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Can’t Seem To Keep My Foot On The Gas

After gaining 15-20 lbs while working from home during the pandemic, we were recently told at work that we would be coming back into the office beginning January 12. (Which at the time was 3-4 weeks away.) Panicking over my coworkers seeing the weight I had gained, I promptly decided I wouldn’t drink alcohol and would attempt IF to get the excess weight off before going back. I spent the last 10 days doing 20:4 / no alcohol and I felt great. I lost 8 lbs. My anxiety/depression even subsided during this time. I noticed without a hangover it was easier to get workouts in as well. Turns out with Omicron and recent case spikes, our director has postponed our return to the office. Ever since learning this, I’ve gone completely buck and have been drinking a bottle of wine the last couple of nights and binge snacking before bed. It seems like I need some sort of pressure to be motivated/disciplined. Anyone else out there have low willpower? How do you motivate yourself to stick with it?

Answer

I definitely struggled with IF while WFH. I had been on a really good streak at work and then when I was home it was hard to adjust. I found myself bored and snacking. For some reason the change from business causal clothing to leggings/joggers also affected me and contributed to a snacking vibe. To get back on track, I used meal planning and an IF tracker to help.

Answer

Your reason for the change has to outweigh the lifestyle adaptation. If you’re compelled enough to look/feel better, your motivation will come naturally. You losing your motivation is hinting at your reasoning not being strong enough to change your habits.

Having said that, it will help for you to set yourself up for success by adapting your environment to keep you on track better by doing things such as keeping your wine and snacks out of sight. A key point of successful IF is that your new behaiours have to be sustainable, so maybe start off a bit lighter and allow yourself to have some small snacks within your eating window.

You can do it! Good luck!

Answer

You have to stop living just to reach your goals or you will never make good habits a lifestyle. Don’t say I fast and workout because I want to look skinny… Become the type of person “that workouts and fasts” because it’s healthy. Make it part of your personality and the habits will stick. Motivation is fleeting and willpower is temporary. Developing good habits and making them ingrained with your persona is key!

Answer

You don’t wait til you’re motivated to do it.

You do it because you know it’s a healthy and wise decision, and then once you start seeing those good results — bam, there’s your motivation to keep on keeping on.

Practical things you can do around the house, if you’re going to be stuck there:

-throw away all the bullshit snacks

-don’t buy more of them

-only consume calories at meal time. No snacking between those meals, and no drinking calories

Answer

If you have to, tell yourself you’ll be back in the office in one week so make the IF your new goal for the week. Also, I like to set aside time in the morning to check in with myself before logging in. I plan what I’m going to eat and get ingredients lined up on my kitchen counter so I see them when I walk by to remind me what I’m focusing on so I don’t deviate. If I get hungry, I start prepping food that I’ll have in a few hours, it’s so weird how that alleviates the craving for me to fall off IF. You can do it! Just gotta adjust your mentality behind it and make a special home routine.

Maybe even make a special daily journal for yourself and check in with it each day (I like writing better than using apps). You can write yourself sticky notes and leave them around the house the night before “to: future self, from: past self - eat a delicious healthy meal at 2pm and you’ll thank me later, I promise!” things like that.

Anything helps, just take the first step toward getting back into it, and then you might find you want to take the second step and continue forth…