Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

I found strength from who knows where to start this round of dieting and was doing great, feeling great and really had a great attitude this time. Thought I'd found the answer...if I don't beat myself up and let it flow, it seemed to work great. But I hit my usual 1 1/2 month cycle of distruction. I just lost the good attitude. I'm fighting to get it back but it's like a mental block that won't let me reason with food. The "just do it" theory isn't gettin' it. Any advice to kick my butt back into the drivers seat??

Thanks for this great site!! Love all the great support going around!!

I definitely understand the difficulty, I could easily coast on a few weeks of "I'm DOING IT, I'm REALLY DOING it! I"m awesome!" but that doesn't last. And then it's just the real drudgery of getting up early and packing lunches and saying no to cake at work.

It's hard to know what to suggest, I have just made my healthy lifestyle my life. I go to the grocery store on Sunday, I pack lunches, I don't eat fast food - it's just what I DO. I don't have to be motivated to do it, it's just my life now. It's like flossing, cleaning the litterbox and getting the oil in the car changed, I never WANT to do any of those things, I do them because I HAVE to.

There are occasional bursts of motivation - a pretty new dress, a picture from a party where I look nice, running up the stairs at work and feeling my storng legs easily carrying me, but habit saves me on a daily basis.

I know you say that the "Just do it" thing doesn't work for you but that's basically what it boils down to. I know I had a very bad weekend where my eaiting was concerned and I was tempted to just throw in the towel over it. I had a good "chat" with myself about what I wanted. I decided that it was pretty dumb to ruin all my hard work over two days of bad choices. Keep reminding yourself of WHY you are making these changes and keeping them. It's hard to do, I know. But since when was anything worth doing easy?

I tend to do the same thing. Happens about every 5 weeks or so. Get all into it, slowly lose motivation, fall off the wagon... gain a few pounds, curse, and start all over again. It's tough to stay motivated- I think everyone experiences this one way or another. The best advice I can give is make small, easily reachable goals, and reward yourself every time you reach them. It makes the journey seem a little more manageable.

Try changing your focus. Instead of thinking of the total amount of weight you have to lose, focus on the next five pounds.

Don't dwell on past behaviors...there is absolutely NOTHING you can do to change what is already done. BUT you do have control over the next step, and everystep after that.

I do not focus on what I "can't" eat...I focus on making sure I eat enough of everything I should eat...then I am no longer hungry. Try to figure out what you are "missing" that makes you stray from your diet plan. Are your trying to eliminate fat or carbs or protien? Balance really is important.

Go read other people's success stories. I find this very motivational. Read them weekly or even daily. I find this really helps me feel like...HEY I can do this too!!

Hope some of these ideas helped!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

I think you have to forgt about motivation and think habit. You have to realize "this is who I am and this is how I eat". There will always be days that we slip a bit, but we can't let them become weeks. We are so into the "me" thing, and what we want is usually right now. Got to be willing to look at the whole picture.

Hey!

You don't mention what your weight loss program is... but whatever it is, if you have trouble always after 1-1/2 months, it could be that what you're doing isn't sustainable for the long haul. That is, it may not just be that you lose your will!

If you're counting calories, do you have your calories set too low?

If you're doing low carb, do you go too low on carbs?

If you are just "eating less," do you know how much less?

It might be that you would do better with a structured program like Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, etc. It may be that you've tried these programs already, but maybe it's time to try again? Of course, I don't know you, so I can't really say... just some ideas!

Hang in there! Don't give up!

Jay

I love this point... Losing the 25 pounds I want to lose is daunting, but I've lost 2. And if I've lost 2, I can lose 5. And if I've lost 5 I just have to keep it up and lose 25, right?!? So it's not that easy, but it's same method I use to get through a run ("2 more minutes, well, I might as well finish the mile now..."). I can trick myself if I try hard enough. You just to figure out how to trick yourself.

I think it yo set weekly goals it makes it easier.. and setting goals that you change slighty each week makes it more interesting..

one week i do more on the elliptical the next i do more aerobics.. etc.. just try to make it fun.. set you calories about the same but come up with new ways of making healthy versions of your fav foods.. pita bread pizza with fresh veg and a tiny bit of cheese , homemade hamburgers with 100% lean ground beef with shredded fresh garlic, celery and carrot. one egg and a table spoon of wheat germ salt and pepper( i make a big batch and add a stock cube for flavour to). cook them up in patties and freeze them with a peice of grease proof paper between .. they are really yum ..

Just find things you enjoy doing and eating.. and you will stay on programme. For me also i use diet buddies to stay on track . i have diet buddies on another forum and it works really well so i started it here too a couple of days ago, and am waiting for it to pick up you could join if you like its at http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137781

Thank you to everyone! I just love this place!! After I wrote my initial post, I went on to read more peoples stories and motivation and it really has pushed me in the right direction. I have gained 4 pounds in the past 1 1/2 wks but I'm not letting go of my plan to get in shape so I can do things with my kids this summer!! I will move on!! I will succeed!! You are all great!!

I go in spurts too. But at least inbetween my spurts my habits are mostly automated with few binges, if any. I've got certain foods I eat, groceries I buy over and over, and I just skip the stuff the old me used to buy/eat. When I get off I pull out that diet/exercise journal AGAIN - and truth is I need to keep it up for at least six months to finish my weight loss. If I write everything down I tend to stay on track. NOt necessarily figuring out every calorie as that's too tedious for me... but just what I ate and what I'm trying to do better at.

BUT I've found that if I concentrate on exercise and diet only I lose balance in other things in my life - so now my "thing" is balance with my body, spirit and emotions. Instead of just spending my time obsessing about what I ate, pounds to lose I"m spending time working on my emotions and why I ate like I did to begin with, working on those issues at times with a counselors because I overate when I was out of balance. Out of balance I'd pig out. When I'm balance and not stress, I think more, eat slower, enjoy life more. And spiritually getting some peace from having a Higher Power. The combination is what's going to get me through the rest of life changes I need to make - so when I'm thin again I'll be an emotionally and spiritually sound person, whatever that means.