broken record...staring over again...I"m so depressed
Hi,
Well, once again I've gained back what I've lost since starting over this year. I"m back up to having "zero pounds lost" for 2007. The good thing is I"ve still kept off 15 lbs from my original weight loss way back when.
I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. I know what foods are healthy. I know what not to eat, (some foods I should just eliminate-small portions leave me wanting MORE!) and my body feels horrible when I eat junk.
Once again, I really want to do this. I want this to be the LAST time I "start over." I will most likely have some slip ups, but I do not want to "fall off the wagon" totally ever again.
Please, I know I've asked this before, but I"m desperate here. What do you do to motivate yourself when you're craving chocolate/junk and just feel hopeless, like you're never going to reach your goal (or any goal, even a mini five pound goal) and you feel like there's just no point. What keeps you staying on track?
Sherry, I know exactly where you're coming from. Countless times have I done the same thing. I don't have any solution for you, but I do have a big HUG
My only advice for you is to see it as one more thing you have learned. Try to draw on your own experiences. Ask yourself questions: Is there a particular type of food that sets me off? Can I handle "just a little" of the "bad foods" or is nothing at all the best way? Do I eat from boredom? Is there a correlation between eating what I shouldn't and drinking too little? Etc etc.
Try to write down what motivated you to lose weight in the first place, although I know it's easier said than done to actually remember those things when you get cravings.
Hi Sherry:
Welcome Back!! I am a member of your club, the start over club. This is my 3rd time at 3fc, I was here in the summer of 2006 or 2005, and lost 19 lbs, I stopped for a year and gained the 19 back plus more, Another 5 lbs I will be where I was that summer, and before that it was a few years( 2002, or 2003 I think), I was here with a weight of 244. So as you can see, everytime I have left, I have just gained more weight, so I need to be here and need the accountability to stick with this.
What do I do when I am craving junk, first of all, if you feel you are going to binge, get it out of the house, instead have healthy things to binge on. Second I have put a few pics up of really obese women( 500+) in bikinis, that I got from the web. I look at these pics daily and say if I don't keep this up this is what I will look like soon. I have started my journey almost 2 months now, and don't want to go back, there are times i need to give myself a pep talk, but I really don't have no choice, I felt horrible when I began this at 279 lbs, , now more than 20lbs lighter, I am feeling better, and know when I am 60 lbs lighter I am going to feel even better.l
If I can do this, anyone can . But you have to be committed, and determined, and willing to pick yourself up and start again if you make a mistake. I hope these words have helped, and I believe you can do it!!
cheryl
Suzie, I wish I had something spectacular to say to you that would turn on that switch - but I don't. It really has to come from within.
The only thing I can say is that you must make a "commitment" to yourself that NO MATTER WHAT, you will stay on plan. We make commitments all the time to other people and we would never think of breaking them - you deserve that same treatment. Just because we are craving something doesn't mean we have to give into it. Remember that. Be aware of that - at all times. Get passed the craving - or don't. Just don't give into it. Those cravings WILL diminish eventually.
Getting to goal is possible. You have to know that. You've seen it right here at 3FC. You are no different - you ARE capable of doing it also. It IS within your power - it IS within your control. And it IS so very worth it.
Keep that house stocked with healthy, delicious foods. So you can't have some chocolate - BIG DEAL!!!! You CAN have yummy fresh cut up vegetables with hummus. You CAN have delicious roasted vegetables. You CAN have fat free yogurt. Grilled chicken salad. Strawberries, raspberries. The list goes on. Replace the "bad" stuff with good stuff. You CAN do it.
Good luck to you. When those darn cravings come along, come here to 3FC. We'll help you out.
Robin is so right. Once you start replacing the bad with good you don't miss it near as much.
I know how you feel. I have had to start over many times in my life. It seems to get harder an harder. However if we just give up we would end up on one of those shows weighing 1000 lbs. At least I know that is where I was headed. You get stronger each day you resist those cravings so just keep going. I know that may not be much help but what Robin said is true it has to come from within so be be good to yourself.
I agree with what you said about just eliminating certain foods, because small portions are not satisfying and you want more and tend to cheat. Just get rid of them, don't buy them anymore.
I've only lost 17 pound so far, but I am feeling a million times better, I cheat less now - and I think what is helping me is I eat often so I don't get 'starving' and start mindlessly eating. Plan your day out - have the foods that you are going to eat be ready to eat. Otherwise you find yourself standing at the fridge trying to figure out what to eat and that's whenyou take the path of least resistance and pick a poor choice.
Know what your breakfast will be
Have a snack ready for 2 hours later
Have a lunch prepared for lunchtime
have another snack ready for 2 hours later
know what you are having for dinner
have another snack ready to go for a few hours later
Do it everyday, have everything set and ready to go so you don't ever have to be faced with 'what should I eat'
It gets easier as time goes on... good luck, I wish you all the best
Hang in there. Just keep posting and reading here.
Also, keep in mind that many of us are just like you. We've started over and over and over. It just has to click, I think. I'm hoping that I'm in that "clicked" phase now! Don't be depressed. You can do it! Forget the past and keep moving forward.
Actually, don't forget the past. Use it to learn from your mistakes. But don't beat yourself up about it. It takes way too much energy to do that!!!
Sherry, your post brought tears to my eyes. I'm in the same spot with you....starting over yet again. I have to believe that continuing to stay in contact here on 3FC and finding the motivation to start over again is half the battle won. I really do believe...deep down in my heart... that each of us can do this.
Hi Sherry! I know how you feel. I am back again today, too. I have started and stopped so many times I can't count them! In fact I think I have every diet book ever published!
But I am determined to stick with it this time! And I know you can too.
I really do believe...deep down in my heart... that each of us can do this.
I think each of us can also !
Quote:
What do you do to motivate yourself when you're craving chocolate/junk and just feel hopeless, like you're never going to reach your goal (or any goal, even a mini five pound goal) and you feel like there's just no point. What keeps you staying on track?
You have maintained your 15 pound loss. I am maintaining my loss. If I happen to lose a pound I am over joyed It's not about a number on a scale- it's about a lifestyle of not eating junk.There are no other choices because I won't comprise what this change has meant to me.I don't want to go back to being obese.
There are snickerdoodles from the bakery on my counter. There are chips and hot sauce( a real midnight snack) and plenty of chocolate ( the good stuff too) for me to whip up something. I just don't. I can make SF jello and SF pudding with lowfat coolwhip for a treat.
I don't let myself feel hopeless. Hopeless was having a sprained knee last summer on vacation.I was on crutches and weighed 235 pounds. We went to the beach one day. It was horrid. I can look at that and say I was truely hopeless.
I don't think your hopeless nor is anyone else who can get up in the morning and think about losing weight. Take hopeless thoughts and use it to do something good- walk, clean your house, wash your car or get rid of old files on the computer.Don't allow hopeless to take over !
The two big things that work for me is to make sure I don't have junk/trigger food in the house so I can't grab for it in a moment of weakness (and make sure you do have some good snacks on hand) and to plan my meals. Somewhere around lunch my imagination fails and I tend to grab whatever I can find. If I've already planned it out and/or prepared it then I tend to stay on-plan.
Hello old friend. We have been at this together a long time. And guess what...we are still here. That says something...it says that we haven't given up. We can't, we won't.
We both want the same thing...a healthy active life. But for some reason we keep giving ourselves permission to eat unhealthy and be inactive. We know we feel better when we eat healthy and exercise, but we just slip and there we are back where we were.
I was talking with a friend about how for me, it's all black and white. Either I am on or I am off. When I am on, this whole thing seems so easy, but then one slip and I'm off and back to my old terrible ways. She suggested that I never get on. By thinking that I'm on means I could get off. She suggested that I focus on this being a lifestyle change. No good days or bad days, just days. Live each day trying to make improvements.
I know exactly where you're coming from - I've lost count of the number of times I've lost weight only to gain it all back again. In the last 10 days or so I've started to feel myself slipping off track and I need to get myself back to where I was.
I don't know why I do this to myself. I do really well for several weeks, then I get complacent and...yeah, we know where that ends. This morning I'm determined that I'm back on track and I'm not going to quit no matter how long it takes or how many slip ups I have on the way. Because I'm going to have slip ups - I just need to recognise when they're happening and get back on top of things before I've regained everything I've lost...
Oh, boy, do I know where you are coming from! The good news is, you are here today and starting! That's fantastic! For me, when I don't see some type of result after a while I get really discouraged--someone here reminded me to keep thinking about why you are doing this. I know what to do (eating and exercise), but it's the actually doing it part that I struggle with sometimes.
I know others have said it, but having meals planned out. I *let* myself go out for lunch once a week--even then I make healthy choices. Also having healthy snacks that are ready to go.
Coming to this site is a HUGE support....there are times when the only thing that has gotten me to exercise is thinking about logging on and posting some lame excuse about why I skipped working out!
broken record...staring over again...I"m so depressed
It's not about a number on a scale- it's about a lifestyle of not eating junk.There are no other choices because I won't comprise what this change has meant to me.I don't want to go back to being obese.
By thinking that I'm on means I could get off. She suggested that I focus on this being a lifestyle change. No good days or bad days, just days. Live each day trying to make improvements. 
