Now it is different. I have been going up and down over and over in the past 7 months or so. Repeatedly and quickly in true yo-yo style. I know that there is this trend to say that dieting somehow causes this. I don't use diet in that way - I just think it is a bit phony and forced to use other terms. Dieting means staying on a healthy plan. No dieting, for me, means overeating and eating the wrong foods. I have no problem with being "on a diet" for life because it is the best way for me to eat mindfully.
What I want is to deal with those things which compel me to eat poorly. Especially stress and to some degree depression. Stress makes me anxious, eating sooths me. Depression is the loss of a sense of worth which I also sooth with "treats." If the general overeating and eating of sweets and breads, etc. didn't work so well, I may have turned to drugs or alcohol for my solace. What this tells me is that it is time to make a greater effort to deal with the issues which bring on this behaviour so I can stop being such a yo-yo.
Does telling you that I relate help any? Once we make a strong commitment to act, dealing with how to do it can be such a challenge. We all face different ones. Some of us have emotional issues, some of us eat out of boredom, some of us face non-supportive environments. So, even being highly motivated doesn't mean we (me) won't face problems. I have had to continually adjust what I eat to deal with my own body's metabolic response, and I finally have it down - but now I am restricting sugar, starch and grains. Folks around me don't eat like that - tough, tough. Getting them to support my eating behavior is a new negotiation. Changing what I snack on is now different, so new rituals to deal with my evening boredom. Maintaining my confidence to do this is my highest priority, so I'm reading the blogs and web sites of those who have lost scads of weight and now maintaining, and especially those who were former yo-yo'ers (and I don't mean Oprah - I mean regular folks). I want to learn from them and know this is possible; learn new skills; continue to understand big weight loss and maintenance is a forever effort - not unlike folks who deal with diabetes on a day-to-day basis.
ReplyDeleteWhew, sorry for the long comment. You really hit a nerve with me.
Jan
I am a short-term and long-term yo-yo:( The fact that I regained again this past year led to a lot of my questioning that shows up in my posts. Clearly I don't get it even though I think I get it. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteTough work ahead, but you're more than capable of figuring out the answers.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I was a yo-yo either, but it has to be that someone who has gained and lost up to 80 lbs. in the last 20 years qualifies. I'm a slo-mo yo-yo as well.
ReplyDeleteWith my current situation I am just really focusing on not turning to food at all--I'm doing this by sticking to my basic food routine and realizing that when I want something outside the norm I probably don't need it. So far, so good, but we're only 3 weeks in.