Why do I always do this??

[momtoboys]

I have been trying hard to lose weight. I need to do it for my health and my sanity. I was fairly strictly following a low carb/high protein diet and have lost 2.5 stone. I was doing well, I felt confident and was proud I was keeping up.

Now I have lost momentum. I am eating more than I was. Most of it still low car//high protein, but definitely more in volume. I keep talking to myself about becoming more focused, I have prayed for strength, and still I cannot seem to get back to the program I was on before.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

You are not alone. It is a dreadful battle. I understand.

Congratulations on your weight loss 👏

I’m not a health professional and it’s just my opinion, but diets that radically exclude some food groups are really difficult to maintain long term. It’s easy to say no to things at the beginning but we are evolutionary inclined to like fast energy sources, our brains like carbs because they need them to function. So it’s hard to keep excluding carbs forever. After you lose weight the body also tries to bounce back for quite some time so you’re more hungry, it’s real.

Diets that are more about health than weight loss, like Mediterranean diet or washoku are more likely to work because they are about variety and celebration of food, so you don’t feel like constantly restricting yourself.

I’m sorry, it’s so hard to keep going and motivation is a bastard.

can you have some low calorie snacks that fit your goals that are easy to access?

im on mj but when i lost weight in the past I had some success with being disciplined, I told myself the food in the cupboard was not for me so I wouldn’t eat it. I’d have my food in a separate space and include some protein 100 treat snacks (pop corn, chicken quavers, fibre1, Cadbury delight, 10 cal jellies) which really helped with keeping going.

the most important part right now is to draw a line under this and move forward with intention. If you aren’t tracking, track for a week and be very considered. Try and make small, incremental changes to get back on the plan. Don’t bury your head, this is going to happen periodically, you are human and this is fine and normal.

Your body does try to fight back after big losses with hormones and slowing metabolism and increasing appetite. A lot of this is survival mechanism and set point theory.
I watched a podcast (diary of a CEO) from a diet and obesity expert the other day, who said to schedule diet breaks every 10lbs or so and get back into it after that, focusing on protein like you say you are, then that will kick start the losses for you as it tricks your body into thinking you are back to eating your maintenance regularly. He also said to lose slowly 0.5-1lb max a week to minimise muscle loss and make it more achievable and also strength and resistance training is better for women than cardio, as well as eating regularly rather than fasting as fasting causes more stress on the body. I've actually seen and heard this from many podcasts and in face to face conferences too. Good luck!

I am in the same position as you, OP.

I have lost 4 stone, or so, since the beginning of the year but diet fatigue is real and I have probably gained 5 pounds this month from rebelling against myself and the program.

Weight loss is not easy! This is why a lot of people struggle to a) lose weight b) maintain loss

It takes determination, grit, discipline and resilience! Part of all of that is knowing that you will fall off or results may not be what you expect, for whatever reason, but just keep going!

Thanks for sharing your struggles. I hope that this thread helps you find the motivation you need. I feel more motivated today by rooting for you!

I hear you, it’s so hard. I’ve found doing exercise really helps. Exercise doesn’t make me lose weight BUT it helps me feel better about myself and more motivated not to undo any good work. Also - having something to aim for is great. Whether it’s a 5k, half marathon, big swim, whatever is a challenge for you. It helps me focus my diet while I’m training. I’m therefore not dieting for dieting’s sake, but my diet is part of a wider focus on exercise.

I think it’s about eating well, so portions size is important, but long term. Using whole grain, full fat food and protein and lots of veg will feed your body. One slice of bread not two. Smaller piece of cheese. Savour it.

This was the point I added in mounjaro. I’d lost about 4 stone on my own and then I was really struggling to keep going.
Have lost another 4 stones with mounjaro helping me.
Worth considering, if you meet the criteria that is.

I find this OP. I keep it up for a period of weeks or months and then I gradually start slipping. You're not alone!

I agree with a pp that something like a more balanced approach might work.
Try a Mediterranean approach on a maintenance level rather than weight loss level for the time being so at least you don’t gain weight.
Keep exercising even if it’s just walking daily and fill your time with distractions to stop yourself eating out of boredom or for distraction.
Any books you want to read? Any courses you want to do? Any cleaning need to be done? Any children or friends to spend some time with?
Don’t snack but treat yourself to a dessert after your meal.
It’s a battle and that’s how I try to manage it.
I also use a fasting app and fast occasionally but I mainly use it to ‘fast’ inbetween meals. So no eating for 4hrs. I allow myself unsweetened drinks though.

I think diet breaks are a good thing. Try just staying at the same weight for a little while and then get back to it. You’ve lost a lot and if you start feeling like shit about the fact that you have burnout you can easily end up going backwards. Just stay still for a bit and give yourself a bit of a rest.

I want to be French, eat loads of baguettes and look like a willow.

Instead.....

It's just really hard, isn't it.

I lost 3.5st over a year (ie, quite slowly) and was perfectly happy with what I was eating. I wasn't dead strict, there were days off.

Now I've ground to a halt. Ideally I'd lose another 7lbs but instead I'm maintaining because I'm eating a bit more. Obviously that's good and I'm pleased to have found a balance but I can't get back into that mindset that I was happily in for a year. It seems harder to eat a bit less than it was to eat a lot less.

I just like eating 😋

Op, congrats on the 2.5 stone. That’s no small feat, don’t beat yourself up, you’re had a huge achievement here.

what you’re finding is simply the reason so many of us can’t maintain our weight, and effectively yo yo. It’s why over 80 percent of people regain afte3 weight loss, our brains and bodies fight against us,

I lost the weight with wli, and sm staying on a low maintenance dose, as I have been on this round about so many times, I know,that even if I do chose to spend every day on the struggle, feeling guilty, deprived, or hungry, the weight will start to come back at some point,

I don’t know what your weight is, if you’re now a healthy weight but just want to go lower, or if you have any medical conditions, but I can say this is what’s worked for me, and millions of others across the world, and what you’re experiencing is the most common thing ever.

It's not about winning a fight with your body, it is about staying on course. You have moved onto "maintaining" when you want to be loosing but that's ok, maybe you need to for a while, then when you have regrouped and regained stamina you can get back to it.
Well done OP, you're doing incredibly well. The feeling of 'defeat' is dangerous. Don't let it take a grip.

For a huge amount of people it is winning a fight with their body, due to underlying metabolic issues.

I also think the cooler weather and decreasing sunlight drives us to eat more at this time of year. I'm in a similar place. I'm planning to do a 2 days a week fasting routine and see how that goes. I have planned busy Monday and Thursdays so will do a fast until supper and have very low calories evening meal. Hopefully this will offset the slightly increased eating the other days. My maintenance calories are so low now it's hard.

I’m nowhere near as successful as you yet - I’ve lost a stone, and I need to lose two more.

I just wanted to say you’ve done amazingly to lose that much weight.

For me the only way I’ve ever been able to lose weight is by calorie counting: logging all the food I eat. And then when I’m hungry I force myself to have a glass of water and wait 30minutes. At the moment I’m on a 16:8 fast and that helps me too. I need strict rules.

I remind myself that the doctor said I could be seriously and irreversibly ill if I don’t manage my weight better (I’m not obese but I have a genetic health condition) and I don’t want to die or be a burden to my family!

I think the advice upthread about strength and resistance training is excellent. Sure do some cardio too, but focus on muscles. It will tone you up so has a side benefit that you will carry your weight better!

Ive lost 2.5 stone and have kept it off for coming up two years now

What I do is keep away from processed food and pile my plate with fibre and protein - with a small carb portion, and eat until Im full . I cant be doing with recording food, Ive tried in the past and that was just making me obsessed about every morsel, every step. Now I eat as healthily as I know how to. Lots of fish, turkey and chicken, more veg in a day then I used to manage in a week, the odd bit of fruit, small amounts of dairy and small carb portions - I can no longer manage the half a packet of pasta I used to be able to consume for instance

This works for me MOST DAYS, then I might like yesterday have a snack day - not planned, but breakfast out, poached eggs, beans mushrooms and a slice of wholemeal which because it was late morning, meant no lunch , and then we had friends over late afternoon/early evening- so nibbles went out. Time they left and thinking about dinner - didn't want any so ended up diving into the left over nibbles late night - ate a complete load of rubbish

But that was yesterday, today Im back on the healthy eating

Just about to go eat for the first time today - will be an open sandwich of a slice of rye, loads of leaves and beets, and a pile of protein then dinner this evening is going to be a home made chicken in oyster sauce and egg fried rice

What keeps me motivated? I never want to be sat with my jeans button undone ever again, and Im not buying bigger sized clothes. I threw out everything that is larger than the size I wear now. For too many years I had four different sizes from yo-yoing - Im determined I'm never going to take my eye of the ball again

You have done so well to get this far, dont let an off day be a sod it. Draw the line and move onwards and downwards. Dont let guilt get in your way. Forgive yourself and draw a line

I hear you. I’ve only just (re)started and lost a few kilos but yesterday had a long hard day and all I wanted was a glass of wine and something sweet and yummy….but this is where discipline comes in when willpower deserts you. Just put off eating whatever that’s tempting for an hour. Then another hour. Or stare at your weight loss chart and think you don’t want that downward trend to start going back up undoing all your work to date. Good luck.

I’m also in the same boat - lost over 4 stones (27kg) this year so far. Going through the “70s” already felt like a struggle, now I’m in the high 60s and definitely been eating closer to maintenance most days over the last couple of weeks. I’m still around 1kg away from the upper end of normal BMI and my original goal is 9kg away. I’m trying to be kind to myself, but feel like @DisplayPurposesOnly - it seems definitely harder! Which I guess is partly because the calories to create a deficit are much lower now than previously. And, mentally for me, I have done it for health reasons, too (none of the classical issues though) and there definitely won’t be any further improvement now, so my driver has been “lost” a bit.

Loving the support on this thread and is making me feel more hopeful for my own journey. You’ve done so well OP, I’ve had lots of plateau’s where the weight would not budge and I totally get how frustrating and dispiriting it is. Just keep going and it will start to shift again, just try and be gentle and patient with yourself.

Our bodies are probably freaking out thinking we’re trying to starve them (rather than, you know, trying to lose weight to be actually healthy 🙄) I almost view mine like a stubborn pony refusing a jump for no good reason - rearing and fussing about and refusing to move forwards. So rather than kicking and cursing I’ve decided to almost ignore it for a while (which tends to involve slacking off a bit diet wise) before trying again and the pause in losses seems to almost help my body freak out less about carrying on losing. I hope that makes sense it’s a bit of a muddled mess of a metaphor! 😂

I wholeheartedly agree with this, exercising improves mood. proprioception, and insulin sensitivity. What’s not to like? I often read on MN that you can’t outrun a bad diet. It’s a paraphrase of a quote from Michael Pollan’s book and the full quote is: “You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet and you can’t eat your way out of no exercise.”

Have you had a diet break? Sometimes dieting for long periods of time causes us to loose motivation, diet fatigue etc. Many recommend taking a week/couple of weeks to eat at maintenance every few weeks. This also helps with plateaus apparently.
Also is your diet actually sustainable? If it’s not it will definitely get difficult once the novelty wears off. Motivation will also only carry you so far then the rest comes down to self discipline. Which I think is what helps keep slim people slim.

First things first, the stuff in the cupboard that you shouldn’t be eating, does it need to be there? I appreciate it might be there for other members of the family but can they go without it, (maybe it could be their way of supporting you, and it’s healthier for them). It takes a lot less will power to walk past something you shouldn’t be eating while doing the weekly shop, than resist it once it’s in the cupboard.
Next time your hungry and want to snack on something you shouldn’t try waiting 10 minutes before you give into temptation, you might find after ten minutes you have either forgotten about it or the urge has subsided. If not drink a pint of your favorite sugar free cordial, but make sure you drink it as fast as is safe to do, this then hopefully will trick your brain into feeling full. Another trick if you have a craving for something you shouldn’t, allow yourself to eat it provide you eat something you hate to eat first, then ask yourself is it worth it. These tricks often work for me.