Ever since my 21st birthday, I've been steadily gaining weight - more than a pound a week!!!
More than six months later, the cumulative effect makes me feel pretty shitty.

I lost 70 lbs six years ago, and maintained that loss for five years. I know I can do it again, but man, it feels so much harder this time around.

I'm constantly hungry on a calorie deficit. Even on normal days and with a "clean" diet I struggle with too much snacking. I want to drink alcohol sometimes (beer or wine) and this tends to ruin my calorie deficit because my alcohol tolerance is relatively high. I go out to eat at least once a week to keep up with friends, and that blows my calorie budget some days.

I did a good job of tracking all my calories for a month and still only gained weight

Anybody struggling with some similar things? Thoughts on how to make it better? Or are these winter blues that may fade away in the summer?

I definitely struggle with the same exact issue, that's how I got fat for sure . I go through cycles where I drink heavily for weeks or even months at a time, then stop for awhile.

I'm a compulsive sort and weigh myself and measure my waist at least daily and often more a few times a day, I record the info in a notebook, when I take a break and stop for awhile the pounds fall of like crazy, like say 10 lbs in 3 days or even more dramatic than that
Alcohol is just pure empty calories and you tend to not eat well when boozing it up

I'm sure it's one of the biggest reasons why people get fat. I'm an alcoholic for sure, I used to drink just beer but for the last 5 or so years it's cheap vodka ( Dubra ) mixed with 7-up and water prepared in 32 ounce Gatorade bottles

I enjoy it too much to quit, but can at least stop and take a break for awhile periodically.

So, I totally get where you are coming from, better than anyone else here . I guarantee you that is the cause of your weight gain

You may feel free to discuss this with me as much as you want on or off forum, I will be glad to tell you anything I can that might help you

Is your goal to lose weight or quit/ reduce drinking your goal ? They are very correlated items

Nice to hear from someone with issues the same as mine

Great to hear from someone else with the same problem! I don't consider myself an alcoholic, but I do drink more than I would like to. Yet honestly I'm pretty half-hearted about reducing my drinking so far: I don't really want to. I stare into a fridge full of vegetables, eggs, beans, and cheese and go "eh, I'd rather have a beer or two (or three)."
Problem #1: Motivation.
Problem #2: Temptation. A corner store selling craft beer (a rotating selection! greatly appealing to my sense of novelty) is literally right across the street from me, while for groceries I have to either pay for grocery delivery or make 3-hour trips to go to the store.
Problem #3: Boredom. Working part-time at a really flexible job, I have too much time on my hands, and I use alcohol (and weed) to while away the hours.
Problem #4: Social drinking. When I do actually work up the motivation, inevitably someone will ask me out for drinking, and it's kind of antisocial to say no.

In all, I tend to get to 5 days alcohol-free when I'm on a good streak, and then I get derailed.
Any advice for coping with these problems?

Interesting reply. The weed also is counter productive to weight loss goals, IMO , tends to give you an excessive appetite for junk food. I was a pothead for many years but quit smoking anything a good while ago.

I don't get the concept of having to get groceries delivered or it's a 3 hour trip to the store. Do you live somewhere very remote or are you talking about needing to take buses or something ?

As to # 1 problem motivation that's a tough one, if you're not motivated to lose weight/ stop drinking or whatever, it's not really going to happen, I'm right there with you on that

How overweight are you, Hon ? Are you pretty generally healthy ? What does your doctor tell you,etc ? I suspect all that happy stuff is OK ? You can't make major changes unless something drives you to it

#2 Temptation... Well having the liquor store right there doesn't really matter... if your craving that Alcohol or whatever else is your vice like tobacco, you'll find a way to obtain it

#3 Boredome, me too. I no longer work at all, took me a long time to figure out how to pull that off and still have enough money. It definitely is not good to watch TV constantly.

#4 social drinking...just an excuse to drink, you could easily go out with friends and drink something soft while they drink alcohol, it's all about being with them, they really shouldn't care at all what you are drinking, weak excuse there Dear.

I'm certain you technically qualify as an alcoholic but you're in the denial stage. I'm exactly the same except that I don't deny my addiction and don't have the strong desire and motivation to change. It's very obvious to me with your comment about the going 5 days alcohol free then getting derailed and your numbered reasons. I am not judging you just reading between the lines somewhat. I'm right there with you,we won't change until ready to do so, if that ever happens !

I hope my words help you, I understand exactly what you're talking about. I won't tell you to go to AA or something,maybe someday that may be appropriate, but not today ! I'll always have time for you

Thank you for your kind words, FrankB!

My doctor is mostly glad I'm not so dangerously depressed anymore. First I got ungraciously broken up with by a long term partner (who even stole my beloved cat), then I was living with someone who definitely was an alcoholic, and it did not have a great effect on me. I told the wrong doctor I had suicidal thoughts (especially when my head hurts really bad; I had chronic daily headaches and frequent migraines until discovering Topiramate) and I ended up in a psych ward for a while. I'm doing better now, mostly - I live on my own, work as a statistician, have another cat, etc. Sometimes I get really tired of the city I'm in and the people in it. But that's why I'm making plans to move to Germany for a master's degree. I'm taking another trip to Berlin soon and that makes me happy.

I'm 5'9.5" and 180 lbs. I'm overweight, and clearly it's not my ideal form, but I carry it pretty well right now and people haven't really switched into fat-shaming mode yet (yes I remember, when I was younger and heavier).

I take low doses of antidepressants and anxiety medication. I think these give me more munchies than the weed. I've been smoking for some time and I've been thin for a lot of that time. Edibles though...those will turn my stomach into a bottomless pit.

I live in one of those "food deserts" where fresh grocery produce can't be found for miles, ironically in the downtown of a capital city. I don't have a car. The bus to get to the nearest Kroger is about an hour one way. Delivery can actually be cheaper than the bus tickets in some cases.

I still have a few bottles of wine but I will try not to buy any beer the rest of this month, and drink seltzer instead.

Well a few thoughts... You like to use BMI, so do I , it's far from perfect but a decent meterstick to figure out where your at, at least giving you a clue anyway. Using that and your BMI is only 25.8 at 180, so if the number is that importa t to you and you want to get out of the technically overweight category you only need to lose 6 pounds to get to 174 and the magic 25 number, so you just barely overweight, you said a goal of 150, that is too low.no need to strive for Anything below 160 which is a 23 BMI, pretty ideal really, 170 is fine as well.weight isn't your problem, you've got that well under control, I'm sure you look fine, in fact I'd bet your very hot, crazy chicks usually are ! More on mental health later in the long post ( again long )

You never actually stated where you live, but I am very confident I figured it out, I'm like detective Columbo ( might be before your time) I kind of had to be to get any info out of my first wife
You can't be American, you used the term capital city, no American would say that referring to Washington,DC. Also put an eh in a post.dead giveaway clue there Therefore almost certainly that means Canadian and Ottawa,eh !

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Canada or Canadians, in fact I've known dozens of Canadians never met one that was an (__!__)
I used to live in Las Vegas,one job I did for about a year was tending bar between that and casino play I met people from all over the world daily, a fun city but not Where I want to live forever.

I like Canada overall haven't travelled it extensively mainly just Eastern Ontatio province and Nova Scotia.I live in a small town in Connecticut now

I'm going to break this into 2 posts , continue in a few, more to say

Back to Canada, I've considered moving there many times. It's so similar to the US anyway it wouldn't even feel like a very foreign country, most importantly same language, driving isn't much different, just have to adjust to a flashing green traffic light means

They seem to be just more laid-back and cool than here, you don't have nearly the problems in the one big city, Toronto that you'd in any US city, no lunatics running around with handguns that are ill eagle there.govt takes better care of people with health care for citizens, maybe University is nearly free, your govt doesn't have to spend huge amounts of money on the military for nuclear submarines , aircraft carriers,and stuff like that,just a much less violent place and you don't have a madman in charge.

On to you. It kind of sucks that your partner stole your cat,but at least she probably loves it And will care for it properly. What did you name the new cat ? I've got a great story about naming my last cat now deceased.I'll save that for another time.
Speaking of names what is your first name ?

Okay the biggie for last, suical thoughts , depression, etc. Don't go there I'm sure plenty of people love you And it would be devastating for them to see you do that. You've got A ton of good stuff going on in your life
Your young , healthy and weight is no big deal it is fine, probably very attractive, extremely intelligent, educated, etc.you can overcome some mental health issues,call it stress or whatever.I can see getting tired of Ottawa or any city and desiring a change of scenery, I'm very confident you will overcome these things, your future looks very bright..
Moving to a totally foreign country like Germany would really scare me. Do you know the launguage ? That alone would stop me

Anyhow I'm sure you will succeed at anything, you are smarter than me.

BTW did you get my personal message ?
Take care you will be fine and are destined for great success.