[CourtneyDaisey]

For me, losing weight is just as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. The physical aspects (besides exercise) are making the right food choices, not overeating or binging, drinking lots of water, and making sure that my portion sizes are acceptable. That's the easy part for me really.

On the other hand, the mental game is kicking my butt some days! Getting my head in the game for weight loss is not easy. I have to be on guard all the time, making sure that I don't give in to that voice in my head telling me to eat something that I know I should be eating.

I gave in tonight. For dessert I really wanted a mini lemon pie. I buy them premade at the grocery store. They're terrible in terms of nutrition. Each one has 380 calories and 20 grams of fat. I knew with every bite I swallowed how bad that dang pie was for my weight loss efforts. I did so well earlier today! I had a healthy breakfast of an orange and a bowl of oatmeal. Lunch was a bowl of leftover homemade vegetable beef soup and fat free key lime pie flavored yogurt. And I've had 96 oz. of water today. Dinner wasn't healthy at all. I had two cheddar brats on white hot dog buns and ketchup. And dessert (after I was acceptably full) was that lemon pie. Why oh why do I like to give in to my little nagging voice in my mind saying, "You haven't had any sweets today. Eat pie."

I am so sick of my mental game being challenged on a daily basis. How long will it be before I have mastered the mental aspect of losing weight? I've been at this solid now for nearly 10 weeks and have done well so far. But I don't want the mental game to cause me to fall off the wagon!

[cherylmn]

I think for most of us weight loss (and gain) is about emotional issues, not physical hunger. I've been at this for almost 11 months - and in maintenance mode since early June - and I just fell off the wagon yet again last night. It happens.

If we're talking about caving to a craving vs. bingeing, then your best defense is planning. Plan out all of your food for the day in advance so you do not have to think about it. Don't give yourself choices. And if you can tell you are going to need a treat that day, it is OK! Just PLAN FOR IT - reduce somewhere else to account for the extra calories or get in some additional exercise.

Now if it is more of a binge, well that gets a bit more complicated. I'm still working through it, so I can't offer much for advice. I will be working on identifying emotions/feelings that preceed the binge over the upcoming weeks. That sounds easy, but is actually pretty hard for me. So identifying what we are feeling in that moment (hunger, boredom, anger, tired, etc.) and then identifying the CORRECT corresponding action (eat, go for a walk, take a bath, sleep, etc.) and trying to break the cycle.

Also, I am truly beginning to see that forgiveness is critical. We are going to make mistakes. Expect it. We are human after all. So be kind to yourself, and do not believe for 1 second that just because you chose sausages for dinner the entire day was a waste. Those are lies we tell ourselves, and they perpetuate behavior that does NOT move us towards our goals. It is 1 day. Tomorrow is another day, and lucky for us, we can start afresh & make different choices.

You can do this. I am no expert (I don't even play one on TV ), so I apologize if my ramblings do not make any sense. Hopefully there is a nugget or two that you will find helpful, though.

[elisaannh]

You will probably not want to hear what my experience is, but I have been dieting/bingeing/dieting most of my adult life and that, my dear is 30 years. I have maintained a 120 pound weight loss for 7 years and still struggled. Being thin did not automatically make the urge to eat stop. I recently made it to a full year of dieting very strictly only to find myself struggling with bingeing that came out of the blue.

I am so sick and tired of playing the mind tapes that justify eating crap I know will send me on a binge cycle. I work each and every episode that hit me when it happens and I ask myself:

1. If I eat this now, how will I feel later? I imagine the first delicious bite, I then make myself remember the feeling of bloat, fatigue, disgust and guilt or anger.

2. If I eat this now, how will it affect my weight loss? I mean how much more time to I really want to delay getting to goal?

And one last trick I do is count my beads. I have a necklace with 78 beads on it, I could them to remember how hard it was to lose each and every one of those pounds.

Oh, and I firmly do not believe in "tomorrow's another day" or "starting over". I messed with that so long that suddenly I woke up and discovered that I have lost 30 years to this weight/food issue. Now, it's one direction only and that is keeping on until I get to goal and then hanging tight to that normal weight.

[sandyfanny]

The bead necklace is a really good idea. Maybe I'll make myself one and add to it as I lose.

CourtneyDaisey, I don't know what your eating plan is, but I have found that staying very close to Atkins Induction does keep me from craving sugar. As soon as I stop eating everything white, including sugar and all grains and flours, I stop craving them.

I just cannot fight the craving every day. It's much easier to just not eat them at all. Unfortunately, I'm "all or nothing" in almost everything.

[CourtneyDaisey]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The support I am finding here at 3FC is awesome!

cherlymn - I used to have binges fairly often. I only have done that once since starting the Healthy Trim. My problem now doesn't seem to be binging, but just mentally thinking that I want a piece of pie or a doughnut or cake daily. My mind thinks that I have to have sweets all the time and it's probably because I used to try to eat dessert at every meal. I am struggling with getting my mind to turn that off.My body doesn't want that anymore. When I give in to my mind though, my body regrets it.

elisaannh - I love the idea of the bead necklace!!!! I am a visual person too and having something that would represent the pounds lost so far would be so cool! It's a great way to remember how far you've come!

sandyfanny - I don't really have a "eating plan" exactly. I am losing this weight by taking a weight loss supplement called Healthy Trim. They were talking about it on the radio. I listened to their ads for about 6 months and was very skeptical but decided to give it a shot. I've now been on it for 2.5 months and it really does what it says it will do. I don't get hungry and physically don't crave bad stuff anymore. But changing my mind is proving harder than changing my habits. I want my mind to stop telling me to get cookies or cake and tell me to grab an apple or orange instead when I want something sweet. I think this is something that I am just going to have to continuously battle forever.