What buggers up your weight loss plans??

[partyatthepalace]

I REALLY need to loose some weight. What’s happened before is I get going - all good - then I derail myself by making super shit decisions, like eating endless takeaways when I’m doing horrendous hours. This time, I am trying to think of the bumps I will hit in advance so I can plan for them - but I don’t think I’m even aware of the half of it, so I’d love to know what other people think knackers it for them - and maybe we can exchange learning points?!

My problem is that I can stick to healthy eating for a few weeks then I think I deserve a treat so will have an afternoon tea or takeaway or something thinking I'll get straight back to the healthy eating afterwards but then i can't and it takes me weeks to get motivated again. Not sure what the answer is really except to just not waiver at all.

My strategies are to make good choices where I can. I’m on slimming world so an Italian is great and at an Indian I order chicken tikka and just use a spoonful of sauce (I don’t like too much sauce on my plate) so it’s effectively grilled chicken with spices rice and salad. Lockdown killed mr to start with as I say in eating now I look bc at it as a chance to stay away from food that’s bad for me.

Living with a feeder.

It's all very well having a bloke who shops, cooks us both heaving portions of delicious food AND does the washing up, but it's played merry hell with my figure.

I'm the world's laziest person, so if I had to cater for myself I'd live on carrots and tap water.

Lack of sleep

Family who love carbs so I have to have them in the house (growing teen)

Sensations sweet chilli crisps - work of the devil

I tend to snack when I'm tired, especially late afternoon when I have a dip in energy. Honestly I could snack all the way from 3pm to dinner. And then have a full size portion.

If I'm anxious I don't eat as much.

Office cake
Not meal planning
Period

Evening boredom. I can be fine during the day, exercise, no snacks, healthy brunch and dinner, then after dinner BAM, I'm bored, and I'll just end up snacking.

🍺

Food
Laziness
Multiple physical injuries that have now become one big pain horror fest now I am an old bird

Being tired
It being Friday
It being nearly Friday (Tuesday)
Fuck it button
Chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate

Food is so delicious and is one of the only nice things in life at the moment.

Boredom and too much flexibility for me. I eat when I'm bored and wfh now I'm so so close to the kitchen. And flexibility. I've a stunning ability to combine all my favourite bits from a variety of weight loss programmes, meaning that I skip all the bits that that I don't like. You know, the ones that give you results.

I'm now doing 16:8 IF, and I'm about 5 weeks in. I've had one day off because DD wanted to make me breakfast in beef on Mother's Day. Because it's really clear and unequivocal, even I can't find a way around it. Eat now. Don't eat now. Not a lot of negotiating space with that one.

I'm definitely a fan of 16:8, I've lost some weight, more/ faster would be nice. I doesn't hurt too much, it fits with family life and there's been some handy side effects. And it does reduce my boredom eating window!

I’m not overweight thankfully
But I do have a fuck it gene

And only kicks in if I don’t do morning exercise. If I start the day with exercise, it’s all good.
Otherwise it’s munchies!

Coffee and life in general

Having an all or nothing approach. I can be fantastically “good” but one slip up means weeks of “bad”.

Which brings me to another... the good / bad approach! In reality, no food is good or bad. It’s just food.

I know that once I’m in Ketosis the carb cravings are way easier to manage. But being prepared is really important - meal planning etc as it’s almost impossible to get something low carb from the corner shop or garage in a hurry.

The lead up to and first few days of my period...I can just eat and eat and eat

Food

Boredom, free time, laziness. When I eat healthy choices I make a point of enjoying how good I feel and how much energy I have so that when I eat unhealthy choices I want to feel better.

When I'm trying to lose weight I use the app MyPlate to track calories, exercise, weight and water and seeing how many calories I consume generally halts any off-plan thoughts. It also helps for when I'm trying to gain/maintain weight so I know if I'm eating enough.

Time. If I’m running late and only have ingredients for more complicated meals in, I’ll order a take-away or cobble something together with bread which completely derails me. I try and make sure that I have plenty of healthy, quick to prepare meals available. Any complicated meals I save for the days I don’t work and have more or less guaranteed time to devote to it. A weekly meal plan helps.

Stress is the biggest hurdle for me. I was trying to lose some lockdown weight at the end of last year and was doing really well until the boiler broke. The plumber hadn’t even left before a pizza was on its way.

If I eat something high in calories, I make a real attempt to write off that meal/snack and not the whole day. Having a ‘screw it’ mentality it toxic to losing weight.

One thing I try to do when considering eating something that really isn’t good for me is ask which I want more, the food or the weight loss. I can honestly say, as someone who’s spent a long time at my goal weight and a long time overweight, absolutely no food is as enjoyable as being happy with my body.

PMT

Tiredness
Letting myself get to hungry
Not planning meals in advance

[quote partyatthepalace]@NerrSnerr well done - are you planning things to occupy you, or are you using iron will?![/quote]
I don't know yet. I may just try with the iron will.

I use a simple calorie counter app MyFitnessPal. It’s been around for years.

It’s no effort to scan a food product barcode in for everything you eat each day.

It keeps you within your daily calorie limit.

You lose 2lb a week.

If I forget to scan barcodes in each day, I lose momentum. That’s all that buggers it up for me.

Don’t know if I have willpower as such, I just have reasons: I’m at last chance saloon early 50s to ensure I keep middle age spread at bay, I want to continue my watersports now Lockdown is over which involves staying trim enough to fit in my boat, and I want to wear shorts on holiday for a change.

Your appetite will decrease rapidly after several days of dieting, just stick with it.

Birthdays, holidays, any 'event' etc are the usuals but over the last year it's been if I don't use an app to keep an eye on what I'm eating. I use the 'Lose It' app which is pretty similar to MFP but I like it better. It works for me anyway.

If I fuck up for a weekend I've always just thought well screw it I've messed up now, but if I can get back on track then I'm ok.

Being disorganised - not having something ready for those super tired days.

Not adding in treats - not allowing for some treats in whatever fashion as it just feels never ending.

I would say mainly I try to take away that it is a life style change and not a diet to loose weight. Otherwise as soon as you stop you just go back to the same as before.