I read in a post just now "a commitment without a plan is doomed to fail".

Well, so maybe I've been focusing and letting go my commitment because I don't apparently have a plan ? I don't want to believe that everytime I try to commit, that I will fail, because I'm not doing weightwatchers or atkins or counting calories. In fact, I do not even allow the word FAIL in my vocabulary, . I guess I should just not listen then?

I don't want to spend money on any program, or count calories, because I want to start what I can maintain for life, that doesn't cost money or involve math, and that is essentially a normal relationship with food. I need to learn moderate behavior, so that changes can be for life. I think the term these days is Baby Steps.

Maybe I *do* have a plan, but I just don't know what to call it. THe BABY STEPS plan? What I AM doing that I can allow myself credit for doing On (my) Plan :

--Hiking 30-60 minutes most every morning, sometimes twice, for over a year now.

--Eating whole foods, no packaged food, everything from scratch, not anything really unhealthy, mostly vegetarian, using low salt, olive oils, everything good (except a bit too much butter in my choices still)

--Not getting down , depressed, or otherwise thrown off track when I don't lose, or even when I gain.

--As of yesterday, I have started a food journal , to try to better understand my emotions and patterns with overeating.

HermitGirl - I know that when I say a "plan", I'm referring more to having an idea what the next day is going to look like, along with some general goals.

For example, I get on FitDay in the morning, put in my foods for the day, see where my calories, protein, fats, and levels of key nutrients end up. That way, I know that what I'm eating is meeting my goals. I also pack my gym bag in the morning. For me, it isn't enough to say "I'd like to exercise more" - I have to PLAN to go to the gym by preparing.

The quote you mentioned, to me, means that even if I commit to eating 1400 calories a day and going to the gym 5x a week, without a solid plan to do so (ie, this is what I'm eating today, I will do X amount of time on the elliptical tonight, I will do my set of 10 strength exercises on my lunch break), it is almost impossible to meet all of your goals. It definitely does not require a NAMED plan...just that you have a plan in your head.

You DO have a plan - Exercise 1 or more times per day with hiking, eat whole foods, and actively managing your mood to prevent overeating. That is a SOLID plan, whether or not it has a name.

I honestly think I have that outline. It involves more than just food, but exercize, creative work, chores, naptime, cooking healthful planned out dinners. Being On Plan for me is more than just a diet, it's an all-encompassing lifestyle overhaul.

So, I'm good, and not "doomed to fail" ? (as I keep reading in posts)

I honestly want to believe I'm going at it the right way for me.

Thanks Mandalinn...

I agree with Amanda. You do have a plan. I agree with you 100% about no money or math need be involved - especially math . The free version of Fitday is kind of fun. It helped me especially when I quit loosing and didn't know why - I, ahem, was eating too much. You can also enter your hiking on fitday. You really get a lot of points for cross country hiking, so it is a psychological boost.

I think you do need to lay in your supply of healthy foods and get rid of some of the unhealthy stuff that might be hanging around your pantry.

I read the book, Small changes, Big results, by Ellie Krieger. That is how I got started on my journey. I pretty much feel like "baby steps" describes my progress.

My next babystep will be to incorporate short bicycle rides (to the bottom of our road and back up) in the afternoon a few times a week. Getting back on my bicycles is my Ultimate Goal, but I can't even think about that yet.

How do I get the Fit Day thingie?

Yay, I can do without the math! I don't know how to get the FitDay going....

My GermanShepherd and I do a lot of hiking , up and down the mtns where we live, and get lots of exercize, it's overwhelming at times. I eat way too much, and must have a very high athletic threshold to not be losing fromt the last (almost) 2 years of doing this hiking.

Not sure there is anything 'unhealthy' in any of my cupboards. Not saying there aren't highly caloric healthy things though....

I will look for the book! Thanks Gail

http://www.fitday.com/ It's on google, if this doesn't work.

There are lots and lots of books on the subject in the library. I also like Volumetrics, by Barbara Rolls, and Ann Fletcher's Thin for Life and Eating thin for Life. I may not have the titles exactly, but the authors are correct.

I think once you get started, you will gain momentum and you will want to do more. From what I read, it takes about 80% diet and 20% exercise to shed pounds. You like the exercise part, so now you have to concentrate on the food part!

I have a GSD and a mutt who love hiking/walking, so what's my excuse???

I think I've said this before? But if so, please forgive...

Losing weight does mean restriction of food, in some way, somehow.

A lifestyle change is fine--that just means you need to look at the bigger food picture for how you will eat *after* you have lost the weight.

That being said, if you have no idea how much you are eating now, by some method of measuring or assessing it, then how do you know what to change? Do you know what a serving of pasta is? How many calories or points that serving has? If not, then that's where getting some information can help.

All weight loss programs and plans involve restrictions. That doesn't mean "never" having any of the foods you love, but it does mean knowing what one is doing with food. It doesn't matter if it's whole foods, good foods, vegetarian foods, or junk foods, if a person is eating too much of it they will gain weight.

Also, as I do remember I said before, if you are used to walking every day with your dog, and you are not losing weight, then you must be eating enough that the exercise makes no difference. In other words, you're maintaining.

Good luck with checking things out with FitDay. I use it (the downloaded version) and I've found it a valuable tool!

Jay

I well remember that Jay, and am thinking often about how much I must really eat , in order for all that exercize to not make me lose weight. There's no question my afternoon binging has got to stop. I am not argueing that.

I plan on getting started on it TODAY.
Thank You!

I'd like to put in my 2 cents too. I'm with Jay--to lose weight, even slowly, you have to actively restrict your food intake. Counting calories can be a really good way of facilitating a permanent lifestyle change. Spending a few months or a year or two logging calories will get you a mental database of food values that will continue to be helpful during maintenance and forever after. I know how many calories are in hundreds of foods and can eyeball portion sizes relatively accurately. Even when I'm not actively counting and logging, I keep a mental tally of the number of calories I've consumed so that I know when to stop and when I need to do some extra exercise. Maintenance and long term weight management, to me, mean a lifelong commitment to regulating portion sizes and making sure to keep daily calories within maintenance range (either rigidly, through logging, or casually, through mental tallying). In other words, calorie counting has made maintenance possible for me. Otherwise I'd still be eating giant bowls of pasta or piles of sweet potatoes and congratulating myself for my good work.

Sweet potatoes! Love 'em. Even portion controlled they have lots of calories. I was eating them in half cup servings for a snack, but decided that was too much for a snack.

Oh! That was me who said that!!!

I didn't mean to confuse anyone, but others have interpreted my words correctly. I think sometimes people make what seems like a commitment like "I'm going to lose 40 pounds" but then don't have a way to get to the goal. I'm sure there's a fancy term for it, but I don't know it.

But it sounds like you have a way to start, and that's perfect! That's how I started too. Baby steps! I made a long term commitment to myself (to be fitter when I'm 50 than when I turned 40. I was 39 when I said it), but how???

For me, the how involved baby steps. I started out trying to cut out some of the junk by bringing my own food for lunch and snacks EVERYDAY at work and watching portions otherwise for EVERY meal. That was my "how". My plan. And it gave me a focus and a way to get to my goal of being fitter.

After about a month I started more officially calorie counting with an online calculator... later I started focusing on nutrition.

I also added exercise in gradually.

So, when I said people need a plan, I don't mean you need to follow a set plan, but you have to have a sense of how you're going to get to your goal.

Yes, I think you too have a plan! Nothing beats devising ones own plan and figuring out for oneself just what will work.

As far as that line that Heather mentions, "a commitment without a plan is doomed to failure." I kinda have to agree. Making that commitment is of course first and foremost. But once one makes that commitment, they then need "a course of action." A "plan" so to speak, to see it through. To make it happen. It WON'T happen on it's own.