About a month and a half ago I hit my original "goal" I'd set at the beginning of my fifty-pound weight loss journey (which took nearly a year, I might add, because I struggle with binge-eating REALLY badly). Well, I hit that original goal of 155 and was thrilled. I was feeling great, was super positive, had stopped drinking soda and just overall was confident and happy.
And then what happens? I screw it up.
No, I SELF-SABOTAGE.
I know that's what it is. Having struggled with depression off and on, there's this mean Little-Me that wants to ruin EVERYTHING for myself so that I can feel like a big victim. And I hate that. Incredibly.
So, I haven't weighed myself. The last time I did, I'd gained two pounds. I haven't weighed myself more because I honestly get too obsessed with the number on the scale and I know it's unhealthy. Part of me knows I haven't weighed myself because I'm scared to see that I've gained more.
I'm tall, and part of how I fell into gaining fifty pounds in the first place was that it's REALLY hard to tell when I've gained weight because I'm really well-proportioned and tall. Honestly, when I was thin before (my whole life basically) I would fluctuate a good five to seven pounds very regularly, it's just how my body is.
But this, this is NOT fluctuation. It's me drowning my sorrows in food and binging, which I can't be doing! Not when I had just reached my goal! I was so, so happy to be there, and the thought of gaining more KILLS me.
So with all that said, my dilemma is that I've fallen off of the bandwagon of losing or even maintaining, and I need to get back on. But my motivation is hiding somewhere, and I'm really really struggling getting it back. Can anyone offer ideas of what to do when I'm bored or stressed besides eating? I'm sure there are others who stress-eat the way I do, and I need help!
Also, any other motivating ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I want to get to my goal (now 148) and STAY there....and not lose motivation!
Go broke. It solves all the problems you have being tempted to binge or snack on something when you know that the $50 worth of food you bought has to last yourself and your husband at least a week. If not a teensy bit longer... XD
No, okay, focusing on your problems and less on mine (though it really does work, I don't recommend it. Heh.). You might try blogging? Or drinking water? I don't know if you drink a lot of water already, but I've been trying really, really hard to go for a bottle of water any time I get munchy and then find something to distract myself with. My new blog did a great job of keeping me from going and eating leftover pizza today, though I think 4 posts in one day might have been a little bit over kill...
Honestly, I think that movtivation is overrated. There are a lot of things that I do, even though I'm really not motivated. Cleaning the kitty litter box comes to mind, but that's really on the unpleasant end of the spectrum. How about things like paying bills. Yeah, sometimes it's a pain and I'm not motivated. But I do it because I don't want to suffer the consequences of things like bad credit or losing my home. So I guess this is what you need to decide......are you OK with the consequences of ignoring the scales and staying off plan? If you are, I totally support you in that but I don't think from the tone of your post that you're really OK with that.
I think sometimes we just have to be grownups and do what needs to be done, even if we don't feel motivated. And here is the thing about motivation--at least for me: I don't feel motivated till I start moving. Once I start taking actions and seeing results, THAT is when motivation sets in for me. Because then I'm all "Wooo hooooo, results!" and I feel motivated. Until that point, it's just committment and executing the plan. But honestly, once I get back on track, the results (and thus the motivation) usually start to fall back into place.
I think a lot of what Windchime said makes sense. Sort of...fake it until you make it. I'd go further and just do it one decision at a time. So promise for breakfast tomorrow, you'll pick something healthy, and then something healthy for lunch, and just do it one thing at a time. If snacking is your problem, then just make it your goal 1 hour at a time not to snack on unplanned foods.
For exercise, do the same thing. Promise youll move for 10 minutes, and it will probably start feeling good and you'll do more. They have the 10 minute solutions dvds that I like and they have tons of different work outs.
You want to lose weight, you want to be healthy. Write down those goals and write down WHY you have those goals (fit in pants, feel good etc etc). Any time you're tempted, or several times a day, look at your list to remind yourself why you're doing this. Give yourself props for good decisions. Don't beat yourself up about the bad ones, just move on and try to make better choices
I had the exact same problem, hit goal went lower even and then my binge eating disorder reappeared after 7 months of nothing. I gained 20lbs, 10lbs over original goal and was terrified of regaining.
Honestly, I went back to therapy. My issue was that after months of losing and calorie restricting I snapped. The brain can only handle so much "you can't have that" until it over rides that and makes you eat it. There are some pretty interesting research studies about long term successful dieters who become binge eaters afterwards.
What helped me overcome the binging was not restricting calories anymore, I was sort of trying to get lower and lower even though I was lying to myself that I was happy at 140. I took a number of weeks to actually get happy and accept 140 as being ok, and now I'm beginning to love my body. I have to make sure I eat when I'm hungry and not go too long without food, etc. or it can lead to a binge. If I want a certain food I need to make sure I plan to have it in a reasonable portion, and stuff like that. I constantly remind myself that there will be more food, there is enough and I don't need to eat it all right now.
That worked for me, I think investing the time to figure out the motivation, what you're scared of being thin etc is time well spent. No matter what you do if the binge voice is yelling loud enough, knitting isn't going to help.
That would be my 10 cents or so. Good luck, it's terrible and heart breaking but you CAN do it.
Okay, here's my big dilemma:
