day-to-day yo-yo

[Sateri]

Does anyone else do this? It's something I've been noticing from my food journal as of late ...

One day, I do everything perfectly (welllll, losing-weight wise). I take my vitamin, drink plenty of water, eat a variety of foods including lots of fruits and veggies, have few snacks and keep within my calorie limit, exercise... sometimes even go to sleep early, feeling happy and proud.

Next day. Something stressful happens. Or someone offers me some junk food I love, and because I haven't had it for a day (or a few days, weeks, whatever), I give in and eat it, justifying it with "well, I did so well yesterday, I can go a little easy today..." And that attitude continues into my DDR: I stop after just a few songs, feeling bored or impatient. You get the idea. At any rate, the "off" day I pretty much nullify whatever good work I did before, so I'm obviously not losing any weight.

The whole on-again, off-again thing is so frustrating, and even though I'm aware I keep doing it, I find it so hard not to. Does anybody else do this? What can I do to stop the constant rebound--adhering strictly to my healthy routine, then slacking off with hardly a thought? It's driving me nuts.

[supahC]

i know what you mean! I don't have any advice for you cause i cant really control it either. but at least you're not alone

[urbanjunglekitten]

I find myself doing the same thing . . . sometimes it's a week that I'm good, and then a day or two that I'm bad . . . sometimes it's a week that I'm bad, and a day or two that I'm good. Or sometimes, it's a day to day kind of thing. I also know why I give in . . . I feel justified in being bad because I've been good, etc, etc. I've been not playing DDR as much as I could lately because my pads have been acting up, so I've been using the excuse "oh, I'll play more when I have a better pad." I'm rationalizing to myself why I can be lazy, and why I can eat bad foods. I remedied the first thing . . . I bought a new dance pad today so I don't have that excuse any more . . . now I just have to work on eating healthy no matter what I did the day (or the few hours) before.

Look on the brighter side . . . it's a good thing that you can see your behavior for what it is . . . you know it's not good for you, and you're not trying to rationalize it away (even if we both rationalize reasons for being bad in the first place ). Also, any diet and exercise changes for the healthier are better than no changes at all . . . so even if you're only working out two days a week and you're eating unhealthily for the two days after that . . . that still means you're eating 5 days of the week healthier than you were, and you're getting more exercise than someone who doesn't play DDR at all. Both of those are good things. Changing from a bad diet to a good diet is a long, laborious process, and you're bound to trip and fall a few times. The important thing is to get back up, fall back into your routine, and try and make contingencies for when you trip again.

UJKitten

[frantep16]

Yup, count me in. I get very frustrated with myself when I get all motivated, do well for 1 day and then blow it the next day. You are definitely NOT alone. I don't know what the secret is, or I'd weigh 125 pounds.

[StarDrifter]

I think the trick is twofold. It's almost (to me) as much of a mental discipline as the exercise is a physical discipline.

The first is to not let it stress you. If someone says something - especially about your weight - just raise your head an inch higher. Say to yourself - and only to yourself - that you're doing something better. This other jerk isn't. Be happy about the good thing you're doing. Living well is the best revenge, and all that. Or just know that in another month you'll have made more progress on yourself than the other person will all year.

When that's done, we still want to slip. Even when we feel good. What I do (and it seems mostly successful) is to visualize myself doing it anyway. See it inside, then do it outside. By the time I'm done concentrating on getting it done, I have a full cup of water and my dance mat back on the floor. It's like shooting a basketball, or raising your X-Wing from its swampy grave.

I just make it all fun, too. Even the insulting jerks.

[havix]

Seems like it isnt a habit yet. It may have to become a chore until you develop the habit of working out everyday. Also, how many versions of DDR do you own? I own 5 versions, DDR (ps1), Konamix, Max, Max2, and Extreme, and I find myself just putting it on standard and just going down the list playing every song, then the next day I switch games (haven't been able to play lately due to work/school and senior stuff, but soon I will have alot of free time). Usually I play on heavy (workout reasons for standard), but this forces me to not play the same songs over and over because I too will get bored after a while.

[abrannan]

I've found a few hangups that make sticking to a program difficult.

1) Thinking of food as a reward - This one is very wasy to fall into, the "I've earned it" mentality. Mkae your workout and diet rewards non-food. Treat yourself to something else if you've been good on your diet, maybe a CD, clothes, whatever. By making bad food a reward, you're only reinforcing the idea that you're denying yourself something.

2) "I don't have time to exercise" - Just commit to getting on the mat and playing one song a day. One song. Including boot-up and song selection time, that's an investment of less than 5 minutes. I don't know about you, but I spend more than 5 minutes getting ready for bed. Of course, once you're there, if you feel like playing more, go ahead. Shoot, even if you don't want to boot the game up, download and print a step chart for a song you're working on (from DDRfreak.com) and go through the motions, figuring out where you'll need to place your feet when. The point is to make the exercising a habit, like brushing your teeth.

3) The Big Question: Ask youself, "Which do I want more, to eat this <insert bad food>, or to lose weight?" Sure there'll be times the you choose the food, but by asking the question, you're spelling out the choice you're making and consciously choosing one of the options. You're putting a speedbump in your process. Each speedbump makes it a little more likely that you'll make the right choice, and each right choice brings you a little closer to your goal.


Okay so the third one was a tip and not a hangup, but still...

[dilbertgod]

Something I do, is when I begin to become hungry or feel like just eating something because I'm bored or what have you, just force yourself to plug in DDR before you go to the fridge and make that sandwich or get that candy bar..

Play enough songs to get yourself sweating, and you won't be hungry anymore. And even if you are still hungry, its better to eat after exercising.

DDR is a good way to take your mind off food when you feel like eating when you really shouldn't be during the day (off-the-diet eating)

[brainiak]

Keep a regular diet and if you must have 1 serving of junkfood a day just make sure you don't stop playing ddr.