Need some mental support!

[balance23]

Hi ladies!

I have posted on here before but always keep up to date on the topics being discussed!
basically here is my problem.
I am a Dietitian---i know all the ins and outs on diet and i know what my body needs. I also train heavy weights 3 times a week and will admit i overdo it on the cardio---5-6days a week 30-45min at a time (some of that I am teaching).
I was always a very healthy person--believeing in the essence of nutrition and exercise---it is like my anti-depressant--exercise that is.
I am a very happy person with my life, my boyfriend, my family etc.
But over the last 2 months i seem to not be able to get it right.
I have been needing to lose 20lbs (now 154lbs, 5'4'')--and i keep getting off track. I feel it is mostly because i use to be reallly hard on myself with food and now that i am tryign to ease up but still lose fat is playing with my mind.
I am jsut looking for some encouraging stories to help me get out of this low! My man always gives me those words but it helps to hear it from other females---i look forward to hearing from you

THanks

[nacersusaf]

How are you getting off track? It sounds like you are consistent with your training, so I am assuming then that it is your nutritional program that you are having trouble sticking with?

[balance23]

YEah the training stays pretty consistent and the cardio allows me to break from the discouragement of not staying on track with food.

I have been through periods of self-inflicted deprivation (as most dieters have)--but i was never overweight until the last two years. Now i need to drop 20lbs to get back to an ideal weight.

I jsut wanted to hear others secrets to staying honest and on track. I will eat well and then get discouraged and ruin it with a normally forbidden food---itd be okay if i ate just a small amt of this food but i get so upset that i eat lots the rest of the day and sometimes the rest of the week---

Hope to hear some encouraging words=)

[lorabeann]

i have the same problem you have. like you, i love nutrition. you obviously have a passion for it since you went in to the field. our problem... like the subject of your post- is our mentality. our psychological perspective is obviously holding us back from something. either we are going at it too hard or what.

i have a very extreme personality. so when i want to do something i give it 110%. for some reason i continue to go off track when it comes to food. i have tried pin-pointing it. when i want to eat a lot i ask myself- "what is bothering you" or "is it that time of month or close to it"?

honestly, i haven't conquered this yet. its a mental game i have been playing for wayyy too long. and its something i am not at peace with myself about. i think i'm still 'searching' for something and am yet to find it.

this post probably isn't all that helpful... but im just letting you know that you aren't alone. we all have the means to get to our goals. everything is laid out right in front of us. now we just have to beat out those inner voices holding us back...

[Angela R]

A few questions for you. Where are your extra 20lbs coming from? Like what are your evils. Like I LOVE pepsi and chocolate. When I want it I'll debate with myself, I'll do extra cardio or its just one can or its just one piece. Is this what you are having issues with, just being able to say no when the temptation comes up. Do you mentally crave these food fixes? Or do you find that it is just you'll go out to eat and end up ordering too much or eating all the wrong things?

The reason I ask all of this is because when I was getting ready to do my cut diet I had to face a lot of decisions on how I was going to deal with my Pepsi addiction. Competing was something I really wanted to do, so I had to choose between the pepsi or the competition. So I stopped bringing money into work with me. No money to visit the snack macihne or the 7 day store we have meant no pepsi, no temptation. And I don't keep soda at my house. I stopped going out to eat until I got it into my mind set that even though I was eating out I still needed to order healthy choices.

So what I am getting at is maybe sit down and figure out what your evil is and how you can control it or put yourself in a controlled environment/position to avoid it.

Good luck with your goals =) Angela

[slecompte]

Everyone hits lows from time to time....you're running things through your mind and driving yourself crazy..to be extreme or not to be extreme? That's the ?.. You do need to find a happy medium...I've gone through ruts myself...I've been consistant with training and write everything down...but I reached the point of burnout after I did a swimsuit contest I stressed myself too much and listened to others remarks and all of this along with how hard I am on myself already just tore me down...so I started the approach of taking it easy not stressing as much..meaning I didn't journal my diet...this just added pounds to me...I was eating healthy but my amounts and I think carbs screwed me up....I had great success with carb cycling and after starting back journaling and reaccessing everything and reading over old journals and reading as much fitness and nutrition articles such as oxygen it helped pull me through

Your conscience can be your motivation or your worst enemy especially when it comes to getting down on yourself for not being perfect....remember babe noone is perfect...you'll get it together and pull through just take a deep breath and look at what you did in the past that brought you results

I can't stress enough how great keeping your diet journal is ....
I hope this has helped and maybe brought a little comfort

[Suelou]

Balance, I think we ALL go through this from time to time! I have 20 lbs left to lose as well, but I've lost 62 over the last 5 months. (Okay, some of it was a baby, but still!) I came from eating fast food and junk constantly for 2 years, to training hard and cleaning my diet up. It is HARD to resist the temptation sometimes!

I'll tell you what I do...I cheat a few times per week. Usually the cheats are something I really love, but I know it has to be more low fat and health conscious than I normally like it...for example, if I really want pizza and that's what my family is eating, I'll allow myself to eat it, but I get cheese on thin crust and I decide, before I sit down how many pieces I'm going to eat. I've looked up nutritional facts on all of my "cheat foods" and I know what I can fit into my calorie intake without completely blowing it, if that makes sense. I also used to love chocolate, so I bought peanut butter/chocolate chip rice cakes, and when I'm really craving, I eat one. I also used to eat a lot of cheeseburgers, now I buy lean ground beef, fat-free cheese, and eat it on toasted low-carb wheat bread.

There is also usually once a week when I plan to go overboard, french fries, something fried, and I just know if I do that, I have to fit in another cardio session that week, and it is NOT an option not to! It's really become a mind game that I play with myself, when I'm sweating my rear off on the treadmill, I'm also planning dinner, and I eat right after I'm done at the gym so the hard work I just did is fresh on my mind.

And TONS of water! If you fall off, eat something horrendous, go work out to make yourself feel better about it and KEEP GOING! Dust yourself off, get back on track and vow to do better next time. Good luck!