What Are Your Biggest Weight Loss Obstacles?
 

If you Have obstacles in your way of weight loss what Are they ?


* with a new job, 2nd job actually, my problem has become less of a problem Except :


1. Lack of Energy during the hot seasons.

2. Lack of friends to go workout with or take a walk with.

3. PMS cravings 1 week prior to my menses.


4. New sales job that has weekly fringe benefits of free goodies that are chuck full of calories,
sugar, fats, and very tempting too.

It's hard to say "No" to free chocolate cake w/ oodles of
thick , and decadent chocolate frosting too. Especially when I walk into our employee
lounge and no one else is in the room w/ the free cake except me, myself, and
I...Gulp...(My new "Gulp War Syndrome")---

if i survive my temptations at work i will write
a Psy.D thesis on this newly discovered EAP issue of, "How to land a plane( employee)
being piloted on sugar, fats, and post binge anxiety anxiety."


I feel like the handsome actor on the laundry detergent commercial,
"REALLY? Oh you must be kidding me.....gobble,gobble,gobble.......Willie Bird style fast
binge and bolt on outta the lounge. New, "Type, A" , snacking pattern, while at work....

But so busy have lost 10 lbs
since I was hired just few months ago, yey.

5. No longer eating large meals at mealtime, esp when working several days in a row at my
new sales job. I hate eating food in front of people in crowded room.

i eat lightly, and
then go mall walking w/ extra Nervous post meal Energy/Anxiety???

1. Food makes me feel good. That's really the one and only issue for me.

I have two. One is my thyroid. I have medication but I'm not convinced it really sets everything right. Number two would be how much I enjoy food and eating with people. I am now on vacation and have lots of trips with friends and family planned. Eating together and celebrating that togetherness is just so special. Luckily I am often in control of what food there is which make better choices possible.

Emotional eating is my only obstacle. Whether it be from sadness, anger, stress or even happiness - it all leads me to food. I have to really hold back because it's like an automatic response to nearly every situation. :o

mine are:

1 - my husband and I like our nightly drinks and seem to hang out with peeps that like to hang out in bars. I've been ordering water lately and have decided that I don't drink before 5 pm. Save a few calories.

2 - I like working out but I injure easily (both knees are shot) so I go gang busters and then I have to stop for a while for me knee to heal. Like now - I do low impact aerobics / stretches and twisted wrong the other day. I do what I can in the mean time.

3 - I'm pre-diabetic (I know I shouldn't be drinking at all - I'm working on it)

Mine is sugar. I'm so totally addicted to it. Starting a detox today. I got up and drank a big bottle of water with a scrambled egg breakfast. Trying to stay busy so I don't think about it too much.

1. I tend to be my own worst enemy.

2. My "All or Nothing" attitude.

3. Commitment and dedication when the going gets super tough.

1.)Thyroid condition-I had mine removed 2009, because it was enlarged, now I very low metabolism. Cannot tolerate the meds, so 'winging' it.
2.)Binging when in pain to make me feel better- I'm 65 years young and have issues with joint pain. Food makes me feel better, especially sweets. But it is such a double edge sword. Because the extra lbs and sugar actually, in reality aggravate my arthritis and joint issues!
3.)Sugar cravings!

1. My biggest obstacle now, in dieting, is portion control. I want to eat too much.


2. I also have to incorporate more fruits and vegetable to my eating plan.


I have done several things, the last couple of months, to improve my ability to lose weight. Drinking more water daily, decreasing how much pop I drink, like waaaaaaay down, Improving the situation with my health, cortisone shots in my knees, improving my heart and lung health. My ability to exercise is improving. I hate exercising but I also know, I've got to add this to my weight loss plan.

Weight Loss Challenges
 

1. Too much time in front of TV
2. Great at talking myself out of taking a walk, going to the gym....
3. Love to eat and like others big emotional eater...especially stress eating:nono:

Hi! My biggest issues are also emotional eating and that I seem to feel really "full" to stop eating. That means that I favor fatty food like peanuts or cheese.

Sacrifices will have to be made for a change, you just have to decide for yourself if you want to reap the benefits ? The change should be gradual.

Okay here are my biggest obstacles.

1) Sugar, there are days that I think about sweets all day long. Usually pastries, cake (the kind with buttercream frosting), Mrs. Fields cookies, cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. I'll stop there, I am making myself hungry.

2) Eating when I am stressed, angry, bored, etc.

3) Falling back on old habits..."I'll just have one more bite" turns in to a mouthful or more, not saying no to the office treats.

One day at a time. :)

Mine is time management. I have 2 dogs to walk daily. They take a lot of time as one is an older dog and can take short walks, then the other dog needs a longer walk, so by the time that is done, and I work a job, it seems like there is not much time for my power walks! I'm working on it though and the good news is I am getting my back yard fenced this spring. That will help a lot! In the meantime I walk when I can and I do love my walks!

mine are:

1- I'm an emotional eater, eat when stressed, bored, angry etc - the last few years I've had an enormous amount of stress & got in bad eating habits when stressed or sick.
2- health problems limit how much exercise I can do & I often have periods of being unwell and unable to exercise or move much due to ill health
3- I don't enjoy cooking, its a chore.

Hello. I hope you don't mind if I just introduce myself here and join in. :^: I'm 53 and starting over, having lost 100 lbs here on 3fc many years ago and, sadly, gaining most of it back. I'm sure no one here remembers me.

Obstacles:

1. I REALLY LOVE FOOD. I love cooking and I love eating. Especially baked goods. Boy do I love baked goods. I've always wanted to make croissants...never quite got to that one. But I adore them. Regular ones with savory, or glazed. OMG glazed croissants! You know how they say, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels?" Bull. Glazed croissants taste that good.

2. I am a very sedentary person. Not only is my job exceptionally sedentary - literally if I didn't need coffee or a bathroom, I'd almost never have a reason to leave my chair - but I don't actually enjoy exercise. I admit to liking how I feel AFTER I exercise, but the act itself is generally not enjoyable to me. So I have to force myself to do it.

3. Do I really need a 3rd? The first two are pretty good roadblocks. lol But when I'm stressed, I tend to "shut down" and want to do nothing at all. For the last several years, I've been very stressed. :dizzy:

I cannot shop or cook for myself anymore because I cannot stand on my own for more then a couple minutes so I need to rely on others to do those things for me.

Carbs are too addictive and easy to overeat.

I don't drink enough water

Sorry for your health difficulties Jamie.

What seems to be my stumbling block is when I have a headache. When I do, I don't have the patience to fix food. So, when I am hungry, I just want to grab something quick, which usually is something that is not the best choice.

1. I also have a very sedentary job but been trying to get up every hour

2. I love sweets -- I so miss those candy bars and cakes

3. Bread - that is all I have to say. I love breads especially those delicious rolls from O'Charley's.

1. Don't drink enough water. I actually have never been much of a drinker of anything but coffee, can't remember ever even feeling thirsty.
2. Hate to cook, totally hate to, I do it, but I hate to.
3. The junk food, like chips, crackers and peanut butter, cookies, etc are easy for a cook lazy person to eat. Haven't had any of that stuff in 4 months now so I gues I can continue, but darn I hate to cook.

my daily enemy
 

1.Wine
2. Wine
3. Wine

1. I hate to feel hungry
2. If food tastes really good, I have to have more than one serving.
3. I agree with Beanisdead, Wine.

Biggest obstacles for me are mood swings as I have ptsd and bipolar disorder not to mention good old menopause. I also have some physical limits due to back pain and some nerve damage and I am on a limited income. Soooo, I would say mood, pain and money are my obstacles.

I have three big ones. 1) I stress eat. Bottom line. I get stressed, and I start eating junk during my long commute home. Step: I'm banning eating in my car unless it's a long family trip. 2) My husband is a foodie and he equates cooking comfort food with love. When I am going through stressful times, he cooks the wrong type of food that tempts me too dang much. Step: My daughters and I plan to highjack the meal planning for the week and give him certain days to get creative with. 3) I work really long days and have a lot of work I take home, and that can make it really hard to get exercising in. Step: Going to try REALLY hard to get home earlier, and I plan to work out with my daughter.

can't maintain loss due to too much positive self-talk.

3 obstacles
 

1. Me
2. Me
3. Me
It's all in my head. I know this. I need strategies for:
1. Identifying the emotions that cause me to eat unnecessarily.
2. Finding alternatives to eating when I have identified the emotions.
3. Being a grown-up and not a child when it comes to food decisions.

3 biggest obstacles
 

The three biggest obstacles to me sticking to my goals:

1) Me - it is hard for me to find a vegetable I like.
2) Myself - I am a bit lazy after a day of work and it is much easier to go get take-out than cook.
3) & I - live alone and do not have work-out partners so everything is totally self-motivated.

I need to realize that not all things are pleasurable and maybe I can change my tastebuds. I need to plan better on weekends so making food is not so challenging during the week. I need to find a way to make myself care enough to stick to exercise goals. Easier said than done for me.. Sigh..

Stress eating. When something happens that stresses me out I want to run to food.
Convenience. Easier to make a sandwich than a salad
Bread. Bread wonderful bread
Visual and social eating.

So I have stuck with my goals of only 3 meals a day planned out in advance and no sugar no flour now since July 24.
Have had a major stressful occasion and got through it
Eliminated trigger foods from my house and I telecommute so that helps in that regard.
I was at two events and avoided the foods and, it was hard but I kept telling myself that it was only for 2 hours only for 2 hours and it felt good but draining to walk away.

Eureka! Now I see what's going on with me. Ben & Jerry's = feel good. A carrot stick, a celery stick = stop the craving, but no food rush/sugar high.

-Hormonal cravings and lackadaisical which with one slow metabolism this is horrendous.

-My support system isn't too interested in being supportive

-I'm more interested in reading which tends to undermine my physical pursuits.

-I have an addictionfor comfort eating and mixing it with my family time as we share that tendency.
-Then there's my social anxiety. Worry what others think or if I say wrong things. I'm no good socially. It can lead me to binge too!

There'sthat^ and that damn CORE.

Let's call it a "bad angel" sitting on my left shoulder who whispers in my ear about the foods that are in the pantry, waiting to be consumed. "Eat a fig cookie!" "Eat that ice cream!" "Eat a Hershey Bar!" Mind you, I am NOT hungry. I've just finished a meal. That thing starts whispering about the food and keeps it up all day long. (That's a metaphorical bad angel, and those are THOUGHTS -- I don't really "hear" them.) I'm not schizophrenic. But I do think it's OCD.

I am an emotional eater. I eat when I'm happy, sad, angry, stressed or bored. Food is my happy place, it's the only pleasure I really have, so it's a real struggle for me. My other issue is financial. Money is so tight in my household, plus hubby refuses to eat healthy. I just can't afford much in the way of healthy groceries for myself.

Hi Kandyrews. I think a lot of people have that same relationship with food. It is comforting!! The best thing to do is to find something else to occupy your time when you start to eat emotionally.

My DH doesn't like to eat healthy either, but he does not gain weight from what he eats like I do. Maybe you can start adding some healthier foods into the mix gradually, so he won't really notice it. Don't try to change it all at once. He might be surprised and find some things that he likes.

Good luck to you with your weight loss journey!

Thanks wannabehealthy Yes, I really need to find the right thing to occupy me to keep me from eating. I've been reading more which has helped some but I need something else. I'm so use to always snacking. So far, I've done well the last two or three days, but I'm struggling. As far as hubby, I was thinking that same thing. Things like pasta I could fix his with pasta and mine with zucchini noodles then just save the other half of the box of pasta for another meal the following week... things like that. I'm trying to come up with some healthier options he may eat without saying anything. My list is still short, but I'm working on it.

My biggest obstacle is and will always be my sweet tooth. That and getting older (70) and the joys of a slower metabolism. When I was young I was too thin. 120 pounds at age 20. (No that's not a typo. LOL) I had the metabolism of a teenage boy. Wish I had it now. :D

A close second would be stress. Ive gained some over the years but the majority of this weight attached itself to me because I over medicated myself with sweets and carbs to help me get thru some bad times. I started feeling sorry for myself and I drowned my sorrows in pie. And Ive introverted and isolated myself as Introverts are wont to do.

Slowly it has dawned on me. This just isn't working. The people that are causing me this pain are not going to change. Im an only child and like a lot of us olders my friends have all passed away. So theres no one here but me to say WTF are you doing. My husband. It would take too long to explain.

I miss the old me. Im working on getting her back. And that's why Im here.

I have no support system at all :(

Im sorry to hear that. What kind of support do you feel would be of help to you. There is a lot of on line support in the forums. Some people prefer that because its anonymous.

I don't have a support system either. Im an introvert and an only child so Im a little more comfortable on my own than most. Sometimes now I do feel lonely because everyone I knew family and friends are gone except for my husband. And he is the cause of almost all of my stress.

Hi LadyVatrovia
I think the easiest way to get support on this forum is to go to the "Today's Posts" link and look at active threads -- then just jump in on one or more. On my computer, the "Today's Posts" is under the Quick Links section at the top.

I can agree with 1 & 2. no more PMS for me. That was horrid on me from 12-44 years.
Menopause might be worse thoug, in terms of a weak attitude to food. Bad thing is it's all month every month. before it was 2 weeks of my month mostly. But PCOS and endometriosis gives a bad knack for salt, sweet and fatty junk food seeking.

my #3 I had my hysterectomy and my energy levels bottomed out. I added weight too.
#4 it is far cheaper to eat unhealthy so having a fullproof plan is a struggle.
#5 my family likes to eat poorly and it takes much more discipline when I have goals.
Did it once before but that was previous to surgery and almost a decade ago.
#6 bad body parts. I work around them and try to ad lib which movements my limbs
allow.
#7 relates to 4. Inflammation. my body holds weight even when I behave and
get routine fitness. composition might slightly be changing.

if this time is anything like my past efforts, it is strong positive thinking that will get the goals met though. I know we all can do it. Mind over matter and all. :)