irisinnia
Transcendent Member
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Posts: 1,222
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Post by irisinnia on Nov 24, 2019 4:02:40 GMT
Day 24 - Deal With Discouragement
Weight loss can start out easy when motivation is high, but, at some point, it gets harder. Life gets in the way, cravings become more intense, and some dieters start to panic: - It shouldn’t be this hard. - I’ll never be able to keep this up. - I don’t want to do this anymore.
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed or discouraged or doubtful. You can allow this to erode your motivation or respond to these sabotaging thoughts.
Finding Encouragement - Read your Advantages Response Card more often. - Add up the difficult hours - Instead of saying I’ve had such a hard day/week, count up how many minutes/hours you actually struggled. It’s not nearly as much as you think in 24 hours a day/164 hours a week. - Focus on what you can do today. “Thinking too far into the future is incredibly unhelpful.”
How do you stick to your plan when the going gets tough?
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Post by cathygeha on Nov 24, 2019 7:06:50 GMT
I have not been sticking to the program for some time. I have hit or miss days. Right now I am "holding my own" with the idea that I will "get back on track" again soon. That said, my daughter will be here for almost a month and she arrives in two weeks. She loves food. She misses Lebanese food. We will be eating food.
As for what I tell myself when my mind is "in the game"...
* if it is delicious food tempting me I will ask myself if it is something I can get easily in the future - if it is then I will tell myself to plan for it another day. If, on the other hand, it is something I might not see again for 20 years I will probably indulge. * I will ask myself if it is "points/calorie-worthy" * I will ask myself where I want to be a year from now (or even by evening or weighing in tomorrow morning)
Sometimes I move on without indulging Sometimes I succumb to the indulgence
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Post by bbbearsmom on Nov 24, 2019 14:06:25 GMT
My main emotion is frustration. I get frustrated when I gain weight and have to deal with it. I get frustrated when I go back to my old habits and go off program. I deal with it by talking to myself. With the weight gain it is facing the fact of the gain and getting myself to cut back. With the old habits it is getting myself back on track. I also remind myself that I have lost weight, I've kept it off, I have better health, and mobility, so the work is worth it.
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ladymajky
Transcendent Member
220/169/150
Posts: 871
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Post by ladymajky on Nov 24, 2019 19:32:54 GMT
In every other aspect of life, it has been my experience that if I play by the rules, work hard, put in the effort, do the homework, play nice with others, am a friend to all, salute the flag, and say the Girl Scout Oath, I will be rewarded. In weight loss, not so much. Incredibly frustrating. Why bother? When I took freshman psychology in college, we were assigned a lab rat to do various experiments with. In Phase I we had to teach it a behavior, with a reward of a drop of water or bit of kibble. Before long, the rat was performing the behavior like a champ! In Phase II we had to withhold the reward and see how long it took for the rat to quit performing the behavior. When the reward was provided on a random schedule (sometimes granted, sometimes denied), the rat kept on performing. Fast forward to today: I am the rat. The behavior is "follow the plan." The reward is "weight loss." I learned to follow the plan and was rewarded with a steady weight loss for 72 pounds. Now I'm in Phase II: The reward is provided on a random schedule--sometimes granted, sometimes denied. And I am still hanging in there, performing the behavior, even when the reward is denied! I am no better than that rat in my freshman psych rat lab! I don't dare be discouraged because the next instance of behavior performance might be the instance that gets rewarded. I didn't lose weight last week or the week before, but I might lose weight this week! You never know! One other example comes to mind. When they started the weekly lottery drawings in California, they really pushed you to play every single drawing. There was a commercial to get you to go pick your numbers and buy your ticket, "What if your numbers won without you? " - Add up the difficult hours - Instead of saying I’ve had such a hard day/week, count up how many minutes/hours you actually struggled. It’s not nearly as much as you think in 24 hours a day/164 hours a week. This particular piece of advice ^^^^ has been really helpful. By narrowing it down, I have been able to identify my stressful, challenging time periods and be better able to power through. I have been able to line up coping strategies and be prepared.
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Post by surfgirl on Nov 24, 2019 22:36:21 GMT
What the going gets tough or challenging, I come here to vent and ask for advice, support, wisdom from those maintaining successfully. I also tell myself the old chestnut - Does it feel better to wear that mac n cheese on my ass, or does it feel better to be able to fit back into my skinniest pants again? The answer is obvious, the fat ass loses every time!
That's not to say I don't go off plan and indulge. If I'm someplace - say New Orleans - where I know I wont be able to have crawfish etoufee or good gumbo easily, I'll indulge but now I'll try to off set that indulgence by compensating the rest of the day.
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irisinnia
Transcendent Member
233/211/160
Posts: 1,222
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Post by irisinnia on Nov 25, 2019 1:24:38 GMT
How do you stick to your plan when the going gets tough?
The going is tough right now. The thing that helps the most is the "why"/"advantages of losing weight" but I can't use positive language with myself like "fit in a smaller size". I don't care what size I am when it's dessert time. So I need to have stuff that cuts through the BS and the stupid ideas I have in my head. I tell myself things like "Do you want to go out and spend $90 per pair on pants that actually fit you? Or do you want to lose some weight and wear that giant stack of pants you already own? Then step away from the cookie."
It's harsh, but when I'm acting like a spoiled brat about dieting like "Oh no, but I want THREE slices of pizza AND cake" then I gotta put the smack down, and say "Hey, do you want to be thin or not?"
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