How do you keep accountable/consistent?!

[GalactatingGoddess]

I'm a long time lurker on many weight loss chats and have not been able to reach my goals!

I'm 12stone ish and my goal is 11stone or just under like 10.10.

I keep fluctuating to say 11s10 then shooting back up to 12s1/2!

How do I shift this final 1stone? How do I stop having 2 good weeks and then 1 really bad one!! I'm toning up, as I've started weights and C25K but not losing fat. It's so disheartening 😖

Any tips? X

I kept accountable by logging everything on My Fitness Pal.

Seeing the figures in black and white makes it easier to say ‘nope, I’m at my target calories today, I can’t afford to have that extra biscuit’.

What are you eating at the moment? Is there a particular time you’re prone to eating a bit less healthily than you’d planned to? Could your portions have crept up or a few extra snacks made it into the trolley? That’s my downfall…

C25k is brilliant in many ways but not so much for weight loss. You’re not really exercising long enough to burn lots of calories. It’ll be what you’re eating that’s the issue.

It’s also normal to fluctuate in weight-I’m up 2kg because of my period. That will go in a week. Perhaps you’re just hit a plateau at the moment. Are you aiming for the top of the healthy range or the bottom? That will make a big difference in how easy it is to reach and maintain.

You’ve said you want to shift “the final stone”. It sounds like you’ve already had some success that you can celebrate.

I find it difficult to be consistent all the time. I’m experimenting at the moment with having a few easier days each week. My plan is to not completely go wild on those days and eat everything in sight, but just to have 200-300 calories more than usual. That shouldn’t make a massive difference to the rate at which I’m losing weight, but might help with long term motivation. Or at least that’s the theory!

I also find it useful to have some other goals, as it takes my focus away from the numbers on the scales. I’m currently aiming to eat 10 portions of fruit and veg a day (all tracked on NutraCheck, so that I can admire my progress at the end of the week 😄) and I’m taking part in an exercise challenge. All that means that when the scales don’t move, I can still feel good about progress I’ve made in other areas.

Exercise is great for your body but don’t ‘eat back’ the calories. How many calories are you having each day? I also use My Fitness Pal and try to stick to 1200 calories, and if I go over, say if I’ve had a pudding at the weekend, I make sure I eat less the next day to compensate.

It’s mostly about what you’re eating, so the exercise will help you have a better calorie deficit, but if the scales keep going up, it’s almost certainly about what you’ve eaten.

Thank you all!

@SingaporeSlinky I am set at 1200 on MFP and I try not to eat back calories. My problem is that when I'm off plan I'm REALLY off plan.

@Wouldntitbenicetobeinyourshoes I do log on MFP but for example when I've had a bad day and logged, I then tend to have a bad day following and it spirals for about a week which derails the efforts of the last 3 weeks! As I do go crazy with the calories.

@PurpleDaisies yeah it's when I'm due on, the week before and the week of. The week before is the worst and I made the mistake of doing the food shop after the gym that day and bought a load of snacks which was not helpful as when I'm due on I cannot control myself
So it helps to have nothing like that in the house. I also do fluctuate up to 2/3 kg those weeks which can throw me off and made me feel like 'whatever, I may as well just eat sh*t if all my efforts are being rewarded'

The problem is, I have been a healthy weight before so I know I can do it. I'm only trying to lose a bloody stone, it could be done in a month or so if I really stuck to my guns.

Another trigger is events! Argh it's all excuses when it's written down

Also to answers qs, I'm doing C25K but also trying to do Body Pump/LbT gym classes twice a week and I am already seeing results 2 weeks in (I am athletic of build when I'm at my peak so I gain muscle quick and tone up quick) but with the extra fat I just feel bulky now 😩

@Crazzzycat that's a good idea! Maybe I should try calorie cycling over a week - eat less in the week and then weekends allow myself 100/200 more

I could never do something like Fast 800 especially whilst I live with my husband and daughter. They may me hungry 😂

I'd love to know too 😩
I have a stone to loose and just seem to be in a cycle of losing and gaining the first 7lbs

After about 2 weeks I just go back to old habits
Wine through the week , finishing off that last slice of cake hanging around
Went out yesterday and had a twin icecream ( I didn't even want it 😳)

So I know it's not my age , it's just my motivation just goes and I eat more / less healthier options
I find it difficult to say no

@wfrances the last time I lost weight I had to get a bit strict with it, as in it was competitive with myself to see how long I could maintain good standards, whereas now I'm too soft and 'whatever' with it which isn't helping.

1200 calories isn't enough. You can't stick to it because it isn't sustainable. Up it to 1500 and stick to that 7 days a week.

Log all food but never deprive yourself if there is a birthday or special event or you will end up getting too fed up.
At least three gym classes a week - two cardio and one strength based

@Parker231 yeah I'm going to try stick to my classes, I was unwell for about 7-10 days and then it derailed everything with eating and exercise and gained back 3 lbs ! I was seeing good results before then even after just 2 weeks so I'm annoyed I've been slack

@tiredanddangerous I don't think I can go as high as 1500 as I don't lose weight!! (Tried it before for 6 weeks and not a pound!)
I think about 1300 is probably best but my metabolism seems so slow 😖

Back on it as of today as I've got no excuses now. Gonna do a gym class to kick start the week

Wish I could low carb but it's just not my style of eating

I read mixed articles online that say you need up to 300 extra calories a day in the week before your period.

I am experimenting with this. Yesterday I could have killed someone and so I had the 300 extra cals, but stopped at that. Today I don't feel as hungry so may stick to my usual lower amount.

This could be a way of not getting derailed?

Back on it as of today as I've got no excuses now. Gonna do a gym class to kick start the week

You don’t log your exercise on MFP do you? That’s the only time I never lost weight, it gives you the exercise calories back -whilst wildly overestimating calories burned-ignore that, you know you’ve exercised, just stick to the calorie logging.

I don't think I can go as high as 1500 as I don't lose weight!!
You may need new scales to weigh your food because it would be really hard to not lose weight on 1500 cals! Check you aren’t just adding things from the food search that have been added to the database with the wrong calories. I’ve been caught out by adding something that had been saved as a vastly reduced number of calories than it actually had.

I'm only trying to lose a bloody stone, it could be done in a month or so if I really stuck to my guns.

Yes, but if you're losing weight for long-term health there's no point in doing it in a month unless you can keep it off after the month is up. For example, if 1500 keeps you stable but doesn't make you lose weight, are you going to be able to eat no more than 1500 calories a day for the rest of your life if you manage to lose the stone?

My actual weight and healthy weight are pretty similar to yours, OP. It's taken me many years to realise that being strict, having goals and forcing myself briefly down to 11 stone or under never lasts and will never last, and just makes me yoyo unhealthily and pointlessly. Staying strict forever is virtually impossible (well, fir most people anyway).