Struggling

Is anyone else struggling today? I've had a HORRIBLE eating day. Had to cut my morning workout short. I plan to go for a long walk tonight, but I am still so discouraged. Does this ever get easier? Fighting the temptations and laziness EVERY SINGLE DAY?

Fri. Feb 10, 5:55pm

Maybe go to bed early if you can, take a long hot bath. And just enjoy yourself. You'll feel refreshed tommorrow morning!

Friday, February 10, 2006, 6:00 PM

Definitely get some rest. But you also need to make your exercise just part of your daily routine. Like brushing your teeth. It is just something you have to do to take care of yourself and preserve yourself. Some days are easier than others. You just have to keep plugging away.

Friday, February 10, 2006, 6:20 PM

Yes for me it got easier after about 6 months of fighting it. But you need to focus on things that will occupy you away from food, like maybe a walk or a bath. it is very good to get plenty of rest. Try incorporating a little more raw fresh foods every day, they do give you energy. I know for a fact i eat all raw. Maybe try to reduce temptations by avoiding buying food you love thats bad and find substitutes for them. Temptations will get easier once your body gets used to eating better foods, because your body will prefer them more and more. Your not alone out there maybe you should set up a group based around this thread and you will find a lot of support from people with the same problem

Friday, February 10, 2006, 6:26 PM

What you're doing may not be fun to you, that's why you do not look forward to it. I have a bunch of exercise videos, which I accumulated throughout the last 15 years of yo-yo dieting. I have started to get them out and doing a new one everytime I dread doing my normal routine. If you don't have a variety of videos, try the library, or even swap with neighbors or friends who may be interested in trying something new too. Who knows, you might gain a new exercise partner out of it. Good luck, and keep it fun!

Saturday, February 11, 2006, 11:34 AM

Get on a schedule?

I have gotten into patterns where I'm good and excited for a while and then a trip or a cold or just not wanting to go to the gym gets me out of the habit. However, I just decided to try to do a mini triathlon (swimming 6 laps, biking 12k, and running 5K, so it's not really that much!). The fact that I have a schedule printed out that tells me how many minutes to run, bike, or swim each day has been a HUGE help. I have been sticking to it for 6 weeks so far, and it has me working out 5 or 6 days a week.

I would recommend considering doing a 5K run or something that you need to plan for, so that you find time or make time, understanding that it's just part of your schedule, something you need and want to do, and know that you're working towards a goal.

I will mention that I'm not a competitive person and have never done a race before. I'm doing it just to do it, not to beat any particular time or anything. However, seeing the progress I've made so far is really encouraging and helps keep me motivated.

Some people make a list of reasons or put up a motivating picture. I definitely recommend finding something you really enjoy doing, and perhaps trying to find a buddy to work out with, if that works for you. Have you thought about belly dancing class? Water aerobics? Doing some biking, jump roping, or going to a nearby track to run laps or climb stairs? Cross country skiing? Ordering video tapes? perhaps taking a new class, like boxing, capoeira, or hip hop dance?... There are a million fun things to do out there, so don't limit yourself to something you don't like!

Good luck!
betty

Saturday, February 11, 2006, 10:06 PM

Habits take awhile to catch on

Don't get discourage...even world class athletes have days they don't do too well. With any sort of weight loss I think it is good to give yourself "cheat days". These are not days when you eat EVERYTHING...just let yourself off the hook for the day. Once a week I have been doing that and I am still losing weight because the other 6 days I am able to stay on track. Might give this a try and see how it works for you.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 12:19 AM

yep - harder to MAKE good habits than to BREAK bad ones...

Case in point - I swear to god it was easier to quite smoking that to START flossing!

Easier to frown than smile.

Easier to hate than love.

But you know what? Love is more rewarding than hate, smiling is more rewarding than frowning and eating right and exercising is more rewarding than sitting around eating poorly.

In many ways all of these are habits. It's learned behavior that you practice time and time again. I was an incredibly shy, mopey kid. Never used to smile and then I saw a commercial and the slogan really jumped out at me 'Smile and you'll soon find something to smile about." I started smiling and at first I felt fake and kinda hypocritical, but people responded to it and pretty soon I had reasons to smile all the time. Made a ton of friends too which made it harder to retreat into my shell and mope (there were days I stomped around scowling at the world). Most of the friends I have now would tell you I am just one of those people who is naturally outgoing, cheerful, smilles easily and laughs a lot, but I wasn't born that way - I had to work on it every day just like I have to work on eating well and exercising.

Today's pep talk has been brought to you by my dentist.

Yeah - I'm gonna floss tonight.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 12:39 AM

Thank you

Thanks so much to those who responded. I truly appreciate your words of advice. The last couple of days have been a little better. I am still struggling to fight temptations, (when you have children, it is hard to keep ALL the junk totally out of the house, esp. at holidays like valentine's day), but I have a renewed sense of motivation.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 9:42 AM

Try a goal

Try setting a goal for yourself to do something specific. Maybe you could aim to run a 5k race or walk a charity walk. You could challenge yourself to do a really hard pose in yoga (the crow or forearm stand). You could make it your goal to be able to jump rope for 5 or ten minutes straight. Swim a certain number of laps. See how many push up you could do. I think you get the idea.

Having a goal and trying to challenge yourself may help you to get excited about getting out there and using your body.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 11:40 AM

I'm having an off week, too. Some weeks are better than others, as difficult as it is to accept.
The hard part is not feeling guilty about it. It doesn't help and often puts you in more of a funk.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 11:50 AM

Me too (having an off week). It's nice to know that I'm not the only one and that we're all committed to doing better this week.

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 8:46 PM

question for the mini triathalon person: are we talking 6 laps of a 25m pool? Or what? I'm only curious, because there is no way, I could run 5k in a half hour, or possibly at all, despite 2 months of training, but I can swim a mile (64 laps of a 25m pool) in less than 40min. I'm not saying you cant, I'm just curious, as I'm not seeing the same progress in my running as my swimming, but I've always been a swimmer, but the last time I did ANY running had been uni vball, over 5 years ago. I'm not about to give up the running, but maybe I'm simply not a natural runner, but definitely a natural swimmer...

Sunday, February 12, 2006, 11:11 PM

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