Help! sick of yo-yoing!
 

Hi eveyone,

I'm looking for some inspiration or tips to help me stay on the straight and narrow.I've put back on the 2 stone (for the third time) that it took me 6 months to lose.I can't seem to get past the 2 stone barrier, I'm all enthusiatic and positive every time I start on a weight loss program and think this time I'm going to do it but I just end up piling it all back on again and feeling totally disgusted with myself. I've got so much weight to lose I just don't know how to keep going..
How do you guys do it?
What made the difference when you finally stuck with it?
I need all the help I can get!!!
Thanks,

For starters, I'm not "dieting". I think a lot of it is in the mindset. I eat chocolate, and flapjacks and lots of lovely stuff like that. But only occasionally! And if I have an off week or month... (like recently) I just get back on the wagon, and start watching what I eat and get back down the gym. It's more of a "lifestyle change" - lots of people say this. It's not just healthy eating or dieting or doing a programme till you loose the weight, it's got to be for life, it's your old habits that got you here, and if you to revert to them after you "diet" then you're going to be back where you started. :dz:

Okay, so that sounds like :drill: PULL IT TOGETHER MAGGOT! :drill: but I didn't mean it to sound quite so harsh! :lol:

What I do at the moment, and I might end up changing it in a few months... Is to watch what I eat during the week, be really healthy and on the straight and narrow and gym and training and weights and all that stuff. Then I allow myself Saturday off to eat whatever I want. I mean ANYTHING! Yesterday I had cereal, fig rolls, lots of bread, mozzarella, bread, bread, turkey chow mein, chocolate cake, pringles, flapjack, chocolate brownie, coke, chocolates and probably anything else I thought I could cram into my mouth! :rofl: But, I paid for it! Massive stomach cramps and feeling yuck and bloated at night! I'm still feeling full from yesterday! But today I am back on the straight and narrow. And what I'm hoping is while I'm going bonkers on Saturdays, the food I eat isn't actually worth feeling sicky and bloated for... It will take my mind a long time to catch up to what my body already knows! :lol:

So far it's not going too bad! But I think if you binge one day and think, "Oh what the heck - I've blown it now..." Just finish with the day and start on with the healthy eating the next day. It'll happen, and hey, we're all human and we're allowed to eat chocolate and drink beer! Just not lots every day!

Hope that helps, sorry it's a bit of a ramble! Feel free to post with us anytime you feel the munchies attacking!

Hello there

I've only been on this diet for 6 weeks, and before that have only dieted twice before. The first was successful and I kept the weight off for years til I had 2 more babies in 2 years. The second diet was a disaster and after a few weeks of being very strict with myself, but still seeing weight go on, I gave up entirely. This time, I'm dieting and exercising and losing only slowly but steadily and enjoying it.

So what's the difference between the diet that works (for me) and the one that didn't? If I'm honest, my failed diet (a low carb one), just wasn't me. I was very good and stuck to it, but when I plateued very early on - then, horror of horrors, put weight on! I gave up within a few weeks and a few weeks later was even heavier than when I started. My first diet (the successful one) is the one I've returned to - a low fat one. Because with that, I can eat foods I like, be flexible, not have to eat loads of stuff I don't really like anyway - and make it work for me.

That's a longwinded way of saying - find a diet you can enjoy. Easier said than done, but worth it.

Same for the exercise, find several things you truly, genuinely can enjoy. Swap them so you don't get bored. Do what you really want to do rather than hold yourself back by thinking negative thoughts... If the gym bores you - do a dance DVD! Don't do what you think you should do - do what you want to do.

My diet has flexibility - I can have a treat every day upto 150 cal - or save a couple of days worth up. I can have 1 - 2 glasses of wine a day. So I do!

Lastly, think positive. I think the biggest diet killer can be being put off too fast when you plateau, or feel a bit down, or have a really stressful time. With low carbing, I'd have felt a failure with just 1lb weight loss in a week. With this diet, I think *Great - I lost a whole pound of fat!*

Turn everything round to your advantage.

I've also found Paul McKenna's book brilliant for this - learning to like what you see when you look in the mirror now, somehow makes it easier to hang in there on bad days. As he says - the chocolate will still be there tomorrow. In fact, it'll always be there! What's the rush? The bottom line is, ask yourself which you'd prefer - to be able to eat whatever you like and not bother exercising - or to be slimmer, and feel great and energised.

He also says willpower is just no good for most of us. Your really do have to change your whole mind-set as even the best of us can't have an iron will every day of our lives. You need to find something more powerful than that, from within yourself, to help yourself do this.

So find a diet you like - not a faddy one that promises fast weight loss in a way you won't be able to sustain. And think of each pound gone as gone forever - if you plateau (and I did for 5 weeks in the middle of my succesful diet), don't give in - just keep your eyes on the prize.

Lots of mini goals are motivating - lose half a stone and treat yourself to something you really want. Put yourself first. And recognise your own achievements. (As you lose each pound, put something weighing that into a bag - then when it gets tough, you can pick it up and see how far you've come).

If you can find a diet you actually can bring yourself to enjoy - ditto exercise - you will stop pressurizing yourself to lose weight fast which I think also kills diets. Because you'll enjoy what you're doing, there's less of a rush to get there. And that's probably what makes weight loss permanent, in the long run - if you change your underlying attitude to food and exercise and eat for health, rather than for quick weight loss.

I think of it like this. It took me the best part of four years to get obese. So if it took the best part of one year to get rid of it - that's still a bargain. And the truth is, if you're enjoying it and sticking to it - it could happen sooner.

Lots of love, PhatPhoenix x

Shush, I thought I'd cracked it last year only to end up on another yo yo. :( So I have no answers for you sorry but I'm going to keep on until I get there finally.

Well, Frus has summed it up perfectly..the only way to win the battle of the bulge is to change our eating habits forever :rolleyes: i've dieted successfully only to put it all on again just like you shush :( and all we need to do is make little changes to make a difference :dunno: fat free milk instead of full fat etc. I don't know why I can't stick to it :shrug: I think its just more convenient to do the other stuff :halfempty I used to bake fries/chips but got sick of waiting 45 mins for them and i'd be frying hubbies anyway so why waste time :lol: stupid things like that ruin everything...so I guess like Frus says us maggots will have to "PULL IT TOGETHER" ;) :joker:

Thanks guys for the advice, needless to say i pretty much know about "lifestyle change" etc and i'm really into it for 4/5 months then something happens i get stressed out :dizzy: (or bored maybe) then all **** let's loose and I'm off on a massive binge which can last 6/8 weeks and all the weight is back on and i'm feeling crap again. I don't consider myself stupid but when it comes to food ..... I just need to find some way to put the brakes on when i fall off the wagon again. :?:
Phatphoenix you gave me some food for thought,many thanks.

You can always tell us :dunno: we like giving a good :rollpin: to "bad girls" :devil: Veggie and I are black and blue :rofl: you never know shush it might help :shrug: the next time you feel yourself slipping just let us know and we'll sort you out :rollpin: ;)

I am doing Weight Watchers and just love it. I do the points system. My 4th week weigh in was at 15.5 lbs lost. It is a great program.

Wow Annie :eek: WELL DONE! :bravo:

You know thinking about it some more, shush, I think you're also talking about that thing that happens to all of us - losing focus. You know what you're doing but that inevitable point comes when it does get boring, and then it's not just one biccy but the whole packet, what the ****.... We've all been there! The key to it might be to catch yourself when it starts, the first day of that 6 - 8 weeks when you backslide.

The more fun you can make the whole thing - diet and exercise as varied as possible - the longer you'll stay in control? I also read something that caught my imagination, I forget where... But someone said that when we fancy a binge we just go to the cupboard and it's straight to the biccies, or the kids' sweets, or cakes - and then that starts the downward spiral of thinking *I've blown it anyway*. She said (I think it was a she!) why not just wait an extra half hour and make that plate of egg and chips - if that's what you really want? Have it, enjoy it - and move on! Work it off tomorrow with a bit of extra exercise. Don't beat yourself up about it. But at least if you're going to binge, go for a full out meal, rather than eating sweet stuff as you'll feel fuller sooner and have down yourself a lot less damage, calorie-wise. Easier to jump right back on that wagon the following day! I thought that was good advice!

But as I said before, sounds like you've picked diets that bore you - maybe time to find something that allows you a bit of leeway.

Cheers, PhatPhoenix x

Hi ladies,

I'm the ex-Derbyshire Yank who keeps crashing your thread...sorry ;)

PhatPhoenix, can you give me more info on this book?

Sounds interesting!

Thanks,
Kate :)

Crash away! Everyone welcome ;) I Can Make You Thin (Book and CD) by
Paul McKenna it's only £4.79 from amazon.co.uk at the moment probably same again with p&p to the USA.

Great idea about going for what you really want,there is loads of times i've done the exact opposite eating what i think i should not what i really really want. By the time i've eaten my way through the fridge,biscuit tin and crisp box i would have been better off just having the pizza that i craved and things might have stopped there.
Next time the munchies hit I'll be ready for them :s:

I'm trying this week not to 'diet' as such, so hopefully I won't binge either. I've yo yo dieted for 15 years and I'm back the same weight. :doh:

How often do you weigh yourself? Are you an everyday,every week or once a month person ? What works best for you? Personally I HATE THEM!!!!! :tantrum: but i find it hard to stay away from them

I weigh everyday if I am 'dieting' unless I'm in a binge mood them I'll ignore them then step on them days/weeks later and scream ;)

Veggie does that help to keep you on track? I don't think I could do it as no change or a gain would do my head in.

I hate them too :rollpin: but can't stay away from them and end up weighing myself several times a day :halfempty I wish I could just put them away and not weigh myself for a month then get a nice surprise when I do :D but i've tried that and I always end up fishing them out of the closet :rofl:

I am going for a "once a month" weigh in! Which pared it down to once a week last month. I just have to resist this Friday... :lol:

I've managed to stay off them for 10 days so far,but i'm sure a hear them whispering to me from the cupboard " :s: go on you know you want to, just a quick look". My period is due next week so the sensible part of me knows it would be crazy to weigh myself now. (even though it's never stopped me before):crazy:

I only weigh-in once every 6 - 8 weeks. It's nice because there has ALWAYS been a loss, and I never get de-motivated by my the numbers on the scale. My personal trainer is very anti-scale -- she's only concerned with inches and clothing sizes. Because I strength-train with her 3 days a week, I'm adding muscle (+ lbs) and losing fat (- lbs) at the same time, so my actual *weight* drops fairly slowly. I like to encourage fewer weigh-ins for everyone...the scale is ALWAYS your *friend* then. :)

Hi Shush
 

Hello Shush,

I can totally understand how you are feeling. Yo yo dieting is such a pain in the butt. I have dieted on and off since I was 18. I started dieting when I was just 12 stone, and after 19 years of yo yo dieting I am not 23 and a half stone :o My problem being that I would diet, then lose weight, then say stuff the diet, gain the weight loss back and gain more weight besides that.

My major weight gain was when I was first married and had a baby. I had the baby weight, and then we found out the baby was deaf, and I did a LOT of comfort eating. My husband started being the creep that I never knew he was, so more comfort eating. Then the divorce, more comfort eating. Then really bad health leading to three major surgeries for me. More comfort eating AND no exercise. I weigh more now than I ever have and it's my body that is making me stick to this latest diet.

I got MRSA after my surgeries, and I have wounds that won't heal any time soon, and although they are nasty, it's my weight that is the most debilitating thing. My ankles and legs hurt, my back gives me a lot of grief, I can't do the simplest of jobs without ending up in pain or out of breath. If I don't diet now I know I am going to end up disabled. A disability through ill health is one thing, but through my gluttony it's another, and it's time I did something about it. So I find myself here.

My tip to you is to perhaps write lists of what you can't do at the weight you are now, and what you will be able to do when that weight comes off. If you have physical pain because of your size, then keep that foremost on your mind. And the one thing I have to learn to do, and you as well if you are a comfort eater, is to learn that it's false comfort. It lasts while you eat, but when the guilt sets in and the scales rise, there is no comfort at all.

Good luck with your weight loss journey, I am sure WE can stop the yo you cycle once and for all.

Hugs,

Ammi

http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...9/168/329/.png

:goodluck: Ammi :D I don't know what MRSA is :dunno: but you sure have been through enough :( I wish you good health and happiness for the future :)

Thanks Kathy for your good wishes, I could certainly do with some good health. MRSA is an antibiotic resistant infection that you pick up in hospitals and some people have died from it. Luckily I didn't, so I am thankful for that.

Hugs,

Ammi

Hi Ammi
Great idea about the lists - I want to lose the weight this time because I was starting to find it easier not to move and that was starting to look like a downhill slope. What kind of plan are you using?
E

Hi E,

Thanks for your reply, yes it does get to be a worry when you feel ok about doing nothing because you can't. I have spent a lot of time in bed since my third surgery in January. I gained a LOT of weight, and I too started to just not do things and thought it was ok because it was down to my surgery. But I was lying to myself. My weight is more debilitating than my wounds, and I know it. I told my kids that we couldn't go to a theme park this year because I am too unwell. But it's because I am too fat, and I won't pay the entrance fees just to stand around and hold bags. I realised that I don't do a lot only because of my weight and it's not fair on my family. So that's on my list of reasons to diet.

I am using the WW points system starting at 36 points. It works for me, but I tend to stick to the same foods and then get bored of them. So I need to learn to vary my diet and stick within my points range.

Good luck to you, and be really honest with those lists.

Hugs,

Ammi

Hi Ammi
Doing much the same - on WW 28 points but seem to be happy enough on around 25 a day. Was getting bored but eating a lot of spicy salads now - finding tabasco to be a lifesaver! Also find that buying clothes that actually fit (size 20) and treating myself like a human being is making a big difference and stopping me blaming myself for my weight. I have stopped buying bread and weigh pasta, rice, etc. This seems to make a big difference as I would have to wait 15 minutes to cook up more if I insisted on eating more.

Anyway - the message would seem to be - treat yourself well and you will lose the weight.

E

Oooh you were lucky Ammi :D hey I found a nifty little pts calculator online this morning..you enter the cals..fat grams and fibre and it tells you how many pts there is in it :) i'm not doing pts at the moment but you never know :dunno: next week could be a whole other ball game :rofl: if you want it let me know..its only a small program and real easy to use :D

Paul McKenna also tells you to chuck the scales! I do Rosemary Conley's diet and in her books, she focuses more on the tape measure than the scales, but recommends if you do weigh, it's once a week, same time of day, wearing same things, etc. I do weigh once a week.

One tool I use online is FitDay.com. Unlike similar sites, it's free - you might take longer with it in the UK as you have to feed stuff that's not already in the database, in manually - but then it calculates your calories for you, also grams fat, carb, etc, so you can take a good hard look at what you eat and adjust it gradually.You can also feed into FitDay your exercise - it figures out how much you burn and I've foudn that to be a great incentive. It also lets you put in your goals/mini goals then tells you what you need to lose each week to get there.

Ah my other tip is - put your chockie/treats in the freezer! By the time it's out and defrosted, you might have distracted yourself - plus it makes it more conscious. Also, if I'm hungry (and my danger time is around 9pm at night), I tend to exercise then - to a DVD (if the kids are in bed) as I go off eating after exercise.

The other big thing I learned from Rosemary C which you could use with any diet, not just her's is... find out your Basal Metabolic Rate. Mine's around 1500 cal a day. The heavier you are, the more cal it will be. Eat that and NO LESS every day, so your body won't go into panic mode and stall. I've seen a lot of people online eating round 1000-1200 cal a day and even if you were 9 stone, that would be too little! You can find free calculators online - just Google. Then stick with that. Your basal rate is what you eat to just stay alive, at the weight you are now. As you lose weight, you can adjust it downwards. But you'd be surprised how many calories you can allow yourself - and if you exercise, maybe even a bit more.

Love this thread, am learning loads from it!

PhatP x

Oh tell me about it :listen: Mars Bars are no good unless they are frozen solid :lol: and nearly break your teeth :lol:

I only thought about that after i'd mentioned it Ammi :shrug: there is a big difference in the W.W. diet over here from over there so I believe. At the moment i'm not following a plan just keeping track of cals and fat grams..trying to be good :angel: but not succeeding very well at the moment :o :devil: :hyper: at least i've started regular exercise again so thats something ;)

I have a Rosemary Conley book that says about the basal metabolic rate and how many cals you should eat if anyone wants to know. ;) Just need your age, sex and weight so nothing personal. :D ;) Well the age thing is really only are you under 30, over 30 or over 60 but why spoil my fun? :devil:

Cathy, one thing I have told myself to remember during this diet, that I must always take babysteps back to being on track if I do fall off the wagon. You are taking those baby steps by exercising even though you may not be eating what you should. You haven't thrown the towel in, so well done you!!!

Veggie - I would love to hear what my BMR is, so I am 37, female, and my weight is 329. Now this figure you will give me, is that what I have to eat to maintain my weight, and therefore do I need to drop it and by how much to actually lose weight. It's all new stuff to me, so I am confused.

Hugs,

Ammi

Oh I found one online that you need height for as well. That says you should have no less than 2,209 cals a day Ammi. If you are taller than 5 ft 4 (I put my height in :lol: ) then you probably need more. You shouldn't need to eat less cals than that to lose weight.

how do i stick with it?

well i aint going to beat around the bush it sure wasnt easy..i mean at first i was YAY i want to lose weight gotta do this..i mean it was like all hype..let me tell you...i went throu a 6 month (yes 6 month) platue...that was the hardest ever..i think i really shocked my body there HOWEVER what kept me going was i decided to measure myself because if i was loosing from somewhere in those 6 months at least it was something...than a few months down the line i was on a 2 month platue..it seemed never ending but now that its a year and 7 months if i hit a platue i will usually get out of it within 2 or 3 weeks...thats how far i have come..
i had a burning desire to change things this is what i REALLY wanted...and i knew it wasnt going to be easy..but the more i lost weight the more i grew confident..and i am getting more looks than ever before from men ..and chatted up..*shhhh* that makes hubby jealous hehe..whenever i say "ohhhh maybe i wont go to the gym today" my mind goes into auto mode and i start seeing men whisling at me and checking me out LOL so it gets my butt out of bed and down the gym..i know its werid but whatever works..

first and far most take things slowly..i did..i decided one da to try wholemeal pasta..i admit at first it tasted a little werid..but i grew to like it and now i dont notice the differenance at all! same with wholemeal bread and rice..

however i am not on any diet...i looked at it as something i can live with for the rest of my life.. :)

and as far as weighing i usually do it once or twice a week..but its also worth buying a body fat monitor because ya weight may not change but your body fat will.. just like mesuring..that way your less likely to throw the towel in

Brown rice
 

I have managed to switch to wholewheat pasta and i'm sure i'll get used to it ,but BROWN RICE :barf: i.ve tried several times and i still haven't found away of making it edible. Any recipes or suggestions on how to cook it properly or is there different types and some are better than others.

Shush.xxx

Can you get the boxes of minute brown rice Shush? I buy those over here in the states, the rice is ready in 10 minutes. I cook mine with fat free chicken stock instead of water (cook all my rice with stock actually), it makes the rice taste much much nicer. For added flavour, try putting dried herbs in it. Dried sage, thyme, cumin, oregano, basil all work really well. I never liked brown rice when I first started eating it, thought it tasted like cardboard :lol: now though I really like it.

If you can't get the quick cook brown rice and absolutely have to use the one in the bag, I usually cook it for 25 minutes, or until it is tender just keep tasting a little bit after 25 minutes is up until it suits your palate. I boil the stock, add the brown rice then cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low and simmer it.

Here's another way to dress up brown rice and this makes a terrific side dish for pork, chicken or fish and it's yummy on it's own:-

1 serving (9 oz) cooked brown rice made with chicken stock instead of water.
5oz mushrooms (any can be used, I like shitake when I can get them cheap!)
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots

Before heating the stock, add 1 teaspoon of your favourite dried herb.
Cook rice as directed on packet or for 25 minutes or until rice is tender.

In a small frying pan heat olive oil over medium heat and add shallots, cook until tender about 3 minutes then add mushrooms and cook until tender, about 3 more minutes.

Add shallotts and mushrooms to rice, combine well and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat.

Makes 2 servings.

LynneA, no minute rice not even boil in the bag brown rice. thanks for the tip about herbs though.

well the one i buy is uncle bens..made in like 10 mins or so..and once and a while i will get his microwaveable ones to and there made in 2 mins..wouldnt suggestion getting the microwave ones all the time but if ya in a hurry its worth it..
what i do is eat it plain lol..but sometimes i put tabsco sauce on it (im a tabsco addict love hot stuff) and its great you could always add some spices or add an egg to it..