*post-goal* depression
 

All the time I was losing I set mini goals for myself. Once at the ultimate GOAL, I actually went through a decompression depression.

There was no more to lose :( - I often wonder if that's what is at the core of a yo-yo dieter. The losing is the fun part - not hitting goal - well hitting goal is a thrill - but soon after - you miss the thrill.

Now getting on the scale is all about "gee I hope I haven't gained" as opposed "oh boy, wonder how much I'm down".

I'm living vicariously through the newbies with their 9-pound a week losing schedule :exclm:

What about setting another goal? Like Abs of steel by summer, or managing a 20 km hike (not sure if that's doable, not the hiking type :) but I am jonesing after abs so......) I think as human beings we are happiest when striving for something; personal betterment can be quite addicting.

Nat

Hmm. Here's a question: Have you accepted the new you? Does your mental picture match your real picture?

I've heard a lot of stories about people having a mental "lag" when they reach goal, between their real image and mental image. Just one thing to ponder.

Wa'il

Nat - yes I have lots of fitness goals - and they have helped enormously. But initially this *depression* (for want of a better word) happens just after you calm down and come off the ceiling about reaching goal. Lasted about a week.

At the same time you start to think- hmmm, wonder if I could stand to lose another pound or two. Then you get nervous you are on the verge of an eating disorder. Then it's like a sadness. Like I imagine post-partum would be. I had a simlar episode when I quit smoking - they say it is like a grief. Losing weight starts to be part of your routine. Especially when I've been at it as long as I hve.

I started to feel like hanging out at a board where others are struggling is like being smarmy about hitting goal. So at first, I'd play it down. (Shucks twern't nothin') Like graduating from university and having no *job* to go to. What the heck good was the degree? Still, it passes.

Must admit, Wa'il having a maintenance area is a grand idea. Maybe it is a period of *catch up*, that lag you mention - that would answer why it didn't last long. But it sure had an impact on me - I was not at all expecting it.

My original *goal* was 149 - that was what I set originally - then I read something about setting higher goals was a sign of lack of confidence - that there was nothing wrong with picking a goal weight that felt GREAT at the time.

Well I felt GREAT at 139, but still set the bar at 140-144 range.

I play more havoc with my mind, than with my body.

When I lost the last chunk of weight, I was elated for a while, then scared. I was looking at a picture of myself and got completely spooked. I couldn't believe it was me! I also changed my goal from 150 to 140.

So I stall and wait it out. I get bummed, then more bummed, then there is hope, and I start to work my way out of it.

I'm starting to think about how incredibly silly I'm being is. What is there to be afraid of...

Hindsight is a wonderful thing! ;)


Karen

Karen - I absolutely hear you.

Is this a weird phenomena or what?

I think all these low-carb gurus should add a large section to their "premaintenance" chapters and talk more that just about food.

I know Sponge, I know! There should be a forum for the psychology aspects! ;)

I also think that any weight loss experience has a much more to it than not eating this or that. I believe the whole mind-body relationship is one of the causes of plateaus. Plateaus are a good thing. Kind of like a "courting" period to get you aquainted with the new you. People who lose a whole bunch of weight really quickly worry me. Will they be able to follow through on a WOL if the loss of fat has been their only goal? Maintenance also takes place in your mind.

Karen

The concept of plateaus being a good thing.... that would have helped me a lot during just such times. I was comforted with the 'slow loss, stays off' theory. But then again I could just as quick put it right back on, if I was a different sort of person. Maybe the same would hold true in the reverse, of the fast losers - they are equally likely to keep it off or put it back on.

And you are so right about the psychology of all of this...

On Weight Watchers, I would have spent the losing period miserable, and the goal hitting - feeling wonderful. There seems to be some evidence that this WOE is the opposite!

And one more point as I blather on, from the psychological angle - yo-yo dieting - do you think there is such an underlying pleasure to lose, that people actually gain so they can do it again?

Holey-moley! What an interesting question! I'll have to think about this one for a bit. It seems shocking to me!

Karen

I don't think it's the yo-yo part that keeps people coming back. It could become a great part of someones identity to be always dieting, especially through diet groups. You get support when you are doing well and when you are doing badly too, which as I think about seems rather revealing. Getting support for thinking/believing/actually doing badly....hmmmm.

The support - if you belong to a group, the talking about it, and the rituals that lead up to going on a "diet" are probably what get people hooked. Also the repeat failure and starting again with great determination. The sad thing is that with calorie restricted and low-faD diets, you are bound to fail, or at least go crazy in the process.

I think people really don't realize how truly addicted - and I mean 12 Step Addicted - they are to carbohydrates. LC seems like the perfect WOL, yet people can completely go off the deep end and abandon it. Addiction or not?

Karen

It would be interesting to see research studies on the people who *quit* dieting and returned to *normal* eating, either at goal or before and include information like - type of diet they were following, number of repeats of the same pattern, re-gain weight rates and amounts, general lifestyle profiles... etc - REGARDLESS of the diet they were on, in fact, cover off ALL woes - not just LC.

You're right - we hear a lot (and claim ourselves) that low-carb is the easiest to lose on and stick with - and yet people quit it all the time and gain and repeat - hard to tell if overall, low carb REALLY is any different than any other WOE in the stick-to-it attributes - or if the carb addiction, regardless of the *treatment* is truely what must be combatted by the individual alone - and that the *battle* is not food related - as you said before.

Maybe it's the fact that you miss all the encouragement each week on your weight loss journey??? All the compliments along the way??? hmmm???? Well here's a compliment for you that even though I've been coming here for a while have never said to you!!!! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING GOAL!!! TEEHEE :roll:

Nice to meet you Joanne.

Let me *shake* your virtual hand and offer you my thanks and my congratulations on your success so far, as well.

Funny you mention the compliments. I'm one of *those* who accepts the words gracefully but has great difficulty accepting the true value into her heart. I'm working on it. :thup:

Once again LC
 

You've touched on something that has crossed my mind.

When I started losing weight early this year it felt really good but it was a slow process even with the exercising I was doing.

Then, when I read Dr. Atkins and finally realized that I was doing a version of locarb, I decided to follow the plan more strictly and saw the fat come off at a much faster rate. I was very pleased and was feeling better than ever.

The downside was in becoming so consumed in the fat loss and the changes in my body. It was sort of like when you are renovating a house or planning a wedding or having a baby. It becomes all-consuming and you eat, sleep, think and talk about nothing else. I was becoming addicted to checking the forum three or four times a day. However, it did cross my mind that this couldn't go on forever, that at some point, it would become less all-consuming. And I had to ask myself what would I do then?????? Same sort of let-down you describe.

For me, it is all in trying to keep it in a balanced perspective--to be "consumed" enough to get myself all the encouragement I need to "keep up the good work" (that's where journaling and checking the forum comes in). But also be about the other business/es of my life because that other business is always there and will always be there whether I reach my goal or not.

The thing about reaching goal and maintaining it, in my mind, is in remaining true to all the principles and lessons I have learned about myself and my body along the way. I can't get too cocky and think I can disregard that valuable store of knowledge.

I love carbohydrates--pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, doughnuts, bread, expensive chocolate and cheesecakes. But the reality is, I think I will always have to limit my intake from here on in for the rest of my life because they affect me in negative ways if I eat too much of them. I am okay with that as long as I can indulge once in a while w/o guilt.

So to me the weight loss journey is about more than just the weight loss and I am trying to deal with all those other aspects of it so that I don't fall into the catagory of those who think they can just jump right back into their former WOE and end up gaining it all back. What a waste of my physical and mental time and energy that would be!

All that said, I do find it interesting that now that I have been at a certain weight for a while (and knowing that I am not at goal) I have days where I feel really overweight in exactly the same way as I did when I really was overweight. It's as if my body has forgotten about all the fat it has lost. That's when I get out my old reference shorts, skirt and jeans and try them on just to see all the room in them and remind myself what fat really was like!

Interesting thread. Lots to think about.

Have you noticed any "old way of thinking fat thoughts" cross your mind on those days?

Karen