I'm starting to think the "trick" for me is to not have any weight loss goals

[I'll start by saying this isn't going to be true for everyone, I'm only speaking for myself. What works for me may not work for you. I just thought that perhaps this perspective might ring true for some others.]

It sounds counterintuitive, but I really think that it's best for me to not work towards any specific goal. Previously when trying to lose weight, I always had something in mind. I want to get in shape for a vacation, I want to look good in photos, I want to run a 5k this spring, there was always a specific goal.

The problem is that having big long term goals meant that there's a specific timeline I have keep to. If I want to lose 30lbs before I go on vacation, then I have to lose a pound a week to hit that goal. If I want to look good in a suit for a wedding, then there's a specific size I have to hit by a specific date. Weight loss is not a straight line, but I had such specific goals for myself that I was setting myself up for a million little failures. If I wasn't losing weight fast enough, I was failing. If I missed a day of exercise, I was failing. If I overate one day, I was failing. I was so stressed the whole time that weight loss was a miserable experience.

This time, though, I'm ditching all that. There is no finish line. There is no goal. There's no "point" to any of this. I calculated my BMR and TDEE so I know what I'm burning every day. I'm tracking everything I eat in MFP, with a calorie goal a little under my BMR so I know I'm at a deficit. I weighed myself at the beginning and logged it, but that's it. I don't have an exact goal weight in mind, and I certainly don't know when I'll get there. I'm not weighing myself on a rigid schedule. I'm just sticking to tracking and trusting the system.

I've been at this for over a month, and I barely even noticed. I've gone over my calorie limit one time, still at a deficit that day, just less than usual. In the past, that would have upset me, but this time, I just thought about how I could plan better in the future and moved on.

This is by far the least stressed I've been whole trying to lose weight, which has made it easy. I don't know how much weight I've lost, and I don't care. There's no point to any of it, and what a relief that is!

submitted by /u/gyromancy
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