100 lbs to lose - MOTIVATION TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION

So I have been loooking for some topics from THE LIST, but haven't seen much.

Motivation:
    1.  ask someone who's at their goal about maintaining and how they did it
    2.  share our success stories, trials, tribulations, successes, failures, setbacks, things         that work
    3.  how do you motivate yourself every morning
    4.  how to overcome a bad day, either overeating or no exercise
    5.  share our little victories, like skipping that piece of cake, loss of a pound, drinking             enough water, piece of clothing that is starting to get roomier
    6.  lose the guilt (regarding food choices)
    7.  take time out to be good to yourself
    8.  discussion about guilt associated with taking time away from family and friends to         work on ourselves
    9.  smaller sizes!  how to get cheap clothes


Where shall we start?

Sunshine,

These are all very good topics...right now I would need to choose MOTIVATION and LOSE THE GUILT...both very hard things for me.

Thanks for making me think...

Cece

All of those are good conversations :) I also like "Lose the Guilt"

ooh, I like lose the guilt too. Can we chat about that one?

For me personally, the only motivation I usually need is the 'me against the world' mentality. I am constantly working out and the only thought in my mind is to prove everyone wrong, to show them I am in control. I'm sure that says a lot about who I am and the problems I have, that I want to please everyone else before I please myself. I can never satisfy my own desire, which has left a huge void in my life. I am constantly striving towards what I want, but the problem is I don't know what I want. LOL

That is what drives me.

I'm not certain how I achieved a relatively guilt-free way of eating, so I don't know how much help it is, but...

Since I don't restrict the foods I eat, any food is fair game, therefore Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream is on my diet!  What I do restrict is the portion size.  I do my best to only eat a few potato chips and to take smaller servings of things at pot luck dinners and the like. 

I also take things I like but are higher in calories like walnuts, peanuts, craisins, feta cheese, etc., and add them to salads because a little bit can go a long way.  Yes, I end up with a 200 (or so) calorie salad, but I have my little bites of flavor and numiness without grabbing a handful of nuts.  And yes, I know nuts are good for me, but they have to be budgeted in my caloric intake for the day. 

I've found that if I take my time and savor the foods I'm eating, especially the "guilty pleasures," that I eat less of them, but I enjoy eating more. 

And then, if I have a bad day (emotionally) or I end up eating too much for whatever reason, I tell myself "Well, my body just got reminded that I've got enough food to eat!"  Of course, it's not every day that gorging happens, so it's more like unintentional zig-zagging of the calories.  :)  Many times I've been surprised on days after I've eaten a bunch that my weight has gone down.  :)

And the other thing to keep in mind is that if you go over your target weightloss calories but are still under your maintenance calories, you've still got a deficit for the day! 

But on the other hand, I don't know how my brain snapped into that way of thinking, so I don't know what can be done to help others to think in positive non-guilty ways. 

And I suppose that might be it.  Just a general sunny outlook and easily putting the past behind you and getting back on the wagon if something bad happens and you tumble off. 

I agree with beanie...

"I've found that if I take my time and savor the foods I'm eating, especially the "guilty pleasures," that I eat less of them, but I enjoy eating more. "

I used to eat a couple candy bars a day.  I went to a group hypnosis session and don't eat candy anymore - in general, anyway.  I do have the occasional piece of dark chocolate (for the good anti-oxidants, of course!) or a redvine or two at the movie theater.  Anyway, my point is that when I *do* eat a bit of dark chocolate, usually a Dove Dark Chocolate promise, I let it melt in my mouth.  If I chew it, I will want a second, third or fourth, but if I just let it melt, one (or at most, two) will satisfy. 

I also implement several other things, like putting a few nuts and dried cranberries on my salad (and using a lower-fat dressing on those days!) and not eliminating *any* thing from my diet, just limiting how much (and how often) I indulge. 

I love bread, but I've found Milton's Healthy Multi-grain to be the best bread that is lowest is sodium and fat.  So that's the one I try to eat.  (I occasionally get a loaf of Grace Baking Co.  pugliese, which has no fat, but is high in sodium.)  I would still prefer to slather them both with lots of margarine or butter, but I don't.

I love peanut butter, but I don't eat it every day, much less sometimes twice a day like I used to.

I prefer real mayonnaise, so in order to accommodate that, I don't use as much - and don't have it every day.

When I get to the end of the day and still have some calories left but am running high on fat or sodium, I look for snacks that will satisfy that aren't heavy in the problem category.  (And still not eating cardboard!)

I've found that the more fresh fruits I incorporate into my eating plan, the less times I am craving sweets, but if I just *have* to have something sweet in the evening - and can't face another piece of fruit or juice, I opt for a little jam on toast (no margarine).

And finally, about the "guilt"...  You know, I grew up "sneaking" food.  My mom didn't like that I was overweight, so I would sneak food/snacks when she wasn't home.  That set up a pattern for me. that I had to hide my true calorie consumption or be judged by others.  I never wanted to eat any quantity or poor choice in view of anyone, and mentally I didn't keep track of what I ate to avoid self recrimination. 

Tracking every single thing I eat has been good for me.  Cuz, all the good, the bad and the ugly go on C-C.  Not that anyone can see it, but *I* know what I'm eating.  I'm conscious of it. 

And if someone sees me eating ice cream or peanut butter or a donut...I can say without guilt, "I've included it in my meal planning, which focuses on eating under 1700 calories per day on average, having 25% or less of those calories being fat calories, and keeping my sodium content under 2000mg.  And if I choose to use my calories for [whatever it is], I alone have to live with the consequences of that."

But knowing how many calories, much less how many fat calories, are in a donut, I'm not likely to give in to that temptation and have to eat a whole lot less the rest of the day because of it.  Now almond poppyseed muffins are another story entirely...  ;-)

auntiejill, I loved your post. I agree that you shouldn't deprive yourself of the things you really want because then you will crave them more. I try very hard to fit the things I want to eat within my calories and I find that I crave the junk less and less as I give my body the nutrition it needs.

My mother was a single mom so she had to work and after we stopped going to daycare we were at home alone. This was not a good situation. My mom would stock up on snacks for us to pack our lunches when they were on sale and my brother and I would eat them. I can also remember grabbing all the change we could find and going across the street to the drugstore to buy as many candy bars as we could, then eating them and hiding the wrappers before she came home. My brother's metabolism and active lifestyle handled this much better. I however, was already dealing with a bit too much weight and it only increased the problem. It's very difficult for me to admit this behavior and I still see eating junk food as something to hide as in sit in the closet and eat as much ice cream as you can before you get caught.

These are the biggest problems for me to overcome. I still tend to store away chocolate and chips and junk food but I have gotten better about not hiding my eating it. I think that as I work through this emotional aspect of my eating it will help me immensely to maintain my control over my eating habits.

I would already have given up many times over were it not for the motivation of all the people here on CC. I love it here and the fact that I can come and talk about this stuff with all of you is so wonderful. I really need that motivation.

Thanks, kalkette...

What you said really hit home to me:

I still tend to store away chocolate and chips and junk food but I have gotten better about not hiding my eating it. I think that as I work through this emotional aspect of my eating it will help me immensely to maintain my control over my eating habits.


Something occurred to me recently.  I don't know if it was growing up with someone who grew up in the Great Depression or what, but I'm a stockpiler.  (I knew I was a packrat, but I realize its corollary, stockpiling, is also an issue.)  I have canned food that sometimes gets past its expiration date before I can use it all.  When I find things on sale, I buy them as though I may never find them again - toiletries as well as food items.  When Girl Scout cookies come out, I buy multiple boxes.  (Once I even bought a whole *case* of Thin Mints!)  When I find a shirt I like, I buy two in different colors.

Interestingly enough, all the Girl Scout cookies I bought earlier this year are still in the cupboard or freezer.  Seriously.  I just don't pull them out to eat them.  Part of me knows that if I open a box, they won't last long.  I may not "binge" on them in the sense of eating a whole box in one day or weekend, but I will eat away at them until they're gone, I think, just as I would if I made brownies.  But I just haven't wanted to spare any precious calories/fat percentage points for them since I got them.

But I wouldn't throw them out either.  Maybe I'll entertain and set them out then...  But then I am trying to offer healthy snacks to visitors, too...

Smaller sizes?  I would recommend any sort of thrift shops or eBay.  I have lost 21 pounds with 65 more to go.  Most of the clothing I own is starting to be too large.

I did purchase an "inspiration outfit" in size 14 (I'm a 16w now) at Value Village, a local thrift shop chain.  I am also planning on selling my 18W and 16W clothing on ebay soon.  I refuse to keep anything over size 14. 

 I've been 280 lbs and 118 lbs and today I am at 205. 

It is definitely hard to get over feeling guilty when eating something that is not the healthiest choice there is. With time, I am learning to have the same thought process as Beanie and Auntiejill. Sometimes it is much harder than others, but I find if I eat in moderation and savor the flavor, I don't overdo it.

I think the trick is to keep reminding yourself that what was done was done.  You can't "un-eat" the food and erase those calories.  You did it, you ate something high calorie, and you went over for the day.  The trick is saying "oh well, that's done, that was not a healthy choice.  The next choice will be healthy." 

And then you have to remind yourself that the one slip-up is not license to have 15 other slip ups for the rest of the day. 

Or how about thinking about it this way: on the weightloss path, you stopped to smell the roses that weren't right next to the road.  Doesn't mean you have to turn around and go back where you came from.  You can still take that step back onto the road and keep going.  It's okay.  The destination is still there waiting.  And I bet there's roses to smell at the end.  :)