Ok, so I need a little inspiration and after reading a few posts I know it can be done! Meaning, I can do this. I have at least 100 pnds to lose and am considering weight loss surgery (the kind where they actually take part of your stomach!). I have started the process, but it will be at least 6 months before anything happens and I'd prefer to do it on my own.

Years ago I lost 80 pnds by simply counting calories and walking. I even had one chocolate treat each day, ate out most weekends, and the weight still fell off. OF course, I gained most of it back. That was 5 yrs ago and I can't seem to get my head in the same place. To be fair, I had just had a baby and I felt like I was on a hormone high. Since the 3rd baby my hormones have been whacked out and I feel generally low. So not fair...but a reason I believe that holds me back from getting my head in the right place.

So, talk to me. Tell me what you've done that works for you (mind and body).

Since you've done it before, then you KNOW you can do it again. It is hard to re-start, I know. You have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and just get the process started. Think of all the reasons you want to do this like being able to tie your shoes with ease, climb the stairs without getting winded, sit in tiny chairs, squeeze through small spaces, hike up hills, lower blood pressure and/or cholesterol, play with your babies. All of those are great motivators and as you may recall, you do not have to get to goal to start feeling amazing!

My 10th (or so) motivator was when my cousin showed up on my doorstep having lost nearly 100 pounds. I started that day. It takes a few days to get into the swing of things, but it gets easier after a while.

My "what works for me" is that I made commitment to see this thing through for one year no matter what. My story is the link in my signature.

exercise always help me get my head back in the right place. I think it helps mentally and physically. It is harder when I'm feeling low, so yes, give yourself some slack. I'm sure you're pretty tired too(!)

the exercise helps me get back and feel good about my eating plan too. baby yourself in other ways than the food (naps, chats with friends, trips to the park, whatever makes you happy, bubblebaths)

When I first started (this time, since like so many I have tried countless times) I was on the verge of going for surgery too. I gave myself a deadline and told myself that if I could lose 20 pounds by that deadline then I could do it all without surgery. I lost 20.5 pounds. I just started making one small change at a time. I gave up soda. Then when I got over that I gave up fast food. Then it was chips. The cake fell next. One by one I took down my 'enemies'. I also started adding things one at a time. I ate more veggies. I drank more water (crystal light for me). I started exercising, which for me was a very slow process. We had gotten an elliptical and I couldn't even do 5 minutes on it, but I did what I could and I also went for walks for 20 minutes each day. I didn't push myself too fast, but I worked really hard at not letting myself go backward either. Once I gave up fast food I didn't let myself do the 'just this once' thing. Once I could do 10 minutes on the elliptical then I didn't let myself stop at 5. There have been bumps on the road and I have gone more slowly than some (I originally started in February 2009), but I'm getting there and that is what matters. Persistence has been my best tool in this. I make mistakes and I have problems, but I keep going. I do what I can each day knowing that what I can do today is more than what I could do before and what I will be able to do eventually will be amazing.

I too lost 55 lbs (the most I've ever lost) and managed to gain it all back. But here's the thing...I accepted what I've done and now determined to get to goal more than ever. Each week I am a lb or two lower than the last. That's just by diet. You Did It Before. You know what your triggers are - keep that stuff out of your home! LOL! Be accepting of losing "one pound" (not "that's ALL I lost)...remember they all add up to your goal and most say losing slowly ensures we keep it off. What matters is that you put yourself first - do and make happen what you want for you!

I also considered weight loss surgery. For the longest time, I just couldn't get my head in the right place to start losing this weight. Now, I believe it was because my brain was all fuzzy from the overload of sugary carbs. A month ago, I started Medifast. I love it! I don't know if I'll stay on it for my whole journey. I haven't really decided yet. But, I do know that I'm now in the game and plan on staying in the game permanently!

You can do this. Pick a plan and go.

There are so many things that have helped me. Lots of different things for motivation. But one little thing is for every 5kg I lose a get a pretty little stone and put it on my computer at work. Its this little visual reminder, and now I just want a whole line of them!

Accountability - to yourself or others. Write down everything you eat, join in the online challenges where you have to share things etc.

I also did it once before. There are lots of reasons why the weight went back on. This time I began at a time of great stress. I know that stress is a killer to a diet, so felt it was a good time to start. I know it is really hard to get motivated, but take it one step at a time. You are the only person in control of what you eat. Don't give everything up that makes you happy, but realise you have to give up the things that trigger you t eat more than you should. For me it was empty carbs, and I have not eaten any for a year. The consequence of this is that I am never hungry. I am satiated and satisfied by the healthy foods I eat, and revel in their colours and tastes. I also gave up gratuitously salting food, and use herbs and spices instead.
I wish you every success, and will just say - it is not easy for ANYONE to lose weight. Use this site for the support you will need at each and every stage or change.

Like others have said, you've done it before so you know it can be done again. I'd ask myself WHY it came back, and what you can do differently this time around to be sure you don't see that weight again (having a baby's a bit different tho!). I'm a fan of the small, sustainable steps method. Knowing I can LIVE like this forever, that it's not going to 'end' at some magical point and then i'll be able to eat like a starving trucker again LOL not happening! that was the hardest to get my head around - that there was no 'going back' to those ways.

And you don't have 100 pounds to lose - you have FIVE pounds to lose, just a bunch of times!

Thanks so much everyone for chiming in giving support! Sometimes you just need someone to tell you what you already know.

I'm back to the method that worked so well for me before. I'm eating anything I want, but in moderation. Yes, I even have chocolate every day. I've lost 4 pnds this week! I can do this.

My next goal is to get more sleep. I know that is a HUGE part of me getting healthier. Oh! And walking. Gotta do that too. : )

I'm going to Disney tomorrow and I will probably have a treat. BUT, I'm tightening up on calories today and hoping one day of indulging just a little, with loads of walking, will be ok.

Again, I can do this.

Thanks!

I too thought about weight loss surgery, and actually told my husband "I will give it 2 months, if i haven't lost a decent amount of weight in 2 months, I will go talk to my doctor about it". Now "a decent amount of weight" in my mind, was 2lbs per week or so. That 2 months is up mid-may. So far I have no intention of going and talking to her.

I have chocolate or a treat like that once a day too. Those Dairy Milk Thins are AWESOME, they are 100 calories, just the perfect chocolately treat. If there comes a time when I have to give them up, I will, but for now I have plenty of calories to allow for a treat like that.

My highest weight before this round was 189 and I lost 40 lbs. on Phentermine. When I got married I stopped exercising and started eating fattening food. Then I went to law school on the all pasta diet and lost my house in Katrina. The bad stress kept me from really noticing the bad habits that lead to me gaining a whopping 108 lbs over 10 years. I really needed help getting started and I went back on Phentermine for about 4 months. That helped me lose enough to motivate me to get off the drug, start working harder with a personal trainer and count calories on MyPlate. The drug seemed safer to me than surgery. But the drug wouldn't have worked if I hadn't exercised and changed my diet too. I'm about 1/2 way to goal and I know I will have to live this way forever.

One of my great motivators was going on vacation for a week and knowing there was no way I would need a seat belt extender. (I own my own.) I never want to go back to where I was at 258, and I know I will have to monitor my weight for the rest of my life. I was dealt a bad genetic hand, weight-wise, but I know I can control it, albeit slowly.

Good luck with your goals, you're in the right place!

I have gone through this whole journey eating chocolate daily, but I also complain about it a lot!! I find I have to cut out the chocolate for about a week every now and then and reintroduce because the cravings get out of control. Sometimes I think it would be easier to ban it. I banned pop and now I don't miss it. But so far banning for a week now and then has done the trick. After the week I can re-introduce without cravings for a while. Just fair warning.

Thanks everyone! I love hearing everyone's take on changing their eating habits.

Jess, now if that isn't stress, I don't know what is. You've come a long way!

Eliana, I know all too well about cravings getting out of control. I lost 80pnds the first time with chocolate, then moved across the country and stopped counting all calories and started indulging in more and more sweets. Hopefully, I can reign it in when I need to. : )

I did the exact same thing, i lost 77lbs by calorie counting, and gained 65 of it back, for some reason I cannot get back in the frame of mind i had back then, i was so motivated, and i hope that we can both reign it in and lose a lot of weight.