The days that SUCK.

I've been dieting ALLLLLL morning! Why aren't I skinny yet?!

Look on the bright side... you lose weight every time you poop. 

So with any challenge, you will have ups and downs. The ups feel great. Fantastic. Amazing. You are in control, you see your success unfolding right before your eyes. You can take on any craving, you can battle any delicious temptation, and you can run a 5k -- ALL with your hands tied behind your back. You are in control!

And then there are the downs. Eff the downs, man. They suck. Friday through Sunday of this week have been a huge down for me. I'm hoping tomorrow I will wake and feel energized and find myself back on my horse.

So when I fly in to my upswing, again, I will be proud that this weekend wasn't a cheat weekend. I stayed on my diet, and maintained my schedules, but the battle has been so hard. I feel bitter and pissy that I just can't have (insert anything here, because honestly, I've wanted everything on any menu).

I have no miracle solution as to how to break out of a dieting/goal slump. I wish I could say that was a magic solution to power through it. But there isn't. You just have to fight it through, remember your motivating reasons and just keep on going.

Food Tracking

What you eat in private... you wear in public...

"Screw your recommended serving size... you don't know me!!!!!"

Food tracking. The most celebrated and hated part of any diet. Yeah, I don't know, I just made that up. But it sounds about right. Either you diet and track, or don't, and if you don't, no offense, but you are doing it wrong.  I know this fact to be true: You will be more successful during your weight loss journey if you track the calories you have consumed.

I track every bite I put in my mouth, the good, the bad, and the delicious. Tracking can be considered tedious (tedious = a pain in the ass), I totally get that. But it also keeps you... well.. on track!

1 - Your food diary is going to show you what you eat. Do you recall everything you had yesterday? Did you have a quick snack (handfull of pretzels..) you may have forgotten about?

2 - This is the key tool for losing weight. You will know how many calories you have left to eat, that simple. Today I have had 1,279. My limit is 1,500. I can technically have 221 more, if I wanted.

This isn't yo' mama's diet tracker.... You can track via your phone these days. Smartphones have great apps available to you. I use my Fitbit tracker. I'm a walking advertisement for Fitbit, but there are other apps to track your caloric intake, or, you can just use a good ol' sheet of paper.

Below are some examples of calorie tracking apps.
Fitbit
My Diet Coach (free app. My Diet Coach Pro is $3.99 for Android)
My Fitness Pal - an app my husband was using before he started using Fitbit.

The Plan. Aka: Diet.

 

"This diet makes me feel SO FULL" Biggest. Lie. EVER.

"Skinny feels better than that cupcake tastes" (insert eye-roll here)

"What are you doing?"

This is the most common question asked. And I think 98% of those that ask don't actually believe my answer(s). Why? Because, awesome reader, the "diet" is easy, it's sticking with it day in and day out that is hard. Weight loss is hard because temptation is high, cravings are very easy to sate and and dedication takes willpower. Oh, and working out sucks.

When choosing a diet (and I'm not biased or anything, but mine is pretty awesome) there are some rules that need to be considered. Basically, these rules are all common sense. I have found though, when it comes to wanting immediate gratification (the curse of every single person on a diet), common sense can go out the door. Hence some of the idiotic fad diets (more on those beauties later).

Rule #1 - Your diet must be maintainable. Duh. If you can't do it for a week, what makes you think you can do it for a month? Or, for some of us, a year??

Exibit A - I am an idiot. I went to my doctor to get a diet plan a few years ago. But I already had the answer I wanted in my head. I asked the doctor for a plan and was presented the 1500 calorie low carb diet. I'm confident I even wrinkled my nose at it. "No," said I. "That's too many calories! I want to do 1200. I think 1200 is much more reasonable." Clearly that worked out well for me, since years later, I'm still fat.

Rule #2 - Your diet must incorporate all foods. Sorry but "I'm just not going to have carbs EVER" doesn't work. "Everything in moderation" is a phrase that everyone has heard and that is for good reason... because it's the truth.

Exhibit B - Everyone who has done a no carb diet, who does it again months later because they gained all their weight back. Oh yes, that includes me.

Rule #3 - Having to buy specific "extras" isn't going to work out either. Sorry. Normal weight loss drinks/meals can help short term, but they don't teach you how to maintain. They don't teach you how to create healthy meals that will in turn, lead to weight loss. I consider these types of diets as "quick fixes".

Exhibit C - SURPRISE! Me again! About two years ago, I committed myself to a brand name weight loss product that touts if you drink it's drink or eat it's meal replacements, you will lose weight. I did! I lost 14 lbs! Which was awesome! But I also gained it back because I couldn't maintain and this is a shocker right here... I gained MORE back! That of course isn't the fault of the weight loss product, it's mine.

So with these rules in mind, I made a full circle back to the 1500 calorie, low carb diet. This diet and moderate exercise (that feels extreme) I have lost 28 lbs in slightly over two months and I feel great! The best part is, nothing is off limits, I just need to account for it. 1500 calories works. It's not rocket science.

1500 Calorie low carb diet broken down. This is what works for me, adjust as necessary.

Breakfast - 250 - 350 calories
Lunch - 300ish calories
Dinner - 600 - 800
After dinner - 100 - 200 if I have the remaining calories

For diabetics - this can work for you too... I'm not an expert on diabetes, but I did find some information for you to start your own research for this particular diet.  For the Diabetic Awesome Reader

The few twists I've added... I lean towards a very "clean" eating menu. Processed crap is all out. I really like the Paleo diet for that reason and have been investigating it a lot, and putting Paleo recipes on my dinner table. Paleo information for the interested Awesome Reader.

In addition to clean eating, I also track every single calorie I consume. Tracking is key, you have heard it a million times. And more on this topic to come!

Jocelyn's motivation list

Motivations to shut my mouth and get on a treadmill...

For real though, reasons to lose weight and upgrade my lifestyle.

I've been overweight all my life, I guess? Who knows, that is how everyone else starts their "why" so I'll take that route too. Yep, I've been fat all my adult life and the majority of my childhood. The psychology of it is simple: good home cooking in a time that wasn't as health conscious and not enough physical activity. Easy.

A few rules for you, awesome reader, "fat" is not a bad word. It's just a word, and it has no power over me. It shouldn't have power over you, either. If you add other words to it, it can become bad. "Ass" for example is not appreciated! HA!!!

The weight became who I was, and I won't bore you with a sob story, because I don't really have a sob story to sob over. I accepted myself, I thought -- more on that some other time. My weight didn't hold me back, I have a hawt husband (for real, yo), beautiful daughters who are going to be gorgeous adult women, a good job, the best friends on the planet... So my motivation for changing isn't to "get" anything. Well... it is, but it isn't. If you get me. So my motivations for this journey I have embarked on are outlined below. I'm not going to lie, every one of them is selfish - and THAT, awesome reader, is the key to weight loss success.

Motivation #1
I want to look great. Sexy. Beautiful. Nice......... In clothes that aren't size double digit. It's just what I want. Don't be a reverse hater and tell me I look great now. No, I don't, in my opinion. But I will.
Also, I want to look great naked. My husband thinks I look great now, but waaaaait till he sees me in several months ;-). Sorry, family.

Motivation #2
Since meeting my husband and having my daughters, I want to live a very LONG time. I want to live as long as possible to an age as old as I can - and obviously be healthy. I want to see my great grand kids. I want to be ACTIVE with my great grand kids. It's not rocket science, healthier and skinny people live longer.

Motivation #3
I want to feel great! So this is a newer motivation.... This is one I discovered during the journey I'm currently on. So since Day1, (my current) I have lost 28 lbs. That's fantastic! But, the difference in how I feel is major. I feel more energetic and just............... better. I want to keep feeling this way. Feeling like this makes me want to be more active and that is a great feeling to have after years of feeling tired. I want more of this! Greed isn't always bad!

Motivation #4
And this is a biggie.... CLOTHES. I want lots and lots and lots of beautiful clothes. Sorry in advance, hubby, but I'm going to need a LOT more room in the closet.

So... my point.... for any goal, you need to have motivation. It's important not to lose sight of your motivating factors. These are the reasons for your struggle! And let me be loud and clear here, weight loss, at any level isn't easy. My suggestion for you, for any goal you have, weight loss or otherwise is to write down your reasons and read them when you are struggling the most, when that pizza your coworker is eating smells reeeeallyyy good. Remember the reasons why you started in the first place.

Being sexy.

Living longer.

Feeling better.

Clothes. And ohmigawd! shoes and purses to match!