Hello again, friends. It has been a few years since I have posted anything on this sub. The reasons and excuses are not really important, so I will just skip that part.
I wanted to share a new ideology that I have been working on and it has been working really well for me. If this helps just one person, then I consider it worth posting.
My situation is the same as most of the posts here, been overweight my entire life, was never really taught good eating habits, etc.
I really would like to lose weight quickly, but counter intuitively, doing so in the past had detrimental effects to my mental health. I would drop 20lbs in a month and feel like such a failure that I ate cake at someone's birthday party. It also wildly swings the other way to where I feel so ecstatic and accomplished when I lose any kind of weight, that it hits hard when the scale either doesn't move or goes up.
I'm trying harder to distance myself mentally from the scale and try to be a bit more patient with myself. This go around, I have not jumped headfirst into a new diet. Nor have I started any kind of workout routine. I am following my own roadmap that is conquering one specific habit at a time.
Each month I have been focusing on a new goal and the cumulative effect of this has netted positive results. Both NSV and SV. These goals have been working best when they aren't in the same category as the previous. Diet, Exercise, Sleep pattern, etc.
I started this lifestyle shift in October of 2019. My first habit was to stop drinking soda and other sugary beverages. These have always been my biggest vice and for that reason, I gave myself extra time to exclusively focus on it. In fact, it was the only change that I made for the first 2 months.
Even though I wanted to do more to, I have found it is too easy to get swept up in the motivation, tack on way too many ideas to the plan and become too restricted. This has never worked and is ultimately why I have failed every time before.
A benefit of one new thing a month is it is really easy to focus on one thing at a time. It is also a lot easier to forgive yourself as well. At this point choosing water, unsweetened tea or even diet sodas is an established habit and I am satisfied with those choices.
On December 1st, i took an assessment of what I wanted to do next. I decided to try to curb late night eating. My method here was a fairly simple rule. Try to not eat between the hours of 8pm and 8am. Not hard, it's consistent every day and doesn't conflict with the first habit. I can still eat anything I want, except sugary beverages, as long as it is in the window.
It was after following this for a couple weeks that I had an eye opening revelation. I'm not sure if it is just me, but prior to this, stomach rumbling hunger was not something I experienced everyday, or possibly even weekly. It usually only occured if I was too busy to overeat. Now it happens when it should, right before a planned meal.
On prior attempts, experiencing hunger pains was kinda scary and I had no idea how to properly handle it. Previously I would eat way too much to try to get it to stop. I have had to coach myself that experiencing hunger is a good thing. It is a good sign that I am not grossly overeating. When I feel hungry, I do an assessment of what I've had to eat and how active I was. Usually I have had enough and just drink some water.
On January 1st, after adjusting to the new habit formed in December, I did another assessment and discovered that I eat way too much first thing in the morning. This is coupled with having trouble with getting consistent enough protein. I was bad about eating bacon and eggs one day and pop tarts the next. A two birds with one stone approach to that is a meal replacement protien shake.
I know a lot of people are wary of these, because of the added sugars and it isn't a real food. Yes, you are 100% correct. But the beauty of my plan is cutting out excess sugars is not even on the roadmap yet, even true as of today. So I dont have to feel bad about it, or make excuses. Eventually, I will find a better solution, but for right now, it is working for me. And for as long as it is working and keeps me on track with my current goals, I'm carrying on.
I have forward progress by adjusting other factors and am looking forward to cutting out excessive sugars. It should net some very positive results, but it would be a mistake this early on.
My February 1st goal was a continuation of the strategy of non conflicting goals. I chose this month to be more active in life. I've started a steps goal of averaging 7,500 steps in February. Some of you are likely doing twice that, but I know that if I were to push myself that hard, I would be in a lot of pain, feel really discouraged.
Eventually I want to run a 5k. It is on the horizon. I know that I am not ready to try C25K again.
I haven't decided for March yet. I'm thinking something about mindfulness or follow through. Or getting into a better sleep pattern. Something outside the primary focus of loseit. I believe this will help me with being more consistent in all things and set some good groundwork for future goals.
Why rush any of it?
TLDR: Be patient with yourself and your goals. Determine what it is that you are actually combating about your lifestyle that keeps you overweight and make a plan to conquer it. If you have trouble sticking with this lifestyle plan, sharpen your focus on one change at a time. If you feel discouraged or frustrated, your goals may be unrealistic for where you are and you should readjust to make it easier on yourself, with the expectation that you will implement those changes when you are ready to.
Also, don't make this journey all about body image or the scale. It is more of a mental fight than a physical one.
For those who have stuck with me through this The results for me after following this path for 4 months is that I have lost around 15lbs. But more importantly, my anxiety issues are significantly better/gone, and I feel more at peace with myself than I have, ever.
Thanks for reading, you guys are awesome.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/f5nsky/follow_your_own_roadmap_and_be_patient_with/
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