[CrimsonKitten]

I understand. Keep on track. You can do this! I struggled because I had a lot of holiday parties to attend while starting on IP and those parties came with food pushers. I wasn't about to become a shut in because of a diet or miserable, so I tried to adapt the program to my cravings. I brought a lot of veggie trays populated with just the veggies we can eat on IP, which introduced some new things to friends and family. I found a recipe using SF egg nog syrup and the IP vanilla pudding when I got fixated on having it. Maybe eggnog isn't your thing, but maybe there is something you can adapt so you have a goto thing that will keep you on track. I also tried to have flavors of the season like peppermint teas, and chocolate IP drink so I could make my own lattes and not feel like I missed something. I also bought some strawberry wafters so my restricted would be a treat when I had holiday baking to do or knew I'd be someplace with loads of sweets. The recipes in this forum have helped and so did buying the cookbook. Big Mac in a bowl got me through the night my husband and kids wanted pasta. Had to brown burger for the meat sauce so I took mine out for my salad. Didn't miss the pasta. Was it easy? Nope, but I just don't want to start over again if I don't have to. When I think I can't eat one more salad I try something new and keep my eye on my goal and I try a new veggie or recipe.

Smooshie76, don't be so hard on yourself - just reboot and move on. Treat yourself kindly like you would treat a friend. You've done too well to beat yourself up. You are still ahead of the game.