How to Get Focus and Inspiration?

I recently posted a similar question. I'm really struggling to find motivation. I was always thin up until the last few years. Then in the last 14 months I have gained over 40 lbs. I am so depressed about it all the time but can't find the motivation to lose it. It's so hard. I don't really have any advice since I have no success story myself, but just wanted to say good luck. I wish you the best.

What's been working for me is tracking all my food intake and exercise output on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ (There's even an app for that!)

Also, my husband has finally agreed to get with the program and he's my fitness partner now. With him on board there's less sabotaging and temptation around. It's hard to watch him eat like someone trying to maintain their weight while I'm on a calorie restrictive diet in an attempt to lose.

Something to track your progress + Someone to hold you accountable = GOAL

Good for you! It isn't easy! In my household we use the Meditarranean diet with many salads for the adults and some chicken or fish but no beef. An internet search will give you more details. We have the "Meditarranean diet for dummies" book at our house.
1. This may NOT be appropriate for your kids but it is definitely working for my husband - he is actively pushing us onto this diet because he wants to lose weight and he is seeing the benefits.
2. Exercise that is appropriate for your body is part of it...walking is also good and may work better for you right now (make sure the shoes are appropriate to give you support) - see if you can get a walking buddy?
3. Check in with your health care provider on your blood pressure. Consider asking for thyroid test because the thyroid impacts your metabolism and can change over time. Let your health care provider know about your back and hip issues (so they make sure there isn't something else that needs attention). In my husbands case, he also has scoliosis but by having a gradual exercise program and some yoga, it is helping him to be able to do more exercise. He also spent some time with a local chiropractor. Right now he is just doing Hatha yoga and additional regular exercise and we have our Meditarrean salads for dinner at night and we have oatmeal for breakfast.

It takes time to create new patterns.

I also have friends that used the social meetings with weight watchers and had success with their local program.

I believe you have many choices:-)

Write back and let us know your progress:-)

C.
mom of three

Have you tried talking to your doctor about getting actual pain relief? I was recently suffering from several issues (back, hip, tendonitis) and my doctor gave me a script for prescription-strength naproxen; the ibuprofen wasn't cutting it any more. That may address the pain issue.

Focus is harder. Changing habits is harder. I'm dealing with some of this right now and I have to say, changing our thinking about food is part of it. Not the 'I deserve a bowl of chips tonight while watching tv' thinking, but the 'okay, so I had a few chips and sort of blew it this evening, but this doesn't have to be a habit'.

I know that I sometimes feel entitled to something yummy after a hard day. My weakness is for salty crunchy foods. Part of the strategy is just not even buying them or bringing them into the house. The other part is developing the habit of NOT eating them because I do not want to stay this size forever.

And walking helps, a lot. If you have a good pair of shoes, it is relatively low-impact and you can do a lot of steps in a short amount of time, believe it or not. Even if you can't go to the gym in the evening, tell your husband you need an hour to go and walk. If walking in your neighborhood isn't great, consider a treadmill.

My strategy for getting sidetracked is to acknowledge that it's just a bump in the road, but not the end of the road. Today, for example, I didn't get the jump on things and get my steps in early enough-- I don't do well in the heat. Tomorrow I'm going to go and walk in the morning instead.

It's not easy for me, either. What keeps me going? Knowing that it will be easier to find clothes that fit for me as I lose weight. Knowing that on the days I do walk, I have more energy and am in a better mood. Inventory the benefits and enjoy them. I don't have any other great advice, just prioritize it and schedule it. Some days, I'm not as good at this as others, but being loving with oneself is knowing that we do make mistakes but don't have to throw in the towel or beat ourselves up. Tomorrow is another day!

Forget all the diets, will power sermons, motivation levels.

Get in touch with your body.

Understand how our muscles work, how your metabolism works and slows down each year you get older. If you work out every day, you won't feel the results for about 2 weeks. Then you won't actually see the results for another 2 weeks. And others won't see results themselves for another 2 weeks. But after that, if you keep it up, you'll keep going and the lbs will start melting right off!

Read up on how your heart and muscles work when your BMI is high and then when it is low. Read up on your organs - what they are there for and what is good/bad for them.

Change your palette.

Take a bite of something and be more aware of what you're tasting, and how it affects your blood sugar, mood, appetite, and how full (or not full) it makes you.

Eat slower. Enjoy your food. This means savoring your food. This also means eating better quality food. Its easy to inhale a burger and fries drowned in ketchup. But its better and maybe even more fun to eat a gourmet burger, perhaps topped with blue cheese or eat baked fries seasoned with italian herbs instead of just salt.

I've never known anyone who hasn't become healthier and lost even some weight by just a little change in their diet and excercise. You can do it! Good luck.

Look for the book, "One Meal At A Time". I can't remember who wrote it and I got mine at Goodwill. It has such great advice. The gist of the book is that you change "one meal at a time". Start with breakfast, figure out 4-5 "meals" your family likes and are healthy, then replace ONLY your breakfast every day with your new healthier choices...eat the rest of your meals and snacks as normal. Do this until it becomes HABIT, about 6-8 weeks. Then once you have breakfast down, you do the same for lunch, then dinner then snacks. The point is that we tend to eat the same 8-15 meals over and over again so just find HEALTHY replacements and switch them. Also drink a LOT more water. And you don't have to exercise a ton, but do SOMETHING, like 20 jumping jacks then add to that once that is easy for you. I hope this helps. Good luck.

After having tried many things from WW to Jenny Craig, Hypnotherapy, Meditation (although I think this actually works)
to Vigorous diet and exercise with trainers, who really didn't understand the body of a woman in her late 30s and trained me like I was 18... not bad, except it over-worked my body and I sustained injury.. also.. let's face it, the body of someone older is not that of someone younger.. no excuses. but body chemistry DOES change (hear that trainers)
anyway.....................
finally........... I joined OA..... I've been in it less than year and I've lost 8 lbs.. I have about 15 more to go... depends how I feel :) Anyway, more than the weight, that which I have lost that was really weighing me down were OLD mindsets.. mindsets that kept me locked into the past.... Since working the program, not only has the thin veil of depression that has followed me around for years, left....... BUT.. I just feel happier.. and when I feel happier. I just eat less..
OA is less about losing weight (although that is a great sidebar) and more about recovery.. recovering from all the things that drove a person to eat in the first place... I think it's important to get to the root of the problem... find out what your triggers are... find out about you from the inside out..

what's great about the program is... it's FREE... you can go online to OA.ORG and answer a few questions.. see if it's for you.. they have meetings all over town and at all hours.. I've had to check out a few before I found the right one for me... why not give OA a try.. what do you have to lose

good luck

I just joined healthywage.com yesterday. An on-line community where you put down money and if you lose the weight they give you double your money back or if you don't then you lose the money. Talk about an incentive!

Also, think about the foods you can eat instead of what you can't. That has helped me tremendously. I have been on a gluten free diet for 2 years and when I changed my thoughts it made it so much easier for me to stick to it. I am trying to do a 100% Paleo diet starting today - that has always been the best diet for me based on my body type.

I am on a weight loss journey too - PM me if you want to talk different strategies or support.

I have been blessed with a sensible appetite, and a yearning for exercise. Both make me feel good. Being presented with too much food on my plate is a challenge for me. I feel full too quickly and then feel uncomfortable, bloated, and lethargic.

Despite years of being pushed towards three meals, I am a natural grazer and have kept at that, because frankly, it works for me.

My husband has struggled with his weight for decades, and ultimately got a lap band done. One of his diet books which I read too, which seemed to make the most sense to me is an oldie, it is the Allen Carr book, titled something like the Easy Way to Weigh Less, or the Easy Weigh to Loose Weight.

It helps you focus on how to eat enough but not too much, on the consequences of overeating and eating the wrong foods. It advocates a slow and steady approach rather than a radical diet and life long change.

My last suggestion would be to get/ foster or volunteer to walk a dog (maybe for an elderly shut in). Dogs are wonderful motivators. They have to be walked twice a day, most are eager to go an extra block and to get a bit of a run in. Guarranteed fitness program.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.