I completely understand what it's like to get crazy cravings for something you don't allow yourself anymore. When I tried low-carb, all I wanted to eat was candy, even though I normally don't eat much candy. I also understand the addiction to fast food. I love McDonalds french fries, and their chicken sandwiches. My initial goal when restarting was to avoid processed foods and starchy carbs, but I've decided it's ok to indulge as long as I keep within my calorie goal. I've lost five pounds in the past two weeks, and I've eaten McDonalds twice in that period. I planned the calories into my day, and I chose grilled chicken over crispy. I also think Happy Meals might be a good way to go... the portions are pretty small and will help get rid of the craving.

So my advice to you: don't cut things out. Plan to indulge in something once a week, but make sure you plan for it. There was a Woman's World article a few weeks ago that said women who plan to indulge once per week lose more weight than those who try to stick solid to their plan. I figure it's because they make smart choices when they plan to eat something rich, and those who don't plan end up binging and derailing their weight loss.

I've definitely had lots of moments where I fell off the wagon and binged on chips, candy, and anything else terrible for me. I'm not sure if it's the sense that those things are forbidden and finally I get to eat them, so I go crazy, or if the carb cravings start up and pull me down. But it's funny how everytime I do start eating junk, I almost always feel lousy. Everything is so much better when I eat healthy.

good afternoon everyone

i must confess to an off-plan day yesterday. cracker barrel for lunch after church (hard to avoid because we were invited by a couple from the church that adores my husband and they wanted to thank him for all the work he's done there so far and you know, hey, free food!) and then hubby and i both wanted cheese steak sandwiches for dinner. and steak fries. and chocolate for dessert. lots of yummy food yesterday AND I GOT SOME SLEEP. so today i feel happy and refreshed and i think i needed it.

healthy foods on tap for lunch and dinner today. greek yogurt, an orange, and a fiber bar for lunch. and then for dinner: stir fried veggies with shrimp and a peach brandy glaze that is AMAZING (thank you tastefully simple!) over a bed of whole grain brown rice and a side of fresh fruit and cubed swiss cheese.

I've lost a couple hundred pounds in my adult life. I'm pretty good at losing weight...or at least I used to be. But I'm even better at gaining. Gaining is more fun, too.

But I'm about 75 less than I was in the late 90's. So I'm winning

Hello Everyone!!

I have been lurking for a while but I have been hesitant to come back to 3FC because of my regain. I could give a number of reasons for the regain but it really doesn't matter.

I have made a number of restarts but haven't been able to put together more than one day in a row of clean eating. I have kept my exercise routine but was more or less going through the motions. I tried a few things to0 bust out of this slump but what got to me was reviewing my blog entries.

It shocked me to find I am the same weight now that I was in 2/2011 and in the past year I lost and then regained 20#. Eleven months of struggle and slow, slow, slow losses only to be put back on in the blink of an eye. That's what I call a wake up call.

I think for me I lost the excitement of weight loss, my progress was too slow especially when I compared myself to more successful people on this site. The slow losses and - lets face it - jealousy were a ripe opportunity to get discouraged and down on myself. Yep, for me, most certainly I have a mental thing going on. Reviewing my blog also reminded me of what I had done to be successful in the past and how I had gotten away from those things.
Yesterday I recommitted to daily weighing and a written food and exercise plan for the day. And of course a shame-faced return to 3FC.

01/30/12 217#

B: coffee with 2 TB FF H&H, 4 oz FF greek yogurt, 1/2 c egg sub, 1 egg, banana, 1/2 pumpkin pudding
L: 2 WW tortillas, 1/2 FF refried beans, 2 sl RF cheese, spinach leaves, 1/4 bell pepper, 3 clementines
D: 4 oz hamburger patty, 1 c gr beans, 1/2 c carrots, 1/2 sweet onion with 1 oz parmesan cheese, spray butter, 1 c blueberries, 2 oz FF greek yogurt, 1 TB walnuts
E: yoga, water aerobics

Thanks Uber for starting this thread and for everyone's contributions. It helps me very much to know I'm not alone.

Chix, good to see you again. Don't feel ashamed to come back, the real shame would have been if you stayed in denial.

Mandy, don't let the 'free food' meal get you down. Very nice of the couple to want to show their appreciation for your Hubby also.

Anya, I agree, gaining is more fun!

Shadow, I like your 'Plan to Indulge". Some chef on Food Network once said "that food is both necessity and indulgence" and I couldn't agree more.

Returning to 3FC after a long hiatus and am both glad and saddened to see this thread. Glad because I am not alone in this struggle and sad for the same reason.

This describes my feelings and situation as well. I've already done this once, so why am I finding it so hard to get back on track?

Dix, I crawled back in here the same way with my tail between my legs -- and yes, jealousy kept me away for awhile too -- but in the end this place really helps with the weight loss, so here I am. I'm glad you came back too! We're at about the same place, weight- and goal-wise. We can totally do this! (Again!)

I had a pretty good day today...I'm hoping I can lose just a teensy bit more by tomorrow to have a little bit of a bigger loss overall for January.

About delicious food smells -- I was walking by a particularly yummy smelling shop on my way to the train after work today and i was wondering if it would ever be possible to just enjoy the aroma without wanting to eat the food....so instead of rushing past the yummy smelling shop, I could stop and linger and get the same satisfaction out of really taking in the smell as I would from actually eating the things there. It would probably be a dangerous experiment...probably better to just keep rushing by there.

Penguin -- I think the pounds hid in my luggage (maybe in the dirty laundry - I knew something smelled funny) and then snuck back on me in the week we returned from the cruise! To make matters worse, when I went to some Xmas parties in the weeks afterwards they made friends and brought them home. What kind of bread were you baking? Do you make it the old fashioned way, or in a bread-maker?

Thistoo -- Good job on your 6lbs!

Mandy

DixCChix -- Welcome back to 3FC! I remember you from the daily weighing thread I think we can all relate to your wake up call -- I felt the same way...it took me almost all of last year to lose just over 20lbs and I gained back 17 right in the last 30 days...ugh.

to everyone else! Hope your day went according to your plan

Jan 30, Mon
B= 3 c milk, 1 c cereal, 1/2 banana
L= 1 c beef/veggie soup, 1 slice bread
S= 1 slice cheese
D= Chicken with Apple-curry sauce, 1 bread {to sop up the sauce!}
S= 1 c ice cream
E= 50min cardio + 50 min stretch fusion

The chicken was a new recipe and it was good. http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/reci...ipe/index.html

Angie, I bake 3 loaves of bread every Monday. I use a sourdough starter {bypassing trying to bloom yeast}, but by adding cinnamon or garlic/italian seasoning I can make other breads also. Dispite the sourdough name the bread comes out more sweet-ish. I've cut out some of the sugar, use a salt sub, and add in whole wheat flour. I start the dough in the morning, then the loaves rise in the oven all day, then get baked around 7pm. I give one loaf to my parents each week, then try to give the other away, too or we get a backlog in the freezer.

Good Morning Everyone! Its good to 'see' some familiar 'faces' and some new ones too. I just want to hug all of you!

Yesterday, I was totally on plan - Yay! Today is the same basic menu and E: is zumba and maybe a 30 min circuit.

Penguin - Mmmm! Fresh baked bread...wish they could make that aroma into a potpourri...

Angie - Yeah, maybe I shouldn't wish for that! Slippery slop for me.

thistoo - read some of your other comments and its like you are in my head.

k0nfyo0zed - will you post the peach brandy glaze, pretty please??

shadowclaw and DivineFid - I have tried 'allowing for' a fast food meal and it seems to make me want more. I have tried forbidding fast food and it seems to become a sort of obsession and it is a huge struggle. I have tried limiting fast food by choosing less damaging items and I am unsatisfied. I don't have the answer...just commiserating.

Based on my review of my blog/diary, I had quite a struggle with the first 60 lbs. I now think it was just as hard to lose thopse 60 as it will be to loss the next 60. I think my downfall was - I stopped asking myself - is this choice going to help or hinder me and I also stopped thinking the choice was important. I had off-plan food and still seemed to lose so I thought I could do it again... and again. Instead of once a month, it got to be more and more frequent. I can always and did find a reason to eat off plan. I can always find a way to justify it too.

Fast food is a slippery slope for me as well. As soon as I have any I start craving more, then I'm back at the vending machine during the work day, and suddenly there are frozen pizzas and bags of M&Ms in my grocery cart again. A 'cheat day' becomes a weeks-long binge for me, so I have to go cold turkey. I envy those of you who can handle a treat once in awhile! For me it's just too dangerous.

That's the reason I am doing this hardcore 30-day program, actually. I mean, I know I feel better when I cut out flour and sugar, but I am dropping weight faster than I ever have by eliminating all grains and dairy. (And the lack of two nightly glasses of wine isn't hurting either!)

Anyway, yes, I can commiserate with the cravings. I'm drooling over the homemade bread too, but that's not on my diet either. Pity, because I love to bake. Still, though, it's worth it.

Dix, yesterday I was going through old blog posts too, and it really made me even more determined to stick with this strict regime. It's an adjustment for sure, but it's so worth it. I'm ending the month six pounds down (the scale reported 211.8 this morning, but I'm calling it 212 until it goes down a little more) and hoping for another five in February. My rings are getting looser! I wish it would come off in my hips first, but whatever, I'll take it.

thistoo - funny you should mention restricting flour and dairy. I caught Dr. Oz yesterday and he had a allergist dr who said 60% of the US has an allergy to some food item. Most allergies were gluton (flour) and dairy (milk based products). And when these were eliminated, patients lost weight. Food for thought!

It's crazy how much of a problem it is for a lot of people, and they don't even realize it. All I know is that I feel so much more human when I don't eat either of those things. Also sugar. Sugar is just another word for poison, at least as far as my body's concerned.

Chix, I've only watched Dr Oz over the past week but I did see yesterday's show. Interesting. Fresh baked bread aromatherapy candles!

I get to clean house today. I'm so0 excited! I made a new generic workout rotation up for January, then didn't follow it because I was sick. I've tried to get back to it the past two weeks but I keep reverting to the old one , so obviously something isn't working here. I'll try to make up another today, maybe I can mix the two? After years of focusing on weights with some cardio, I"m trying a change of mostly cardio, bodyweight LB, and light weight with more reps for the UB. I"m not a big fan of cardio, I don't really enjoy it, which isn't helping, but I wanted to give this type of rotation a try. Most of my workouts last year were circuits/intervals mixing cardio and weights, so it was a little more interesting to do both at once.

I worked out with a personal trainer for 6 months and lost weight. I didn't keep up with my workouts on my own and put back on around 28 Lbs. I have been struggling to get back on calorie counting. I started working out a little but need to do more. They are starting a 12 week program at the gym, but don't have the money to spend on it. So I plan on challenging my self to lose 30 Lbs in 12 weeks starting today. I started counting calories yesterday but need to do a better job of planning my meals. Good Luck, Everyone! Summer will be here before we know it.