Lost motivation again

[Risy]

So.. Last week I had an interview that meant I had to travel and stay away from home for 2 nights.. I automatically switched off diet mode and I now struggle to re-focus. I weighed myself and I had gotten back a whole kilo and this has really affected my will to stay on a diet. So what I need is some sort of a confidence boost and some magic motivation potion to help me get back on track... Can anyone give some words of advice on how to achieve that again...?

[IndigoBlue61]

I’m sorry there isn’t a magic potion Risy . . . And it is always a struggle getting back after a break ☹️ However, it is physically impossible to gain a whole kilo of fat in 2 days, this is most likely fluid due to changes in eating. (Especially if you’ve been on more carbohydrates or sugar ☹️) My advice to you is get over to the Daily Diary, pledge what you will eat today and then pop back later on to the What’s Happening thread and share your success at sticking to plan 😊. If you feel tempted through out the day, come on here and talk to us, there’s always someone around

[Risy 1kg in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Probably you are right... Thanks

[topgeargirl212]

Hey Risy

first of all: there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with going off track a little bit every now and then.

Firstly, weight gain like this will most likely be a result of water, as eating more carbohydrates & salt (which is usually what we tend to eat when we "fall off" the wagon) so that weight should go away again quite quickly by simply going back to your normal eating.

I'd recommend to NOT try to compensate by limiting your calorie intake or exercising excessively as it will really damage your relationship with food and possibly lead to a vicious guilt-restrict-binge-guilt-restrict-binge cycle. 1kg is just a number. It does not define who you are - if your best friend told you this same story, what would you advise/tell her? We always tend to be so much harder on ourselves

Same goes for putting on weight over a holiday or Christmas - you're meant to indulge from time to time, and enjoy yourself - you'll not think back to that "one Christmas where you didn't put on any weight because you didn't indulge like the rest of the family" and think "oh yeah, that was a great year".

Lastly, some thoughts on overall diet. Key to long-term fatloss is consistency - if you usually eat a nutritious, well balanced diet (including everything, CARBS, PROTEIN AND FAT), having the occasional over-indulgence wont change a thing.

Important is to get your basic right - first of all, what do you mean by "diet mode"? It is impossible to sustain any restrictive diet on the long term - if you hate it, you will not stick with it - period. If you want to loose weight try and do it in the most basic way - small reduction of calories. Fatloss is a simple mathematic: fewer calories in than out - it's called energy balance.

And I don't mean to do anything crazy drastic - aim for 100-200kcal per day deficit over a longer period of time. Make sure you still allow yourself the occasional treat - I lost 23kgs by simply doing that over a three year period, and I still allowed myself pizza, doughnuts and all the stuff I love. What matters is not the daily intake but the prolonged intake over a week or even a month. If you are averaging out on 100-200kcal deficit a day (e.g. 1200 per week, 4200 per month) you will loose around 0.5-.1lbs of fat.

Portion control was key: everything is oversized, if you buy a ready pizza it has almost 1200 kcal, more than half my daily intake - so what I did was just share one with my partner and having a large salad with it instead - so I still got the "full" satisfaction from the taste, but I limited a little bit. That being said, I always aim for 80/20 - 80% of time I will eat wholesome foods like vegetables, lean meats, fish, rice, brown pasta etc - and 20% of time I will just eat whatever I want.

Best thing I can recommend is LOAD UP ON NON-STARCHY VEGGIES. Mix it up, every week I have like a "veggie of the week", try out new things and give them more than one chance - e.g. I hate raw celery but I discovered I loved it when grilled?

I went a bit off topic here but in short, seriously don't worry, just go back to eating normal, chuck those scales OUT if they make you unhappy and panicky and just try to educate yourself a bit more on nutrition if you really want to loose a bit more weight. At the end of the day your worth is not defined by a number!

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to topgeargirl212]

I love your idea of veggie of the week and keeping the interest up. Celery has been a big turnaround for me, too. I love it cooked in butter, then I can eat it as a side veg or in an omelette or even mixed into a cheese sauce to top cauliflower and/or broccoli.

You might like to join in the Edible Alphabet post that Misslovely is running

This post explains how the forum works and how to find your way around healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

I would recommend joining a weekly weigh in on the day of your choice or, if you have reached a weight you are happy with, check out the Maintainers' Club.

There's plenty to get involved with and I hope you'll become an active member of this fabulous forum

[Risy 1kg in reply to topgeargirl212]

Hi Topgeargirl, thank you! You are absolutely right.. I need to see the big picture and the long term plan and not just focus on 2 bad days....

(by diet mode I meant not binging and watching my portions - That's my diet plan)

So back to plan, be more mindful of what I eat, and might try some of your advice on food...