again, and someone is laughing at me and saying, oh no, you can't have that carrot, you don't deserve it, you're not meant to be slim.
I'm going to try to be extra careful for the next few days and chug lots of water to see if that helps, but I'm feeling really anxious about it all.
It's so hard when you want something so much but it's sort of out of your hands to an extent.

Loving, I have been going through exactly the same thing....trying harder than ever, and then seeing no loss... followed by a nice gain. The result ? I went off plan on Saturday because I was so discouraged. By the end of the day, I knew that this was not a place for me to run to anymore. It seemed foreign somehow... like being on plan was the "New Normal"... Loving, the alternatives are not good...you have to stay the course.

It's really easy to get thrown off by this sort of thing, but you have to stay focused! Especially when you know there's no way you could have gained... It may take a few days, but the number will come down!

I would suspect that the soreness from your fall is causing you to retain water - that is what soreness is, swollen muscle tissue.

I also think that it might be better to weigh before the exercise too, for more accuracy.

Hang in there, you are doing the right things and the scale will catch up with that!

There are several of us who are or have recently been in a similar boat. Many of us seem to get stuck just before that glorious 199. I think we become more impatient as that number starts to become a reality. I plateaued for a month at 203.

You can and will plow through this. Stay strong!

Loving me, I really understand what you are going though. I am in the same boat. My scale showed 201 at the end of last week and today it gave me 204. I know mine is water and yours sounds like it is too. I think that we both just have to take a deep breath and relax. We are on plan and we will get there!

BTW, it has been over 30 years since I was in onederland!

Hang in there.

And remember you are inside a living, organic human body that takes time to react, heal, strengthen, etc. and show the change in response to the nurture and care you give it on a daily basis.

You are not living inside a checkbook register where you make deposits of food calories and withdrawals of exercise calories and expect the balance to show right then and there.

I don't know if you keep plants or garden, but if my tomato needs about 1 gallon of water a day, I have to give it about 1 gallon of water a day.

I cannot give it 30 gallons on the last day of the month and expect it to do anything.

The monthly water use might still be 30 gallons, but daily care for a living thing is a lot different than a monthly deposit to an inert checking account!

You sound like you are doing all the right things to give yourself daily care -- trust that your body will heal and respond in kind.

GL!
A.

Thanks ladies, I really hope you're right and it is just water.
I didn't realise til I went to my step class today just how sore I am, I guess from the fall and exercise over the weekend. I haven't felt this sore for a good while so I'm crossing everything I'm retaining water while my body repairs itself, and the weight will start coming off this next few days.

Loving...I am new hear and have a long way to go and I can only see how far you have come and think WOW - that's AMAZING! I really am amazed by looking at your ticker, it gives me hope.

I know it must get frustrating when you are trying so hard, but just remember how much you have accomplised.

Just keep doing what you are doing, you KNOW it is working :)

Hang in there honey! You'll come through this! The actions you are taking will result in weight loss. Then, you'll be posting about how wonderful you feel. Don't let the Onederland milestone be a psychological barrier. It is a great thing to acheive, but it's just a number like 205. You do deserve it and you can do it! It will happen!

:bravo: on working as hard as you have been! That's a success in itself!!

I think a right of passage for a lot of us getting to onderland is having that weird stall right around 203 lbs. I was stuck around that weight for a few weeks and I know plenty others here have had a similar problem. For me, my mini-plateau was because I started getting regular exercise (water retention) and I also had panicked about onderland so I was unconsciously sabotaging myself (e.g. eating higher sodium or somewhat unhealthier foods). Getting to onderland definitely required me pushing through a big ol' mental block and it was very frustrating and discouraging at the time. Stay strong, stay on plan and you will reach your goal. :hug:

Lovingme...

:hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug::hug:

I have been feeling the exact same way!! I have been 100% on plan, working out harder than ever before... and my weight has been stalled for over a week-- back up half a pound this am. I ve also been sore since Thursday, and I even battled a couple of days of being over the top hungry. Through all that I kept my calories tightly in check, and the result. NADA. And I WISH I were right on the cusp of onderland-- but I'm still 217.

Every day, I remind myself of everything I'm doing, and remind myself that I'm on plan and it HAS to work. I'm sore, and my rings were tight this morning too, so maybe it does have something to do with that.

That discouraged feeling is JUST THE WORST, but know that you are not alone in feeling that way from time to time. We are GOING to make it. :hug::hug::hug:

I've found that one way to stay positive is to be extra nice to yourself. It sounds like you're being really hard on yourself right now, and that can only be bringing you down more.

Treat the voice in the back of your head as if it was someone else telling you that stuff. You would laugh if a stranger came up to you and told you that you don't "deserve" to be thin. You'd know that they were full of it, that they had no place telling you that, and that it was a plain old stupid thing to say. The voice may be coming from inside you, but can and should tell yourself that the message is mean and just plain wrong.

Be nice to yourself. Recognize how far you've come, and how amazing that progress is. Wear something that makes you feel pretty or snazzy or sexy. Experiment with lipstick colors. Read a book or watch a movie that you know will make you laugh. Take a bubble bath. Sing out loud at the top of your lungs.

Be kind to yourself. If necessary, give yourself time to heal from your fall. You deserve to feel good even if you haven't reached onederland. You don't need to get there to celebrate your life and your accomplishments.

You will get there. As long as you keep doing what you've been doing, it's not a question of *if*, just when. Weight loss can be a struggle, but it's also a journey, and you might as well enjoy the trip.

Lisa