Fear And Doubt Make Themselves At Home With A Glass Of Lemonade: Patsfan's Journey

yeah.. be patient. it will happen how are you sure of your portions? are you weighin it? if your misjudging portions that could vary your calorie intake significantly
 
I'm trying to be patient, I really am! But I did go on a bit of a bender this weekend. I took the weekend off from the gym, hung out with my sister, ate too much (pizza and Chinese food, too!) and was depressed about my lack of progress.:mad:

On the brighter side, I did do some yardwork, took the dogs for a walk in the woods and have generally decided that regardless of what the scale says I should be pleased that going to the gym so much has to be having some positive effect on my body, even if it's effects I can't see, like my blood pressure, or good cholesterol, blah blah blah. The only thing is, while I am trying get fit, I'm also trying to get my weight down, and it is so frustrating. I've been on the other side of it, too, telling others that they need to be patient, but it's taken me weeks to lose just a couple of pounds, and last week I lost none, even though I was great with my diet and went to the gym five times...I just don't know what more to do. I'm sure I didn't work this hard at it the last time I lost weight.:(
 
patience grasshopper patience...

as long as you're doing what you're supposed tobe doing -you will see results.. sometimes it just happens slower than we hope...

Have you taken measurements and are you seeing any kind progress there?
 
yeah.. be patient. it will happen how are you sure of your portions? are you weighin it? if your misjudging portions that could vary your calorie intake significantly

I'm pretty positive my portions are right on. I know a piece of chicken should be like a deck of cards (I'll eat a bit more than that though, when it's a roasted, boneless, skinless chicken breast, after all, and so much protein...), a serving of pasta 1 cup, cereal one cup, and I know visually what those look like too.

But 99% of the time, I'm eating prepackage servings of oatmeal, skim milk, fat free/low carb salad dressing, low fat cheese, low sugar fat free yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, Low fat/calorie frozen meals at lunch (also having read the nutrition info so there's not too many carbs) low fat string cheese, no refined sugars except for 2 packets of sugar in my a.m. coffee, fat free creamer, etc, etc. even if I did go a little over on these foods (although so many of them are already individual serving sizes when I buy them!), it wouldn't amount to a whole lot of calories.

So I still don't have any answers. I just hope in a couple of weeks I'll be reporting some steady progress. In the meantime, I can only try not to think abot it, keep my head down, and keep going. :eek:
 
Warning: not feeling positive today.

Boy I sound so contrary today- sorry to be so negative. I slept terribly and woke up bawling from a nightmare I had about my dogs. I think it's the worst nightmare I've ever had.

So I'm tired. And a little sad. And it's raining.
 
Nightmares suck... :( and there's no rule thast says you ahve to be suzie sunshsine all the time

are you sure you're getting enouhg calories?
 
Nightmares suck... :( and there's no rule thast says you ahve to be suzie sunshsine all the time

are you sure you're getting enouhg calories?

Thanks Mal! For some reason I DO feel like I need to be Suzie Sunshine sometimes. I think in part it's because my boyfriend suffers from depression so I try to stay upbeat for both our sakes.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting between 1500-2000 day. Generally no more than 1700/day, though.

I should mention that I did start out lower for about a month- at about 1400/day, so I suppose that could have screwed me a little...
 
So I've been putting off reading the sticky about why water is so important to weight loss, because, well, I'm terrible about drinking water and hadn't added it back into my program. the last time I lost a good amount of weight was the first time in my life where I was drinking enough water. I swear i've been dehydrated all my life. I don't remember drinking much water as a kid. It was always milk or juice. In college, the tap water was gross and I didn't have money for bottled water...but then, I think it was more about beer anyway.

So I'm hoping this is a contributing factor to my weight loss stall. I'm in it too early to be plateuing already. I think I stumbled a bit on the caloric intake, so I've raised it. I also just went out and stocked up on a bunch of 2.5 gallon jugs of water for work and home, which I will fill with my Nalgene bottle as much as possible. For some reason I drink more water when I drink from this bottle. :rolleyes:

So on with the program, with water included. I'm shooting for three bottles a day, which would be 96 ounces.
 
drinking water makes a big difference with me - I read somewhere once (and of course if you read it on the internet it must be true :D HA!!) that uou can tell you are drinking enough water by checking the color of your urine - it should be a light yellow -anything darker and you're dehydrated...

bottoms up :)
 
Mal is right about the urine. Light yellow or lighter is best.

I saw you had a bit of a snag in your week, but it's only Tuesday so I hope things are on the up and up from here out.

Also, as far as your snag, maybe you should take a one week break from low fat everything. Anything that is reduced from it's natural state usually gets sugar or sodium added to it to make up for the flavor. Those aren't necessarily good for your diet. This also might be a good time to change up your execising routine. Maybe rent/buy/borrow a kickboxing video or switch over to something high impact that isn't in your exercise regimen (I don't know what you do for exercise). That right there should give you a boost.

Stick with it. It will happen:)
 
I've been reading everyone's journal, just not posting right now

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate you sticking around to read my journal even though there's nothing positive in it lately.

Man, I am feeling so down. I was treated for anxiety/depression two years ago when my husband left, and this winter when my health insurance changed my therapist wasn't in the network so I stopped going. I also stopped taking medication, as I felt I was more than ready, that it was "situational depression" and I'd moved on. I hope that's true, because I've always been a positive, happy person overall. This week has been pretty rough though. I don't feel positive about anything.

I despise my job, and when I got a call for an interview for another job I was excited for about two seconds and then all the negative thoughts started creeping into my head. "What's the point? You have freedom in your job now. This new job will cost you a lot more in gas and tolls (It's about 50 minutes from my house, my current job is 30 minutes away) so you won't be gaining anything, you'll probably suck at the interview anyway...."

Which my therapist would say is my way of rationalizing my fear of change, and I would agree. I really could use a change, and I would have to decide if it was worth the extra distance, etc. But I shouldn't even be getting worried about that, they haven't offered me anything but an interview, but I already have anxiety about it.

I absolutely do not want to go to the gym today. I am feeling so low on energy. It was very hard to get out of bed today. But then I beat myself up mentally for not going and that I'll never succeed if I skip the gym, blah blah blah.....I have started logging my calories again. I was surprised to see that it's 5 pm and I've only had about 800 calories today. I'm not hungry at all. Another thing that makes me worry about depression. Loss of appetite happened two years ago, too.

I guess I should:
a.) be good to me and go home, take a bath, make a fire ( I am so lucky to have a fireplace in my bedroom!) and eat a good meal
b.) not feel too bad about skipping the gym today especially if I'm in a deficit- it shouldn't make me gain anything, at least!
c.) try again tomorrow.

:(
 
sounds like you've got a good plan to get youo thru the day... :) like Nike says -JUST DO IT :) you can 0- come on you know yu wanna :D

as for the interview - eh - it might not be the perfect job, but you never know - and you might get an offer and that'd be a nice boost -and if you dont get an offer - well their loss... :) besides it's good to keep your interviewing skills fresh - interviewing isn't easy and as much practice as you can get - all the better...
 
Off the board and out of my mind lately.

I'm still here. At least one bad thing has happened every day over the past two weeks. Don't feel like getting into it but the depression I had (for the first time ever) back when my husband left has hit me like a brick wall. I am going to see someone about this, next week.

In the meantime, I've been forgetting to eat, the medication I'm taking makes everything taste bad anyway, so this loss of fuel has obviously left me with nothing for the gym. I'll get back on it. I just put down my coping skills somewhere and can't remember where I put them.

In the meantime, although this is not from positive efforts, my clothes are getting bigger. I think I'll weigh myself today.

And Steve, if you happen to read this, I still want your feedback because I do not plan to be in this state indefinitely. :eek:
 
Sorry to read you're having a rough time-- can the doctors do anyhting about the meds - to not have that side effect?

Glad you're going to see someone abouot how you're feeling - hopefully you'll be able to resolve it sooner rather than later and you can start to feel better again.

Be gentle with yourself while you're not feeling well, take care of yourself...
 
I will reply soon. I can show you exactly what to do, but that doesn't mean it will work. It is ultimately up to you. Getting a grip on your mind is far more important than having a good "program."
 
Keep it up...

You doing a wonderful job. Keep it going --- Talk about the problems you are having and get through them.

Even if no one reads them -- it may help you physically.

I am so proud of you!

Michael Paretti
Link removed
Anaheim, Ca.
 
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Thanks!

I really appreciate the responses. I hope everyone's day is going well!

Mal, you are a great cheerleader for us all. :)
 
Hi! I am sorry to hear that you aren't doing so well.
We all go through those times, and I for one can definately understand how much depression affects you. I too lose my appetite. I am very glad that you are going to see someone, and I hope you get what you need from it.
One thing I will say is that I see a therapist weekly, and I always feel so much more able to cope after I see her.

Take things easy. Cry if you need to. But dont wallow, that makes it harder to pick yourself up. Can you go outside? My therapist made me promise to go outside for at least a half hour a day. It helps alot. There is something so powerful in nature, and just getting out to feel like you are part of it is uplifting.
You are in my thoughts, and PM me if you want to talk, ok?
Hugs :)
 
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