I’ve lost 47 pounds so far, but I still need to lose 50 pounds to reach a healthy BMI, and then another 20 pounds to meet my target. I’m bored of all this charting and eating less… on a brighter side, I made it to Onederland today!
Not to shatter your spirits, but it is critical to focus on making the lifestyle change permanent - if you return to eating like you did before, you will gain the weight back. This is not to mean that you must watch calories forever, but you cannot eat without thinking. It is best to change your portion sizes and what you do now to what you do after you reach your ideal weight.
People frequently take diet breaks. Dieting and weight reduction are mentally exhausting, and it’s reasonable that you’re burned out.
I recommend spending a couple weeks at maintenance calories. Perhaps 200-300 more than you normally do. Then get right back into your diet.
The advantage here is that you get a sense of what maintenance eating looks and feels like. Diets frequently fail, and people regress because they never learnt how to eat for maintenance. Only in deficit and surplus.
Be strong; you’re doing an excellent job.
Life must be worthwhile to experience a healthy body and mind. Perhaps you could consume your maintenance calories for a week or so as a break? Just halt your progress without losing it?
I, too, have reached the halfway point after nearly a year. I was so sick of it that I went backwards with only a small amount of Halloween candy.
I just got my blood tests back, and I have high cholesterol. It isn’t crazy, but it serves as a reminder that I’m doing this mostly for my health, and I still have a long road ahead. My blood pressure has improved, but I am still not where I should be. So, expect more adjustments. Dairy is a tough one for me; I’ll have to reduce back and continue to drive sweets to zero (most of the time).
You have the ability to accomplish difficult tasks. This is only one of them. You’ve already made so much work towards becoming healthier; don’t give up on yourself! You can do it!
In my mind, it lasts forever. Truly, until I die.
That makes it easier for me to merely lightly track calories and never weigh myself (what am I going to do if the scales do not move? Eat less so that I am constantly hungry? Is it possible to exercise so hard that I don’t have enough stamina to do what I want afterward? Nah).
Now that I’m in that mindset, I’m finding it quite easy. The key for me is to actually like the food I choose to consume, because it is permanent.
Please do not give up; this is a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. Learning to count calories is a life skill.
You can still eat whatever you want, but you should prepare for it. You’ll love the cuisine more and look forward to each day.
Listen, be glad you’ve shed 47 pounds!!! I’ve dropped 12 pounds, am having mobility concerns, and am feeling extremely down. Keep going!
Really, you’re doing well!! I’m only 16 pounds down, and for some reason, the last week has been particularly difficult; I haven’t been tracking, and I’ve been lazy, and I can feel it. I wish I had my motivation back.
If you take a “diet” break, it is an issue. Diets fail 98% of the time in five years. I wouldn’t listen to diet advocates; I was one, and it sucked. You need to develop a mode of being that you believe you can maintain indefinitely. That may not be a size 2, but you’ve made progress today, which may be sufficient for the time being.
I’ve begun to think of it as a lifestyle. I no longer count calories since I eat less than half of what I did a year ago, and I reward myself in moderation. I’ve lost 95 pounds in a little over a year. This is how I will continue to eat when I achieve my goals. It’s become a habit.