Hey everyone,
Since the day after Christmas, I've been a fierce dieter, lol. And by that I mean, really watching what I eat, exercising a lot, etc. I've been in the gym about 2 hours a day, knowing full well that I can't keep up 2 hours a day but I wanted to take advantage of my winter break and get a big jump start before a stressful semester starts.

Yesterday I had a somewhat bad day. I took a day off from exercising because my right calf felt strained. I was really tired and after I took a nap, I woke up starving. I ate dinner and also ate a rather large slice of cake that really has no business in our house anyway lol. It wasn't a binge or anything, I was within maintenance calories but I still felt bad. Then later at night, I was soooo hungry that I couldn't even fall asleep so I ate some dry cheerios. I thought, well, better luck tomorrow.

This morning I was starving AGAIN when I woke up, and had a slice of whole grain bread and kinda munched throughout the morning (about 350 cals total). Then for lunch, I had a pretty normal balanced meal but then ate a brownie (reminents of the holidays).

So. Fortunately there are almost no more sweets left in the house from the holidays. My calf still hurts so I don't know if I'll be doing much working out today, and we just got a ton of snow so it's like a triple whammy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like it's getting easier to say, "Well, alright, I'll go ahead and have this cake/brownie/cookie whatever," and I've made such great progress, I don't want to stop here. Any tips for keeping my motivation up??

Thanks everyone, sorry this was winded.

Greetings!

I'm a meticulous calorie counter, so I know what it can feel like (and look like on a food log), to eat an extra 300 calories here and another 100 calories there. The numbers don't lie, and they add up fast. Believe me, I've rued many a day when I've had just a little bit more than I planned and sometimes a lot more. It can really throw you off and send you into a mindset where you feel like you're really falling off track.

I'm not sure if this is motivational, but perhaps you can look at it this way. I truly believe that, at times, feeling hungry isn't emotional or psychological, but really just...hunger. Period.

It's natural for us to eat and to sometimes want, and need, to eat a little more on certain days. Just because you indulge in an extra bowl of cereal or a piece of cake doesn't mean that you're losing steam. You fulfilled a need...a craving that's perfectly normal to have. Perhaps if you look at it that way, instead of feeling like you "cheated," you'll have the motivation to continue with your plan.

I wouldn't worry so much until a two-day splurge becomes a week-long splurge, and you're definitely not at that point. You recognize that you did something "different." Not wrong, but just different than you normally would, and that in itself means you're mentally still on track.

In my eyes, you haven't lost anything--including steam.

Take care and farewell from Baker Street!

I've totally thought this to be true, as well. When I have a great day of eating well and exercising I find that the next day, I want to do the same thing. If I take a day off, I usually find myself snacking or eating things I don't want to do.

You can do it girl!! Just think about your goal and how good it will feel to get there.

Thanks for the motivation everyone!!! Yeah, I do feel better today in that I'm not a ravenous beast like I was yesterday lol. And I was pretty satisfied just to have a bowl of shredded wheat for supper, so yeah, maybe sometimes your body just gets hungry. I'm proud of myself for not having a blow out yet... I'd still say that my worst day so far (yesterday) is still not as bad as an average day before I started trying to lose weight, as I'd keep eating from 5PM until going to bed. Now, most nights, I can make it until the next morning. I guess I got a little too hard on myself to realize that I'm making progress. =)

And as for taking a few days off running to let my poor, exhausted leg muscles recover (ha!) I'm going to go to the gym to check out some of those machines that just work the arms... Like the "rowboat" machine and the "bicycle with your arms" machine. Real names TBD. Plus, a little weight lifting. Maybe I can't do a full workout like I normally would, but I can still do something. =)))) Thanks again everyone!

I started the complete opposite way. I began going to the gym with my bf once a week and only doing weights. No real change in diet. After several weeks we both WANTED to hit the gym more often so we started going twice a week. I started eating better and now we have decided to do C25K!
I think it is important not to get in over your head or get burned out in the beginning. Do what feels comfortable and after you realize how good it feels to workout you will just want to keep going.
Let your calf heal and do some upper body weights like you are thinking. Even on days where I feel weak, I just do less- but try to never skip. A little bit is better than nothing