Low and Slow Approach (Not All or None Approach)

[zombiegoat2000]

I re-started my lc lifestyle Jan 1st 2012. I lost about 20 pounds until March However, I had an emotional setback when a co-worker yelled at me to stop eating so much (I had made a pot of lima beans, my first cheat since Jan, and didn't share, so he got upset)! Needless to say, I was really hurt and angry! I gave up on the spot and gained back about 10 pounds. In April, the company I work for decided to do a "Biggest Loser" type contest for charity (the winner gets announced in July and wins a year gym membership) so I decided to compete and lost those ten pounds. I was talking to a coworker who is also competing (she won this months mini weigh in) and I told her that I was back to my lc woe, she asked me why I don't go all in and drop buttloads of weight, we I came to a relization, "I have an all-or-nothing approach to weight loss! (talk about a lightbulb moment!) I told her that I'm not doing lc as a diet but a woe to stick to for the rest of my life. I'm not going to let my emotions control what I put in my mouth any longer!! If I mess up and eat something carby, I'm not gonna let it derail me like it has done in the past, I'm just gonna strive to do better at the next meal. I have decided to take what I call the "Low and Slow Approach" I don't want to lose 60 pounds in 3 months, then gain it all back because I slack off. I have mini goals (2% of my bodyweight a month) which totals about 4-5 pounds a month. At my current weight (280#) I should reach goal (150# ) by Jan '15 (a long way off I know) but like I said I'm in it for life not for a few weeks ( I know how tempting it is to drop major pounds). I just wanted to get any feedbacks from my lc friends!

[svenskamae]

I think you now have a wonderful attitude, and if you keep following that plan, you will get to goal and stay there. Sometimes I get frustrated when I don't lose quickly, but I think that my body needs to follow its own pace/rhythm, and I am trying to keep the same mindset as you describe in your post. The weightloss pace that you describe is about what I am doing, and I think it's healthier for me in the long run, and easier to stick with, than something more drastic.

I hope you keep posting. I also started this woe in January 2012, and I look forward to a long, slow, but sure march forward for both of us.

[sweetpinky]

In my opinion, losing weight is as much a mental effort as it is a physical effort. You HAVE TO be in the right state of mind- that's step one. I've experienced (in the past) that if I just think, "I'm so fat, I need to lose weight", that's not enough to keep me going and it's easy to go back to old eating habits. There's no real commitment- "I need to lose weight" is a statement, true as it may be.

I've let my emotions dictate what I've chosen to eat over the past 6 years or so and that's only led me to weigh more than I've ever weighed in my life. But deciding finally that I had a much better (and much more important) reason to lose weight (hubby and I want a baby), has helped me change my habits and stick to LC eating. Its helped me lose 31lbs in 9 weeks.

I think you have the right idea- accepting from the jump that it *may* be a long journey and that you're changing your way of life, not making a temporary change with the goal of only losing weight. I'm a firm believe that if you CONSTANTLY remind yourself WHY you're doing these things (and, alternatively, why you should change the way you eat), you're personal goal(s) will stay front and center and keep you going the right way.

[tiggy_oz]

Ahh its those lightbulb moments that can have such a great impact on our lives! Well done on changing your mindset! I wish you all the success in the world.

I can 100% relate to what you are saying. I am an all or nothing personality (not just in weight loss, but just about everything whoops!). In late 2010 I had the same revelation as you - that this was not a contest, that going all hardcore guns blazing just led to burnout when a big bump in the road presented itself.

Do I wish I could easliy drop 60lbs in 3 months - oh hell ya, but, for me its not sustainable. Slow and steady is working for me. Soooo its been a year and a half since I restarted, and its taken me that long to drop 70lbs, BUT I've learned how to maintain (during various long bouts of semi and fully off plan forays in asian adventures), my skin so far - and fingers crossed - shows no ill effects of the loss, I am not burnt out. I know I can do this, even if it takes me another 5 years to get the rest of this fat off.

I wish I could let so many of the new people walk around in my brain for a bit and learn this. I often avoid the main lobby as so many people get SO upset when they don't lose huge amounts, and compare themselves to some of our more hardcore and metabolically blessed members. Then they give up, never to be seen again. Very upsetting.

Slow and steady! There is a turtle in my ticker for a reason haha!

[SherBel]

I love this thread. This is, I believe, precisely the attitude that has made this time around so very different for me. It's not a science experiment.....not a situation where one little fall off the wagon will spell disaster. Its just life...only eating more mindfully, with a goal.

I cheat sometimes, always planned, always utterly enjoyed. I'm realistic enough to know that I love bread, cake, and all of the food that I've eaten all my life. It's always been the thought of "never, ever again" that's been so very depressing, and ultimately failure-causing. For me, I have to be realistic and know that in a year from now, I'll be thinner than I am now. I'll continue to plan days off, and in fact I'm going to stop calling them "cheats". Rather, those days are reality. How I'm making this work.

[zombiegoat2000]

Thanks for the support! I see now that I'm not the onlyone who feels like I do! I regained all the weight I lost the first time lc because I looked at lc'ing like a diet, that I could go back to eating all the carby crap I want, and not a way of eating for life. I honestly for the life of me couldnt understand how I got so fat eating nothing but pasta with veggies and not meat or desserts! I mean, isnt that the low fat way Once I began to understand the principles of low carb it became easier to maintain. I'm weird because my cheats are for like subway not cake and icecream (As u can see from my avatar I'm not a sweet type of gal!)

[kbeth]

Yes! In the last couple of months that same lightbulb has been flashing above my noggin, too!! For YEARS, any off-plan meal or snack would cause a binge that lasted for days or weeks, with the mindset of "better get it all in now, because TOMORROW I'm going to be strict."
That soo never worked! And was so damaging; physically and especially emotionally because I would torture myself.
Here lately, I'll have some cookies or bread or whatever...and then buckle down for the rest of the week. It does take a few days to work off the water weight...but it's allowing me to have a much healthier attitude.
Good for you!!!

[ChristineCQ]

Yes!! You're absolutely right, and that mindset is the difference between success and misery.

[SherBel]

Just wanted to add, I started on Feb 12 of this year. I'm doing more or less induction levels on my on-plan days, and even with my "reality days", as of this morning I'm down just about 40 pounds. Joy. I can do this forever!

(Zombiegoat....love your avatar, lol!)

[kempmuhlbauer]

What a great thread. I have been looking for that attitude adjustment for years. I Have been YOYOing for years on this plan. Each time I start I am so dedicated and lose a ton but then gain it all back. Although from now until Aug 3rd I am on a mission to lose 20-25 more pounds. (fat chance of that) But I am going to try like heck to get it done.

Have a 2 week vacation on a costa rican beach planned with the wife for a wedding she is in. After that and all the cheating I will do while at the resort but to come back and just relax and do my best to stay on plan and enjoy life. 2-6 pounds a month then a permanent new me.

[GratefulParrot]

I guess I'm always on this approach. I don't weigh, I don't measure, but I know I'm losing inches/lbs. I'll keep going on the same path, because that path seems good. Sure, I'm on a different path from everybody else who worries, weighs, measures. But I know I'll reach whatever goal I'm going for, just by following my path.

[tracymac106]

I'm on this approach as well. I had that light bulb moment 6/2 while reading Metabolism miracle - i suddenly remembered the only way i ever maintained my lower weight was when i lived this lifestyle. i actually forgot that fact!

how do you forget? I mean really?? I know years of yo-yoing and trying new ways to lose it. blah, blah, blah!

the important part is we are on the right path now.

[ChristineCQ]

Originally Posted by tracymac106

how do you forget? I mean really??

Right? I ask myself that all the time.

[GratefulParrot]

Originally Posted by ChristineCQ

Right? I ask myself that all the time.

Paint all the mirrors in your house black. Then, put 6 cheese biscuits from Red Lobster on the coffee table. Opps..there it is.

[HeavenDenied]

Originally Posted by tiggy_oz

Ahh its those lightbulb moments that can have such a great impact on our lives! Well done on changing your mindset! I wish you all the success in the world.

I can 100% relate to what you are saying. I am an all or nothing personality (not just in weight loss, but just about everything whoops!). In late 2010 I had the same revelation as you - that this was not a contest, that going all hardcore guns blazing just led to burnout when a big bump in the road presented itself.

Do I wish I could easliy drop 60lbs in 3 months - oh hell ya, but, for me its not sustainable. Slow and steady is working for me. Soooo its been a year and a half since I restarted, and its taken me that long to drop 70lbs, BUT I've learned how to maintain (during various long bouts of semi and fully off plan forays in asian adventures), my skin so far - and fingers crossed - shows no ill effects of the loss, I am not burnt out. I know I can do this, even if it takes me another 5 years to get the rest of this fat off.

I wish I could let so many of the new people walk around in my brain for a bit and learn this. I often avoid the main lobby as so many people get SO upset when they don't lose huge amounts, and compare themselves to some of our more hardcore and metabolically blessed members. Then they give up, never to be seen again. Very upsetting.

Slow and steady! There is a turtle in my ticker for a reason haha!

Very motivational reading on here, thank you all for posting
Keep that mindset Miss ZombieGoat

[zombiegoat2000]

Thanks, Ya'll, will do! Just want to give everyone some encouragement along the way!

[Abby]

There's certainly nothing wrong with a protracted weight loss plan, but many lack the necessary patience and temperament to see it through. The rationale for more aggressive plans is to keep folks hooked by immediate results. The tortoise did indeed beat the hare, but many tortoises (like myself) don't have the requisite staying power.

Best of Luck,

[SherBel]

Originally Posted by Abby

There's certainly nothing wrong with a protracted weight loss plan, but many lack the necessary patience and temperament to see it through. The rationale for more aggressive plans is to keep folks hooked by immediate results. The tortoise did indeed beat the hare, but many tortoises (like myself) don't have the requisite staying power.

Best of Luck,

I hear you....but 40 pounds since Feb feels good to me! I balance occasional planned 'days off' with fairly rigid 'days on', so I think it evens out. I used to be very doctrinaire....but I always ultimately failed. Now I feel oddly free, and totally committed.

[Bobbin]

You guys are great, this is the true key, IMO. ALWAYS getting back on track, never letting off plan eating linger too long. It's true you do lose better, faster, when you're being "perfect", but you can also loose slower, or stop and maintain a while, while learning how to live long term with this WOE. Good for you for doing that!

I had been in near permanent maintenance mode, before getting back to weight loss mode in the past month. I don't see any problem with moving between them, for what ever suits you at the moment. I look at it now and say, Yeah, I could be much thinner than I am by now, but I did learn I can stick with this WOE for the long term even with a few splurges here and there. And the 50 lbs I've lost so far are still gone. I know however, "a few splurges here and there" are the difference between losing at a steady rate, and not. Personally, I am ready to do some work for a bit, to get rid of some more pounds. "Overweight" is calling my name, and only 19 lbs away...

[kbeth]

Originally Posted by SherBel

Now I feel oddly free, and totally committed.

That's it exactly!!

I have been part of a challenge group for a long time, and we started a mini challenge two months ago. Our weigh ins are on Tuesdays mornings. I have found that on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, if I want an off-plan snack, I can have some. And then I buckle down big time for the next week's weigh-in. I've NEVER been able to do that before. I used to gorge on junk in that all or nothing way. This WOE seems doable and mentally healthy in a whole different way than it used to.

[zombiegoat2000]

Just wanted to post a status update: I met my 2% weightloss goal (6 pounds)

[floridagirl6]

Originally Posted by zombiegoat2000

Just wanted to post a status update: I met my 2% weightloss goal (6 pounds)

Congratulations!

[svenskamae]

Good for you! Slow and steady will get you to your goal!

[tracymac106]

great job on the loss!!

i just got back from vacation where i was def eating carbs and drinking. I had a terrific time but I gained 5 pounds. exactly what i figured would happen. right back on the wagon yesterday - today is day 2 of being 100%. Friday is official weigh in day - then I'll know the true damage. Luckily - i can say for the most part I did not binge - based on the foods available i made pretty good choices. so I'm ok with were i am.

Plus i had a terrific time for 10 days!!!

[twilight]

I've done low carb before. This time I'm not going crazy counting carbs. I do check carbs on labels and figure them out for low carb desserts to avoid over eating them. Pretty much I believe if you eat protein, fat, and vegetable carbs (staying away from starches), plus a bit of fruit (just a little and mostly strawberries) your carbs will stay low. The problem occurs when you start breaking out packaged foods (even low carb), or you don't know the carbs in a food. If I'm not sure if something is low on the scale, I quickly Google it. I pretty much know what I can eat and what I can't eat w/o spiking my blood sugar and going off plan. I just don't want to weigh, measure, and count. It's hard enough to plan and prepare. I think that is key. I've been working on preparing meals and freezing them (especially for crazy, busy days). I'm also trying new recipes to keep from getting burned out. I'm also giving up diet sodas in exchange for tea. If I'm going to make this a true WOE, then I can't treat it like a diet.

[zombiegoat2000]

tracymac106: hope u had fun on ur vaykay, i was off a whole week and got sick!

I normally dont stress if i overeat carbage at a meal, i just dont do it again at the next meal. Im agree with u 1000% twilight, this is a woe, not a diet! THERE IS NO HARM IN EATING A SLICE OF CAKE AT A BDAY PARTY, JUST DONT EAT THE WHOLE CAKE LIKE I USE TO!

[zombiegoat2000]

Just wanted to post my monthly goal. I surpassed my 2 percent loss (5.6pounds) with a 9 pound loss! new weight is 271.4 down from 280.4 July 1st.

[svenskamae]

Congratulations, Zombiegoat. Losing 9 pounds in a month is great! It's nice to succeed or surpass reasonable goals, instead of feeling like we've failed at over-ambitious ones.

[sfmom]

Good for you ZombieGoat - you must be so proud of yourself!!!

Audrey

[sya_unit]

YES! You are awesome. That is what it is all about. I'm with you!!