I'm a fraud :(
 

Every day I'm here reading threads and making comments. But every day I start out with good intentions and end up falling into the same old habits by night time. I don't even know what to do anymore :(

You aren't a fraud, you are just struggling to get started as many, many people do. It took me the better part of four years to finally get my rear in gear.

How do you think of weight loss? Do you take a really strict I won't eat any junk at all approach? Or do you try to take it more gradually? Do you consider the changes permanent or temporary? Do they feel more like work and like you are depriving yourself?

If you're having issues at night, you need to change what's going on at night so you can get out of that pattern.

* Eat a healthy dinner then declare the kitchen closed
* Brush, floss, rinse (food always tastes weird with a minty mouth and who wants to do all that work over again?)
* DO SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE - get your mind off food. Call your mom, write a letter, read a book, take a bath, organize your winter clothes, whatever, stay busy

Plan your day, don't let your appetite or old habits take over. You know what healthy foods are, so make a menu plan today for three healthy meals and a couple of smaller, healthy snacks. You may have to make a trip to the grocery to get those healthy foods into your house (lots of green veggies, lean meats and fish, etc.) but buy enough for the next week and write down the menus for the next day.

Lay off the white carbs (bread, potatoes, rice) and lay off the sugar - they are both addicting and at night you'll find yourself craving them. After a few days w/o sugar, the cravings go away. I use Stevia/Truvia in coffee, etc. now.

Move more! Doesn't matter whether you do a walking program, exercise at the gym or at home, but you must do cardio and/or exercise at least 30 min a day to see results. 20 min on a treadmill and 10 min situps and light weights every day make a big difference.

Stick to your plan. You'll be amazed how empowering it is to overcome your current inertia. Good luck!

Your not a fraud at all hun, starting is the hardest thing EVER! I to have had many false starts, we all have. What made it stick this time I have no clue, but I think it was the persistance of just keep trying. At least your trying, it will kick in. Take it slow. Baby steps. Some people do best substituting 1 meal at a time. Like for 1 week only change breakfast into something healthy and something you like until you can eat it every day. Then do lunch for another week then dinner then snacks....gradually you'll get there. Hang in there and keep trying, that way no matter what, even if it's 2 steps forward 1 step back your still moving ahead. Quitting isn't an option ;)

they feel like work that won't get me anywhere anyways. Lately I've been trying a gradual approach, cutting out snacks, then healthier meals. I've never been able to lose any weight without some structure before though.

YES! Plan out your entire day before it starts. If you know you're hungrier at night, make sure your night meal is higher than the meals earlier in the day and plan a snack for after that.

For me, I plan ahead with specific amounts of what I will be eating for my six designated eating times (3 meals, 3 snacks) because I like to eat! I just make sure that my meals and snacks add up to an appropriate number of calories.

If you're a fraud then so am I. Yesterday was day one of my diet and by 8 pm I was eating Cadbury mini eggs. It's really hard to get started and get used to cutting out snacks. What normally helps me is to keep cut up veggies and fruits in the fridge all portioned out. That way it's still convenient - just grab and eat! It's still really hard even when you do things like that, I know. You'll find what works for you eventually

I don't think anyone here hasn't been through the sameee thing! Myself, I am a terrible procrastinator. I had to set a date basically because I had been "half A$$" dieting for months and not loosing a thing.

Just to get started or used to the change, start replacing foods with lower calorie, healthier options. Start counting calories, that is the best way to stay accountable by actually SEEING how much you eat.

I got a nice app on my smartphone called CalorieBalancer...and it is free! You input your food, and exercise :)

Getting started is the hardest part (to me.) It's all about changing habits. I've read that a habit takes apprx 21 days (3 weeks!) to change.

Take it one day at a time.
"Today I will not eat ______________."
"Day two: today I will exercise ________ minutes."
etc & so forth.

Baby steps... baby steps!! :hug:

Its taken me about a month and a half to change my habits. Ive had a gazillion false starts too, and I loved snacking at night. Now I can eat my dinner have my desert and Im done eating around 8pm usually asleep by 9 or 10. I am not working atm, so it was easy to stay up all night eating chips and whatever else.

You should start with some sort of goals and maybe work it into a program. Calorie counting or WW or one of the other diets, tons of support threads here people can help you get the basics down. I had been trying to lose weight since before my wedding back in 2008 and didn't really get anywhere with it until last fall. I started small, cutting back junk food and sodas and it just snowballed from there.

I suggest you research some of your options and post some thoughts/feelings/questions about the particular "diet" program you are interested in in the corresponding thread. Get to know some of the other people following that particular plan-build yourself a support group. It really helps a lot.

You're not a fraud, you're human! Everyone messes up sometimes. I think the most important thing is not to let a mistake spiral into days or weeks of eating poorly. Just get right back to it immediately. You can do this!

Self-discipline is a skill that needs to be developed like any other. And just like other skills that you have to develop you start out with the easier things. When babies learn to walk they don't just get up and start running around in circles, they first learn to pull themselves up and stand holding on to something. Then they begin doing the side-step around objects still holding on. Next they might let go and just try to stand. Then, magically, one day they figure it out and are able to take a step or two, etc, etc. The common theme in all these steps is that the baby falls a lot. But they don't stop learning to walk just because they fell, they get back up and try it until they've mastered it.

Self-discipline is the same way. Take baby steps. Once you start it gets easier and easier. You just have to do it.

well yesterday I had a good day. Hopefully I can stretch it out to two

Just another to chime in and say you not a fraud! Personally I had a zillion false starts before actually doing it....it takes a long time to wrap your mind around it. Congrats on yesterday, you can do it today too!!! :)