I think it's sheer will and practice. When I want to reach for food for the wrong reasons, I hear this voice inside say, "That's not me anymore" - not how I eat, how I cope, or how I celebrate, not how I console myself or how I entertain myself.

I had a really rough Monday full of family drama laced with high emotions, fear, anger, frustration, etc. On the way home from the mess, I had to stop at the store for milk. As I'm walking to the checkout counter I was thinking how badly I wanted to stuff myself with chocolate just to check out for a while. But there was that voice telling me that's not me anymore. I suddenly felt calmer and the urge to buy the crap passed. It was harder to do that when I started, but now it's become more ingrained. I guess my point is, the urge to overeat doesn't go away but the more consistent you are with how you answer those urges the easier it gets to not derail yourself.

What is the points challenge? Where can I find it?

:o

You make me blush man. Thanks for your kind words.

I am trying really hard to stay positive. I focus on what I CAN do and what I CAN eat instead of what I can't do or eat. For me, the food is the easy part of the equation. Excercise is a mustery to me and I have to do something I really enjoy that is active or I know I won't do it. I will NEVER go to the gym or do most of the standard execise things that most people do. instead, I ride the bike and I just started today doing stairs. We have these really STEEP stairs from the road to the river, 2 sets, just down the road fr99m my house. So this morning I started at the top, walked down both sets and up both sets...twice. I was a huffin' and a puffin' and I th0ught my hear might actually leave my body and just lay there beating all by itself...BUT I did it.

I learned through me quitting smoking adventure a year and 1/2 ago how to focus on me and on my goals. To set tiny goals that are manageable and do whatever it takes to go the right direction I was trying to get to. And the hardest part of all, for me stiil, is to recognize that even a whisper in the right direction is better than going backwards.

I learned that the support of other people is really important to me too. And if someone else can do it, so can I. Forums are such a great place to find support and read success stories and stay on track.

I spend too much time online, but it's necessary for me right now.

Focus on yourself, set small goals you can achieve and feel good about them. Be happy for small successes. Lean on others when you can't go it alone. If you fall down, dust yourself up and get going again. Learn what went wrong and what to do differently next time the situation arises. Be patient.

And I hope I shall take my own advice!

Barb

I stay focused by focusing on it ALL THE TIME.

I post here EVERY DAY. I post on my fitday log EVERY DAY. I log my exercise EVERY DAY.

The beginning is the hardest part because of fear of failure.

Each tiny success gives you something else to build on. Think of it as building a staircase one step at a time.

Just remember: the past does not predict the future. You do not have to fail this time because you failed last time. The only thing that matters is what you do TODAY.

Dang, like wow! You seriously are motivating! :)

This may not seem so odd to y'all, but for those who just have never been here, done this, it's odd. I have a few pictures of myself, that would have been great pics I would have had put on the wall for everyone to enjoy, had I not been so fat. Not the pics are amazing or anything, general, hanging out with the kids at the river or hiking or whatever, but I feel so horrible in those pics, I'd hate to have them on my wall. Forever. For now, they're on my fridge, in my wallet, even in my truck since I commute so much for classes it would be so very easy to hit a heart attack in a sack and keep on going. Instead if I feel the call of the fast food sirens, I glance down at those pics as I pass the exit to it, then the next. Sometimes I see that pic every mile of my commute, sometimes I don't need to see it at all. But it helps keep me focused.

Forbidden foods...
 

are banned from my home. I just do.not.buy foods that are triggers for me. These are binge-inducing foods or rather non-food as they have no nutritive value. Semi-sweet chocolate chips? Not in my house! Dots candy? Never. Gummi bears, Jelly Beans, MnM's...etc. Same thing. The before mentioned foods are like crack cocaine, addictive and oh so dangerous. I will eat the entire gallon size Costco container of them in one sitting and likely want to kill you if you tried to prevent my access to them.

Things that I might overeat on but not binge on: chips, oreos, Ritz Bitz crackers that my b/f keeps on hand are for the most part just off limits. They are in my home but I put them on my list of "can't/won't/don't" and don't think of them as foods that are for me, therefore...I just don't eat them.

I stock lots of healthy things I can eat: fruit, pre-cut veggies, string cheese, nuts, hard boiled eggs, cooked cubed chicken breast, fat free sugar free yogurt or plain greek yogurt, baby spinach and salad greens...that I can enjoy when I am feeling snack-ish. Also, I am a big volume eater...if I pile my plate high with a salad, I don't feel like I am being deprived. A dinner or lunch salad for me might include 3 cups of greens plus tons of other veggies. Or Fat Free Healthy Pop pop-corn you can eat the whole bag with a diet soda or spritzer and not do any damage to your plan.

Also make sure to eat something often to prevent the "I could eat a horse!" feeling that comes on if I skip breakfast and lunch. If I eat breakfast at a regular time and then a snack...then lunch and a snack 2 hours later, then dinner ....etc..not letting myself get starving hungry, I can withstand this new lifestyle much easier. If I had to gut it out while starving...just make myself not eat, I couldn't do it.

Best of luck!! It get's easier!:hug:

Exercise keeps me on track. If I have the energy to exercise then why spoil it by going off the diet. Good luck.

Sharon

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/heartb...0/135/166/.png

Oh, I should also add, I check in here about 5 times a day while at work and at least 2 times a day on the weekends. There is such a wealth of positive energy and advice here. I also periodically read the Maintainer's Forum and pour over Before and After pics/Success Stories.

I also have a bit of a crush on RockinRobin and CFmama for there wisdom and no-nonsense attitudes!

What keeps me focused... every day I make a list of goals similar to this:

fork down between bites
eat only when seated (no licking the spoon, no picking at food, etc...)
no seconds
slow, mindful eating
taste the food
exercise
lots of water
remember that eating is not an emergency
plan food - write it down!!! (very, very important)
log food and make note of changes in plan or any morsel of food I put in my mouth
write down 5 things for which I am grateful (everyday for 12 years) This is important!
feel fullness - at least try (sometimes I think that is broken in me)
weigh weekly
remind myself why I need sanity with food & to lose weight - these advantages are written down and I read them daily
post here at 3fc every day
remind myself that food does not cure physical pain or anxiety.
forgive myself if I don't do all these things or have a slip ....then carry on

Everyday - I see how many of these I have accomplished. Some days I have all of them checked off - some days not. But..it's a guideline for me.

Does this take time...yes it does. I am worth the time & I will make time to do it. I must to find a way to live with food.. This is really helping me. Also - I didn't start doing ALL these things one day. I gradually added things one or two at a time.

I am grateful that these things have helped me stay focused on healthy eating, living well with food and having some sense of food sanity.

PLAN FOR THE FUTURE...BUT, TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME.

Did I think of all this myself? No.(some I did) A friend who lost over a hundred pounds and has kept it off suggested I read The Beck Diet Solution by Dr. Judith Beck (I read her first book). This book is a cognitive approach to breaking the habits that keep a person overwieght. It's suppose to teach you to think like a person who doesn't have a weight problem. It can be used with any healthy food plan. I am a calorie counter and my friend is in Weight Watchers. But...basically after observing how the Maintainers are living...it's alot of what they are doing.

What do you do to help keep you focused and avoiding trigger foods?

Don't buy them. Resisting once at the store is easier than resisting a zillion times at home.

Eat regularly -- every 4 hours or so, around 400-500 calories. Include protein of some kind in each meal.

Prick my finger for blood sugar to verify that it is stable whenever I'm feeling crazy. I had gestational diabetes when pregnant and I have PCOS/IR and I've found when I am feeling all crazy craving the fault is usually not having eaten regularly and sending my blood sugar way low or overdoing and sending it way high.

If it is stable, I could care less about trigger foods. No physical craving for them at all.

And I check to see if I am having emotional cravings -- heart hunger vs head hunger. Then rather than eat, I seek the correct emotional response.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=56502

A.

Get on the right plan for you. A food and exercise plan is the right plan when, in an average week, you lose 1-2 lbs AND it only takes about 80% of your will power to stay on it.

I often see people here posting "I was on X, and it works for me, but I keep cheating". If you can't stay on a plan, it doesn't work for you.

The reason you don't want to go on the toughest plan you can--the one that takes 100% of your will power to stay on--is that if you do, you'll crash when life gets difficult and makes other demands on your will power.

I have to say finding a plan for me is a good part of what keeps me on track. I also have monthly pictures from the last time I lost weight. I look at those and know that I can get back there. I am doing the same thing this time, pictures every month. I love to see the changes.

Yes, planning. Should have mentioned that early.

I plan my meals/snacks AHEAD of time. I have it ready and good to go. When it comes to making my food choices, it's already been done for me in advance. Makes it much less likely to make poor choices and veer off plan. That planning occurs daily - and it helps to keep me focused and if some reason I should lose focus - it doesn't matter. IT DOESN'T MATTER. Because I KNOW what I'm eating. I've already figured it out. The thinking's been done when I'm reasonable and rational.

And one more thing - I make sure every little thing that I'm eating I TOTALLY enjoy - if on plan is so good, well than, there's no reason to go OFF plan.