Complacency

Its funny how this process has its way of letting you know when you are getting a little too big for your britches. I have been a bit shall we say liberal with my eating lately. I have been exercising a lot and while I stick to the plan for the most part, I have let a few things slip in here and there and maybe had an uplanned beer or two. I got complacent. I started to believe the normal rules do not apply to me because I am working my ass off and no matter what I do I can take it right back off just as fast as I put it on. Which so far has been true. But here is the net effect. In the past month I have had a net of 0 lbs lost. I have been bouncing back and forth between the same weights for about 4 weeks now. 

Its funny how this gets away from you. You see the scale up a bit but then the next day right back down. So in your head you have this under control. But then you look at the trend and holy crap its an entire month lost with no loss. I know I have been warned by all the vets this would happen and as usual they were right. Now I am not spiraling out of control or anything. I have not stopped exercising and I am not looking for any additional motivation to "get back on track" as I am not really off track. I am not stalled. I am not losing faith or hope. I am throwing this out to you all as my experience with letting little things slip into your diet that are not planned. No little bites of birthday cake followed by your buddy going "c'mon just one beer with me...its been months". It all adds up. Hopefully I am not contradicting my life balance speech here because I think having normalcy in your life is important too, you just need to make sure it fits into your plan.

Thanks for the reminder Keith!!

I can certainly relate! I've been maintaining a weight that is still too heavy for me for the last month. I know why this is, no mystery, I also know what I need to do. The time to reactivate operation weight loss begins today for me!

Deidra

Great post!  We're around the same time period out from surgery, and I can totally relate.  For me, it's more of the internal dialog than actually following through, but the process is the same.  It's easy to get complacent especially for me, so I have to constantly sit myself down and say, "What do you want more?  These last five pounds off or a couple drinks/dinner/cupcake/whatever?"  It's a battle, and I refuse to give up.  I'm also not good with balance, and I know that's not the same for you.  I'm better with absolutes, so I'm trying to just be true to my truths :)

Yes, that is for sure what my problem is, the problem for me lately is that I give in. "Oh just one bite won't hurt." Well one doesn't but if you always give in, it tends to add up.

This reminds me of a behavior modification book and workbook I read years ago.  It's the Beck Diet Solution, and the author talks about when you give in, you're strengthening your "give in" muscle, but if you refrain, you're strengthening your (ahh can't remember exactly) "diet muscle".  Basically over time if you strengthen the right muscle it becomes easier and easier to refrain.  I being very human, don't always follow it, but I do still think about which muscle I'm strengthening at any times like these.   

Hi Keith,

I can totally relate to this.  Lately, I've really been struggling to maintain that "sense of urgency" around weight loss.  I've lost quite a bit of weight, not as much as you, but over 110 pounds since surgery and yet I still have a long way to go.  The weight is still coming off, a little slower than before (I was losing around 10 pounds a month pretty consistently, for the last two months its been around 5 to 7 pounds a month), but it's harder and harder to stick to the strict 800 cals or less and 40 carbs or less.  Not that food controls my life, but it's so tempting to say "I've been so diligent for so long, don't I deserve a glass of wine with friends now and then?"  "Balance" is a word I've been thinking a lot about lately.  I keep telling myself just to stay focused for a few more months until I can get this weight off once and for all.  But my mind wanders and the excuses start coming -- one glass of wine, once a week leads to another, then a bite of chocolate, then a nibble of something else yummy that's not on plan.  The other mind game I struggle with is that I feel really good where I am.  It's a lower weight than I've seen in a long, long time and I don't even remember a time when I was at 'goal' weight -- I can't really visualize myself there.  I know that I'm technically still obese, and there are things about my body that could definitely be improved, but wow, I've come a long way.  It's easy to think that it's enough, it's tough to motivate myself to keep moving toward a goal that I can't really relate to all that well.  Keeping my head in the game is the hardest part of all (and probably always will be!).  At the same time, this is one of those really important lessons for success.  Learning to regroup and refocus is probably the most important thing we can learn to do for ourselves.  That, and trying to have faith in the process.  Thank goodness that we have each other to help with the head stuff!

 

Thanks for your post today.

I'm right there with you! This morning when I weighed, I told myself..."I guess this is how you live in maintenance".  The problem is that I still have 15 lbs. to lose. I'm not doing bad, and I'm still getting my walks in.....but I've also gotten complacent. This is only temporary though, I will get there, this I am confident of.

While you are farther along than I am I totally get what you are saying.  I have gotten complacent with exercise.  We have been very active this summer but I have not been doing any planned exercise and I need to do that.  Diet will not always be enough and I am sure that is why the scale is not moving as fast as it had been.

Thank you for the pep talk!

Sadly, I believe this is a struggle we will have to deal with... FOREVER.