Complacency (a ramble)
 

Warning: rambly post. Not sure what the purpose is, maybe I'll figure it out once I finish it.
I did really well to lose 11 lbs earlier this year. It came off steadily and I ate healthy foods with lots of protein, fruits, and vegetables. I exercised fairly regularly.

My scale broke in April and as many times as people say "Forget about the scale!" I NEED it to give me feedback and keep me motivated.

Even though my scale broke, I live overseas and went on numerous trips throughout India and neighboring countries, which to me always means EAT LOTS because food = culture, I still managed to meet my goal of being 123 by the time I went home, in May of this year, 11 lbs lighter than I was in January.

It doesn't sound like much but for a featherweight, especially one who is 5'2, it makes a huge difference.

I think I was sort of flying by the seat of my pants since I returned back to India. I ate worse and slacked off with the exercising.

I finally bought a new scale that arrived yesterday and weighed in: 124.6. Not bad... but I do NOT feel like I did 3 months ago when I was 123, eating well, and exercising. I feel blubbery, I have lost muscle tone, and my stamina when running is down.

1.5 lbs is NOT a lot. I actually thought I had gained more than that based on how I looked/felt. I'm hugely relieved to see I'm still around the same as I was when I was "on track."

But the blubbery feeling is there, and it's apparent visually- my thighs and middle are softer than they were. I don't like it. And I don't like that I'm not strength training right now, which I know is SO important for so many things.

I HAVE GOT to lose 9 more lbs. I want to be 115 and have a 5 lb buffer before my red line number of 120. I KNOW I feel and look best when I'm 120 or less and I need a buffer of a few pounds. I can't get back up to 125 or more. I don't feel good where I am right now.

I HAVE GOT to do this the right way, by eating more protein and not having ice cream for dinner like I did last night (it was supplemented by a few other things, but still. I'm not kidding).

I HAVE GOT to strength train. I have to start lifting again.

I know this is all possible. Others who used to be more than me are now less than me, I KNOW if I had stayed on track I would have been 120 or 119 now, happily moving towards 115. Instead of I've been middling at 123-124 for the past three months.

I have become totally complacent and need a serious motivating kick in the rear, or goal or something. I need a reason to get back into weight-loss and fat-loss mode.

I think I hope by posting this I'll make myself to some degree accountable. Thanks for letting me ramble :)

How do you guys deal with complacency, lack of motivation, when your weight is fine but you know your health and comfort with your body isn't??

I am in very much the same boat. At 115 lbs, no one will probably call me a fatty lol, but I am definitely flabby and need to lose about 10 more pounds to be comfortable with myself (as well as tone up and add some muscle).

My complacency comes from thinking "Well, I look ok." Of course, I want to look BETTER than ok. But at this size and weight, it requires extra diligence that I just haven't been able to motivate myself to do.

I've had a really rough summer emotionally, and I've been engaging in some self-destructive behaviors. As a result, I haven't been caring for myself adequately. And as for IMPROVING myself, well... that just hasn't happened.

I kind of think the best thing to do in a complacency situation is to stick with the Nike motto: Just do it! Sometimes I gotta dig deep to find the motivation. When I need it, I just pull out my (metaphorical) shovel and start digging.

Shaun T. always says: 'you gotta dig deep'! That's what I always say when I want to slack off and become lazy. But I don't want to buy another wardrobe again (DH would kill me, lol) and have a high percentage of body fat. Plus, I just overall feel and look better and I'm in this for keeps. I'm never going back to just coasting along with my fitness ever again. Just find something to grab hold of and never let go of that motivating factor. Hope this helps. :)

I almost could have written your post! We have similar measurements and goals as well. No advice, really, just letting you know I'm right there with you. When I'm on track, I feel so much better too.

One thing I do sometimes is to say to myself, I'm only going to workout for 10 minutes then I can stop. Or one set. But, once I get going, I never stop at the one set. Sometimes I stop at two if I'm feeling wimpy but it's better than nothing.

Right now we're TTC, so I have almost zero motivation to lose weight. But, I need to be healthy. So, my goals are not exactly a certain weight or size, but more like action/fitness based. Instead of losing 5 pounds, my goals are to drink 6 glasses of water, eat 5 c fruit/veggies, and eat enough protein each day and exercise at least 5 days a week. Not that I meet that, but something to strive for.

Thanks for the support- it's helpful to hear others are in the same boat.

Yesterday I lifted for the first time in weeks... nothing serious, but I do feel a bit sore today.

Dinner last night was fine, but nothing more. I had egg curry, okra, one and a half chapatis (Indian whole wheat tortillas) and chocolate chips for dessert. Too many chocolate chips.

This morning I'm up to 126.0. Grumble.

I really need to kick up my protein. Eating without thinking about it (mostly Indian food) yields only around 40 g of protein a day. I really need to be reaching for double that.

Am trying to start logging what I eat on My Fitness Pal again... I have no good reason why I'm not doing this consistently... it's just a matter of actually DOING it.

Good luck to the rest of you :)

I don't know if this will help you or not, (or me, for that matter), but I'm going to try this next week: eating the same foods for breakfast lunch and dinner for 5 days. I came up with the idea after reading about how a lot of people had success using the Oxygen magazine 21 day lose 10 pounds plan where you eat the same thing for breakfasts, lunches and dinners every day for a week, then the next week you get another menu. I don't mean you eat the same thing three times a day, just that every day is the same. I will probably do weekdays the same and change up on weekends b/c of my schedule, but it will make it easy to stay on my plan if I don't have to think about what to eat everyday. I've seen others do the same with weight watchers to avoid keeping track of so many different foods.

Breakfast is already the same 90% of the time: oatmeal w/ eggs and PB. Lunch may be tuna salad in a pita w/ raw veggies and an apple, dinner probably will be grilled chicken w/ Mrs dash seasoning, rice and broccoli and a peach for dessert. Yogurt w/ a few strawberries for a snack.
GL with the logging!

I like this idea, sine having choices inevitably causes me to make a poor choice. I think I might try this....

If you find the answer, let me know! "Life" is "getting in the way" but I have been home for almost a month!

Amy, it's interesting you mention this. When I was living in the US, about a year ago, I got into the habit of eating the exact same thing every night for dinner: a fresh fruit smoothie, 100-calorie popcorn pack, and Diet Coke. I was NOT trying to lose weight, and it was NOT the most nutritionally-dense dinner I could have chosen. But it's all I wanted for dinner for about 3 weeks and I ended up losing about a pound or two because of it.

We are going on a mini vacation this week but I think after that I may try to do something similar to what you suggest and try to have the same lunch every day... smoothie + a protein or something like that. I usually IF so bfast is out.

A good suggestion. I'll let you know how it goes :)

I don't eat the same things for dinner, but breakfast and lunch are nearly always the same each day: a bowl of high fiber cereal and black coffee for breakfast, and a luna bar and some fruit for lunch. I think it helps because it keeps calories in check... I don't know. But it seems to work with keeping me eating properly throughout the day.

Weighed in today at 124.4- good. I was up to 125 for a couple of days. Yesterday was fine, not great. I always tend to eat some sort of calorie-dense dessert at night which adds a good 200 of unnecessary calories to my daily total. (Last night it was Nutella. D'oh.)

I think for me it's the first few days that are the hardest. Once I get into a routine and start to see the effects of eating and exercising on-plan (however small they are- could just be a .4 drop in weight) it becomes easier.

I would LOVE to be 120 by the end of September. I think it's doable. I may check in here for accountability for a bit to try to make that happen.

How's everyone else doing?

Amy: How has eating the same foods every day worked out for you? I am seriously thinking about trying it, even though Hubby will not like it...

It's working out pretty well. I'm not quite eating the same foods as much as portioning out five days of meals at once-I did this on Sunday. I had leftovers (hamburger, steak, pork loin bbq made in crockpot) to use, so this week was:

Monday: oatmeal; hamburger on ww bread; pork bbq/stir fry veggies/ww pita.
Tuesday: oatmeal; steak/sweet potato/broccoli; pork bbq etc.
Wednesday: hard boiled eggs/toast; pork bbq etc; chicken/rice/broccoli (this was what I made for dinner last night)
Today: oatmeal; steak etc; pork etc.

Sunday night I cooked 3 bags of frozen stir fry veggies and 1 of broccoli florets, weighed out 4 oz of bbq and steak. I added 1 t olive oil to the veggies and salt. A 3 cup plastic container holds everything well, then I dump on a plate to heat up. I took over an hour, but it saves so much time during the week.

edit: I also have been having a plain yogurt w/ a few frozen strawberries and an apple most afternoons which gets portioned into a canning jar and fruit after dinner if wanted. Sometimes I have a dove dark square after lunch or dinner.

Just got back from a six day vacation, weighed in this morning at 126. Mehhhhhh.

I thought I ate at maintenance. I did 2 moderate hikes (2-3 hours each) and one strenuous hike (3 hours), plus a decent amount of walking during our trip. I ate very fresh, local foods and I really didn't expect to gain any/much.

*maybe* part of it is salt, I don't know.

Will try VERY hard to just eat veggies and a fruit/protein smoothie for dinner for a while to jump-start my loss again. That's what worked before when I lost on the no-variety diet :)

126.0 this morning, down .4 lbs from yesterday and that was before morning bathroom activities. Good. Heading in the right direction.

I don't think eating the same thing every day for dinner will work for me, but I'm going to try to do the same thing for lunch most days: smoothie with fruit and protein powder.

Hoping lbs 125-124 drop off quickly and aren't true gains... would love to be back at 123 again...