hello
last week i envited everyone to share the reasons they find themselves going off thier diet plan, and to come up with an idea to stop that behavior before it starts!

so what did you learn from that? did your plan of attack help? did it not help because there was somthing else that derailed your diet plan? please share your story and what you have learned about yourself! oh and also if you are going to work on a plan of attack for this week
yay!! im so excited to see how everyone did!

the reason i went of plan: i didnt write things down (calories)
plan of attack: stop thinking you can keep track in your head and just write it down already!

what i learned: writing things down kept me getting back on that horse all week, it was a challange for me! some days i wanted to just put my feet up and eat a pint of icecream and pretend it didnt happen. but i had to write it down... so even if there was binging, it was minimized

i did learn that i seriously have compulsive binging thoughts and my plan of attack for this week would most likely be start going to the eating disorder support board and figur out what sorts of things other binge eaters find helpful!

I went off my South Beach Diet plan for three days because I ran out of the foods you need to have to follow it.

When I got paid, I bought the groceries that I needed and resumed my plan

I learned that although this plan does involve having specific foods in my kitchen at all times once they are there the plan is easy to follow.

Preparation and planning are key elements of my continued success on this food plan.

This week was a totally terrible week for me, and of course, not due to what I expected or planned

last week I said I went off plan because I got too hungry and didn't bring snacks so just ended up eating crap sometimes when I did eat. This week, I planned to bring healthy snacks with me so I wouldn't get overly hungry in the afternoon.

Alas, I came down with a butt kickin' cold. It wasn't about hunger but just a total lack of energy and will to cook anything. I'm still trying to figure out what I could do to combat this the next time. Any suggestions, anyone?

ps btw math puppy, may I say how much I like your avatar? For some reason it always makes me laugh. I just imagine it's waving its arms around, with a big smile on its face.

Even though I didn't post in the last one, I've got a "weekend" problem that is staring me in the face!

I am LAZY when it comes to tracking on the weekends when I'm visiting my fiance. This has got to stop! I know that what it comes down to for me is to plan what my lunches & dinners will be for the weekend so there are no surprises (or excuses!!!). I must also drop the "vacation weekend" attitude. Who cares that I'm not at home? It doesn't mean my new eating habits stay there!!!! >_<


kasmin - I keep a frozen meal & microwaveable veggies on hand just for those "Idunwanna" cook situations. It's not for everyone, and they can be high in sodium, but I enjoy the fact that once in a while I don't have to cook, and it's all set out for me in a few minutes. Or maybe if you feel a cold coming on like that ahead of time, you could take a few extra minutes to get your cooking out of the way ahead of time, so you just have a couple saved meals in the fridge, too.

My plan is to write down a meal plan for 3 healthy meals and 2 sensible snacks a day, then write down everything I eat and the amount of time I exercise. I also record my weight at least once a week.

I've noticed that often the reason I go off plan is that I slip into the "all or nothing" mindset. Maybe I'll eat something I shouldn't and instead of just writing it down and moving past it I will declare a free day and go hog wild. Or I'll forget to write a meal down and then tell myself since I didn't write it down, I'll just forget about writing stuff down for today.

How I need to handle it: give myself a *little* leeway. If I slip up, write it down and keep going as planned. If I forget to write a meal down, try to remember, and continue writing the others down. I need to remember that the all or nothing mindset is what got me to 295 pounds-- I can't count the times I gave myself one last hurrah because I was going to start eating right and exercising tomorrow...

Well i us to do the atkins but can never stick to it. i dont know if my body was getting use to eat that way or what. once i binge that is it for me. it is so hard to get back on. i have recently started doing WW. So far i love it. i do however feel more hungry eatting this way. i am on day 3, i feel like i can stick to it once i get past day 2. also started back walking and plan on hitting the gym again. i will let ya know how it goes.

lol thanx!

I go off plan the minute I start to feel too comfortable -- like, this losing weight thing is super EASY! hahaha then something inside goes "see it's so easy, you know what to do, so take a little break....eat some fudge"

then I smack that little demon voice upside the head

lol, i should use that whol "smaking the little deamon voice upside the head" trick. it sounds like a good tool to keep around

And see, Trazey, that's what I mean--I sometimes read posts stating that losing weight is easy for them, that they just decided to grow up and everything changed from that point....well, ok, I decided the same, but some days I get it and some days the idontwanna kicks in and I'm back to the spoiled child. It takes real effort for the grownup to prevail on occasion, and there are some days the little child still wins out. I can never feel confident that my problems are behind me. I think I'll always struggle, but I'm willing to keep trying. I'm just amazed that it's easier for others.

My main problem with staying on plan is the weekend. During the week I can plan healthy snacks and lunches and come home to make a healthy dinner. On the weekends, my bf likes to go out, which is hard b/c I never know what they are adding to the food when they cook it. Also, since I am not in the structured schedule, I end up snacking a lot more instead of sticking to my good for you meals. I need to plan out my weekend foods as well as my week day foods. Also, I need to pick the restaurants if we go out, that way I can make sure there will be something healthy on the menu for me to choose.

**by the way, where is my signature? I have more than 30 posts now!**

I didn't see this last week but hope you don't mind me piping in?

IA a lot with battle ax that the grown up me needs to take charge of . . . I've also discovered on this journey that I do best when I pay attention (vigilant attention) to my thought patterns when I start thinking of food as a friend . . . a comfort . . . a reward.

It's just food.

It really is.

When I lose sight of that - I always cycle back to old (& childish) habits.

Interesting Thread!

The reason I go off plan is because I keep sabotaging my weight loss efforts because I have no self-esteem and I dont think that I am worth it. Also, I am scared that of what will happen if I dont have my weight to hide behind. Right now I can say. Oh I cant do that cause Im fat. or those people wont like me cause Im fat. Ill fail at that because Im fat. BUt what happens if Im not fat anymore and people dont like me. Then they arent liking me because of me.

So I learned that I need to go to therapy and work out my issues so I can be successful in everything I do, even weight loss

Hey Dek ~ Sounds like you need a hug. Or three. I have no remarkable words of encouragement. But, know that we're all here for you.

THIS ALWAYS GETS ME. I get too confident and then I "celebrate"... yeah, whoops. Celebrating is fine, as long as it's not with food. Breaking the habit of associating celebration with food is really hard. I'm not really sure what to do about it because at the time, it doesn't always click in my head that I'm doing that until after it's over.

As for having foods on hand when you don't want to cook or are sick -- get some progresso and other canned soups. They are not necessarily the epitome of great tasting soup, but it's fast and easy when you're hungry! I usually prepare a small salad or half a sandwich to go with it if I'm particularly hungry.

I would say that food is not really my biggest problem. Sure, I'm not perfect and I have an affinity for sweets, but exercising is very difficult for me to do and stick to. I guess I've gone my whole life eating, but haven't done much exercise :P When I do go off plan with food, a lot of the time it does boil down to the fact that I am not watching my calories like a hawk. I do have a general idea of how many calories are in something so if I am trying to stay on plan, I usually do, but it's when I am not giving the slightest bit of attention to my plan that I edge off of it. I pay no mind to calories and eat what I please. I have noticed, however, that I am eating less, even if I am not staying on plan, which has kept me from gaining any weight back while I've been on my 2+ month plateau.