Help!
 

I have done really well so far I am on my 3rd week, but my husband is on a 2 week medical leave and I am having trouble staying away from the snacks, and unfortunately chips, oreo's and a little ice cream. I keep telling myself they are not worth it but then the next thing I know it is 10 chips later and want to kick my own a$$. I have held flat with a 1 pound loss but I should have lost a whole lot more in the last week.

Any good tricks to getting past this bump in the road.

It is hard to pass up the goodies! You have to ask yourself if indulging in something that isn't on the plan is worth 3-4 days to get back into fat burning mode. When I think of it that way, there is nothing that is worth it to me. Things are still tempting, though! I feel your pain!

We don't keep any tempting foods in the house, period.

Throw out the junk, its easier not to have it if its not there.

I agree, in the beginning, just keep the junk out of the house. Now that i've been on program for a while, now I can bake desserts for my boyfriend without being tempted, but I did not have that will power until at least 3 months in. Your willpower builds every time you don't cheat, but it takes a while for it to be strong enough for every day occasions.

I agree.... my willpower also builds each time I don't give in. With 2 young boys (that eat ALL the time) it isn't possible for me to keep all the 'junk' out of my house since even the cheddar rice cakes are calling me! :) BUT I also don't think I could stop at just one chip or one bite of a cookie so I just choose not to have any of it. Believe me I have wanted to lick the peanut butter off the knife plenty of times, but I want to lose this weight even more. When I try on clothes that have been in my closet that were waiting for me to fit into and I can actually get them on I feel SO good. I will only succeed if I work at this..... it isn't always easy, but I take one meal at a time and know that I am worth it. That goodie might taste good for a moment, but in the long run it isn't worth it.
I make sure to keep my food journal nearby and it gives me a sense of accomplishment to write down my choices and to see in print that I have made it one more day on plan.

Hey there! Just remember, cravings feed cravings feed cravings! Our brains are hard-wired to want more, more, more when we eat sugar, fat and salt. You really have to go cold turkey and find something else to do. I read that it takes 3-4 days after eating something like that for the cravings to go away. That is way too hard! I would rather work a little hard at saying "no" at the moment than really hard for 3-4 days afterward!

Also, try waiting 20 minutes. So much of my eating in the past has been impulse. You might try saying, "I want this chips right now, but I'm going to wait 20 minutes." Try to find something else to do or drink a big glass of water...anything to distract yourself and give you time to think rationally.

There's 2 great books that have helped me: The End of Overeating-taking control of the American Appetite which explains brain chemistry in regards to fat/sugar/salt loading in American food (a MUST read), and The Beck Diet Solution - a book that forces you to look at your habits in regards to food.

Congrats on being open and honest to all of us here - we've been there!

One more trick to offer...

Tell the person you're with when you sit down "i will not have ___ " and commit to them. So if your husband is on the sofa having ice cream, say to him "i will not have a bite" and then you've said it, committed to someone else and then you won't want to be a fool and let them down and give in and be weak, you'll hold your ground because you said it.

This works for me, when we go out to eat, I say "I'm not going to have any bread". It's not "don't let me have bread" because that's not his job, but instead its me saying I wont. Then if i start to reach for it, I think about how weak I clearly am when I had just said i wouldn't. I don't want him to look back at me and see such lack of commitment or hear him say "Oh c'mon really? But you JUST said you didn't want that." so that helps me through.

You guys are amazing. Thank you for the tips. Today has been a great day and I have had about 72 oz of water with a couple more hours till bed. I know I need to focus more on one step at a time. This time it is for ME!!

Nice work! Congratulations! Just take it one meal at a time and do the best you can every single meal. There are no bad days, just consecutive bad meals :)