On Track, Staying in the Day, and a Thank You

Hi, Everyone,

Last week, I joined this group as well as a couple of recovery groups on Facebook.  I started going back to the forums as well.  In short, as I battled to get back on track, I reached out online for support.  Just showing up in the groups and forums, reading other posts and posting a little myself has helped a great deal.  I want to thank you all for being here.  It helps.

I've had five good days of careful adherence to my food plan.  I've chosen to go low carb - and that means very few carbs from things like breads, potatoes, rice, pasta.  The majority of my low number of carbs come from other vegetables, fruit, a little dairy and what's in my protein shake mixes.  I'm getting in more protein and really working on drinking enough water.  Even five good days improve the way I feel physically, emotionally, and mentally.  

Not surprisingly, this bridges over to other aspects of a healthy lifestyle, such as willingness to be physically active.  I've taken up rowing classes and absolutely love this type of workout.  The classes deliver great cardio, work the major muscle groups and do not stress out my joints.  (My right knee can't take heavy impact.)  In addition to this, I'm more likely to jump on my bike for trips to the store instead of taking the car, going for walks, or getting up early to do water aerobics in the pool.

Challenges I'm encountering are old ones, so I'm trying to work through them.  A big challenge for me is my obsession about the number on the scale.  I really need to break myself of the habit of weighing myself morning and night.  It's like I'm addicted to checking that number for the slightest downward change!  So, I'm working on reinforcing the idea that as long as I take care of following my food plan, exercising, and drinking enough water, I will lose weight.

This leads to the second big challenge -- staying in the day.  Once I start losing weight, I then begin to project and overinflate my expectations and needs.  I think things like, "I have to lose 8 pounds a month, oh wouldn't it be better if I lost 10-12?" and "I want to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year".  This puts a lot of mental pressure on me and it sets me up to fail.  I have it in my head what I want to accomplish, then I fixate even more on the scale.  I can easily get disappointed which makes me feel horrible and could lead to me then eating off of my food plan.

So, I'm trying to drive those inflated expectations out of my head and focus on staying in the day.  All I have to do is stay on my food plan, do my exercise and trust the process.  It doesn't matter how many pounds I lose this week or this month.  It only matters that I've lived my healthy lifestyle and lost anything at all.  This is not a diet.  It's my new, better life.  I'll get to goal when I get there.

Thanks for listening!

Mary

Hugs... One day at a time. One meal at a time. 

Making poor choice for one meal does not give me permission to mess up a whole day... Or a week. 

I cringe when I see someone declares "I'll start on Monday".. While MO I had many "I'll start Monday, or 1st of the month... No more... 

I am not perfect... And I had days that I messed up... But one meal will not make me fat...so after having a bad choice - my next meal snack is typically better...

Making lots of choces at home... So I don't get bored with same ol' chicken.. ...

Good luck... 

"This leads to the second big challenge -- staying in the day. Once I start losing weight, I then begin to project and overinflate my expectations and needs. I think things like, "I have to lose 8 pounds a month, oh wouldn't it be better if I lost 10-12?" and "I want to lose 40 pounds by the end of the year". This puts a lot of mental pressure on me and it sets me up to fail. I have it in my head what I want to accomplish, then I fixate even more on the scale. I can easily get disappointed which makes me feel horrible and could lead to me then eating off of my food plan."

-- wow, I could have written this myself!  Thanks for sharing!

I am a lot like you.  I had a Weight  Watchers leader that asked us how we would maintain weight loss?  She said by eating the way we are eating to lose the weight.  Build new habits...  Of course easier said than done.  She was right though.  Strive to follow the plan.  The weight loss will follow.  Good luck to us :)  TRi