But you know what? You're here. You're not in denial. You've picked yourself and you've come back. THAT is worth celebrating. Because you coulda always been the woman who WAS thin, who shoulda come back but didn't and woulda missed an opportunity to get back on track. BUT YOU'RE NOT. Hooray!
I think this is the club that no one wants to me a member of, but unfortunately, a whole bunch of us are!
I lost over 40 lbs a couple of years ago, and the only good thing I can say is that at least I made the committment to turn things around before I gained back EVERY lb of that rather than just gaining back MOST of them.
I have to emphasize what Lori Bell said Find your plan and work it everyday. I have been on plan every single day since I started on May 22. And - shockingly! - I have lost the most weight in this amount of time ever, and have also found it easier to stay on plan the longer I've been on. I've made my motto Stick Like Glue and I am trying to live up to that commitment every day.
So welcome back up on this horse and let's all get out of the "Fat AGAIN" club together!!
(and btw, happy Maintenance Anniversary Lori Bell!)
Many of us have been here time and time again.....don't beat yourself up over it! Make a plan and stick to it as Lori Bell said. Visit the boards here all the time and don't ever stop even when you get to your goal weight. Its amazing how quickly time and weight gain get away from us. This forum keeps me straight and on track.
Back in 2006 I started coming here because I wanted to lose weight for my daughters wedding in July of 2007. I lost weight fast and got down to about 150.....I was so proud of myself...so proud that I stopped coming here and went right back to my normal eating habits!! Heck I didn't need support, I got this, lol Fast forward to her wedding and I was up over 200 lbs again ;(
Finally in Feb 2009 I got serious...got down under 120 in about 7 months and have now managed to keep it off for almost 2 years. This time I found a plan that worked for me, I stick with it and most importantly I keep coming back here whenever I can to keep myself from falling back into my old stubborn habits. This place is wonderful and you can do this!!!!!!
I know how you feel I lost 70 lbs and kept it off for over 6 years then something was done to me , that I can pinpoint the day that I began to gain weight it has been 10 years since that incident and some counseling that I finally in a place to lose weight. oh Ive lost 20 lbs lose it 20 lose it again so tired of losing the same weight that I m ready to continue beyond the initial 20, I also have way more to lose because with each 20 gain it brought a couple of friends.... I know you have it in you and you will succeed, one day at a time one meal at a time and with a game plan for a lifetime. I have been here off and on for several years glad they don't toss me out for not being consistent.
Lol @ ghost! Yes, I supposed I have no choice now, I started a challenge! If I wanted to fail now I'd be in a tight spot and let all those other challengers down. No looking back now!
Love your title, love your avatar, love your pragmatic, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude!
I'm right there with you. Once upon a time in the Devonian Era, I weighed 195ish, went to Jenny Craig and lost 71 pounds ridiculously quickly (5 months). Stayed in the 120s for close to four years, then stopped working retail and got a desk job. I gained 50 pounds in a year and hardly even noticed until I looked down and was like, "Whoaaa, where did all this come from?"
I empathize with the "I was at goal weight, then I wasn't" phenomenon. In one sense it sucks having to do it over again. In another sense, this gives us the chance to see life from both ends of the telescope, to really understand what it takes, to grok every aspect of becoming not merely thinner, but healthier.
Lori Bell's right; how it was before probably won't be how it is this time. But that's okay; you've picked up a tremendous amount of education about what makes you tick, so even if it's slower (and lord knows my weight loss is--stupid aging! ), it's a LOT more tolerable.
Yes, I don't feel so lost this time around. The last time I sat down and knew I had a lot of weight to shift I was lost. I was panicked. And I found 3FC. At least this time around I know my tricks and triggers.
I have lost some, gained some, and now I am almost back down to last year’s low weight. What was I thinking? I guess I just was not thinking. I am so done with not thinking and just eating and eating. I am going to keep going this time and then I am going to learn how to maintain. I am sure I will not do it perfectly, but then no one is perfect.
Just to think I was going to start a thread like this today!! I lost 76 pounds and regained 40. I plateaued and got panicked and started eating again because the weight was not coming off like I wanted to. Then there were money issues and job issues and my daughter had academic problems. She wasn't doing her work and such, then I was concerned about my son who has autism. It all got to be too much and I was stressed and stopped working out and starting eating junk. Now thank goodness I am back on track. I am back working out and I restared on Sunday and am now down 5 pounds as of yesterday. I had gotten down to my 220, the smallest I had ever been in almost my adult life. The last time I was that size, I was in my 20s and I am a few years ago from being 40. My body was toned and I couldn't get over how slim was middle one, something that had always been tough for me to get under control. I was a few pounds away from a size 12. The last time I was a 12 I was in high school!!!! I was so proud of myself because I started at a size 26. My mom even thougth I had gastic bypass surgery, I looked that good. Now when I think about how I gotta restart, I don't think about it because it can get overwhelming. Now I am wishing to be 260 anything but I know I have to stay on plan (which I am seriously motivated to do) and I am looking forward to getting down my size 12! I am so angry at myself sometimes about it but I don't look back. I can't. I just look forward. My husband loves my body but I loved when he would look at me in my sexy little nighty and say, you lost weight. I can see it. He has been so supportive!! He always holds my hand when we go out and we have a very active sex life and when I told him that I want to lose weight, he says, you are doing it for yourself because I love you regardless and that makes me feel so amazing!!! I get up in the morning and do my daily walk and I also have added weights and sometimes I walk on the treadmill but I am active every day. I just started on sunday but I am looking forward to going down this track but never ever returning!!!!
No you are not the only one. It's many of us. Thank you for this thread and we will be here for each other. I love this place!
Thank you all for the support as I restart this journey! It means a lot to me to have a place to come and relax and put my hands to work doing something besides shoveling food into my mouth.
Today I moved a full length mirror out of my bedroom where I couldn't see it and in the hallway so every time I have to use the restroom I have to look at my full length figure in the mirror. Hopefully what I see in that mirror will keep me more accountable. Plus, I can see myself on the treadmill where I hung it...that aughta keep me motivated while on that thing, lol!
in the past 13 years my weight has yo-yo'd like this : 194, 210, 138, 175, 160, 150, 200, 244, 180, 160, 194, 140, 175, 140, 190, 150, 138, 238.5
when i think of all the THOUSANDS of hours i have spent working out over the years and how hard i worked for so long to get the weight off and then i completely erased ALL my progress and then some, it sickens me. i literally would say out loud each time as i would be running and killing myself at the gym "remember how hard this is and how much it sucks... this has got to be the last time" only to lose the weight and then eventually get upset or get tired of being on a diet or get burnt out on the gym and take a few days off, which turned to a week, to a month, to months and then bam one day i woke up and weighed almost 240 lbs...all the while knowing i was getting fat but feeling in shock i had let it go THAT far... i refused to buy jeans because i guess i was in denial... i knew my 12's didn't fit (which used to be my fat jeans) and i also knew 14 and 16's wouldn't fit either.. so i just wore dresses and big shirts with leggings.. i felt ugly and huge and gross and like everyone thought of me as a failure. and then i decided i had to stop.
i agree with what everyone has said... it's hard but you can't live in the past and beat yourself up for gaining... we've all been there. i let myself get out of control and i know i have two choices...live with it or fix it. again. i constantly think "oh last year at this time i was wearing this size or weighed this" it's depressing yes, but i know that sitting around thinking about what i used to look like isn't going to do anything except make me eat even more and gain weight... i had to as hard as it was go back to the gym
i also agree the first day of starting over is the hardest. i finally started over my latest time in february... and of course this was after telling myself i'd start after xmas, then i'd start after my bday, then i'd start at the beginning of feb... i kept putting it off and putting it off because it is so hard and i was dwelling on losing 100 frieken pounds..for the umpteenth time..
i was embarrassed because i had been away from the gym for soooo long, i had a guy ask if i had been kidnapped he hadn't seen me in so long. i felt like i was on display and eveyone was whispering "omg that girl used to be in shape, now look at how fat she got.. she let herself go" it sucked. i still think
i wish i had started sooner but we all have to start somewhere... and it sounds like you have decided with buying the treadmill and coming up with a plan and goal you are ready
just remember you are not alone and if you ever want to talk im me because i can DEFINITELY relate to your story.
Honestly, thank you for your post Bellastarr. Today has been such a struggle with staying out of the kitchen and away from the comfort carbs that coming here and reading your post was what I needed to stay OP.
I have a sugar withdrawl headache because I've only had protein and LF dairy for food so far today. I'm holding off as long as I can before I give into any sugar and carb cravings and I have a plan for when I do eat them thanks to reading Dukan today. I'm doing 5-7 days of attack and then I can be more lenient.
I know how you feel I lost 70 lbs and kept it off for over 6 years then something was done to me , that I can pinpoint the day that I began to gain weight it has been 10 years since that incident and some counseling that I finally in a place to lose weight. oh Ive lost 20 lbs lose it 20 lose it again so tired of losing the same weight that I m ready to continue beyond the initial 20, I also have way more to lose because with each 20 gain it brought a couple of friends.... I know you have it in you and you will succeed, one day at a time one meal at a time and with a game plan for a lifetime. I have been here off and on for several years glad they don't toss me out for not being consistent. 
), it's a LOT more tolerable.
I had gotten down to my 220, the smallest I had ever been in almost my adult life. The last time I was that size, I was in my 20s and I am a few years ago from being 40. My body was toned and I couldn't get over how slim was middle one, something that had always been tough for me to get under control. I was a few pounds away from a size 12. The last time I was a 12 I was in high school!!!! I was so proud of myself because I started at a size 26. My mom even thougth I had gastic bypass surgery, I looked that good. Now when I think about how I gotta restart, I don't think about it because it can get overwhelming. Now I am wishing to be 260 anything but I know I have to stay on plan (which I am seriously motivated to do) and I am looking forward to getting down my size 12! I am so angry at myself sometimes about it but I don't look back. I can't. I just look forward. My husband loves my body but I loved when he would look at me in my sexy little nighty and say, you lost weight. I can see it. He has been so supportive!! He always holds my hand when we go out and we have a very active sex life and when I told him that I want to lose weight, he says, you are doing it for yourself because I love you regardless and that makes me feel so amazing!!! I get up in the morning and do my daily walk and I also have added weights and sometimes I walk on the treadmill but I am active every day. I just started on sunday but I am looking forward to going down this track but never ever returning!!!! 
i literally would say out loud each time as i would be running and killing myself at the gym "remember how hard this is and how much it sucks... this has got to be the last time" only to lose the weight and then eventually get upset or get tired of being on a diet or get burnt out on the gym and take a few days off, which turned to a week, to a month, to months and then bam one day i woke up and weighed almost 240 lbs...all the while knowing i was getting fat but feeling in shock i had let it go THAT far... i refused to buy jeans because i guess i was in denial... i knew my 12's didn't fit (which used to be my fat jeans) and i also knew 14 and 16's wouldn't fit either.. so i just wore dresses and big shirts with leggings.. i felt ugly and huge and gross and like everyone thought of me as a failure. and then i decided i had to stop.
