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Originally Posted by sprklemajik
Maybe for now, you could just work on getting your eating habits under control. Start switching foods for healthier options and get your 3 good days a week to 6 or 7? Exercise is very important, and I enjoy it very much. But even if you can't get it in doesn't mean you can't be living healthfully and loosing.
I am definitely trying for the eating habits first. I have actually just pretty much maintained my weight (not gaining is a sign that I’m doing something right, though I could obviously do better) because I do eat rather healthily on a regular basis. I love fruits and veg so that’s never an issue with me. I don’t normally buy junk so I don’t have the temptations at home. The problem when I am stressed and there is chocolate around (for example, like at work), if I start, I won’t stop. Same with going out for a drink – I don’t have just “one” beer or “one” glass of wine. I’m not saying I go out and get ripped, but with some things, moderation is harder than with othes.
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Originally Posted by rachinma
I'm sorry you're having such a hard time.
Packing food the night before should be totally doable for you. If you're cooking anyway, you can pack your food while you're preparing/cooking (during the "inactive" prep time) or when you pack away leftovers, pack your lunch. The extra sleep time in the morning will do you good and will make your mornings much less hectic. Also, lack of sleep has been shown to affect weight loss in a negative way. We overeat when we're tired...
Can you pack a few days at a time and just pluck one container out of the fridge each morning?
Also, can you change WW groups? It seems like you really need support. Perhaps you can get that in-person support from another group, if one is avail in your area...
Otherwise, we're always here.
Thanks for your support. I can try again to do it in the evenings, but again (here comes the excuse), I find it quite difficult to prepare the night before. I have a tiny kitchen with hardly any space at all. Cooking one meal already takes up the entire space that I have. I could already think about what I want to prepare for the next day while I’m on the train home. (This bugs me a bit, because, I feel like I’m constantly thinking about food; what/when/how I’m going to eat, it’s constant, and annoying.)
And I have heard that about sleep, which is truly why I’m trying to go home on time, eat before 8pm, relax a bit and go to bed on time.
I have changed WW groups several times; the problem with living so far away from work is that by the time I get home, I’m late for the local WW meeting. If I go in Amsterdam (where I work) there are only a couple of meetings that are easy to get to in the evenings. I love the leader, it’s just there are a few people there who seem to think they are in a private conversation with her at times, making it hard for anyone to get anything out of the meeting. I don’t always stay; yesterday I felt I really NEEDED to stay and then it was totally irrelevant. The cultural difference alone (I am American, but live in the Netherlands the last 15 years – while I am acclimated and integrated I still am not Dutch and I do not eat culturally like the Dutch!) makes it challenging.
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Originally Posted by ravenousblue
I feel for your girl and you have my support. Sometimes the good days are overshadowed by the bad. I have learned to let myself have the treats but not let it set off a punishment mode where I go on a sort of binge and have a bunch more bad days and gain five pounds. If your heart and mind is really into the weight loss concept, I have found hypnosis to be a wonderful tool that helps me stay on track. Message me privately if you would like to know more about my Hypno experience. I will say I was 285 and hypno helped me down to 185. I had some bad years in between and got back up to 240 in a little over 5 years. I SHOULD have nipped my relapse in the bud and went back for more therapy but I didn't. I got myself down to 230 and have had more therapy and have weighed in today at 214. It is a daily process and a lot of work but we can root each other on and get where we all want to be. Even small workouts in your week can help. Jillian Michaels has 20 minute workouts. Maybe you can fit 20 minutes in a couple of work days and then do more on your weekends.
I have thought about hypnosis before. And I know myself well enough that I just shouldn’t start on treats because 1) when I feel good I don’t even crave them and 2) if I feel bad I won’t stop. I don’t normally punish myself but I don’t feel great afterwards either. I don’t really have binges. I do want to find time to exercise and you all are helping my thinking process in this, so thank you!
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Originally Posted by fatmad
I am with you for sure. My husband doesn't have to try to be skinny. If eat like him, I would be even fatter.
And I find it hard to stick to plan or even near plan on a regular basis.
I love my job, no other is possible for me, but at times I have long hours too and being tired really makes it hard to stick to plan, especially since eating a high carb with fat meal just before bed helps me sleep better during the day when I need to do that.
And your commute; I can see why you have challenges. I have some major life stressors right now with my father in hospital, almost died last week, and my mother with dementia. With your work schedule, any little thing could easily tip you out of balance.
Feel free to come and vent anytime.
I will hug you or kick your butt anytime you like, if you will do the same for me.
good luck and keep posting.
thanks so much for your response. I’m sorry to hear about the stressors and challenges you have too! I would appreciate the support and gladly give some back.
Well… really much of what I already do is something engrained in me from when I started WW in 1999 and then later became a lifetime member. Much of what I do is second nature. But I know for myself that without exercise, I will not lose weight if I am not strictly on plan. And there’s the catch 22… when to move. I don’t have a huge issue with portion sizes. I also eat often. My day starts at 5am so I normally have an apple by the time I leave (6.30) then my breakfast (a smoothie, or a sandwich), 10am I have a(nother) sandwich if I’m particularly hungry that day, or a latte with skim milk, lunch consists almost always of a salad or veggies with some source or protein, snacks around 2 or 3 of fruit/yoghurt/ cottage cheese, another apple on the way home, or carrots, or cherry tomatoes, and then dinner. So I really do eat throughout the whole day so I don’t get over hungry and then overeat. I would love to have the ability to go to the gym, but I work until 5pm.
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Originally Posted by teawithsunshine
If preparing meals is exhausting... can your husband help out? Or could you consider a delivery-meal system that you see advertised on tv?
Or have your husband help out with food preparation during the weekend for the entire following week.
I'm sorry to sound tough here, but if you really want to lose weight you're going to reevaluate/reschedule how your day goes to get some exercise time in
Is there a gym near your workplace you can go exercise after work? Then all you'd have to do is just go home afterward and crash for the evening
Hang in there!
~ tea
Yes, he can and he is more than happy to. He goes to school though and needs to work every evening on his studies so I don’t want him to have to do it every day. We need to switch off a bit though so that we both are able to do what we need/want to do. We don’t have delivery meals here in the Netherlands – I’m happy that we actually have Weight Watchers here!
I used to go to the gym after work, but I found it quite depressing to be eating my dinner on the train home and not with my husband. I went to a gym in Amsterdam, so then I thought I would go in the town that I lived, but then still wouldn’t get to eat at home. I have an elliptical, I shouldn’t be afraid to use it
No one is being tough – I appreciate the responses!