Ok, open question because i'm curious. What are some bad weight loss habits you have? How are you working to correct them? For example, I know that I weight myself too much so putting the scale in the closet to keep it out of my sight for a few days a week.
Yes! I do that, too, so I don't even keep a scale in the house anymore. I will literally weigh myself twice a day.
Another horrible thing I do is overexert myself. Whenever I start a diet, I immerse myself in it to the point that it's all I think about. I take on too much, put too many rules and restrictions on myself, and eventually succumb to the pressure, cave, and order a pizza. This time around I'm working on pacing myself and allowing myself the occasional small treat so my temptations don't get the better of me!
When I'm dieting and finally seeing results I would stop eating and only eat when I absolutely had to like going a week or two with out eating more then about 1000 calories and then I would be so hunger that I would eat almost anything in the fridge I know thats is a horrible thing to do but now I'm doing it right and not by starving myself.
It's not as bad as it used to be, but I am the same way! I have such a constant fear of gaining, even an ounce, that I used to weigh myself at least 10 times a day. It was extremly obsessive, unhealthy, and embarassing. It did alot of messing with my mind, and just became really frustrating I am now down to about 3 times a day, which is still too much, but alot better then it was.
1. All or nothing thinking. If I'm not perfectly on plan, then I'm a failure. (The payoff is that I get to go back to eating like there's no tomorrow.)
2. Too restrictive with food. Plans that have only something like 800 calories a day and consist of fat-free everything with very little protein.
3. Too strenuous an exercise plan. People who go from zero exercise to killing themselves, often without the right guidance or proper shoes, etc. Then they develop foot, ankle, knee, hip, back problems and have to stop.
4. Expecting to lose too quickly, or expecting big drops every week.
5. Failure to plan ahead. Weight loss doesn't usually happen by winging it.
6. Rewarding weight loss with food. This doesn't make sense!
My worst one is keeping me from losing weight actually. I eat very well 5 days a week. No drinking, no sugars, no fatty foods, etc. The weekends are my downfall. I figure I did so good during the week, that I can splurge on the weekend. So Friday night & all day Saturday I binge I usually try to straighten out on Sunday but most of the time I show gains most of that next week, only to get back to where I was at the Friday before my bad weekend.
I am working on correcting this by making sure I get to the gym or at least walk/jog on Friday evening & Saturday morning. I always eat better when I'm working out (m-th) so I'm hoping this will stop the overeating trend. This weekend is a huge test so wish me luck.
Last edited by AbbySinthe; 08-26-2009 at 07:45 AM.
Reason: I can't spell
Ok, open question because i'm curious. What are some bad weight loss habits you have? How are you working to correct them? For example, I know that I weight myself too much so putting the scale in the closet to keep it out of my sight for a few days a week.
Some people's "bad" habits are actually other people's "good" habits, that's just how different we all are.
I eat frequently, some people would thing that's "bad", but for me, it's "good". I don't like/want to ever get hungry, so I eat though not starving. Now some people would think that was "bad", but for me it's "good". I always finish what's plate. I don't wait for hunger signals to tell me when to stop. I believe my hunger signals are all messed up. Regardless, for some this would be considered "bad". But for me, I've pre-portioned my foods, allotted the calories for it, and I think it's "good"
For me, not for everyone I'm aware, but *for me*, weighing frequently works. *I* think it's a health minded/health conscious thing to do. It's a little reality check first thing in the morning. Just one way of monitoring and keeping tabs on my health. After avoiding the scale for close to 15 years, which led to disastrous results (though that certainly wasn't the sole cause) I want to know what's going on with my body.
One persons' bad - another persons' good. It's all about what works for you.
1. Not eating enough or frequently enough. I sort of feel like this sabotages my efforts and last year I did struggle with the food. Like not eating enough during the day and overeating at night. Now I just eat when I'm hungry and 99% of the time I stop when I'm full. So, I basically eat like all day now haha. I feel like a snackster now, but you know that is what I like as I don't like having big meals anymore.
2. The "all or nothing" attitude or being "on plan." For me, this was a negative thing. There is no "plan" for me. It is my life and I felt like I was a dieter last year and I remember saying to my doctor how I needed to start getting into a more positive frame of mind and learn how to shift to this being a lifestyle because dieting = temporary for me and it also = feelings of being deprived. Now I'm making healthy decisions for myself, but I don't feel like I'm being deprived or dieting. In fact now I feel like there is almost too much food for me to enjoy...ack!
3. Putting too much feeling into those scale numbers. Yes, they are frustrating and I do weigh often currently, but I used to freak out if the scale didnt' say what I wanted it to. Okay, so it is up a few pounds, or down, or whatever...no big deal. You can't build Rome in a day!!! I'll get there!
Currently the negative thing I'm doing and working on:
EXERCISE! I am working on this struggle. I'm going about it all wrong I think. While I enjoy exercising, getting myself to do it is rough and doing those things on a routine basis is hard for me. So like my food and "dieting" issues I'm changing the way I think about it and solving it my own way. I'll get there! I think part of my issue is I get bored doing the same thing over and over again so i'm looking for more variety. I'm the same way with food, I need variety.