When the scale starts creeping back up and I think I don't need to look at things and see what is going on with me and my eating.

When I see a gain on the scale. Even if it's totally explainable.

When I do my weekly weigh in and haven't lost I think "Good I don't have to change my stats on 3FC." instead of "Darn I didn't lose!"

This is such a great thread UBEE... Thank you for starting this. This is such a long road we all are on and life happens... To see that you (ME) are not alone in the struggle really helps my mental health! thank you!

I want to thank everyone for adding to this thread. It sure was a long winter and it really got me down. I was really struggling staying committed. I gained but I kept posting daily and here I am ready to face the world again.
Ubee

Hi [B]Ubee[B] (and everyone else). All of these responses make me realize that I see myself in all of them.......may explain a lot. When I'm totally off track:

1) Cheating just one day won't derail me. WRONG. There's something about cheating one day that leads to cheating two days and then three. You get the drift.

2) Getting down to my lowest weight and feeling that I've "earned" a reward. See item #1 for the results of that thinking.

3) Self imposed stress from "needing" to cross items off my to do list resulting in being too tired to fix a good meal.

4) Entering my foods on MFP......but not entering the ones that I shouldn't have eaten.

More triggers later.

Giving into stress eating without even a fight.

Work has been keeping me from posting here as much as I can. I haven't fallen off the wagon(346's atm) just doing my best to not gain any weight until I can spend some time with yall again

Hmm... I have many signs
Overall:
-I post less and less often
-I start making excuses for eating badly or not exercising
-I go through some kind of frustrating ordeal (problem with a family member, feeling like I have no support, my mom stops buying healthy foods, etc.)
-I get "too busy" (I've recently start combating this with working out first thing in the morning.)
-I lose motivation and start getting lazy; I start thinking I have all the time in the world
-I quit logging my foods
-I stop posting on instagram
-I stop looking at health related pins on pinterest
-I get impatient with the process

Yes all of these are danger signs for me too!!

I agree if I stop logging my food or posting my meals I'm slipping.
Having a "bad" day of eating and giving up thinking I already messed up, and saying screw it the next day.
Skipping breakfast, believe it or not. As soon as I skip breakfast the day goes down hill. Because I make bad choices when my meals are not planned out and eaten on schedule.
Last night I over indulged in wine and I knew I wouldn't want to get up and fix a nice healthy breakfast. So I made my oatmeal yesterday and put it in the fridge. So no excuse to not eat it.
I didn't plan to drink to much wine last night but just in case I wanted to be prepared.

I am bumping this old thread because those thoughts are creeping close to the surface today.

I am thinking maybe my body just needs to adjust to a new set weight so I should just relax...

For me, when I go three days without exercising in a row...I'm in trouble.
It's the first sign I'm getting down and feeling overwhelmed by the LONG journey ahead.
What I have to remember is the time is going to pass whether I'm working at it or not. So just embrace all the good things that are happening with my body and keep those around me like a soft comfy blanket.

A million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (see when I joined up ladies) I was 328 lbs. I lost down to 228 lbs. You won't actually find an old thread of mine hitting that 100 lbs off I don't think...but you'll find a few where I came back, upset that I was gaining.

Not upset enough to get back on track.

For me, it was like a switch flipped. I worked SO HARD to lose that 100 lbs. I wasn't done...I had 48 lbs to my ultimate goal of 180...but at 100 lbs off - took me two years, 70 the first year and then clawing for every ounce the second - and my brain said, "I'm done!"

I kept it off for a little bit. But slowly went back to old habits:

Eating out for convenience.
Not looking at labels.
Not logging food anywhere.
Eating mindlessly...not thinking about what was going in my body.
Not exercising.

I felt good after all. I looked good - everyone said so! So I must have deserved a break. I was so TIRED of thinking about food all the time!

I can't fall into that trap again. For starters, even days I "cheat", I don't cheat. You cheat at games...this isn't a game. This is my life and you can't cheat at life. I WILL have days I won't stay under my calorie limit. I've had plenty since my restart in March. I log it. I log every Blizzard, every bratwurst, every donut, every butter-drenched biscuit. I log them, I accept them, I OWN them. Then I go back to eating properly and at a calorie deficit the next day.

You're body doesn't need to "adjust" but maybe YOU need to relax. For a meal, a day, even a week if you're on vacation. It's normal and necessary to take a break now and then from something that takes so much of your time. But take the break intentionally...not mindlessly. For me, that means accounting for it. Recognizing it for what it is. Then moving on.

Good advice Sweetcakes and Lilion. Thank you.
One day at a time.