Okay, I think I'm over most of that hump. Ugh. Only had one little piece of chocolate, too. I keep an 'emergency' supply of Hershey's Nuggets - Extra creamy milk chocolate w/ toffee and almonds in the fridge for just such an occasion. 50 calories for a nugget, and they pack a punch!

I woke up all grumpy and headachey and crampy and I think TOM may be showing up (finally... only 3 weeks later than anticipated - PCOS is a pain) but I could be wrong. Sorry for my lack of commentary earlier! I swear I read everything. I just didn't have the functioning brain power to sit down and form some type of individual responses to everyone.

I'm about to wander off to the gym here soon, so hopefully I can shake out the last of the cobwebs.

Fera: way to manage the chocolate craving! This afternoon I ate one perfectly crispy and salty Ruffles potato chip-- nabbed from my son's serving. Making salmon (my fave) carrots, and tomato and cucumber salad for dinner.

Ha! I do the "one chip" thing or the "one bite" thing of something I'm trying to avoid if my husband is eating it. Another reason why I generally leave a cushion of 100 calories in my day!

Hi, ubergirl--thanks welcoming me back. I actually remember you, too! I was glad to see you were still here. Thanks for the encouragement!

I think I may make Sundays my weigh-in day. Last time I lost weight, weighing once a week worked best for me...I tend to get scale obsessed. Let's see if I can actually wait until Sunday, though.

Hope everyone had a good Monday! I am glad to be a part of this thread.

Hi LotusMama and welcome!

I weigh twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) and track it on an app on my tablet so I can see the general trend. It's handy.

I understand about scale obsession though. When I was here before and lost 50 pounds in 2011/2012 (different account) I got to the point where I was weighing every single morning and going nuts if it wasn't a perfect linear progression. So, while I couldn't completely wean back to once a week, twice a week is muuuuch easier on my state of mind.

Hello everyone!

I lost just over 100lb in 2011/2012 and have regained about half of that. By some miracle there's been a click in my head recently and I'm on day 2 of being back on plan.

This support network was invaluable two years ago and I wanted to check in once again and say hello to old and new friends!

Hi, Martini--welcome back. Glad you're here!

Thanks, Fera, for the welcome. When to weigh (or not) is so tricky, isn't it?!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Back from the Fourth of July roadtrip. Did not stay on plan at all. Too much driving. Not enough walking. Glad to be back in my office and at work and back into somewhat of a routine.

LotusMama and Martini - Great to have you on board!

I read everyone else's posts, but am not going to respond individually yet. Just really glad to be back in the warm safety of routine, and ready to push forward.

Hi everyone! Lots of activity on here, love it!

I'm recuperating from my disappointment on the scale. Actually, it wasn't THAT horrible, but just a little frustrating. I have to keep in mind that my weight loss has never been linear and there will be weeks that are just no fun. Hopefully, I can get it turned around this week. And, with that attitude, I am still going to be a little scale obsessed for now. I prefer to only record my weight once a week, on Mondays. However, if I see 240 anything, I'm putting it down! 249.5 is just a mini goal as it was the lowest I've been since 2005. I want to see it again.

I had to fight a bad mood this morning, though, to get to the gym. I made myself go, and sure enough, felt better after working out. It's like the avatar I use on MFP that says: You're only one workout away from a good mood. Anyway, onward.

LaurieDawn: It is good to be in a routine. So much easier to stay on track. Sometimes you have times when you aren't on plan, but you just have to put it in the past and move on! You're back in and you'll be great!

Martini: Welcome! So glad you're joining us! You can do it!

LotusMama: Yeah, scale obsession is not good! I am giving in to it for now. But once a week is probably a healthier way to be! Never thought of weighing in on Sunday. Monday and Friday have been my usual choices.

Mandy: Good that you don't move on to other frames within the cartoon you posted! Ha! We just have to stop! I love those nugget candies. Good stuff!

Uber: No, I don't drink diet soda. I think I was just far enough off plan to cause some retention. Sometimes I can relax a little too much on being on plan and it messes with the week. Oh, and we WILL celebrate when you make that 20 pound mark! You're so close!!!!

SunnyMac: Good job on the 10K steps per day. I think that's a good goal!

Hello all!

I am in an excellent mood today, thank you scale! 305.0! 2.2 down from Friday, and I'm assuming there was some water hiding a loss, because I doubt I *actually* lost 2.2 pounds in 3-4 days. I just haven't been that good with the food. SO close to getting my booty out of the 300s. I had to step on the scale like 3 times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

Diane - I'm gonna be scale obsessed until I see 299.8, so we can just be scale obsessed together for the next few pounds Glad you made it through your bad mood and made it to the gym!

LaurieDawn - Welcome back! Hope you had fun!

Lotus - It's allll a mind game. Like Uber said earlier we poo-poo a .2 loss, unless it's the one that gets us to the next pound, or especially "decade" down. for me, 300.0 to 299.8 will be a *world* of difference! Silly psychology.

Hi Martini! And welcome! I had my loss in 2011/2012 as well and had to come back. I lost 50ish, then gained 80! Ugh. Back in it, and I'm almost back to my *last* start weight. (300 even)

Have a great day y'all... I gotta go get my beans soaking for dinner tonight.

Mandy: Hooray for good scale days! You are on a roll! You will be in twoderland before long!

Diane: Hope you see 249.5 very soon. You have a great attitude. I like the way you roll with the punches.

Martini: welcome! We are all about tackling those regains! You've come to the right place. If you are anything like me, the first 3 days are the worst and then it starts to get easier. You are almost there!

Laurie: Welcome back! Hope the road trip was awesome. Life absolutely requires that we cut loose and have fun from time to time, and now, you can slip right back into your routine.

As for me-- happy to report that I saw 265.8 today, and so I'm calling it TWENTY POUNDS DOWN! 4 lb loss this week! On the downside, I need to check myself as I think I'm getting a little too restrictive. From now on, I am weighing daily (which I was doing anyway, LOL) and changing my ticker whenever I see a (downward) change. I've been insanely hungry for the last two days, but I was focusing on trying to hit the 20lb mark by today. I know that I can go overboard and I'm going to try to back off a bit.

What Mandy was saying about the psychology of it all got me thinking about something that's been lurking in the back of my head. How do people think about where they're at in terms of weight? I haven't managed to settle on one perspective and I'm wondering how other people wrap their heads around their gain/regain.

Just to make it a bit more concrete... When I weighed myself on Saturday I was at 293lb. If I compare it to where I was two years ago, I think "oh ****, I gained 50lb." Then I relaunched the program I used to use to track my eating (Lose It! FWIW) and when I entered my data, it congratulated me on my 50lb weight loss as I'm still down 50lb from my high weight. So I either lost 50lb or gained 50lb or I'm starting my weight loss journey at 293lb.

This may be an opportunity to create a new start point for myself. I can remember how disheartening it was to have lost 100lb and still be fat. Maybe I can start at 293lb and 193lb won't be as much of a bummer.

I don't know that I'm asking a question as much as I'm asking for help giving myself a context. I want to be honest and loving towards myself. I want a story in my head that's helpful rather than abusive. Have any of you also encountered that sort of navigation problem?

I think of it as a start point, but I gained past my previous start weight, so there's really nothing else to think of it as heh. Honestly, stressing and berating ourselves over the slip is pretty much useless, as it just brings our overall mood down, and that doesn't motivate anyone to lose weight. I posted this on Facebook earlier today after calling myself a "stupid fatass" because I dropped something in the kitchen.

"I really need to make an effort to stop insulting myself, both out loud, and in my head. I insult my intelligence, my appearance, my competence. I would not be friends with anyone who talked to me like that, so why do I allow myself to continue to accept insults from the ONE person I HAVE to live with forever? It doesn't happen as often as it used to, but it still happens far too often to be healthy. It needs to stop."

I can't dwell on the fact that I regained, I just need to focus on getting back down to where I was, and beyond. I can be miserable and dwell on what's done... or I can be positive and motivated and continue moving forward. I prefer to be positive.

(Also, Martini - we've got similar stats current, goal and height wise!)

Martini, I'm so glad you brought this up. I think about this quite a lot. I'm inclined to look at my weight loss as an enormous 5 year project that I started in 2009. From that perspective, I'm 30 lbs lighter than I was back then, and had I not spent a lot of time and effort trying to lose weight and then maintain it, I have absolutely no doubt that I was headed on the path to just keep on gaining.

I do get frustrated when I realize that to get back to where I was two years ago I have to lose about 75 more pounds (and spend A LOT OF HOURS running and swimming laps...)

But, I like to think of it differently. The way I see it, against all odds, I have maintained a roughly 30 lb loss, more or less, with some ups and downs, for 5 years. During the 18 years between age 30 and age 49, my basic trajectory was UP every single year. So, if I take the roughly 30 lb loss I've maintained (with some bumps) and ADD ten pounds a year, which is what I averaged during my 40s) then I would weigh 350 lbs right now. 90 lbs more than I actually weigh.

I did not managed to maintain the 110 lb loss, but I did discover that I don't have to settle for UP, UP, and UP. I have the tools to ratchet back down, and even if it doesn't last forever and I have to do it again, it's better than the alternative.

Hope that makes sense.

Great discussion. Since I gained all of the weight I lost back plus twenty pounds, my start weight is where I am right now. But, I think the larger point you make, Martini, is a good one. So much of losing weight is about perspective and where you are in your head. At least that is true for me.

I am trying to be more accepting of myself and think that, even though I am at my highest weight ever right now, I am making progress in that regard. It is hard though.

Uber and Mandy, congrats on your progress! Nice work!