I put this in the Chicks in Control area because I feel a stupid binge coming on...

I saw the lowest weight I ever remember this morning. It is 5 pounds below my original goal and puts me one pound above a “normal” weight for my height. I am really pleased and excited and proud…

But for some reason, I just feel like I’m on the brink of defeat. I’m tired. Mentally and physically, I’m just tired. I’m tired of thinking about it, I’m tired of eating the food that’s good for me, I’m tired of working out. I just feel my motivation dwindling. I just ate some baby carrots and thought the whole time, "I wish I could just eat a stupid cookie right now." I could understand this happening if I had hit a plateau or gained for no reason…but my progress has been great, I’m headed in the right direction.

I keep making good decisions…but I walk around feeling like I am sooo close to having a massive binge. This makes no sense. I’m putting so much effort into not pigging out…I shouldn’t even want to.

Does anyone else ever feel like giving up for no reason or when you have had success?

That happens to me all the time! I'll do really well staying on track, eating healthy and exercising, and I will see results. Then for no apparent reason I just want to give up and EAT! I have no idea why - I just lose motivation! I feel like even though everything's going well, I'm so ready to just throw all my hard work away... and it's frustrating! I'm hoping posting on 3FC will help me keep my goals at the fore and ignore that little voice that says "binge"!

Yes, and I can tell you why it happens to me.

It's the fear of doing so well, that I get to a point where it's unsustainable. Like getting an "A" on a paper & thinking, "Oh, no, now I'll have to get all A's. There's nowhere to go here but down."

The effort suddenly seems beyond me, and instead of reveling in the moment, and that one accomplishment, I feel I've been given the burden of a standard to live up to -- a personal best, a reputation, or what have you. Now just muddling along won't work. I have to always stay at that level.

That makes me collapse.

And you know what? It's completely a mind game. Nothing bad happened. In fact, something good happened. Something really good.

I don't deal well sometimes with success.

My solution is trying not to look beyond the immediate success. Not thinking ahead to anything. No thinking, "Can I sustain this?" Just saying, "I had a good weigh-in. I did well today."

Now put the day away & move on.

Yes- absolutely! Please don't feel like you're alone, because we ALL think exactly the same way! One moment I'll be on top of my game and feeling great, like I could keep this up forever, and the next minute I'll be telling my husband how sick I am of dieting and exercising and that I just need a break.

Having to go through the lifestyle changes that we've undergone has put us on an emotional roller coaster. It's how you deal with those "down times" that dictates how successful you can be. Don't let your head trick you into thinking that you have a reason to feel down on yourself - and don't let yourself slip into a binge just because you're not feeling motivated at the moment.

Pull yourself out of it! If you don't feel like eating a salad and going to the gym one day- don't! Be lazy for a day; go take a nap or lay on the couch watching your favorite tv show. We all deserve breaks from our strict routines once in a while, just don't let it become a habit. When you're feeling like a binge, go sleep it off. I'll bet you'll feel much better in the morning.

Good luck!! :-)

Today--I feel like giving up for no reason. I did yesterday too. It really seems like there's pizza everywhere, I just see it all the time, and I just want to give in and order some. And I don't want one or two pieces. I want an entire, disgusting pie.

I didn't give up yesterday though, and I hope I can get past today too.

I totally know this feeling!!! I almost feel like when I see good results, I want to celebrate and think to myself that I somehow deserve it... but you cannot do it to yourself!!! Look at all the hard work you have accomplished. I agree that maybe you should take a night off from exercising, but regroup and stay motivated!!!

Oh definitely all the time. In fact, that was me about a year ago! I hit my all-time low of 155, 5lbs away from the goal I'd set myself. But, later that day, I went to visit some friends out of town and just gave myself permission to eat whatever which lead to a binge. I wasn't able to get back on track though. And, I ended up gaining back about 25lbs in the span of 7 months. I'm back on track now and I'm working hard for that. Some days it's easy and I can stay on track with no problem, other times it's really hard, I have no motivation, and I give in to a binge. I'm in one of the "easy" phases right now...and have been for a little over two weeks. But, I know it won't last forever. I just hope that when a hard time comes up, when I lose my motivation, I can work through it without binging. One thing that's helped is not being so strict. I'm doing WW and I used to think all I could eat were my daily allotment of points...I didn't touch my weekly points or activity points. It was hard! I've recently started using those, and it's made things a little easier. It allows me that "cushion" so that if I feel like eating more one day or having a meal out, I can without going totally off plan.

I'm not sure which plan you follow, but perhaps you can work something similar in? If you calorie count, maybe you can set aside a weekly 3500 calories to use however you please throughout the week.

One more thing. You said, you can't stop thinking about binging, even though you shouldn't want to. That "want" to binge, is always there for me. I can't make it go away. But, I can remind myself of how I'll feel if I do. I hold on to that feeling for a moment, and that can also help put things in perspective.

Good luck! You can make it through today!!

I am really struggling with this as well! I am the lowest weight I have been in 5 years atleast....5 years! But I still find myself being critical and some days I just want to give in and binge. Some days I am so sick of dieting and worrying about making sure I get protein and complex carbs together in the same meal, and making sure I eat every 3 hours etc etc etc. And I always feel that if I don't get a really hard workout in, I'm not working hard enough so what's the point? I feel like I know how to physically go about losing weight, but I haven't changed on the inside yet. I'm still the insecure girl wanting to hide behind big baggy clothes and turn to food for comfort. It's frustrating but nice to hear that I'm not alone!