Hang on to those 15 lost pounds! Find out what your maintenance is and if you need a break, than JUST do maintenance!
But stay here. Whenever I leave is when the pounds start coming back on. Forget that. There may be certain foods that are triggering you.
For instance, I generally walk 90 minutes a day so I can lose on 1700 a day nicely. The first week of this month I was at an 1550 7 day average, then the next week my walking was still fine but i fell apart with the eating. I think the diet soda triggered me. My average was 1900 cals a day for 7 days! uggghhh
WAY TOO HIGH! I told myself, yeah cause I am walking so much I can still lose even on 1900 a day but you know what? 1900 is rediculous! 1500-1700 is very good, 1900, forget it!
Anyhow so I gave myself a good tongue lashing and kept trying on all the stuff I have that is starting too fit when it wasn't fitting even just a few weeks ago and reminding myself that I do want this.
The last two days I did 1200 cals each day. And you know what? I am not even hungry. But I am telling myself a few days at 1200 is fine but I need to eat at least 1400 at this weight. So now I have to add in the cals somewhere and I am almost afraid to do that. *sigh*
But you know what? We all fall down some time, the difference in the winners and losers is the winners, we get back up again.
Hey Mug. I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. This weightloss stuff IS hard, isn't it? I was in your very shoes for 20 years. I wonder what would have been different for me had I known about 3FC. Would it have taken me twenty years to get my act together? You know about 3FC. Use it. I can't help but think that by sticking around, there just might be one thing that sparks you, lights that fire and makes things "click" you.
We here understand your struggles. We're here to help you and help you sort things out as you try to figure out what might work best for you. We don't care if you fail one million times. You only need to get this "right" just once. And you never know which time is going to be "thee" time.
You can't ever give up, you just can't. It's too important. You're too important. And it is doable and you CAN do it.
Keep reading and keep posting. Look at it this way: If you aren't getting support from 3FC, do you think you would be even worse on weekends? Maybe when you are feeling less than stellar on the weekend, maybe that's the time to come back to 3FC and start reading the NSV's or something like that. Just a thought!
Ok so everybody has made me feel much better. I promise I will not quit! I will be gone for a few days due to surgery, but I promise I will come back. thanks everyone for your heartfelt encouragement. I really believe 3fatchicks is what has made me be able to lose 15 lbs so far. Please know that your responses today really means a lot to me and I appreciate it so much. After posting my post this morning, I went upstairs to the campus nurses office and weighed in. I pray the stupid scale is correct---it says I have lost another two pounds. So with all your enspiring words and that weigh in this morning, things seem a litlle brighter than this morning.
I think Mug's post really speaks to a lot of us. I think someone said it already, but how many of us could've written what she did? Mug, at least you had the courage to say that you wanted to leave and quit so we could embrace and support you.
This journey is NO easy feat. When people would say that weight loss is about falling down and getting back up until you reach your goal, I didn't think it was true. But now that I am well on my way to my goal, I understand what they meant.
I would recommend taking some time to get in touch with why you binge? If you've never read anything by Geneen Roth, you should give her a read. She has a great book called "When Food is Love". There's another great book called "The Artist's Way" which has a lot of activities for processing feelings. What finally made things click for me was attacking my emotional eating with actually changing my habits. But the part they never tell you is that the work is never done. It's a constant work in progress, but the key is not to give up.
Be kind to yourself.
Mug - Couple of points:
(1) As already said, you are wasting no one's time. Many of us look forward to your posts.
(2) While you may not be happy with your progess, you have made progress!! I found 3fc in April but didn't come back until July. During that time, I was busy gaining weight. I can't tell you how much, because I wasn't weighing myself. Not only have you lost weight, you avoided the weight gain you might very well have had during the same time period.
(3) Weight loss doesn't go in a straight line. Two steps forward & one step back. We all have set backs. Today I weighed in at my doctor's office, and then inexplicaby really overate at lunch. Well, I'm going to analyze this & try to think of what I can do differently next time. We can't change a lifetime of behavior overnight. It takes time.
One specific suggestion: try to think of each meal as a specific event. One bad meal doesn't have to be the whole day or whole weekend.
Don't give up!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest something nobody else has. Instead of taking a few days of from here, take a few days off your eating restrictions. I imagine you will still make healthy choices, especially since you have posted another loss.
If something is on your list of 'foods not allowed', they seem more appealing. And if they are 'allowed', it takes the mental pull away. Personally, I can't live with telling myself that I can't have brownies(chocolate, ice cream, name your poison!) ever again. Its unrealistic for me. But once I told myself that I could have whatever food I wanted, I didn't want the brownies(or whatever) anymore. I know that in order to lose the weight, I need to eat more nutritionally sound foods. If the cravings get horrible, tell yourself you can have some tomorrow. Or set aside one day a week to eat what you feel like, and NOT stress over your choices. A completely FREE DAY!
You are making changes that you need to be able to continue with.....for life. Remember, you have control over what you eat. The food does not control you. You CAN do it!
I'm so glad you've decided to come back to us after your surgery. As others have said, when you're struggling is the very time you SHOULD be here, as often as possible. I don't know if I could have lost all this weight without 3FC -- it's been a HUGE part of my journey, and always will be (because I'm sure I'll struggle with weight in some way for the rest of my life). It's hard. Very hard. But we have each other, and that's SO powerful.
Mug I am SO glad to hear that you're sticking with us at 3FC's!!! I say when you're having a rough day, post here for help. If the suggestions don't work let us know and we'll brainstorm to help!
I've only been dieting for awhile and belive me I've had days where I wanted to eat everything in site! Especially around my period. Don't give up-brush yourself off and try again.
Also not to be nosey but maybe if you post a menu here of what you eat in a day maybe some of the members here can help. When I first started here I wanted to get by on 1000-1200 cal until another member gave me a heads up that I needed to eat more. Maybe some of the seasoned members can offer you some tips!
Hey! As the MOD who changed you to a new and more positive user name, I really want you to hang around. I'm also a MOD who has been here since August 1999 and have lost very little. Being here is good for us! Please continue to post, even just to say Hi!
One thing I have learned early on that weight loss is a continuing education. When I was DX'd with diabetes last year, I *thought* the hospital gave me eggs for breakfast everyday, so when I was released, I had eggs for breakfast everyday. Then I learned that this was bad, that you should only have eggs 3 times a week. Then I learned about whites and yolks, and then learned (thanks to the ladies at work!) about Egg Beaters.
I am learning how to curb overeating, how I looked to food for support. Just January of this year, I had problems overeating at dinner time (after my long walk home from work). I asked for help here, and people recommended eating protein prior to the walk. Some people swear by water, which I am now swearing by it! I have learned the hard way, to drink more water if I eat more fiber/ You see, if you don't, the fiber doesn't bulk up, and will just sit there making you constipated.
Why did I gear off-topic here? I wanted to point out that this is a constant learning experience. I did not go to college to become a dietitian, so therefore i didn't just know this stuff. I am sure some of the stuff I am doing nowadays I will learn later on...a week later?...a month later?....next year?...that what I was doing was wrong. I have hit plateaus, but I kept going. I lost 6lbs last week, yet 0 pounds the month of January! Staying around, even though I lurk more often, has reminded me of my sights.
Who cares that you had a bad weekend? We all do. We all will. I am sure even the maintainers indulge once in awhile. The one thing I learned was, when I screw up, just forget that it happened, and get back on the bandwagon immediately! Not tomorrow, not next week, but now!
Just saw this thread today, but I am relieved to see that you're going to stick around here! Everyone else has said it better than I can, but this is such a great community that wants to support you - so take advantage of all the group has to offer. Hope your surgery goes well, and that it's nothing serious, we'll see you here when you recover.
