Falling Off The Diet Waggon
 

Hi all - I'm newish here. I've been using the site for some time but this is my first post. Can anyone tell me how they climb back on the diet waggon after they fall off? I start off full of good intentions on a Monday but by Thursday, I've given up for the week only to start all over again next Monday. How do I motivate myself to keep it up?

Hi Topaz-Welcome to the forum!

We all "fall off the wagon" from time to time. Here's some tips that might help:

- Log everything you eat/drink and visit forum daily if possible.

- Clean out the kitchen of all tempting foods or at least put them in a hard to reach/see place

- Make sure there's plenty of veggies/fruits/proteins in the frig, ready to eat quickly if you're in a rush

- Have a plan for each meal. After a while, it becomes a habit and planning is automatic.

- I like to focus on how the food I eat is helping every cell in my body--kind of gets me out of the deprivation mindset and more into the positive.

- Think of food as fuel for the body instead of feeding emotions.

- Drink lots of water.

- Allow yourself one "free" meal or treat a week to ward off cravings.

- AND forgive yourself if you slip up. It's all about progress and not perfection.

I'm sure other forum members have some great ideas as well. Good luck!

when you slip up- get right back on it with the next meal. you have to remind yourself that it's not "all or nothing". Every calorie counts, and the more extra cals you put into your body, the further you'll be from your goal next week. Someone has a signature on this forum that says "If you drop one egg, you don't say 'oh shoot' and drop the other eleven". It is such a good point and now I try to keep that in mind when I slip up like I did this weekend, but got right back on it Sunday.

Maybe you should stop thinking about "dieting" and start thinking about making lifestyle changes. Eating is an every day thing, not a "work week" thing, making yourself start over every Monday, just might be setting you up to treat your diet like a job, and apparently it's a "take this job and shove it" situation? We all have those days, believe me.

I started by eating whatever I wanted, but logging my foods and analyzing my habits for 3-4 days. According to one of my best friends (who also happens to be a nutritionist) you can't make a lifestyle change until you know the what/why/when/with who, where and how of your eating habits. Then I worked on getting rid of my bad habits one at a time. The first week I started exercising every day, not a lot just 15-20 minutes/day. The second week I gave up eating 3 breakfasts, and focused on finding ideas for eating one satisfying healthy breakfast. Breakfast was my worst habit, which I would never have known without the 3 day exercise. Then I worked on finding healthy snacks, figuring out how many calories was right for me, then finding out which combination of carbs/fats/proteins was best for me. So forth and so on. This week I'm trying to get back in the habit of drinking lots of water because I haven't been really good about that lately.

I also have been doing a wellness program called the 5, 10, 15, 20 Challenge which is a daily thing as well, not a weekly regimen. It's 5 servings of fruits and veggies/daily minimum (I always go over that), 10,000 steps on a pedometer, 15 minutes of strengthening exercise per day (1,500 calories or less if you're overweight) and 20 stands for 2,000 of your 10,000 steps have to be aerobic. That way I have daily goals for health and wellness that have nothing to do with eating rice cakes and lettuce for lunch.

I feel that pain and frustration. I cycled through off and on, off and on for years. It lowered my self esteem & shredded the belief that I could be thin & healthy (very defeated attitude). On the other hand what it showed me (we can learn something from every 'failure' & 'mistake':D) is that HOW I was going about losing weight wasn't working for me & that I had to keep looking for something better that worked for me.

What's made a difference, BIG difference, is that I now have the mindset that Almeeker just wrote about. This is my new lifestyle so I'm learning new habits that are comfortable enough and that work for me (regardless of what any books or other people say) and that I can maintain forever. My goal is to be healthy, strong and in the normal weight range. No race, no blasting through this like in the past. I'm taking my time to learn about how my body reacts to certain foods (like learning that starchy foods & red meat causes me to stall....drat!) and with Fitday learning how to eat all the nutrients & fiber my body needs to stay strong. And I'm finding exercises that I can stick with for the rest of my life as well as learning how to do them without injuring myself.

The other big help for me is to stay focused on #1 what my goal weight brings and #2 the mini-goals that I've achieved along the way. Write down how you'll feel and look and the things you'll be doing differently once you're at your goal weight. Keep track of your progress. Set mini-goals (10 pound loss, new dress size, inches off the waist or hips, etc). This way when you're fixating on a certain food, having a weak moment or just feeling defeated or low, you can ask yourself if you want to ruin that progress (list them all) and remember how hard you worked to get that progress and remind yourself of the good stuff waiting for you at the goal weight. The food loses it's grip and does not seem worth the price when challenged with these facts.

Lastly to stay on track, I don't allow the most tempting foods that I avoid (pizza, pastries, cookies) into the house & keep my allowable treats (but must limit the amounts) out of sight so I don't see them when I go foraging for a snack during times of weakness. I keep my veggies & homemade treats front & center so I see them first thing in the fridge and cabinets. I either come here to Fitday and read, read, read (very motivating stuff!!) or I'll exercise if all else fails.

Hello All,

I'm new here too, i've been reading your posts and trying the tips.
a question, my weight flacuates so much and so often, i was 150.0 lb on Monday, 151 on Tuseday and 152.4 today. i have been trying to stic to my calorie count and actually been taking in less calories than i am allowed and still gain the weight. it's really too hard for me to understand. does anyone have any explanations to help me here? Thank You,
Farah

Instead of lowering your calories (the danger is that your metabolism slows down making weight loss even harder) try going over your Fitday food journal to see what caused the weight gain. For me it's starchy foods, especially grains. I can eat the same amount of calories but if I eat starchy foods I'll stall, if I eat grains I gain weight. Also salt can cause a temporary water weight gain in some people. Oh, also I found that red meat causes me to stall as well. I've heard that dairy can be a culprit for some people. If you have any food allergies or sensitivities it can cause the weight gain usually b/c you're retaining fluids related to inflammation.

A couple more thoughts:

Do not weight every day. You'll become obsessed with minute changes in the numbers. Going by poundage alone can be decieving. I weigh once a week and that's it.

Don't think of it as weekly. It's daily. If you fall off the wagon, start the next day anew.

Thanks for the ideas - I know part of it is an emotional issue because if I feel down I eat! Then I feel down because I overate and its a vicious cycle. Its just finding the mindset to diet - I've done it before but the weight creeps back when you are not looking :eek:

Been there & done that. From personal experience I realize that only we can break our cycle/vortex. In other words, it's not something that takes care of itself (drat!). For many of us with food issues, or food whatever, we have to dig down deep over & over to find what works for us & for the motivation that keeps us out of the vortex. I experienced it as a downward spiral so I called it being trapped in my vortex of energy. It took me many decades of up & down until I found what did & didn't work for me & how to keep finding the inner strength to endure & maintain the momentum to stop falling back into the vortex.

I fall off the wagon all the time. I've just spent a few days out of town and have been eating poorly. I could wait until Monday to start again but I'm making the change today-no more Monday starts for me. You can do it too, there are so many good tips to follow and the support here is great too! I read this thread to get some inspiration after my two and a half day binge and it's working! Thanks everyone!

I look at it a little different. If I over eat one day I just try not to eat as much the next and the two days together even out. I am not dieting. That = depriving myself. I am eating until I am comfortable. Course I only put so much on my plate with my eye on trying to eat what is good for me. The only thing I am totally avoiding is cookies cakes sweets. If I even eat one bite I am sunk and the cravings start in and it only makes it hard for me.

Some one here told me about switching the calories up. More one day less another day and so on. Over all for a week is same amount just I get to splurge one day but not every day. Seems to be working. I am only down 15 pounds in 8 months+ but it is staying off even when we had burgers and fries one day at greasy spoon. Gasp and not one lick of guilt for doing it either. We have to enjoy life too and not just be consumed by a diet.

For me I need to get out and exercise more. Walking more. Now the weather is better and my leg is healed I will be doing more of that.

Maggie

Wow Maggie - you wrote exactly what I've been doing. I just started purposely eating more a couple of days a week and less on other days all averaging my target of 1200 per day per week. It seems to make me loose weight faster. I also treat myself but stay within my weekly calorie limit & HAVE to avoid certain foods or else I gain, stall & crave more (cookies, cake, pastries---drool). I've been ramping up my exercise slow & easy this time to avoid re-injuring the injuries I've gotten from doing high intensity workouts. Like you, I know I need to do more exercise and know that could do more - but am really taking my time about increasing my exercise. Not just being safe about it either - I'm basically a couch tater learning how to be a non-vegetable.

Way to go Desertmountain. Whatever works. I am also trying not to get discouraged when I am not loosing. Take a tape measure out right now and get your measurements. Write it down on fit day under body. Then do it again in a few weeks. I found I lost lots of inches and no weight for quite awhile. Seems the bulk of me switched places. Clothes I could not get into I could wear again even when I had only lost a couple of pounds. I try to stay away from the scale. Hard to do some times. Just put it in a hard place to get to and you might loose your desire to use it. Heheheh

Maggie

Thanks for the reminder to do body measurements, for some reason I'd been putting it off for the past month so when I read your post I did my measurements. Yes! *arm pump The biggest change was losing 4 inches in my hips this month!! I knew I was losing more on the bottom than the top when I went clothes shopping last week, but I had no idea I'd shed that many inches.

That's so funny about putting the scale some place hard to reach to lose the desire to use it. I don't think it'd work for me, after a few days I'd start wondering about the numbers & then start fixating on it. LOL :D I agree with you though. It's hard not to weigh myself every morning & super hard not to get discouraged when it's not moving or moving in the wrong direction. The one good thing about being addicted to the scale and using Fitday (religiously logging every bite) is that I've discovered a lot of foods that consistently cause stalls or weight gain and avoiding them gives me better weight loss. So maybe it's not all that bad to weigh ourselves often. Hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Just so long as I remember, like you pointed out, that our progress isn't just measured with a scale. thanks again for the reminder to measure! What a great surprise :) that was. Have a wonderful weekend MissMaggieElizabeth

OH Desertmountain I am so happy for you!!!! Yoo Hoo Way to go. And the scale thoughts are interesting too. I think I will see if I can pin point foods that do not play nice with my body. Can not hurt. I seem to be in stall mode again. So will see about measuring first and then check the scale.

You have a great weekend too.

Maggie

Hi Topaz,
Fitday has been a godsend because it changed my mindset and allowed me to find support when I need it.

I am not now or will ever again be "on a diet". A diet in my mind consists of salad and cottage cheese. I've found that 4-6 oz bbq steak with a huge pile of veggies fits nicely into my daily calorie allowance (occasionally).

It takes a little time to figure out what works for you, what your calorie range will be, and what works in the way of activity level. I'm still figuring it out.

Above all, my best advice is to BE KIND TO YOURSELF. Most people are kinder and more patient with strangers than they are with themselves.

"The destination will be alot nicer if you enjoy the journey":)

Hi there im having the same problem as you. Im lacking motivation and the pounds are slowly creeping back on. In the meantime im pushing away the person i love the most all because im hating everypart of me. I have no confidence and really want to find thever old me again who my partner fell in love with.
I am determined to start properly as from this morning, not just with the eating but with the personality too.
Good luck with getting back your motivation!!!