Here We Are Again...

[meaningofnight]

Here we are again. Respawn attempt number three. Everything fell apart really fast this last time. I think it's because I don't have any way of being held accountable? I was making some progress just tracking my food and being more aware of my choices. I was walking on the treadmill a few times a week so I didn't burn myself out too fast like I did the time before. But then a missed day turned into a missed week and a missed week turned into a wasted month and here we are now. Back at square one. I'm stressed and swamped with work. The only thing I managed to do kind of by accident is in the last three weeks I've eliminated pretty much all liquid calories and have gone from two diet pops a day down to like maybe one every few days. That at least hasn't been difficult to maintain. 

Basically, moral of the story is I'm trying this again. I'm unsure of where I'm going, but I'm going to try. And I guess if anyone would like to be accountability buddies or link up FitBit accounts or something to challenge each other I'd be down for that. I've been trying to go at this alone for several months now and it's obviously not working. Thanks.

[Wobbegong]

Hey Meaningofnight, welcome back! You've arrived just in time for a new four week challenge if you'd like to join in. If you've never done a NF challenge before, or if you feel like you're starting fresh, you can set up in the Lv1 forums. Or you're welcome to come hang out in the Rebel guild while you find your feet. Challenges are a great way to make friends on the forums and get some accountability. 

 

You say you're unsure where you're going, but do you have any ideas about where you might like to start? It sounds like you've already made great strides with liquid calories. Do you have any other nutrition goals, or any fitness goals, or any ideas to help lower some of your day-to-day stress? 

 

There's no need to do everything at once. We all start small and work our way up over time, little by little. The most important thing is to stick with it, so don't overwhelm yourself right off the bat: pick a couple of really manageable things, things that seem stupid easy, and just try to do them regularly for a while. If you're not sure where to begin, or if you feel like you need some help, just let us know.  Everyone at NF wants you to succeed. 

[meaningofnight]

8 minutes ago, Wobbegong said:

Hey Meaningofnight, welcome back! You've arrived just in time for a new four week challenge if you'd like to join in. If you've never done a NF challenge before, or if you feel like you're starting fresh, you can set up in the Lv1 forums. Or you're welcome to come hang out in the Rebel guild while you find your feet. Challenges are a great way to make friends on the forums and get some accountability. 

 

You say you're unsure where you're going, but do you have any ideas about where you might like to start? It sounds like you've already made great strides with liquid calories. Do you have any other nutrition goals, or any fitness goals, or any ideas to help lower some of your day-to-day stress? 

 

There's no need to do everything at once. We all start small and work our way up over time, little by little. The most important thing is to stick with it, so don't overwhelm yourself right off the bat: pick a couple of really manageable things, things that seem stupid easy, and just try to do them regularly for a while. If you're not sure where to begin, or if you feel like you need some help, just let us know.  Everyone at NF wants you to succeed. 

Thank you so much! 

I think I'm definitely going to try the challenge. I've always observed from afar but have been too intimidated to try. I really want to fix my nutrition. I'm a student and I know my diet is terrible. Activity has helped keep that at bay in the past but I'd rather fix the root of the problem! I know if I fix my nutrition it will naturally lend itself to my weight loss goals without having to get neurotic over it like when I tried Weight Watchers. My first goal is going to be just tracking my good again to get a good idea of where I'm at.

[Wobbegong]

4 minutes ago, meaningofnight said:

My first goal is going to be just tracking my good again to get a good idea of where I'm at.

That sounds like a great place to start! And by the way, if you're feeling intimidated, you should know you can pursue just one goal per challenge if that's what seems right for you. I know some superpeople who have a whole bunch of them, but you should feel free to start where you are. 

 

If you post your challenge with Lv1, the guild leader over there, Hazard, will ask you for specifics. So for tracking your food, that means how are you going to track it? Where will you keep your notes? How often will you update your log? Think about your current lifestyle when you're answering these questions and try to come up with something that works well for you.

 

For example, when I'm tracking food, I find I give up easily if I'm asked to count calories, so nutrition apps like MyFitnessPal are off-putting for me. I do better if I can just write down what I ate and how much of it, so I either take notes in a notebook or just in my challenge thread. And I know I'll forget things if I don't write them down within the day, so I aim to update my log after every meal and make sure I at least take notes before I go to bed. You might be very different from me, so you don't have to do things how I do, but that's one example. 

 

Best of luck with your challenge! 

[Diadhuit]

Hi @maningofnight and welcome back!
I reccommend the challenges, I was scared at my first and I put up so much that I failed miserably, but it helped understanding what I wanted and how much can I achieve. Now I still struggle, but I am getting better at them, and on a side my body is feeling better!
I too struggled with calories count and it's not precise, but I find this tecnique works for me
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/calorie-control-guide-infographic
I am not any near the 4-6 servings of each per day, but I can track and have an idea of what I am eating.
Last challenge I discovered that when I eat lots of freggies I eat less refined sugars. Interesting discovery!
Give the challenges a try and you'll find what works for you, and don't be afraid of failing one:)

[LucentFrost]

Sending my support. I'm in the process of respawning too. But my mind's not made up yet on what to do.

[Xena]

Glad you are going to try a challenge. I was nervous about my first one too, but they really do help!

[james452]

Firstly, great work on reducing the amount of soda you drink (it's a very trick habit to work on).

 

You say missed a day which turned into a missed week and so on. One mindset that helps me is "Never miss two in a row". You see it all over this site and other habit type blogs.

Basically, if you miss one day (which happens ALL the time), put extra effort and focus to make sure you do it the next day. For example, I've started a small walking habit, where I go for a 5 minute walk after dinner. I knew this week that I'd have two dinner functions on, so I wasn't going to be able to walk after dinner on those two days. However, I made sure to go for my walk the day before and day after.

 

I'm not sure if this applies, but some people follow the "Never break the chain" rule, where you aim to keep a daily streak of the habit you do. One thing I don't like about it, is if after 20 days, you miss 1 day, you're unlikely to continue with the habit. However, if you think in the "Never miss two in a row" way, if you missed one day, that's fine, you do it the next day. You won't be making perfect progress (which to be honest, is insanely difficult to do), but you will be making progress, and that progress is better than nothing.