Seeing the struggles makes me wonder what methods people use to hold themselves accountable. I've never been in the position where I've needed to lose weight before, so this is new territory for me. For those of you who have been successful at losing weight and keeping it off, what worked for you? For those of you who are struggling with keeping commitments to yourself, what are you planning to do differently?
Hmm, I feel slightly silly responding because you're quoting me about my struggles, but maybe acknowledging struggles is part of the process. Despite the fact that I'm not happy with my weight, I probably qualify as a success story. I've lost over 50 lbs and kept it off for over 5 years. This is round 2 I guess. Assuming it takes.
The statistics on weight loss are sobering. I'm too lazy to look them up now, but basically the number of people who can lose a substantial amount of weight and maintain that loss is statistically insignificant. I've heard (though not from a source I'd trust, although I believe the assertion) that the statistics on overcoming heroin addiction are much better than those for weight loss. Ultimately, it's exactly like money. It's about budgeting in vs out, and it's fraught with emotion and individual preference.
I'm an emotional eater, a boredom eater, a control eater, and a sugar addict. I've struggled with my weight nearly my entire life. I was sent to an endocrinologist and a nutritionist due to rapid weight gain when I was in first grade. By the time I graduated college I was nearly morbidly obese. Now I'm hovering just within sight of that 25 BMI (come on 160!)
It's really about lifestyle change. Sadly, you can never just diet and then go back to the way you were eating before. It's about finding diet and exercise changes you can committ to keeping long term. I'll never forget how excited my doctor was about my weightloss and then watching her face fall when I said I spent 18 months being hungry in response to her question about how I did it. At some point though, those changes do become habit to an extent.
What works for me on a long term scale is weighing myself regularly and tracking weight and calories (I've been using my fitness pal). Whenever my weight starts creeping up I know it's time to reign things back in.
In the short term it's 1200 calories a day, self control, and putting out fires. Trying to keep myself busy and distracted. Trying to stick to nutritionally valuable foods. Cutting myself some slack in other areas so I have the mental energy to not eat crap. Planning out my whole days calories in the morning instead of trying to figure it out as I go. Weighing myself daily. Not hanging out in the kitchen. Lots of vegetables. Brushing my teeth to help curb the desire to snack. Stress, overtime, and lack of sleep just drain my self control and make it nearly impossible for me. I'm running very low on sleep and me time this week, and it's not helping.
