Lacking Motivation: How many times have we heard this?

[sexym2]

We have all heard, soo many times how we loose motivation and or intrest in the food. Well, here I am, once again, I lost motivation. Food is fine, I will happily eat deviled eggs, bacon and pork shoulder steaks :D

My problem? I hear the junk food calling me, and after a while, I give in and eat it. I have admitted to all that I'm a binge eater and that I'm addicted to carbs and we all know breaking the habits is hard.

So, why am/did I loose motivation? I am starting IVF treatments in a month and I wanted to be at a better weight when we reinsurted the egg back in~in the fall. I had this great plan "Lose 30 lbs in 4 months," That great motivation lasted a whole week and I fell face first in ice cream and god knows what.

After I eat grains I feel like a truck ran me over. I am bloated, can't sleep because I'm unconfortable and it can even hurt to breath, the bloat is that bad. So, why do I put myself through the pain and torture of it all?

I am 36 yrs old, made some bad descisions in my life but I'm not an idiot, so why do I eat it all anyway and make myself sick? I have no clue besides addiction and habit.

For lunch today, I scarfed down a left over pork shoulder steak :yum: and some home made LC sause. I feel confortable and content, been thinking about lunch, I have deer burger and sausage thawed out. Meat balls!

I wonder if todays Blaaas if from PMS, I started TOM yesterday and feel like hell. Of course that does not give excuse from my eating habits for the last many weeks.

I already ate that steak, and my Mom called and was on her way with lunch. She walked in the door with pizza, LOL Thankfully I already ate! I would like to do some kind of work out after Mom leaves. We still have flash cards and other summer school crap to contend with. BF is coming home early today so I also have to make sure I'm not running busy when he's here.

Ok, I think I'm done whinning and complaining and sounding like my 8 yr old daughter.

[Pinot-Girl]

We have all heard, soo many times how we loose motivation and or intrest in the food. Well, here I am, once again, I lost motivation. Food is fine, I will happily eat deviled eggs, bacon and pork shoulder steaks :D

My problem? I hear the junk food calling me, and after a while, I give in and eat it. I have admitted to all that I'm a binge eater and that I'm addicted to carbs and we all know breaking the habits is hard.

So, why am/did I loose motivation? I am starting IVF treatments in a month and I wanted to be at a better weight when we reinsurted the egg back in~in the fall. I had this great plan "Lose 30 lbs in 4 months," That great motivation lasted a whole week and I fell face first in ice cream and god knows what.

After I eat grains I feel like a truck ran me over. I am bloated, can't sleep because I'm unconfortable and it can even hurt to breath, the bloat is that bad. So, why do I put myself through the pain and torture of it all?

I am 36 yrs old, made some bad descisions in my life but I'm not an idiot, so why do I eat it all anyway and make myself sick? I have no clue besides addiction and habit.

For lunch today, I scarfed down a left over pork shoulder steak :yum: and some home made LC sause. I feel confortable and content, been thinking about lunch, I have deer burger and sausage thawed out. Meat balls!

I wonder if todays Blaaas if from PMS, I started TOM yesterday and feel like hell. Of course that does not give excuse from my eating habits for the last many weeks.

I already ate that steak, and my Mom called and was on her way with lunch. She walked in the door with pizza, LOL Thankfully I already ate! I would like to do some kind of work out after Mom leaves. We still have flash cards and other summer school crap to contend with. BF is coming home early today so I also have to make sure I'm not running busy when he's here.

Ok, I think I'm done whinning and complaining and sounding like my 8 yr old daughter.

Addiction - that is your answer....!

Take power from this group of fellow LC's and addicts of all carbs, and it can help.

Remember that we have to honour the boundaries we put in place, in this case, to keep us from our addiction and that means respecting yourself to know you should not eat 'bad' foods.

Chin up - we're here to help!!

[CMCM]

Hey there.....just KNOW and BELIEVE that it really is all about your CHOICES. However, if you are eating SOME of the non-Atkins foods, they mess up your head and your ability to make good food choices. There are millions of years of physiology involved here.

What truly works best for me is to put myself in a mode where my cravings disappear, my interest in most food gets very muted, and then making good choices is a whole lot easier. It usually takes me a few days (after eating a lot of bad stuff) to get back to that mode, but I like being there because I get on a roll when I do it. I have to be very conscious about my choices, and be accountable to myself.

A lot of this is about creating optimum conditions for yourself. For me, I've learned that a little indulging leads to a lot. Eventually that happens, and it will always be that way. But I always work on how I look at things: A pizza, whatever it is may be in front of me and look wonderful and I want it now, but I self talk to myself to convince myself that I'll have it later in the future, just not now. I try not to create an emotional state of scarcity and denying myself foods forever....I just turn that into a choice about not eating it now...I'll eat it later at some vague point in the future.

I'm also using some of the AA techniques right now, looking just at today, each day. 24 hours and I concentrate on just that: eating well for one day, making good choices for one day. It's less overwhelming that way. I can be good for one day. Then tomorrow is another day and I approach it the same way. Soon I start looking at temptations as backtracking and I don't want to do that.

[Nancy LC]

Grains are the worst addictive food there is. Why would you eat wheat when you know how awful it makes you feel?

Why does a drunk drink to excess and wake up feeling nauseous and hung over?

Why does a crack addict keep doing whatever they do despite how badly it ruins their life and health?

They're powerful drugs. Yes, even wheat.

[ojoj]

Yes, you're an addict and are finding it hard to give it up! If its any conciliation, I cant give up cigarettes - I managed carbs, but not the ciggies :( I'm just glad I never started drinking alcohol, cos my family has a lot of alcoholics!!!!

The way I got thru it was, in the first few weeks, every time I felt I was going to weaken or wanted to eat, I'd
have a peice of cheese/chicken/ham.... instead of high carb junk - I'd eat it til I felt sick if necessary, just to stop myself from eating junk. I didnt realise at the time, but thats how I broke free


Jo xxx

[sexym2]

Thanks guys, I just feel so darn silly telling everyone, again that I'm starting over, again and again and again and again. . . I know I will never totally give up but thats not helping me in the mental part. I always think, "theres always tomorrow."

[Whofan]

The way I got thru it was, in the first few weeks, every time I felt I was going to weaken or wanted to eat, I'd
have a peice of cheese/chicken/ham.... instead of high carb junk - I'd eat it til I felt sick if necessary, just to stop myself from eating junk. I didnt realise at the time, but thats how I broke free


Jo xxx

That's exactly how I did it too.

Also, as one addict to another, I've found that having a goal like "Lose 30lbs in 4 months" is the kiss of death. I've done that so often and not only is it unrealistic to think we can dictate to our bodies the number of pounds to lose and the number of days in which to lose it, but the pressure to get results always set me up for failure, disappointment, and then the dreaded lack of motivation. The difference this time was I had no timeline in mind. I just wanted to lose weight - any amount of weight, I'd have been grateful for 5lbs. All I did was eat low carb faithfully, one day at a time, to see what would happen. No pressure. It worked beyond my wildest dreams.

Don't put pressure on yourself, eat low carb one day at a time - one meal at a time if necessary - and use meat, cheese, eggs instead of carbage when you get a craving. Soon you'll be free of the cravings and in good shape to recover from the addiction.

[Nancy LC]

I've found that having a goal like "Lose 30lbs in 4 months" is the kiss of death.
My body has a habit of ignoring goals like that, no matter how pure my intentions and follow through are. :p

[Blackstone]

I'm with you Nancy!! That's why I'm sticking with my 100 day challenge...that's something I can control.

Jacki - Don't beat yourself up! You are a winner because you never stop trying! That's the keep, whatever it takes...you keep coming back. One thing that I have been trying to do is be open about my urges to binge. I post my feelings out on this forum and so far I've gotten enough support that I haven't given into those urges. At least for the past 60 days anyway.

Like they say in AA..."Keep coming back - It works!" :)

[Blackstone]

I mean to write "That's the KEY" not keep! LOL!

[WereBear]

Do you know what impresses me about you, Jacki?

You don't give up.

You had a lousy marriage. You changed that and it sounds like true love.

You've got a busy household, kids to feed, animals to take care of, and relatives who are distinctly UNhelpful. You live miles from good choices about some things. You had a big health problem with your eyes. You've got a million things to stress you out, and sometimes you reach for what has been your stress-reliever for a long time.

But then you start again. You don't give up. So you will get there, I know you will.

Have you checked on "bingeing vitamins"? Many folks report incredible results with supplements; they magically don't want to anymore! It was discussed on this thread:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=451754&page=1&pp=15

[Liz53]

That's exactly how I did it too.

Also, as one addict to another, I've found that having a goal like "Lose 30lbs in 4 months" is the kiss of death. I've done that so often and not only is it unrealistic to think we can dictate to our bodies the number of pounds to lose and the number of days in which to lose it, but the pressure to get results always set me up for failure, disappointment, and then the dreaded lack of motivation. The difference this time was I had no timeline in mind. I just wanted to lose weight - any amount of weight, I'd have been grateful for 5lbs. All I did was eat low carb faithfully, one day at a time, to see what would happen. No pressure. It worked beyond my wildest dreams.

Don't put pressure on yourself, eat low carb one day at a time - one meal at a time if necessary - and use meat, cheese, eggs instead of carbage when you get a craving. Soon you'll be free of the cravings and in good shape to recover from the addiction.

Yes. Yes. Yes. I would add try to find a way to work with your body rather than against it. Make every food choice a positive one: how to give your body the best nutrition. That means adequate protein, lots of yummy fat for energy and a minimum of carbs, and from the best sources (vegetables, and IF you can tolerate it, dairy). It's not about depriving yourself of unhealthy food, it's about improving your choices to fuel your body as healthfully as possible.

[Blackstone]

Whofan- What a wonderful way to put it. You just made something click for me!! Sure I'd love to say...by the time we go to Hawaii I want to weigh 150 but chances are that's not going to happen and that's ok. I'm just living a low carb life and allowing my body to adjust as it is supposed to. I just love what you wrote here!!

[sexym2]

You guys are great! Thanks to all of you. I've been visiting with all of you for a very long time, a few of you, for years :) Maybe its my period and hormones but you guys bring tears to my eyes.

I put the scales away, I don't want to know and I don't want to feel pushed. I am not counting calories any more either. I am just eating low carb and that is that.

I just had this great thought of loosing the weight I want to loose so when I get pregnant, I don't have to worry about my extra weight. But in reality, I'm only 30lbs ish over weight. For a pregnant woman, thats not that bad but if feels huge to me.

Werebear, has my life been that upsetting? LOL You make it sound like its been one aweful thing after another :lol:

For lunch today I ate that pork shoulder steak, most of it, fat and all.
Summer was LC meat balls and a LC home made BBQ sause. I dought if there was much fat involved but I made the meat balls out of sausage, ground beef and ground deer. I also tried to not to overcook them, I did keep them pretty tender and juicy.

I feel soo much better after letting this out and hearing from all of you. I am so glad I found this forum and LC years ago, its been over 6 years now.

[Blackstone]

So glad you feel better!!! :) Have a wonderful evening and be kind to Jacki, she's the only one you got! :)

[WereBear]

Werebear, has my life been that upsetting? LOL You make it sound like its been one aweful thing after another :lol:

Oh gosh NO, I didn't mean it like that!

But here you are, still low carbing, while there's one excuse after another lying around. For all of us.

You just don't let yourself get away with excuses for very long, though. That's what I meant :)

[sexym2]

I was sitting here at the computer yesterday, and for no reason than "I wanted to" I grabbed a can of pringles and at the whole can. Then, while I was licking my fingers some TV show came on and I couldn't make it all out, the reception was bad, but this lady was very heavy and she was on a talk show about what motivated her to loose weight and how she did it. I never heard a diet plan, although she did count calories. I remember her telling the guy, "I told myslef, if I can loose just 1 lb a week, I won."

You know what? I can do that! LOl Epiphany moment here :lol: I did 3 mile DVD walk before we left for town and ate part of a beef shoulder steak for supper.

did stock up on diet soda, I will admit, I get tired of drinking water. I'm as bad as a kid, I drank pop while watching a movie last night. I was up 3X peeing, :lol:

About me getting pregnant, we have to go with artificial insinemation (IVF) so I can drink while "getting pregnant" even though I dought if I will. I have do do a full 25 days on birth control first and its high estrogen stuff. Started them this morning, oh yay, lets add estrogen to my already screwed up body! :lol: If all goes well, we won't "get me pregnant" till fall.

I took my birth control and my thyroid pill and sure enough, I'm hungry. Damb, I had a feeling I'd have this problem. I don't take anything but my thyroid pill in the morning, try to keep my hunger under control and now its growling at me.

I do let excuses get in my way, till I start using my brains and do what I need to do.

[sexym2]

Been thinking alot about my motivation and I have to admit, my motivation is back.

I hated the way the grains make me feel, I get the carb bloat for excess sugar but grains, nasty stuff! Even if I eat sugar, I am not going to eat grains, primarily wheat again, if I can help it. As for the rest of the sugar, one day at a time I sappose.

I started taking Candida pills, try to take care of that stuff. I feel better today, and I think I'm getting close to or am into ketosis. I've been busy all day, on my feed and it went fairly fast, plus fun. We went garage saling and fishing today.

I was hungry though after lunch. I ate breakfast, lunch and 2.5 hours after lunch I was hungry again. There was nothing for me to eat so I got a big glass of water 54oz worth. I drank it all afternoon but I was still hungry. Finally, we got home and made supper. Since it was just BF and me, I got to make what I really wanted. Who's up for fried shrimp and deviled eggs? I picked strawberries when we got home so we will have a few in a bit.

I feel good, I hope it stays this way.

[bike2work]

I would think that a baby is pretty good motivation. Pre-natal nutrition begins before you're pregnant. You've got to get your body as healthy as possible for that vulnerable little life that's going to be totally dependent on you. Think about providing the best possible environment for that wittle bebe. You want to start his/her life off without the influence of inflammation, unbalanced hormones, toxic gunk.

I'm jealous. I wish I had a baby. Too late.

[Firefly428]

So sorry to hear it is a rough time for you.

when something isn't working it might be time for a change.

while we can all willpower our way thru an eating plan 'for a while' you need something that last long term.

just think about it.

I was very very low carb. I could not sustain doing that. 10-20 nc per day was not enough leeway for me.

I went to moderate carb plan. my way. I am losing great weight so well and easy on plan it is insane. I should have done this a long time ago instead of following some written plan that didn't fall into my lifestyle.

I am carb careful. On days I decide to up it to about 60-70 NC I am sure to limit alot of fat etc. I calorie count now to be on the safe side.

I control my diet and eat what I want. within reason. I crave mashed potatoes and gravy. I eat it. I want crust on pizza, I eat it. these are fewer and farther inbetween but I know I can have them.

I was starting to have binge tendencies on very low carb. I knew I had to change my plan because I was not going to correct this without having a plan I could live with.

so hang in there and hopefully you can find a way to work thru it all. I found a great plan I made myself. I found heavy low carb restriction was a receipe for a nightmare for me. I now do moderate carb, have some foods I absolutely love back in my life, losing weight well and having fun this time losing some lbs.

best of luck to you. You will find your way. We all do at some point :)

[ketogenium]

I think we should try it the way former alcoholics and former drug addicts do it all the time. I know people who were total drunks but managed to jump off the train to hell - they keep it that way by denying any even minor source of alcohol and they avoid situations where you're supposed to drink. No matter how long you've been "dry", 2 or 40 years, one single drop of beer can spoil it all. Crack, meth, heroin, I know one former heroin addict, same story.

Sugar and grains shouldn't be treated differently. "One single bit won't hurt..." OH YES, it will HURT, and sometimes even more than just that. I had some 4 weeks of carb craving at the start of my LC-career, I suffered it through and now I am very unforgiving to anything which might contain grains or even sugar.

Currently I do some sort of vacation, which means after 31 pounds weight loss on modified Atkins diet I felt myself overstressed (my metabolism went all the way from carb addict to KETO, it did great work) and relized my body needs some rest & vitamines. Now I do not count carbs and eat everything I want... but only foods which are Atkins friendly! I eat huge loads of apples, strawberries, pears, carrots and vegetables - and my metabolism does just great! No cravings, no insulin spikes, I'm in the greatest shape of my life now.

Treat grains & sugar like a dangerous drug. People who have gone through incredible hell to give up their meth addiction for those he/she loved, you lok at such people in awe, because IT IS a heroic deed. And how is carb addiction different from it??? This should be the motivation for everyone - I escaped a drug! I was stronger than this stuff! And the final motivation not to eat processed grains and refined sugars at all - I never knew how great apples and pears actually taste! Sugar and grains literally KILL your taste, anything less sweeter than milkshakes isn't even recognised as "sweet". If I want something fresh and tasty to eat, I eat atkins friendly fruit, as much as I want.

PS: I do not gain weight at all, despite all the apples and pears, and no fruit does provoke any carb cravings.
:wiggle:

[Whofan]

I know without a doubt that sugar and grains are dangerous addictive drugs FOR ME. But I would hesitate to say that for everyone. Some people can get away with an ice cream or slice of pizza in the short term, but long term it leads to carb creep and one day the scale registers a weight gain that brings them to despair and the need to break the addiction all over again. Others might not be addicts at all and can handle those things from time to time without a weight gain, or just a temporary one. Personally I stay as far away from sugar and grains as I possibly can because their power over me terrifies me.

[Firefly428]

I am lucky I can eat some yummy carbs and sugar etc. and be fine.

I truly think it is physical. also mental addiction but I think truly everyone's body so reacts different to sugars etc.

some people can eat XX and get away with it easily and can handle it thru life. others must be on the watch constantly.