When I tried to lose weight back in 2008, I learnt some important lessons. Now I can also see that I went about it the wrong way in some respects, and the right way in many others. I hope that these lessons will make my efforts more successful (long-term) this time around.
First of all, and this is the good news, I found out that losing weight, or at least maintaining a lifestyle which will result in weight loss sooner or later, can be surprisingly easy after some time. The beginning is hard, either way you cut it. Planning ahead is challenging and calorie counting takes up a lot of time and energy. You are initially hungry because you have to eat less than you are used to, and sometimes your eating plan interferes with social life. For me, it meant that I had to cut down on alcohol consumption (in the weekends, because I was never a big drinker in the week) and eating out. But once I got into "the zone" and developed a sort of routine, at least for the weekdays, I was not really hungry. I remember that I was very content after my weeknight dinners, and the foods that I consumed were quite standard, so that even in terms of organisation, it became much easier with time. I educated myself, found out which foods worked for me, cooked and prepared healthy meals, and, all things considered, it was much easier than I initially thought, and it got less time-consuming as time passed.
Nevertheless, losing weight is really hard, and aspects of it do not get easier with time. In fact, losing weight might become harder as time passes, for a number of reasons. This is first of all because as you become smaller, your body requires less energy, and so, if you eat the same amount as before, you should expect the pounds to fall more slowly. So I guess you should adjust your caloric intake or the amount you exercise, which might have a psychological effect, if you're used to a certain amount of food or a certain portion size (or exercise regime). But I don't think that this is the main reason that weight loss becomes harder with time; sure, thinner people need fewer calories to get by compared to overweight people, but I don't think that difference is very big, at least not for the weight range that I am looking at.
The thing is, losing weight is a very slow process, and it requires a lot of patience and a taste for working hard with no noticeable immediate result, sometimes over a prolonged period of time. I think that this is what makes it harder over time. If you start with a certain stock of patience and you don't renew it, you are in trouble, sooner or later. During your weight loss journey, your weight might go up and the scales will be stubborn for no obvious reason. It might just be your body adjusting to the new weight, or retaining water, or whatever. Sometimes my weight went slightly up before I hit a new low. It doesn't matter! I found that in the beginning, I wasn't expecting much, so I took these temporary setbacks really well. As I progressed, I became more and more eager to lose weight, and I progressively lost patience with the scales. It was a bit like I became "addicted" to seeing new lows on the scale, and when they didn't come when I expected them to, it would just ruin my mood. Sure, I had lost a lot of weight and people left and right were noticing, but it was not enough. Instead of focusing on achievements, I focused on how it was becoming less and less likely that I would reach my target goal within a target date. Targets are good, but they should provide a general plan, not rule your spirit or define your effort. Focusing on targets might be bad if not meeting them makes you feel like a failure, because feeling like a failure is not a good companion to losing weight. It is very easy to lift your arms in the air and say "screw this, I don't need this extra source of frustration in my life", when you feel like a failure, especially when other aspects of your life are not going very well either. So it is very important to remind yourself of all your achievements, your little and big successes, and all the way you've come from the first day you stepped on the scales and decided that it was time to do something about that number you saw.
Related to that, and another aspect of weight loss that definitely does not get easier over time, is social eating. I felt it was becoming harder and harder for me, as time progressed, to bother with calorie counting when people invited me over for dinner, or when I was out dining. I lost patience over time, it was just too hard and too frustrating. It felt a bit like I was a special needs citizen, like I was sick and needed special treatment. I was simply really tired of it. I think that the mistake here is to agonise over being exact when you count calories, and losing the main goal, which is to eat a reasonable portion, avoid extras and super fatty stuff, and limit alcohol. Also, to a certain extent, to be forgiving to yourself for occasionally eating more than you normally would. It doesn't mean that you are a failure, or that your eating plan is out of the window, and it is not inevitable to go back to your old ways (and your old weight). You are not a failure if you eat more than you planned or more than you usually do when you are in a social setting. It is only normal. Everybody has an extra pound or two after Christmas and New Year's, for god's sake! Enjoy the food without a hint of bad feelings, try to avoid too many excesses, and then go back to your plan with your next meal.
This time around, I have set a few goals for myself, based on these lessons. But I am writing another post on that, this post is already too long.
First of all, and this is the good news, I found out that losing weight, or at least maintaining a lifestyle which will result in weight loss sooner or later, can be surprisingly easy after some time. The beginning is hard, either way you cut it. Planning ahead is challenging and calorie counting takes up a lot of time and energy. You are initially hungry because you have to eat less than you are used to, and sometimes your eating plan interferes with social life. For me, it meant that I had to cut down on alcohol consumption (in the weekends, because I was never a big drinker in the week) and eating out. But once I got into "the zone" and developed a sort of routine, at least for the weekdays, I was not really hungry. I remember that I was very content after my weeknight dinners, and the foods that I consumed were quite standard, so that even in terms of organisation, it became much easier with time. I educated myself, found out which foods worked for me, cooked and prepared healthy meals, and, all things considered, it was much easier than I initially thought, and it got less time-consuming as time passed.
Nevertheless, losing weight is really hard, and aspects of it do not get easier with time. In fact, losing weight might become harder as time passes, for a number of reasons. This is first of all because as you become smaller, your body requires less energy, and so, if you eat the same amount as before, you should expect the pounds to fall more slowly. So I guess you should adjust your caloric intake or the amount you exercise, which might have a psychological effect, if you're used to a certain amount of food or a certain portion size (or exercise regime). But I don't think that this is the main reason that weight loss becomes harder with time; sure, thinner people need fewer calories to get by compared to overweight people, but I don't think that difference is very big, at least not for the weight range that I am looking at.
The thing is, losing weight is a very slow process, and it requires a lot of patience and a taste for working hard with no noticeable immediate result, sometimes over a prolonged period of time. I think that this is what makes it harder over time. If you start with a certain stock of patience and you don't renew it, you are in trouble, sooner or later. During your weight loss journey, your weight might go up and the scales will be stubborn for no obvious reason. It might just be your body adjusting to the new weight, or retaining water, or whatever. Sometimes my weight went slightly up before I hit a new low. It doesn't matter! I found that in the beginning, I wasn't expecting much, so I took these temporary setbacks really well. As I progressed, I became more and more eager to lose weight, and I progressively lost patience with the scales. It was a bit like I became "addicted" to seeing new lows on the scale, and when they didn't come when I expected them to, it would just ruin my mood. Sure, I had lost a lot of weight and people left and right were noticing, but it was not enough. Instead of focusing on achievements, I focused on how it was becoming less and less likely that I would reach my target goal within a target date. Targets are good, but they should provide a general plan, not rule your spirit or define your effort. Focusing on targets might be bad if not meeting them makes you feel like a failure, because feeling like a failure is not a good companion to losing weight. It is very easy to lift your arms in the air and say "screw this, I don't need this extra source of frustration in my life", when you feel like a failure, especially when other aspects of your life are not going very well either. So it is very important to remind yourself of all your achievements, your little and big successes, and all the way you've come from the first day you stepped on the scales and decided that it was time to do something about that number you saw.
Related to that, and another aspect of weight loss that definitely does not get easier over time, is social eating. I felt it was becoming harder and harder for me, as time progressed, to bother with calorie counting when people invited me over for dinner, or when I was out dining. I lost patience over time, it was just too hard and too frustrating. It felt a bit like I was a special needs citizen, like I was sick and needed special treatment. I was simply really tired of it. I think that the mistake here is to agonise over being exact when you count calories, and losing the main goal, which is to eat a reasonable portion, avoid extras and super fatty stuff, and limit alcohol. Also, to a certain extent, to be forgiving to yourself for occasionally eating more than you normally would. It doesn't mean that you are a failure, or that your eating plan is out of the window, and it is not inevitable to go back to your old ways (and your old weight). You are not a failure if you eat more than you planned or more than you usually do when you are in a social setting. It is only normal. Everybody has an extra pound or two after Christmas and New Year's, for god's sake! Enjoy the food without a hint of bad feelings, try to avoid too many excesses, and then go back to your plan with your next meal.
This time around, I have set a few goals for myself, based on these lessons. But I am writing another post on that, this post is already too long.
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