Ffs, how do you get back to it?

[cashewmilkshake]

I lost 3 stone in weight 2 years ago. I felt fantastic and maintained my healthy lifestyle well for a year by healthy eating and a few fitness classes a week. I felt like I had curbed my food issues and really sorted myself out.

Then I started running...This should really imply a fantastic healthy lifestyle, but I am afraid not. I ran fast and ran far, and slipped back into old habits. Calorific meal deals at lunch instead of Tupperware boxes of meat and vegetables because hey I'd burned 500 cals that morning. Bags of minstrels on a Friday night because 'I deserve it, I've done so much exercise.' Pints with running club after a 10k invalidating all my work. Exercise made me ravenous but only put on a half stone over the year, so I didn't bother too much worrying about it.

I finished a big race a couple of weeks ago where I faced an injury. I haven't ran for a fortnight, but I'm eating the bloody same. On the tube home tonight I was so uncomfortable, my bra band was starting to rub and my tights were rolling down and I just wanted to sob.

What do I do? I don't want to go back to how I was, but I just can't find the motivation that I once had. I love running but now it's darker and my hours are so long, it's a struggle to get out there. I can't stop making bad food choices either.

[Tigerbear]

Well done on that amazing 3 stone loss!! That's incredible. The thing is, you've obviously had the strength and discipline to do it before, so you CAN do it again, it's just getting motivated.
Go easy on yourself, and treat this as a temporary slip up, but know that the way you feel now won't be forever.

Do you feel ready to exercise again yet, or is the injury holding you back?
Maybe start again but with a personal trainer to help motivate you. I find that if I'm paying someone to get me back on track, the less I want to eat, as I think of the money I'm spending on the training sessions. No point if I'm going to just eat loads afterwards.

Good luck! I've just started my new fitness plan today, so we can support each other if you like?

[Hazza000]

Hey amazing work with 3stone lost and maintaining. Soul-destroying to feel you've lost all that discipline. You haven't. It's in there somewhere. The exercise alone requires huge amounts of self-discipline. I lost three stone 10 years ago and kept it off for nine years. A job change and some other stressors have seen 1.5st creep back on. So I know where you're coming from. A recent snap of me has shocked me enough to try again. I am using my fitness pal app which is amazing. Right now you're recovering from injury so use this time to plan your route back to weight loss and implement it when you can. Good luck you've done it before you can do it again.

[OliviaD68]

@cashewmilkshake

Actually your case is not unusual. Plenty of runners gain weight while even exercising more. It happened to me and at first blush makes no sense right?

Would you be interested in my sharing with you what ultra marathoners and endurance cyclists are now doing to stay lean? And breaking PBS too?

The solution is incredibly simple. And logical.

[OliviaD68]

@cashewmilkshake

You’re lucky you’re a distance runner. Makes it so much simpler to do this. ...