Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 10-18-2012, 11:57 AM   #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
findingfawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,700

S/C/G: high285/resrart276/ticker/140

Height: 5'3"

Default Thoughtful Thursday

Sorry Belinda, but I'm stealing this today because it's on my mind

What are some of the things that you find sabotage your journey? Not only food but when you really think about it, what happens? Do you have any plan in place to help keep that from happening in the future?

Some of my past failures have come from seeing the far out goal and not seeing smaller goals as they come along. This time I have made a journal book with a ton of small goals set up in it. I have a page to mark when I hit every 10 pounds, one for every 10%, one for every time I change "fat categories" like morbid obesity, obesity, etc, and one for clothes sizes.
findingfawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 03:58 PM   #2  
Becoming A Better Me
 
dangerouscurvesahead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 806

Default

i have to agree i get discouraged when i think of the big picture n how far away it seems. its so much easier to screw up than it is to do rite or to even fix a screw up n just makes no sense at all!
i keep a diary n in it i start with what my workout for the day was n how it made me feel n any little uplifting event that i noticed or heard or was able to do now because of my new healthier lifestyle. it helps keep me motivated to b able to see my progress in writing when i cant seem to see it in the mirror.

Last edited by dangerouscurvesahead; 10-18-2012 at 04:00 PM.
dangerouscurvesahead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 07:22 PM   #3  
Senior Member
 
linJber's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NW PA
Posts: 1,609

S/C/G: 255/holding at 162/160

Height: 5'-7"

Default

I'm maintaining now and in many ways it's no different than when I was losing, but in other ways, it's worlds different. Now, if I have a couple bad days, I just figure that's life - it happens, we just fix it ASAP. That's what all the thin people I know do. When I was losing, I hated to think about set-backs and did my best to avoid behavior that led to them. Here's what I did. It might not work for others, but I guess it's worth the time to post it.

Losing a large amount of weight, for me, seemed perfectly possible to do - but only if I had a real plan with lots of short term goals. I like numbers. I like to see numbers prove that what I'm doing is working. I started "dieting" in January of '11. I wanted to be at my goal by Christmas of '11. I wasn't sure how that would work out, but I thought 8 - 10 pounds a month was possible. I made a chart on Excel.

I set up a column for the Wednesday as my weigh-in day of each week from mid-Jan to the end of the year. I set up the next column with the "minus number" of pounds I hoped to lose. I hoped to lose 3 pounds a week for the start, so I put that in. After a while I figured it would slow down, so I put in "minus 1%". I put my starting weight of 252 pounds in the next column. After I put in all the formulas. I could scroll down and see my goal for any given point in time. Goals were week to week. My idea was that anyone could stay on a "diet" for one week, so my immediate goal was to lose about 1% of my body weight per week. When I extended everything out, lo and behold, I would be at goal by the end of the year! I posted to the chart every single Wednesday. Sometimes I was ahead of the week's goal, sometimes I was behind, but having such a specific short term goal kept me focused.

I think having a specific one week goal worked really well for me, but I have to add the following:

* I am WAY past menopause, so TOM didn't figure in
* I live alone, so if I didn't want it in the house, it wasn't in the house
* I told EVERYONE who would listen what my goal was - the idea of having to explain it if I dropped back kept me in line
* I am a creature of habit and love salads, so that was my supper many nights - with left over roasted chicken or other meat thrown in for protein, some whole grain home made croutons for carbs
* I love everything, so finding good things to eat was never a problem

I know this approach won't work for everyone, but I really do feel that we sell ourselves short much of the time. We really are capable of doing what we know is best for us most of the time. No one is perfectly on plan every single minute. But we can stay on a healthy plan 90% of the time without too much difficulty. I really believe this to be true. It isn't quite as easy as the Nike slogan - "Just Do It" isn't always possible. BUT - most of the time it works just that easily. We can talk and argue all day long about what method to use - that doesn't matter. What does matter is staying with some plan of healthy eating and exercise for the rest of our lives. It's so easy for me to say some of this because I'm through it - but I NEVER want to be heavy again. I don't want my knees to creek or to wake up stiff because I rolled onto my back and my butt was so big I slept funny. I don't want to be short of breath after following my DD around a mall for the afternoon. And I thought I was in pretty decent shape before (actually, I was) but it's all SO much easier now. I wish there was a way to put that feeling into every person's psyche. It's wonderful.

Oh, yeah - one last bit of advice - get rid of every bit of fat clothes as soon as you are in a smaller size. Seriously. I have a friend who has everything from size 12 to size 24 in tubs in her basement. guess what sizes she is in most of the time? Yep - the 24s. Get rid of them. Immediately. It's better to be in snug pants on the way down than on the way up, don't you think? LOL. Unless you're terribly rich, you will think again about what you're doing if you have to buy bigger clothes. And on that same train of thought - don't rely on sweat suits and yoga pants. They will be your downfall.

Lin

Last edited by linJber; 10-18-2012 at 07:26 PM.
linJber is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 07:45 PM   #4  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
findingfawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,700

S/C/G: high285/resrart276/ticker/140

Height: 5'3"

Default

Awesome post Lin.

I just had to have Office 2010 and I use Excel all the time to make planner pages for my homeschooling needs, but have no clue how to make formulas work in it... sigh. It's a good old fashioned composition book for me, but that is ok. I just read an article on sparkpeople yesterday about a lady who made a beautiful scrapbookish journalish book as she lost weight. I think I am going to start putting some pretty embelishments into it and make it a true keepsake

I do plan on keeping 1 pair of my biggest pants, but I agree, as I go down the clothes have to go!!
findingfawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-18-2012, 07:48 PM   #5  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
findingfawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,700

S/C/G: high285/resrart276/ticker/140

Height: 5'3"

Default

Joy, I don't log my food into the journal book I made, I put all my food and workouts into sparkpeople. It would probably be easier to just glance in a book to see what I ate and why the scale is making me want to smash it..lol but I'm too lazy.
findingfawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2012, 08:47 AM   #6  
Becoming A Better Me
 
dangerouscurvesahead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 806

Default

Another Thursday... this week has actually been odd but in a good way. Hubby n i went out on 4 wheeler for quiet time together past 2 evenings, havent done anything like that in ages! My thoughts today are... sometimes life gets in the way n sometimes we just need some down time. What good is all the lifestyle changes we r working hard for if we dont take the time to just enjoy it?
dangerouscurvesahead is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Related Topics
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Thoughtful Thursday Chat BellaLucia South Beach Diet 27 11-05-2010 12:00 AM
Thoughtful Thursday Cluck-In Ruthxxx South Beach Diet 18 05-14-2009 11:52 PM
Thoughtful Thursday Chick In Schatzi South Beach Diet 29 12-06-2007 07:08 PM
Thoughtful Thursday Chat - June 1 Ruthxxx South Beach Diet 19 06-01-2006 08:39 PM
Thoughtful Thursday WinterGirl WW Clubs and Groups 17 08-14-2003 06:04 PM


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:55 PM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.