help! i've fallen and i can't get up!

About this time of year it seems like everyone is getting into the fat loss doldrums. We take a nibble here, eat a big meal there. The Girl Scout cookies we got "for the kids" are gone. Easter came and the chocolate bunnies met their destiny. Exercise is seeming more like a chore than a joy, and we aren't finding time for it like we once did. It's like a mountain rock slide that blocks the road—it can seem like there is no way to get over or around it.

It's starting to get warmer, and the spring flowers are sprouting, reminding us that it won't be long until it's time to try to squeeze into last season's shorts and swim suit. We know we need to get busy on working toward our goals, but somehow the days slip away until we wonder where last week went, and the scale still says the same as it did last week. How can we get back on track, and focused on what we need to do?

We already know that a quick fix never happens. To make any change that results in weight loss that lasts, it takes consistent effort over the long term. The boot camp mentality never lasts for long, because diet and exercise extremism by its very nature is subject to burnout. To get that rock slide out of the road, we can't simply push it aside, so we start by removing at least one rock at a time.

So how to deal with it, this malaise that is causing inertia?

For me, it starts with calling my Jenny Craig center to get an appointment to get back in and get on track. I don't just make the appointment, I make it with the toughest consultant, because I know she will call me on all the excuses I might come up with, and I tell her that it's time for me to get back to basics. Then I, sit down and write a list of actions I will take to get back on track. 

The list includes making a contract with myself to follow the planned menus for a minimum of four weeks, and to track my progress on the menu, which has space to record extra foods, evaluate my hunger level, set goals, record wins, and track exercise, etc. That's one big boulder moved out of the way.

The list also includes lots of small goals, like sticking to the plan for one day at a time. On the list I include adding one more day of exercise per week, or five minutes more per day. The list grows, and the pile of rocks gets smaller. I make a list of rewards for following through on the goals for the weeks—if I follow through all week long, I get the reward at the end. I really really want the weekly goals; that is, a book, a CD, and a set of weighted balls. More than the weekly rewards, I really really want that WalkVest, the reward for following through for the whole month.

I can finally see a path shaping up through the pile of rocks, removing one or two of them per week.

agreed

I believe that winter time is the time when exercise feels like a chore, I'd rather just lay around all winter. If I could get away with it you better believe it I'd be lazy all winter. Spring time is the time of year where I find it much easier to exercise cuz the weather is warmer. I agree that the boot camp mentality is definitely a way to burnout easily. I have a tendency to burn out fast if I am too strict with my diet and cut out everything that tastes good. I wonder how good jenny craig food is although i ain't joining. just curious if it's any good or not. I've heard that nutrisystem isn't that great but you get used to it.

JC food VERY good

 There are very few of the JC entrees that I don't like, maybe only two or three of the dozens of choices. In fact, the surprising thing to me after I joined almost eight years ago, was how really good the food is.

After I lost 55 pounds and was maintaining ever since then, I would go in once per month to weigh, say hi to everyone, and pick up some of the food items that I couldn't replicate on my own, like the turkey burger, lentils with beef, some of the soups, and some of the snacks and desserts. I find the food much better than Lean Cuisine, WW, or Healthy Choice entrees.

I have never heard of anyone liking anything they got from NutriSystem, especially since they closed their stores and went to just online ordering. 

The food is good, but that isn't the whole program. They approach from a Mind, Body, Food standpoint, that addresses all of the issues in overweight, not just the food aspect. I like the individual consultations, too—I get all my questions answered within my 15-minute appointment, which didn't always happen with the one-hour-plus meetings in WW. And there were more questions with WW, because it wasn't set out as clearly as the JC program.

tis true

You're right- it seems like everyone is having problems right now.  For me, summer is quickly approaching and it makes me happy to be working hard to be looking good in a swimsuit in 2 months!  yay!  Good luck to you at JC!

NICE!!!

Helen - you are dead on with this blog.  Good job on setting a solid plan, and most of all making that call and appointment.  I know that time is going to come soon, when I look at the menu's and just sigh and want to throw in the towel.  I think we've all had days - weeks - even months of coasting at times.  But with the rising prices of everything in sight lately, especially on Jenny, it just doesn't pay to take extended vacations (at least while on the menu!)  One of the best tricks I ever learned to help get my motivation back on Jenny, is to add up the cost of the weeks I did take an "extended vacation" - seeing those numbers is enough for me to make me mad and really dig my heels in.  Your way is much better - and by moving one stone at a time, you're making lasting changes rather than a quick or temporary fix.  I hope that when I reach that point in the program, I can remember what you said today, and find the strength to move those rocks :)   Thanks for the inspiration, and good job!!!

Trish :)