I became incredibly depressed when I got on the scale and had gone from my lowest weight (in recent years) of 124 back up to 129. I gained 5 lbs in two months. I almost felt sick. How could I let this happen? Why did I spend the last 8 months working my ass off (literally) to backslide a full 5 lbs? This is probably the point where I could have just said fuck it and continued to eat how I was and only working out twice a week, however this is not what I want. So, how do I find the motivation to get back on the horse?
I took a step back and reminded myself of where I had been. 3 years ago, I weighed 150 lbs. The heaviest I had ever been in my life. I was unhealthy and did not work out ever. I decided that day to start going to the gym. I started with just exercise as the main means to loose weight. From 2014 to 2015 I really didn't lose any weight. I had been working out for months with no result. I decided to boost my workouts from personal training with random cardio days to a more structured twice a week cardio/weight training class. I still didn't want to diet but after about 3 months with no weight loss I was frustrated. Maybe it really is 75% what you eat and 25% at the gym. This is when I started the full blown dieting and tracking from my previous post.
I was mostly successful with keeping my calorie goals under what I was burning even though I still wouldn't eat vegetables. Over 8 months I watched my clothes get bigger and the scale numbers get smaller. I felt really motivated and was seeing actual results. Tracking it visually was also a huge motivator to keep me going. I feel this is probably why when I had stopped visually tracking each month, I wasn't paying as close attention to my eating habits.
So after two weeks of being "back on the horse" I haven't lost weight. I am hovering between 127 - 129 lbs depending on the day. I always weigh myself first thing in the morning to eliminate any daytime eating and drinking fluctuations. I also started visually tracking my weekly totals as I had been previously. I think after almost a year I might be willing to entertain vegetables. I don't feel like I will ever feel full by continuing to eat minuscule portions of pasta for almost every meal. I am starting to get used to feeling hungry often but I know I can't live the rest of my life being constantly hungry. This is a time I truly wish I wasn't such a picky eater. I really only like carbs of any kind and dairy. Cheese is life. Starting small is going to be the key. Eat a vegetable I can tolerate at first and go from there. I'll get back to you on how well that works in a few months. If anyone has good recipes for picky vegetable eaters I'm all ears.
So I'll leave you with a parting reminder that even if you haven't reached your goals doesn't mean you aren't making progress. At least you are trying.
- Basic B
