I find that fatigue is a product of: 1) frustration when goals are not being met or not being met within a satisfactory timeframe, despite staying within your disciplined plan; 2) lack of enjoyment in the process; and 3) obstacles preventing you from staying on plan.
With respect to #1, having smaller goals and celebrating them will prevent fatigue. And don’t have all your goals be about weight. I find that if I don’t exercise, losing and/or maintaining will be difficult, despite the fact that diet plays such a larger part. Setting physical or exercise goals is so much more helpful just because achieving those goals are often something we can more readily control.
With respect to #2, you need to change up your diet. You should not be eating anything you don’t enjoy. If you don’t like what you’re eating, you’ll find yourself deviating from your diet. Find activities you enjoy.
With respect to #3, I find that the most tiring aspect of this journey (physically and mentally) is having to deal with something presented to me that I know it will make me slip. The mental and physical preparation that I undergo in advance of a vacation or party or work function or family reunion or wedding can be significant. Planning when and where to exercise, planning what to eat, what to say when someone offers me something to eat/drink or says something rude and what to avoid before these situations occur—it all takes your toll.
So, that is why I attempt to remove all “temptations” from my immediate environment as much as possible. As a single person living on my own, it is probably easier for me than others. That said, one should at least go through the processing of “purging” what is unnecessary.
So, I ask: is there a reason why people are “grazing” stuff? To me, that means that the food was sitting there and you just happen to be eating it. But why was that food just sitting there in the first place? I have very little food in my home. I have to grocery shop all the time. I can’t ever satisfy my cravings unless I want to drive to the grocery store and buy it. Fortunately, I’m too lazy to get out of my condo, go down to the parkade and drive in the middle of the night to do that.
The “out of sight, out of mind” concept works for me. Even when I resisted the urge to eat that bag of chips, just the energy I consumed to overcome that obstacle made me tired and less able to deal with the problem in the future. Eventually, I lost out. Never having that bag chips within my vicinity makes things so much easier.
Last edited by memememe76; 09-21-2012 at 03:11 PM.
This happened to me last year. I got sick of 1200-1300 calories EVERY SINGLE DAY for three years.
I switched to calorie cycling. Which at times is harder, particularly on the lower calorie days and i have stuff on, yet it works better because i feel like i have more flexibility with what i eat.
So it looks like I'm not the only one dealing with this... it's good to see everyone getting some good feedback for themselves here with approaches to it...
So yesterday I just headed out the door on a nice, long run... (well, longish for me these days... about 7 miles) to clear my head...
And I decided that I am going to take a "break"... and do what's worked for me in past... I'm going to train for another marathon... I love them and they're an incredible amount of fun for me... and all the other "stuff" will fall into place... because when I'm training for a marathon I eat better, I get more sleep, I spend more time with my super healthy "running" friends, and I lose weight with not really having to think too much about it...
Actually one of my dreams is to run a marathon on every continent... I have two continents down so far... North America and Europe... so only five more to go.... Antarctica will be the tough one logistically, but there's one there every year, so it is doable...
So I feel better... I've got a short, mid, and long term plan in mind that will ultimately get me to my goal...
It would be nice to have a definitive answer so that, if possible, steps could be taken to avoid a certain situation or trigger. But I don't know if I'll ever be able to figure it out. I suppose if I can't figure out why I eat the way I do, I should just concentrate on making sure I don't succumb to my old bad habits.
Joefla, have you read "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler? He does a great job of explaining the neurochemistry of food addiction, and of helping to map some ways out of it. It's a very helpful book.
Joefla, have you read "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler? He does a great job of explaining the neurochemistry of food addiction, and of helping to map some ways out of it. It's a very helpful book.
No, I have not. Thank you for the tip. I'll look it up.
This thread could not be more timely for me. I've been engaged in my weight loss efforts since January of this year. (I refuse to call this a journey. It's not an blasted journey; it's a blasted major change in my eating habits. It's an effort.) Anyway, while I am very pleased with my success thus far, I am getting a little restless and not as disciplined as I have been. I've fallen off the wagon with a big KA-WUMP a few times in the last few weeks.
I feel like I'm testing my boundaries of how much I can eat without a weight gain. I feel like a rebellious, pouty teenager just pushing the limits. In these 9 months, I haven't had a single gain although I've had quite a few weeks where I've stayed the same.
I dunno. I've also been through some other major changes when I was fired by a company that I despised and then hired very quickly by another company. My new job entails travel and I've found that staying on plan while on business trips is more difficult than I anticipated.
Maybe I do need a break. Maybe I just need to set myself at maintenance for my next business trip and see how I do with that.
Last edited by Garnet2727; 09-22-2012 at 05:52 PM.
I totally get the diet/exercise fatigue thing. Been battling it all summer.
Some days I just want to chuck in the towel. It's a lot of things for a lot of reasons. The DH has health issues, and has to take a lot of meds, and does not feel good a lot of the time, and can't do the things he used to do, hence, he's cranky.
I'm trying to take up the slack the best I can and still stay on track. And on and on, life is what it is.
The other day, I wanted to chuck it all and go have hot wings and fries. This is while I was in the grocery store, and having a pity party. Then, please take no offense, but there was a person in front of me, very obese, and buying junk. So, I take a deep breath and think, is that how I really want to end up? I sucked it up, and did the healthy thing.
I've seen the affects of a lifetime of obesity and bad eating habits on my mother. It's not pretty, so much of it preventable, with a few simple changes. I also work for a veterinarian, and I see the same health issues in pets, also preventable, with a bit of exercise and a nutritionally sound diet, that can include the now and then treat.
So, as much as I have days, when I just want to take the whole healthy thing and punt it, not only in to the end zone, but into the stands, I have to remember, I'm doing this for a reason.
On the 11th of November, I will have maintained my current loss for one year!
It has been a tough row to hoe. I've found losing to be easy, but finding the balance of maintaining is HARD!
I guess, we all have to find our motivation and commitment, in our own way.
Joefla, have you read "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler? He does a great job of explaining the neurochemistry of food addiction, and of helping to map some ways out of it. It's a very helpful book.
So it looks like I'm not the only one dealing with this... it's good to see everyone getting some good feedback for themselves here with approaches to it...
So yesterday I just headed out the door on a nice, long run... (well, longish for me these days... about 7 miles) to clear my head...
And I decided that I am going to take a "break"... and do what's worked for me in past... I'm going to train for another marathon... I love them and they're an incredible amount of fun for me... and all the other "stuff" will fall into place... because when I'm training for a marathon I eat better, I get more sleep, I spend more time with my super healthy "running" friends, and I lose weight with not really having to think too much about it...
Actually one of my dreams is to run a marathon on every continent... I have two continents down so far... North America and Europe... so only five more to go.... Antarctica will be the tough one logistically, but there's one there every year, so it is doable...
So I feel better... I've got a short, mid, and long term plan in mind that will ultimately get me to my goal...
Sounds like a great plan. I too suffered from "diet fatigue" and decided to take a 6 month break where my focus was on maintaining the weight I lost within a +4 range versus losing anymore. While this too proved a little challenging in the beginning, it reinvigorated me and now I'm focused again on losing those last 10-15 pounds.
Never in our history have we found a human who can maintain a lot of excess fat without a corresponding inflow of calories to support said fat. And if we did find such a person, their body would potentially possess the key to solving our world's energy crisis. Essentially their bodies would be able to preserve energy/mass irrespective of the energy coming in the door.
