should i take a break?

so..im about 6-8 pounds away from my goal weight and my boyfriend of 3.5 years (2 of which we have been living together) just broke up with me. its so hard. this happened last night and i have been taking the day off and just eating what i feel like (but without going overboard). i want to know if i should just try to maintain for a while..and who knows..maybe when i start back with a calorie deficit i will lose more efficiently?? i guess im just looking for some advice..im still going to try to work out 4-5 days a week..but i might go back to my parents house (which is 3 hours away) to get away for a while and not have access to a gym. do you think i should just keep on top of it..or allow myself to cut back on exercise and eat more? and even then..how much do you think i should start eating? i definitely dont want to gain. Im 5'7 and currently 141-143 pounds..my goal is 135 and i eat 1500 calories usually and try to work out 5 days a week for an hour and a half of cardio and weights.

p.s. sorry if i posted in the wrong forum..i wasnt sure which one i should post in..you can move it if you think its necessary

Nah, if you give up now a) it'll be harder to get back on the right track and (b) you'll stuff up on all your hard work. I reckon just maintain for now until you feel better! 

ps. endorphins can do wonders so keep exercising =)

I am all for occations breaks and maintaining from time to time, but with just breaking up I think that you will feel worse if you let go of this and gain weight back.  You need to keep this up for you...to feel good about yourself and be ready for the wonderful things that you have coming your way.

Different things work for different people but when I was going through my break up with my boyfriend of a year and a half I found running helped clear my mind. Also, keeping my body healthy helped my self esteem. My experience with friends is that people going through a break up tend to go in either one of two directions. Either they stop caring about themselves, eat a lot, and can't get motivated or they start working much harder and take really good care of themselves. If I were you, I'd try to be one of the latter. :)

I'm sorry about your break up

Sorry to hear about that.

If it was me in your situation I would carry on with the exercise ( as said above-it is great for releasing endorphins and upping your serotonin levels to keep you happy and cope with stress)

i'd also keep up with the healthy eating and keep trying to lose weight. getting off track because you comfort eat is hard to get back on track from. putting back on all that hard earned weight loss will definately kick your self esteem when its down. maintaining in an upset state is very difficult to do, speaking from experience.

i wish you all the best

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your break up. I know it sucks for you right now. For comfort/inspiration, I'd recommend Unanswered Prayers by Garth Brooks or Something inside so Strong by Labi Safre. Actually I have loads of songs that'd help. It seems that most of my life has some sort of soundtrack that I have imposed over it for good and bad times.

Anyway, that's not the question you asked!

At the moment, your diet/healthy lifestyle is probably the last thing you want to worry about. If you allow it to happen though, you might fall off the wagon in a big way. Yet, in 3 months time when the upset has abated and you're happy with the world again, I reckon you'll kick yourself for giving up. I think you should try to avoid using this break up as an excuse to let yourself slip, and if anything, you should try to throw yourself into it even more. As others have said, and as you already know, you always get a little high after exercising.

I exercise every day at around 5pm. It's usually just after I get home from seeing my father who is in a hospice. Every day I see a further decline in his health, so every day I push harder, even though I sometimes just want to slump into the sofa and pig out and cry. On Saturday my ex-GF got married to a former colleague of mine, I excerised more. I made a commitment to myself that I was going to lose fat and get in shape, so In my mind, no person or no circumstance is going to stop me from carrying that out. Terrible things happen. I can use them as an excuse to fail or I can use them to spur me on. I am trying to choose the latter. It isn't easy, but it is satisfying.

I believe you should think about the reasons you started this journey. Maybe it was to be more healthy? or fit into some old clothes? or get control over your eating? I imagine whatever the reason, that reason hasn't changed. Some things in your life you can't control, some you can. This is one of the ones you can. So I say, go for it! You are so very very close! It's going to be such a great day for you when you hit that marker you shouldn't let anyone deny you that.

 

 

i mean nothing offensive in this andy...but garth brooks would be the last thing id want to hear !! ;D

If it were I, I would keep reaching for my goal. Keep working toward becoming the person you want to be inside and out. When you do otherwise, you give people and circumstances control over who you are and how you live your life. This isn't a good pattern of behavior for the future. It will also make it that much harder to get back to your goals when you decide it's time. And what is more, it won't help you to move on with your life. Don't stagnate: keep going, and sooner than you know you'll be feeling happy again, and you'll be very glad you didn't halt your progress when you could have. (For one thing, you don't want to run into your ex somewhere down the line and not be looking your absolute best. But really, ultimately, taking a break now would just open the door to depression. And this is a temporary pain in your life: don't let the temporary derail the choices you have made for your long-term health.)

Original Post by monoxi:

i mean nothing offensive in this andy...but garth brooks would be the last thing id want to hear !! ;D

 

 I knew someone wouldn't be so keen!

Try to maintain your workouts if you go back to your parents: if the gym is not nearby, find a way to get things done on your own. If you don't, you'll start to lose muscle. That will lower your metabolism and your fitness level.