help please

My problem is that I am really really good about the gym, I run, lift weights, do yoga 5/6 days a week and I know what I should be doing about food to lose 2pds a week (looking to lose about 15 pds total). I know that once I lose the weight I won't have to be as strict and yet I can't do it. I can't seem to win the mental game of dieting. I have been this same 10-15 pounds overweight since I was a kid (im 25 now) I know everything there is to know about fitness and nutrition and yet I can't make this happen even though if I stuck to my plan I would lose it in about 2-3 months. I feel like I am obsessed with it and I just want to stop thinking about it and lose the weight. Does anyone have any personal stories or anecdotes they could share to help me? Thanks so much.

Sun. Mar 18, 10:10pm

I had a lot of success after hitting a plateau by changing my workouts totally. I tried new cardio classes and paid for a package with an innovative personal trainer. After this expenditure of time and money, I felt much more committed to modifying my diet to keep seeing positive results.

Sunday, March 18, 2007, 10:19 PM

You know, sometimes you just need to take a break! i'm not recommending ending your workouts or sensible eating, but maybe make a conscious decision to try to eat "normal" and maintain for now. I find that when I count calories, exercise etc for months at a time, I start to get a little nutty and feel as if i'm depriving myself (even if i'm really not deprived at all) and end up going overboard and sabotaging my progress. Give yourself permission to ease off a bit, and while it may seem counterintuitive-sometimes it's exactly what one needs to get back on track.

You can lose those 10-15 lbs-but maybe you need to focus on something else right now. Good luck!

Sunday, March 18, 2007, 10:44 PM

all I can say is that I feel ya sister

Monday, March 19, 2007, 2:35 AM

I know this doesn't sound like I'm helping you but the first sentence that came to mind when I read your post was, whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. If you think you can't, you won't lose the weight. You never will.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 9:14 AM

Maybe on some level you don't want to lose weight so you sabotage your diet. Maybe if you lose the weight then you won't have anymore excuses to do the things you want to do. Just a thought. My other idea is that if you only have 10 pounds to lose are you sure that this isn't just the weight that your body wants to be at?

Monday, March 19, 2007, 9:22 AM

I might get slammed for saying this. But if you only really want to lose 10-15 lbs, and you are beating yourself up over this, you might want to reexamine the need to lose at all. Do you want to be healthier? Do you have another objective that is health or fitness related rather than number on the scale related? If you change your goal, or abandon the number game altogether (in favor of something else) than perhaps you would have more success.

Also, if you really "knew everything there is to know about fitness and nutrition," I think you would have already come to these conclusions. The number on the scale is just an illusion. There is no spoon. IMO.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 9:30 AM

stop whining about your lack of discipline and do something about it. that's what people who lose weight do. that's why it's so hard. getting started is the hardest part!!

Monday, March 19, 2007, 9:39 AM

1. Try adding things to your diet rather than restricting. Eat more vegetables (like 50 percent of your plate at lunch and dinner). Try new foods.
2. If saying "I will never eat ice cream again!" scares you, don't say that. Treat yourself once in a while.
3. Practice portion control! Measure everything, especially fats like olive oil or peanut butter. You might be using way more than you think.
4. Aim for 2 pounds a month instead of each week. This can easily be accomplished through very, small changes in your diet. Track your eating for a few days to see the calorie count. Then subtract 200 calories from that and make it your goal every day. Wouldn't you still be happy to be at your goal weight in 5 months?
5. Maybe you aren't exercising as hard as you think. Really push yourself. Run faster, lift heavier weights.
6. Maybe you have some other emotional block leftover from being an overweight kid... write out your feelings, figure out why you eat, maybe you are "feeding" some other need.
7. Read some different types of diet books rather than the typical "Follow this eating plan and you'll lose weight" type. A popular one that might give you some different insight is called Intuitive Eating.

PS Once you lose the weight, it's not like some magic where you can stop watching your portions and the quality of food you eat.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 10:22 AM

Try timing yourself when you're eating. If what you normally eat would be, say, a sandwich, an apple, and a cup of soup, try eating half the sandwich, then 30 minutes later, the apple, then 30 minutes later, the cup of soup, and then 30 minutes later, the second half of the sandwich (or really, any order). After the first bit of food, you'll still be hungry. But, after you wait the 30 minutes to digest, you'll be more full. But you have the promise to yourself of more food soon, so you don't need to be completely full after the half sandwich. Do this, and I bet you won't ever actually eat the last bit that you think you need. Maybe not the second-to-last either.

But, do this with a set plan of what you're going to eat. Otherwise, it opens things up for grazing, which won't help.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 12:26 PM

Hi there. Dieting is definitely a mental game! I've spent the last two years losing and regaining the same ten pounds. But now I realize that each time I "failed", I was discovering a challenge I had to overcome. At first they were easy things, like realizing that when I see food sitting out it makes me want to eat it, so I put all food away in the cupboards. But later it was harder things, like identifying negative thought patterns and emotional issues that I needed to deal with. Each time I overcame a challenge, I learned a skill that I need to be successful at weight loss. Each time I overcame a challenge, I got a little stronger. The last hurdle I had to overcome was really believing that I can do it. Now I feel like I have the tools and skills I need to succeed.

So my advice would be that you need to do some thinking about what is holding you back and how to overcome it. It may be things in your environment, your routine, your mind. You may need to work through it one thing of a time (like layers of an onion). But keep struggling and you'll get there.

One resource I'd recommend is Dr. Phil's book Ultimate Weight Loss Solution. It has some useful exercises and information about the mental aspect of losing weight. Also I'd highly recommend that you keep a journal or log on Peertrainer with not only everything that you're eating, but your thoughts and feelings too.

Hope that helps! Good luck on your journey!

Monday, March 19, 2007, 12:40 PM

My guess is that you don't really want it or you perceive that you don't really have to. If you really had to, you would. If you really thought you were comprimising your health, you would lose the weight so quickly your head would spin. Think of it like this: if you need a $100 by the end of the week so that your children have food, you get the $100. You get it done because you have to. It's the same with anything else.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 12:47 PM

OP: You are all right. Im sure I do it to distract myself from other things in my life. I guess if I never lose the weight I never have to deal with other things. Also, I think that I am such a perfectionist and some people may think that if this were really true then I would have the perfect body but I think the problem is that I am so hard on myself when I dont eat 1200 calories a day and excercise for an hour that I blow it and comfort myself with food. I guess this is what i meant by the mental challenges. In addiition, I will admit that part of me is so resentful that I even have to work at it. I exercise so much more than my friends and yet I have always had a few extra pounds on me. Poor me I know....Anyway thanks for all the great suggestions and insights.

Monday, March 19, 2007, 7:26 PM

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