On and off the wagon

[startingyoung 17]

I had my surgery July 2014 and after a lot of hard work was only 20 pounds away from my goal! Well life happened and I've gained a substantial amount of weight back. I'm having the hardest time staying on track and living a "normal" life that doesn't include never touching a sweet or having such an insanely restricted diet. Need some encouragement.

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[thunder32 65]

Remember all the good...remember the feeling good....stop and think...reflect why it was important....then attack it and don't give up....

thunder32

[FrankyG 1,450]

I realized that the only way I'm going to succeed long term is to track my food intake for the rest of my life. It means putting in all the Snacks, looking up foods and drinks, and making the choice to put something back if I'm near my calorie cutoff, because without the daily accountability, I slip into eating too much or bad stuff too often.

I don't consider eating whatever I want whenever I want it a normal thing, and I know if I want to make my goal - and be healthy and feel good - I have to throw out the concept of normal. My "normal" made me fat - I ignored things for years and indulged and self medicated with food and in the process destroyed the concept of normal eating for myself forever.

I will always need to be very aware and monitor my food. I don't consider it restrictive; it's just how I will deal with my food if I want to be happy and healthy for the rest of my life. Taking a little time out of my day to log in what I'm eating is a small price to pay to be a decent weight, able to walk for miles, fit into smaller clothes, avoid serious health issues...

You shouldn't feel like you can never have sweets or "bad" foods again. But if you're not tracking how you eat every day and gaining weight, then the bad foods and/or amounts are becoming too common in your everyday diet, and you've lost your way.

Once you start tracking, you can see where you need to adjust - more Protein, more veggies, less fat, more complex carbs... get your diet figured out so you're eating a good variety of healthy meals, and it won't feel restrictive either.

Along with the tracking, be very aware of portion sizing. Start measuring again if you aren't good at eyeballing amounts, and always check the packaging for serving size along with the nutritional values. Getting the correct amount of calories for your activity level means you can eat things that might be indulgent every once in a while - in small portions, for special occasions, if you've managed your calories well, a small slice of cake or a few pieces of chocolate won't hurt at all.

It is simple, but not easy, because it also requires work and awareness and yes, sometimes saying no to yourself. This is how normal non-obese healthy folks do it.

The thing to ask yourself is - are you and your health and happiness worth the small amount of work needed to do this? I think so, and I would hope you also feel that way too. You can do this, and you just need to find the strength and enthusiasm again to get back on track.

So don't think of it as a negative. You're not denying yourself or punishing yourself - you're refocusing on making your life better and gaining control again. And you totally can do this, and it will work and you'll be so very, very happy once you start losing weight again. And even better, you're relearning how to eat and relate to food in a healthy manner as well.

Edited October 27, 2016 by FrankiesGirl

[startingyoung 17]

FrankiesGirl thank you. you are so right, that is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you too thunder32

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[SuperDave 1,115]

Your profile says you are 21. You need to do this because you do not want to be 40+ years old and 400+ pounds. I lost what should have been the best years of my life to being fat. I would give anything to go back and start over. There is no way in hell I would abuse myself the way that I did for most of my life. I guarantee you that NOTHING I ate when I was 21 years old was worth what I paid for it the next 20+ years. Fix this problem now while it is much easier to do. I promise you will be glad you did.