Working on consistency

[FairyTales]

Any thoughts on being consistent with workout and food management ? I'm finding it hard to follow routine I make for weight loss. Any suggestion would help me.

[katy9617]

I have the same problem FairyTales. my work schedule is all over the place so I never know when I can exercise even when I will be eating some days! the only thing that seems consistant is that I eat breakfast tho at different times of the day sometimes. do you work at the same time everyday? it is so hard to get into a routine but a routine is the best way to work the program consistently. I usually walk in place now at work as I stand all day as a cashier in a grocery store. I come home from work no matter what time it is and eat some dinner. sleep and get up about 6am to get my hubby off to work. I eat and do some house work, but I have a hard time setting a schedule too. I wish I could be more helpful except to say sometimes you have to make yourself start a new habit and keep following it to make it stick. good luck!

[FairyTales in reply to katy9617]

Thanks Katy9617 for your response. At least I know you saw my msg and replied trying to help me. Since I'm not working which gives me lot of time to work out and keep a track but you know its like "I have all the time in the world, let me complete dishes first or cleaning house or some other thing" takes up priority. But you are right I should start with new habit and try sticking to it.

[katy9617 in reply to FairyTales]

dearest, just because you do not work outside the home does not mean you do not work. I know that working at home is as hard as working outside the home. I am lucky as I get lots of help cleaning etc at home from my grown son. you do not have all the time in the world I realize but perhaps a small good habit to start with? it is never a good idea to try to change everything all at once I know as I have tried. remember, cleaning house is exercise too!

[FairyTales in reply to katy9617]

Thats inspiring ! I have started one more thing.... planning with colors on comp. I keep track of food and drink and 10k steps so I have created a bar graph with all colors in it. When I see bars going up I know I'm working this gives me motivation to keep all colors filled in each bar

[Tiggerr]

Hello FairyTales and welcome

If you look under 'Pinned Posts' there is a Strugglers Club that might provide you with some pointers.

Until recently I was struggling (are we ever not, in some way ). I wrote a list of all the reasons as to why I started, I make sure I plan all my food and drink for the next day, I note every calorie I have during the day and I read my list of reasons several times a day.

The hardest time I have is from 2p.m. until I go to sleep, so I have a daily tick chart to tick off each hour that I don't stray from my menu.

After 5 weeks of sticking to the plan above, things appear to be coming more routine.

As for your workouts, are you doing things you enjoy and that are easy to do?

[katy9617 in reply to Tiggerr]

hey tiggerr, it is good to see that even after 5 weeks I have someone that struggles too. I am sorry you struggle of course but it is nice to see as always I am not the only one. I love the idea of writing a list of why you started this new way of living to begin with. it is truly genius. sometimes I forget why I am doing this at all. I get frustrated because I feel like I cannot have that bit of chocolate then I could binge. I have the hardest time too before bed as all I want to do is eat... usually the wrong things. I must begin to plan my day better. it sounds like a really good idea. thanks for the motivation!

[Tiggerr in reply to katy9617]

That was my problem Katy in that I've got such a goldfish memory that I can 'forget' from one minute to the next. The list is written on an open document on my laptop, in fact it's written down several times in different colours. I have to keep reading it as my tick chart is next to it

I have the same pre-bed munchie attack. Lots of water is a big friend of mine and I've got into the routine of have two or three satsumas/tangerines late evening and if I'm still having trouble then an apple.

I know it all sounds monotonous and boring but if that's the only thing that will work for me then I'll just have to deal with that. I try to be inventive and exciting with my food so at least that's not tedious.

I know you're a strong character Katy and I know you can do it.

[Hidden in reply to Tiggerr]

Poor memory might indicate a thyroid problems and the test the GP use to diagnose is not considerred reliable by huge numbers of people including quite a few doctors these days. It would be worth you posting on thyroid uk with any health symptoms and weight problems for some expert advice. There are also some vitamin deficiencys that can affect memory that Thyroid uk would also know about.

[Tiggerr in reply to Hidden]

At the moment I don't think it's across the board memory but more a case of maintaining a specific focus on something I'm just not used to doing.

Definitely something to consider mandyjane, if I decide I'm forgetting too much.

[Hidden in reply to Tiggerr]

For me the memorys problems were about being easily distracted.

[FairyTales in reply to Tiggerr]

Thanks Tigger....that's really helpful ..listing reason why I started. I do keep track of food and drinks and maintain it in myfitnesspal. This keeps me under control.

[pcrw Maintainer Healthy BMI]

Hi Fairy tales

I bought a Fitbit and found it very helpful in keeping me to my 10000step pledge

I treated myself at the airport to the new Nokia HR which also counts steps and heart rate and you can swim in it so it counts that exercise too. So that’s my incentive and reward

[FairyTales in reply to pcrw]

Yes thats what I have started now...counting steps with Samsung Phone. This helps too apart from keeping track of food and drinks

[Hidden]

You are probably undereating which will make food hard to resist and you might also be depriving yourself of the food you most enjoy. To lose weightand maintain weight loss you need to eat the same amount of food as your body needs not less then for some reason you will lose slowly but consistantly.In the same way as an anerexic person will gain weight if they start eating normally anddo not need to overeat to gain an over weight person just needs to eat normally to lose weight.

I have seen probably hundreds of peoplewho haveaimed to eat normallyand have lost sometimes vast amounts of weight and kept it off for often years and years.

The best way to do this is to use a calorie count site to calculate a maintenance number of calories for youand keep an eye on your calorie intake. This will enable you to also enjoythefood you really enjoy.

Weight gain and loss is a very complex business, really is likerocket science with so many factors involved in thedevelpoment of a weight issue and I dont think there is anything in the world about which there is so much misinformation.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

Hello FairyTales

I'm also not working. I tend to use pen and paper to record what I'm up to. When I started the 12 week plan, I used the weekly planner to record my calories daily and started a notebook listing foods I frequently used, and recipes/meals. I still use that notebook but now I have a big desk diary and write my meals for the day in there each morning. I also record my 5 a day and exercise, though I often fall down on both of those.

You've had a few suggestions, so decide on what will work to keep you focused. Changing old habits doesn't always come easy and I'm still making adjustments, but that can be part of the fun of it, if you make sure you're enjoying your food and activity

[FairyTales in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thats true Marymanc. For now I have started keeping track of food and drinks and started with 10k steps.