Anyone who has battled weight and health issues for more than a few years knows this cycle I'm about to discuss.
I have started down the healthy eating and exercise road many many times in my adult life. I've lost weight. I've even made it several months doing one OR the other. But these things have to work together.
The last few times I've tried, I've made it anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month fully committed to the changes I want to make. Then I slack a little around two weeks. Then I slack a little more. Then I just give up and the whole cycle begins in a few months.
This week has started my decline. I have worked out once. It was an hour long work out but it was just once on Tuesday. I've gone over my calories 2 out of the last 3 days. And still been "hungry."
Today has been extremely stressful for me. It didn't start out that way. Well it kind of did. Neither child slept well last night--Baby Bug woke up somewhere between 2am and 3am and didn't want to go back to sleep unless I held her or she could kick me and Batman while bedsharing; Monkey woke me up THREE times between 4am and 5:15am. She was overly excited for a sleepover she's having with her BFF tonight. I had to get up early to get dinner in the crockpot and get the house tidied up so the lady I was babysitting for today didn't think I lived in a crackhouse. I started out the day exhausted but it was still okay. A little hectic with 2 extra kiddos here at lunchtime but manageable. Baby Bug went down for her nap relatively easy, Monkey and her BFF entertained themselves and I watched Toy Story with the little I was babysitting.
As soon as he left it went downhill. Baby Bug woke up far too soon, thus not getting a complete nap. Monkey and her BFF were barraging me with a constant stream of requests. And a cranky Baby Bug was screaming and whining at me non-stop until she went to bed about 15 minutes ago. The meal I made wasn't what the girls wanted and since BFF was a guest, I got pizza for them as a treat. Of course, I ate a piece. And then I ate dinner. And I overate because the food I prepared wasn't healthy or low-cal and I didn't snack today trying to save room for it. That backfired. ]
I am finding tons of excuses and I really hate it.
I KNOW better but am having a really hard time not eating my feelings and keep justifying my lack of desire to exercise (I'm tired, I would exercise if I could go to the gym, It's too late, etc)
I really really do not know how to break this cycle and I want to.
For those of you who DID, how did you do it?
I didn't exercise the first 50 pounds or so. I think more, actually. It wasn't until I hit a plateau and HARD that I realized I needed more than the stubborn dieting and portion control. One trick for me was picking popcorn as my go--to snack. If dinner wasn't enough, I could eat a whole bag of popcorn and be stuffed and the calories weren't bad. Then I cut that down and down until the snack was much smaller, too. I find that if I say I'm not allowed something (sweets), then that's all I want, so I try to keep something on hand.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that you're talking about Will-Power. And that's not something anyone can advise you about. YOU have to become a stubborn mule about sticking to things. Only YOU can choose to do that and make yourself stick to it.
But I volunteer to smack ya around a bit if that helps! ;)
I went through the same thing. I tend to try this or that because I am desperate to try that one thing that is going to help me break through the PCOS weight issues. I did REALLY well on low carb this year, then, one night I broke down and had pizza. I haven't been able to get back on track. Shortly after that I tried Medical Weight Loss Clinic and it would have been fine but they had me eating things I should not be eating as someone dealing with PCOS/insulin resistence/ pre diabetic. So, I am trying to get back to low carb because that is how I feel best and do best. It has been hard because all those cravings came back and I am finding it hard to turn off that inner voice.
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing with working out. I do really well for weeks, have one or two days off, then I find it even harder to start back up again.
It sucks!