I haven’t given a personal update in awhile and I apologize for that. Working has been crushing me.. Right now I am lacking that killer spirit to eat completely paleo.. I would say my rate is around 75% which is still way better than before but not where I want to be. I am not sure what it is but I have seem to have lost that extra mental edge.
I thinks it’s two major factors..
1. I set an initial goal to do it for 30 days which I did. I was happy with the results and its almost as if somewhere in my brain I said “I did it .. way to go.. now you are done”. I am lacking that killer instinct right now to get me to 250.
2. Work Stress: I know this is a total excuse but I have working so much/stressing about work/not sleeping well I am lacking that extra drive to push my willpower to where it needs to be.
I have been doing alot of soul searching because I have been in the spot before. Close to my wedding I got down to 260′s after working out with a trainer but then slowly put all of it back on until the 314lb rock bottom. I WILL not let this happen again. I feel that same sense of complacency falling on me and need to shake it up a bit.
After spending sometime reflecting I think I have identified the issue. You need to set goals or you will slowly slip back into your old ways.. atleast for me that is the case. Wedding Push: Made a ton of progress.. post wedding.. no goals.. no purpose.. I balloon up. Paleo 30 day Experiment.. Kicked ass.. Post 30day.. lacking that extra mental but havent completely fallen off the wagon.
I am very goal oriented and realize that unless I am working towards something.. I lack that extra edge/willpower to say NO to bad food.. say NO to alcohol.. say NO to rationalizing a bad decision.
Now that I have realized goals are essential to motivate me and I ready to put in writing my what they are…
- Measurements end of March!: Let measure me up and see whats going on.. I was supposed to do it already but mother nature decided to clobber us with about 4 feet of snow and it never happened.
- Make it into the 250′s! – Here is my stretch goal.. Let’s finish what I started.. get into the 260′s and progress into the 250′s.
I hope this wasnt too long of mental dump but wanted get it out there. My lack of drive (related to eating) has really been pissing me off and have been pondering WTF is going on. This is the first time I have correlated the importance of goal setting to provide that extra focus. It is too easy after a good initial effort to think ” I am fixed”.. No more fat person or fat person tendencies. Guess what folks.. odd’s are against you.. similar to a drug addict… I am a food addict and will always have that drive. I will always want cheesburgers, pizza, etc and I need to keep myself aware of that. By setting goals it gives me something else other than food to think about!
So in conclusion.. this is not a short-term thing.. there is not an easy fix.. find what motivates you and always make yourself aware of that.. for me its goal setting but for you it may be something else. It is TOO EASY to slip back into old habits and if you dont have focus odds are you will not make progress.
Filed under: Daily Summary Tagged: | crossfit, diet, paleo
Dude, I so hear you. I’ve gained back all ten pounds I lost on the 30-day paleo challenge. I’m doing the PTP program from Whole9 right now and it’s giving me a goal to work on – a new deadlift PR. The diet just isn’t clicking for me though. I think I might have my deadlift PR in two weeks, but I’ll be just as fat. I wouldn’t call that a success.
OK so enough pity party. What the hell are we supposed to DO?
My question is what motivates you? By your MAX Deadlift comment it seems that beating your PR’s would be an appropriate motivation. So I would say in addition to trying to do a deadlift PR which is strength I would try to beat a Cardio based PR. I love stregth as much as the next person but it does not necessarily do anything for reducing fat. I have always been my strongest when I have been my fattest. Maybe try to get a new PR on something like Fran? To really improve on Fran you would need to focus on cardio and stamina which would no doubt help reduce bodyfat.
I dont like to usually use weight as a measurement but decided to use it because 25o’s would be such a huge accomplishment for me. I have been in the 250′s in 6+ years so it is my stretch goal. Another option would be to focus on your measurements if you dont like weight. Waist is my money measurement. I feel it is the best judge of health vs weight. I have dropped 8.5 inches off of my waist since joining CFit. I take huge pride in that. Hence my jeans post..
Hope that ramble helps.. I would go with one or 2 shorter type goals and one big stretch goal. Then after you achieve those goals set new ones. I have decided taht is the only way for me to stay on the “wagon”.
I don’t deserve to give advice (since I can’t seem to even get myself out of bed in the morning, my “stretch goals” include pretty much anything.) But I just wanted to chime in and say GOOD JOB! You seem to be working really hard- physically and mentally- and should be very proud.
Keep it up!!
Just wanted to say great post! I always struggle with keeping up my motivation once I go through “big deal” events or achieve goals — it’s nice to know it’s not just me.
Just recently I wrote a post about food and guilt and motivation to stay on the path with healthy eating. This is something I struggle with so much more than staying consistent at the gym.
I think the cardio/metcon goal setting idea is great — you should use that for yourself too. Right now I have a ton of CF goals that I’m trying to accomplish, but I think my list is a bit too long. Next round of goal setting I’m going to keep it simpler, maybe 5 things.
PS – I got to do a WOD w/ you the other day at CF Pittsburgh (Saturday AM), but we didn’t actually meet or talk. Hopefully I can introduce myself next time I’m in town to visit my parents.
@ c_wissBummer please do!
“Just recently I wrote a post about food and guilt and motivation to stay on the path with healthy eating. This is something I struggle with so much more than staying consistent at the gym.”
That is me exactly.. I have had no issues with motivation getting to the gym but food is a whole other battle.
@ Courtney
Thanks for the kind note. Totally understand about the morning thing but I found if you can force yourself to do it for 2 weeks you almost get addicted. It became like my tea or cofee in the morning. I wake-up and workout. They days I would miss I would just not feel the same.
I agree that you’re doing a great job! I’m probably about 75% paleo right now too. I just can’t seem to get there when I get home from work. I’m not going crazy or anything, but I eat a meal at dinner that can pretty much be anything. Tonight was Olive Garden, and I ate a good amount, but didn’t eat any bread sticks, so I counted that as a win.
I’m with you on the goals. I try to set them up as well. I think CFIT would go way better for me if I did that. Right now my goal is to get “in shape” but what does that mean? So instead I just set a goal to keep going to CFIT as many days as I can. I also have a meal by meal goal. Dinner is the only one I don’t plan and hence the worst one for me. Maybe instead of goals, you plan all your meals for a day. Kind of like CFIT. The workouts are scheduled…structured. Take the same approach with your meals. (maybe you are already and this is dumb advice)
Are you planning meals or just having paleo food in the house with other options as well?
Also, I did the rx’d workout today with no modifications, but had to take breaks. Your time was 10 minutes faster than mine! So great job!
Your are totally right on the meals. When I was in full paleo mode my wife and I planned the main meals and had a bunch of Paleo snacks around. If we didnt plan or have food around.. its too easy to cheat.
We finally got back to it.. I ate Paleo all day and then I made a Paloe firendly meatloaf! YUMM.
As for goals.. THey need to be measurable and obtainable.
[...] in the week I was perusing the blogs I read and I came upon Matt’s confessional post titled “My name is Matt and I am a food addict!”. His post really struck a cord with me. If you want to go so far as to read the comments [...]
Yum, meatloaf! If you have good paleo recipes, share!