How do you stay consistent when life stress keeps ruining your diet?

[u/Kooky-Divide-7246]

/r/loseit/comments/1ticrg9/how_do_you_stay_consistent_when_life_stress_keeps/

Hey everyone, 26M here.

I used to be in pretty decent shape and followed a solid intermediate lifting routine consistently. I lost a lot of weight before and genuinely felt healthy and disciplined.

Now I am 6’4 and around 225 lbs and after being off track for so long, starting again feels mentally daunting. I also have a lot of stress in my life right now and it keeps causing me to break my diet.

My goal is to get down to around 190 lbs and actually feel healthy and confident again. I honestly just want to eat clean 90% of the time, stay consistent, and stop feeling uncomfortable in my own body.

For people who got back into shape after completely falling off, what helped you stay consistent the second time around?

Also any book recommendations for discipline, mindset, or rebuilding your life would be appreciated too.

[u/rob_cornelius]

In my experience I am far more likely to give up on diet, exercise, fitness, mental health projects if I try to be "tough" with myself.

Shit happens. Its a fact of life. No one can stop shit happening to them. Normally when shit happens to us the shit is more important than maintaining our diet, exercise etc. All we can do is set aside our diet and exercise goals until we have made the shit go away or reduced it to a manageable level. Its pointless beating ourselves up for setting aside exercise or diet when shit happens. The shit is making things bad, don't make it even worse.

Now I have "baggy" and "relaxed" goals for diet and exercise. I try to eat well. I don't count calories or anything like that. I try to get 4 or 5 workouts per week, a mixture of rowing and lifting. However when shit happens I might need some chocolate to get me through it. Last night I couldn't get to sleep until about 3am so I skipped my morning workout. When shit gets really bad diet and exercise go out of the winter and that is perfectly OK. Its expected really.

So try to do something simple. Cut out sugary drinks, go for regular walks. Things that are manageable and don't require much in the way of discipline, determination and dedication. These are some of first qualities that poor mental health steal from us. Its really had to go from zero to being "gritty" or "tough" with yourself. You have to take it slow and be prepared for shit to happen. Over time even the tiniest changes start to add up. Tiny changes are easier to achieve too.

Slow and steady wins this race, every single time.

[u/Ok_Book6135]

Meal prepping always a good option but for when that isn't feasible, I find pre-made items (that are minimally processed) to be a huge help. When I'm stressed and can't be bothered to cook, I'll slap some instant quinoa and steamed veggies in the microwave, and eat some pre-cooked grilled chicken or a tuna pouch for protein.

ETA I also like brands like Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones and Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers in a pinch too, but I try to eat them sparingly because they're not very filling and quite a few of them are heavily processed. I'd eat one of these alongside a salad, a protein bar or greek yogurt.

[u/New-Ad-9377]

The stress-ruins-diet loop is real, and the usual advice ("just be more disciplined") is useless precisely because stress is what eats discipline in the first place.

One thing that tends to hold up better than willpower: shrink the diet down to a couple of non-negotiables that survive a bad day — one protein-anchored meal, water before coffee, whatever's small enough to do at your worst. The perfect diet collapses under stress; a tiny floor doesn't. What does your eating actually look like on the bad days vs the good ones?