NankeS's Journal, 18 May 20

Your nearly half way there!!!! Don't be disheartened. You have done great so far!! 🌸  

People keep saying it’s a lifestyle change(No shit Sherlock) but how do we get that lifestyle change right, is the secret I would like to know. Food is my crutch. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke or take anything to take the edge off. I eat. And I meditate too but I don’t always have the willpower to stay away from the high calorie dense foods. I recently heard from one YouTube channel. That you should eat, like your thinner self would eat. Fake it, till you make it. Would your thinner self eat 3 doughnuts? Will your thinner self eat junk and no salad? Fake it till you make it, I heard lol so I’m going to try it... it’s mostly mental. Change your mental mentality. And you are set for life. The problem is, my mental state keeps changing 😂 🤯 

it does take *°'ing hard work to make it a lifestyle but it's so worth it!! it's all I wanted for years. I didn't want life to feel like I was permanently dieting to lose by a certain date. because ultimately that date never came and I would give in after 7-9kgs because I never had the endurance to push past the first plateau. fast forward to now and I can share the tools that worked for me to get me to 22kg loss and that will continue working for me through the next phase of this thing. firstly. tracking your calories is your best friend. if you bite it! write it! be honest with yourself, no point in secret eating (yes I do, and yes I am a major secret eater -years of emotional abuse as a child regards food) next - what I put on my plate is weighed out first. a cup of this or a half of that didn't work for me, so now I see my food in grams and calories. this gives me much more control. count the food you deem sinful... you'll realise soon that maybe it's not as bad as you thought or maybe it's not worth wasting tasty calories on and would be better to drink a g&t instead. I also keep a habit tracker. (see Google/bullet journal/habit tracker) each month I choose 3-5 areas of personal growth I want to work on. for example, this month I'm drinking less coffee and not having sugar in every cup and I'm also aiming to do an 18 hour fast at least 3-4 times a week. and also. give yourself a break, you didn't fail if you ate too much chocolate, you're not a loser for eating bread. but don't let one ott meal become a week or month of poor/guilt/self deprecation eating ♥️  

side note on habit trackers... they are great visual aids to keep you accountable to yourself and when you check back after a few days and realise you haven't been tracking, it quickly gets your head back in the game. 

Don't weigh in so often n track... U can't go wrong!  

I'm in the same boat, always on a diet. Even though I have reached my goal weight, I gain a little, and then have to lose it again. I lost 35 kg's to get here and maintenance is a nightmare! Much harder than loosing because there is no goal. I've never understood the "lifestyle change" explanation. If I had the ability to always eat healthy and only eat "1 slice of cake when I feel like it", I wouldn't have a weight problem in the first place! I can say that I have tried every diet, and every diet works. You just need to find one that you personally can stick to for a long time. I find that I can stick to my diet for about 3 weeks, and then something goes wrong... usual the Doritos in the blue packet, and it's all downhill from there. Find your diet, the one that you can stick to for long periods without loosing your mind, and hang in there. It is hard, but nothing is harder than looking in the mirror everyday and not liking what you see. 

Question - as long as you eat the amount of calories you supposed to in the day, can you eat anything you want?  

@fattygogo why don't you try add some exercise to your day? Or have you done that? Doing all the hard work with a great diet is well supported with some anaerobic exercise. Or even "just" yoga..  

I have never won the diet war. I just try to exercise and burn more than what I eat. There are so many new fads on the market exercise wise, there must be something to tickle your fancy.. 😜🌻 

@natasha - Restricting calories is a big help... But no, a lot has to do with the kinds of food I eat as well. Certain foods like bread and pasta make me super bloated and eggs and avo do wonders for me... Foods high in sodium may not affect one person but affect another. I can eat dairy, but my husband is really sensitive to it and also has cholesterol so it's a no for him... Counting calories is a par of it, but knowing what foods affect your body and how is equally important. 

@jessicaj I excercise twice a day for an hour at a time and am currently 14% body fat. However, I have never been able to out-exercise a bad diet and will definitely gain a few kilo's even exercising with a week of eating rubbish. I hear a lot of people say "the more you exercise, the more you want to exercise...." Been at it for 5 years and have yet to want to workout. It's always a battle of wills between my lazy self and the self that likes not hearing the thunder part of my thighs clap together when I run. I think that I am part of that group of people that will always be at war with weight. Can't let your guard down for too long or it'll sneak up on you when you're sleeping! 

Check out Happy Shrinkers on Facebook 😉 

Wow. What a great response! Thanks for the encouragement Latkspur! Gluttonchops...You really had me laughing there. But yes obviously the mental state has everything to do with it because the mind controls everything. So if the mind is a peace and stress free, of course it would be easy. But we don't life in that kind of world so we need to find a place in the mind that is the as close as we can get. Shereen Donede...I have counted calories in the past.☝🏻BUT I'm a person that has to do everything I do 110% or I feel that I'm failing. So when I did calorie counting, I would count EVERY single thing. If the whole family was getting together I fuss about that calorie value everything has, what that weighs, would this make my gain, what if I eat this and not that. I realized it became an obsession. Wasn't a mentally "healthy" thing for me. Fatty go go....Well done for the constant exercising. I know people tend to say that "as soon as you start seeing results, it becomes a obsession". I get that "quote" and I understand as to why they would say that. I'm not a person that will exercise unless my diet is 110% because I just feel like I'm wasting my time otherwise. But I guess some exercise is better then nothing. I started this challenge on FatSecret, Lose 5kg's in 5 weeks, I gained thr most thus far out of 31 people. Obviously some of them are lying about their weightloss...2 days into the challenge on member lost 12,5kg. 😂 Ahhh well at the end of the day, We have to be honest about our diets and deal with stress. Good luck everyone and thanks for the comments. Stay strong family. 💪🏼 

I am so sick 🤢of this nonsensical repeat failed diet cycle myself. I am 52 and have also been on every regime out there 😱🤷🏼‍♀️I have had a mental mind switch (since Lockdown) and am taking it day-by-day. One step at a time with kindness to myself (and using much motivation from this group) you are all awesome. I love the fake-it-till-you-make it idea 🤣 From today I am thin in my mind and there is no need for 3 donuts...🤣 😅👍 Food has been my comfort up to now and this habit has been my downfall. I am replacing it with a few other things depending on the situation: eg: jogging (I run very slowly and I am very short- hence the term jog 😅), yoga, Pilates, reading, YouTube inspiration, knitting, sewing , dancing, listening to the radio and keeping the fridge door closed 🤣. Keep going everyone, the results will come. 💯