Have you ever become comfortable with your weight loss, not your goal, but enough to notice a nice change and maybe down a 3-4 pants size and give up? I started at 172 and went down to 147-148. I feel so comfortable that I have been off of my dieting for the last 3 weeks or so, now I am gaining some back (5lbs or so) I am soooo disgusted with myself, I have no desire to eat good again, and I am slacking on my walking. WHY do we get comfortable and ease up a bit and then fall away from our healthy dieting and exercising? Maybe I settled for the 140s instead of 135, my goal. It is frustrating to not have the desire anymore! I have been eating junk, eating out at icecream shops (it has been 100+ here) at least twice a week, I'm talking big waffle cone full of chocolate icecream! Fries, cheeseburgers, and it goes on.
Does anyone else do this? How to I stop? lol!!!

I even posted progress pics and only got like 2 comments!!! the rest were mine!

I have loved every bit of my weight loss! At each mini goal I think " I love this and I am really happy here!" And when I continue on, I love each and every new, lower weight.
What do YOU want? Health? A maintainable weight? Maintainance is what scares me about weight loss and I hope I can do it! Remind yourself about why you started this in the first place and it will help you get back on track. DON'T GIVE UP ON YOURSELF! You are worth the effort it takes to maintain a great weight loss!
One of the members has a quote that says something like "losing weight is hard, being fat is hard, choose your hard" I often remind myself of that choice and it reminds me that the choice is always mine and that I can choose health and fitness over the fleeting taste of food.

Want2beskine, I KNOW, right?? What the heck??? I do that too!! And it's not even, "I'm happy where I'm at". I'm certainly happier, but not satisfied. Not done. Yet I still get in to that crazy making funk, where I just can't seem to get myself to focus on the real goal.

It's frustrating to say the least. I think it's just getting tired of the same ol' same ol'. At some point, the counting, the watching and the thinking about food becomes tiresome. We've been doing it for sooooo long!

But the reality is, and we know this which only adds to the craziness, the counting and the thinking and the watching is going to be a forever process if we're going to keep the weight off.

I did this twice. First, back in 2000 and whatever. In a few years, I managed to pack on 80 pounds. I hadn't reached my 135 pound goal, but was quite happy at 137 and was tired of dieting. I stopped paying attention. And when my pants stopped fitting, I was still so tired of it, I couldn't bring my self to diet to take off just a few.

Fast forward to now. Long about the holidays, I just got tired. I stopped paying attention and gained back 15 of the pounds I had worked so hard to lose.

And for what? A cheeseburger and a donut? Is it really that worth it? I ate a scone yesterday and after I was done I just thought, it wasn't even that good!

I have no magic solution for you, sorry. I just kept up the self talk every day, every meal.... I'd just keep telling myself I'd do better. It wasn't tomorrow. It was now. It took a little while, but I finally talked myself back in to getting on track. Just don't give up on yourself. Track your food, weigh and measure. Get on the scale daily if you think it would help. It's all about the daily weigh for me, and part of forcing myself back in to my diet was to get back on the scale every day.

You can do it!!

First thing to do is take phrases like "I have been so bad" out of your vocabulary.

You aren't a sinner, a criminal, or a naughty child. You just ate off plan for a while. That is not a moral failing. It's just a very easy choice to make when constantly faced with foods (like ice cream) that are engineered to be delicious and tempting and make you want more of them. So stop talking about yourself like you have don something morally wrong.

After a time off plan, the first few days back are the hardest - you need to get back into a new rhythm. Concentrate on one choice at a time. Resist the ice cream, for now. Just this one time, take your walk instead of going to the ice cream shop. Then do it again. And again.

Do it one choice at a time, and in a few days you'll be back on plan like nothing ever happened. You can do this.

To be successful at weight loss we must permanently change our way of eating and not relapse to old habits. The more you do, the harder it is to get back on the wagon.

I've been a lifetime WW at goal since 1977 and to this day I continue to monitor my food intake, keep a food diary, and I don't allow myself to gain more than 2 pounds. I plan my meals in advance (a week at a time) so that I have nutritious foods at hand and I keep all junk out of my house - husbands and children don't need it either.

I have to agree with carter. It is really just one good decision after another that leads to success. I just have to remind myself to get through one meal at a time. And to just not put things in my mouth. Just. don't. do. it. And I always think about whether I want to figure out how many calories are in this food or do I just want to eat something I am familiar with? Just start with one meal. Then move on. Go for a walk. Nobody ever regretted making the right decision after making it. I have only ever regretted when I start to slip and eat mindlessly. You deserve better. So take care of this now before it gets out of control!

This is one of the primary reasons I intermittent fast. Since calories dictate fat loss or gain not eating until the afternoon gives me more leeway in my food choices.

What is it about your program that is hard to maintain? Have you found exercise that you enjoy? Meals you enjoy?

I find I'm the opposite. Every time I hit my goal, I lower it. My original goal weight was 180. Then it became 160. Then 140, until I got within 15 lbs of it and decided it's too much. So now my goal is 130.

I think it's wonderful that you're happy with your body. But I can see how the temptation may be easy to get to you. It's alright to have an icecream cone now and then, what's not alright is thinking "I blew it today so I might as well have some more junk.". You've lost a lot of weight and owe it to yourself to stay on track. If you want to take a break and maintain until you find your inspiration again, that's perfectly fine. Do you have any healthy role-models? Keeping a photo in your wallet might help you spend a little less on take-out.

Good luck girl! You've made excellent progress.

First of all I want to congratulate you on losing all that weight - such an accomplishment! Second, don't sweat the small stuff. You're catching it now before it snowballs into a 10 pound gain. Congratulations on that as well! Don't think in terms of "I'll do better tomorrow". Think, "I'll start doing better right NOW". It's a good reminder that you can make better decisions with every choice.

Personally, I'm super lazy so it's natural for me to think of food in terms of "how long do I have to run my *** on the treadmill to work that off??" Usually it's not worth it. It's easier to say no than run for an hour to work off the Chips Ahoy or Oreos.

I'm also super competitive and jealous. When I want to reach for the tub of ice cream, I jump on Facebook and look at my husband's ex. She's skinny and beautiful and I hate her. Yes, I have issues, but sometimes it comes down to whatever works.

Good luck! Things can turn around with every choice.

Listen to her! She's absolutely right and the above is excellent advice.

I have this problem. I get "comfortable" with a certain amount of weight loss and stop trying to lose weight and will maintain for 6-9 months. Which is stupid, because I'm nowhere near my goal and I'm still obese by medical standards and if I had just kept at it when I started I'd be at goal now. I just re-started a low carb diet which is really hard for me (I do love my carbs) but I lose weight best on a low carb diet so I'm hoping I can do this for at least a month and possibly see a loss of 15 lbs. Then if I see results, I'm hoping I can talk myself into a second month. I have 50 more lbs to lose and I could do it in 3-4 months, I think, if I stayed motivated.

thanks to everyone that replied
I got on the scale this am and I weighed 149.2, so I am not far off from my lowest weight (147). I thought I weighed more than that, so I was happy and getting motivated now lol. I think I may have gained some water weight. I do suffer from fibromyalgia, so I have to watch what I do and I did have a flare about 7 days ago which left me fatigued for 4-5 days. I think this plays a part in my overall exercise and weight loss. It's easy to get out of the routine when ya have a flare. (and a funk period)lol
Thanks for the support!!!! It means alot.

My own experience has been that I'd get close to my goal and say to myself, "I'm finally done!" or "I'm close enough." But this mentality falsely tells me that it's a temporary journey, and when I get there I can "relax" and "eat" again. But like QuilterInVA said, it's a lifelong change.

In order to keep the figurative beach ball under the water and from popping back up again, we have to remain ever vigilant of those excess pounds that want to sneak back onto our bodies. One can never relax in that respect.

There's nothing wrong with taking the scenic route to goal as long as you don't entirely revert to an unhealthy lifestyle and un-learn healthy new habits.

Also another vote for taking "good" and "bad" out of the equation.