EmilyLouise14

I started Medi in April, I lost about 20lbs. Midway through my diet I hit a really rough patch in my personal life and of course I turned to food as my emotional comfort...why?

All that to say, I've been pretty consistent with maintaining my weight but I would like to reach my goal, my pre-baby body, abt 130/140. I'm at 160 right now and I REALLY want to do this! I've been eating pretty much the same food in order to stick to my diet and I'm getting pretty bored...

Almonds, eggs, lunchmeat, jello, boring.

I love food too much!!!! I need some support, I've been trying to get back on the diet wagon, but I'm always so extreme, either binging or starving, never a nice in-between.

Any advice?

Hunny24

Hi there. Congrats on the baby. I was my heaviest when I got pregnant with my daughter, weighing 165 at 5'6. Then of course add 35-40 pounds and you see where I am going. Luckily most of it came off right away and I was working out but I went up to 155 all summer since I took a break from working out and eating healthy.

Fast forward to August, I was tired of the way I felt and swore I would never be one of those mom's who after kids stopped caring about themselves and just gave up. So I started running with my friend 3 days a week. Now two months later, I am 145-ish since the weekend was bad.. and I am running 3-4 days a week now 4-6 miles each time, and trying to be consistant of adding a gym work out or two in to lift and do other things.

The one thing I would suggest to you is first off, change your mind set. Make the real decision to start living your life healthier. No, its not going to be easy and no, eating healthy is not fun all the time. But what would you rather have....coming home from work, sitting on the couch eating chips and ice cream each day, while the weeks go by and you slowly can't fit into your clothes anymore? Or deciding to stay active, eat healthy and realize that as much as sitting on the couch feels great, fitting into clothes and not feeling like you are going to have a heart attack after running for 40 mins feels way better.

I still am on my journey and have about 10-15 pounds to go or so. But for almost 3 months now I have committed to living a better a life for myself and continue to re-commit even when I fail since I know putting all that weight back on is a hell of a lot easier than keeping it off. Nothing in life worth doing is ever easy and before you can take care of anyone else, take care of yourself.

Good luck on your journey and know that there are wonderful people on here that will help you along the way and struggle with the same things you do on a daily basis.

cjohnson728

Hi EmilyLouise,

I had the same thought as Ann. As long as you look at what you are doing as a diet with foods you have to eat and get bored with, you are doomed to repeat it. Make a lifestyle change with respect to food and exercise and I promise you will be more successful. Although the foods you mentioned are good for you, there's no reason to limit yourself to certain things; just make better swaps. By that I mean, choose lean cuts of meat, bake, broil and roast things you might have fried before, choose naturally sweet snacks like fruit instead of chocolate; have a taco salad instead of tacos, use brown rice instead of white, have lowfat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, etc. There are literally hundreds of ways to change what you currently eat to make it better. And portion control is important, too. My belief is that the more you deprive yourself of food you really like the easier it is to go "off the wagon." BUT, you can't eat everything you love every day, either. Use your food log to plan within your calories and your protein-carb-fat range. You want to be developing habits with your eating now that you can stick with forever...so you'll never have to "diet" again.

Also, make sure that you fuel up enough during the day so you don't binge at night. You have to eat enough in order to lose weight, even though common sense says it should be different. I spent countless times trying 1000 calories a day only to stay stuck; once I found a good range for me, I lost my weight steadily. Figure out how many calories you burn in a day and then subtract 500 for a pound a week, 1000 for two pounds a week. Anything more than that is probably too aggressive and you will hit a plateau.

And remember, the more you move, the more you can eat! Are you getting some exercise?

Good luck and welcome to the boards. We are always here, so ask for what you need .

almeeker

You're a mom now, the way you live your life is how your children will learn to live theirs. If you set a good example, your kids will lead healthy & fit lives and you'll be around to meet your grandchildren and maybe even a few great grandchildren.

EmilyLouise14

Thanks for the support it' nice to hear advice from motivated people

I think my biggest problem stems from my all-or-nothing approach. Once I give in to eating something bad, I feel like I've ruined everything and I just keep going..... and so on. and it sucks and I hate it, but maybe it's this twisted self-sabotage thing I have going on. I think I want to feel bad and hate myself because that is my norm. It's totally twisted and I want to break the cycle.

I get into this funk sometimes where I'm just so disgusted with the way I look and the way my clothes fit, I end up tying my hair in a bun, no make-up, yoga pants, sweater, sneakers, and you can bet my ass isn't on the way to the gym!

I know what you're thinking, therapy. Been there, done that, didn't work. I have food issues and I feel like I'm going to for the rest of my life. Food is my best friend and my worst enemy. If I'm doing really "well" and starving I feel like I'm potentially a nano second from disaster if my strong will loses sight of my goal.

EmilyLouise14

Oh, I should have clarified, I have two kids, 5 and 3. So I have no excuse carrying around this baby weight

Hunny24

I know what you mean Emily...I used to eat food when I was bored or mad, upset, etc. Helps you feel better right? At the time maybe but in the long run, do you feel good about the way you look or feel...no. Since I like to eat when I am bored, I try my hardest to always be doing something. If I feel the cravings kick in, I get online, go for a walk, grocery shopping, etc Anything to keep myself from just sitting there and start snacking.

Maybe instead of feeling sorry for yourself and the way you look, turn it around and say I am actually going to do something about it. If you try and have a different mindset and really commit yourself to getting healthy, that's the first and most important step in the right direction

TrainersRoom

I think it’s a good idea to have a Medifast diet and I would like to suggest all people to have a medifast diet and loose some weight without having any aggression.