Glad you're back, BEVERLYJOY -- life is full of up & downs, isn't it? The joys of a new grandchild and a wedding; plus a new computer and resolve ... all while mourning one loved one and trying to support another through a trial. Sending up ^prayers^ for your sister, you, and your family at this time ...

PS ~ I've put a prayer request for your sister in our PRAYER WARRIOR'S THREAD in the Faith Forum too. :hug:

I just found this thread and I Love the name Regainer Relosing. I lost and regained this weight so many times. So I guess this is where I belong for giving and receiving support and hopefully I will get this weight off and keep it off this time. I know or have seen some of you on other thread look forward to getting to know y'all and being a part of this group.

I found this thread and thought it applied to me...although really it should be the "relosers and relosers again...and relosers even AGAIN" link to really apply to me...lol.
I just had a little light bulb go on this morning when I went to my WW weigh in and I think it may help someone else out there.. I have literally been on every diet ever made (including WW- more than 5 other times)...had many successes and then ALWAYS gain it back plus more. I would self analyze all of the time thinking...what the heck is WRONG with me? I have a flippin MASTERS degree, I am NOT stupid or lazy. WHY, why why can't I lick this weight thing? I have been dieting since I was 12. To make a really long story short. for the past 36 years (I am 48) I have dieted and gained back fluctuating increments of up to 100 pounds... I was either on a diet (depriving)...or off a diet(eating everything I couldn't have when I was dieting.) Two weeks ago, I ran into a friend that I had not seen in 20 years. The last time I saw her, she was quite heavy (like over 300). and this time she was tiny. She said that weight watchers is her thing and that she has been at her tiny weight for 6 years. She said actually follows the program NO MATTER what and she NEVER feels deprived. She also said she goes to the meeting every week, without fail.
I told her that I had done WW before...and I had the same inevitable result. ..lose for a while and then gain. She asked me if I actually followed the program...or if I did it "my way". She knows me...and knows that when I diet, I generally do it for quick results. I realized that I didn't really ever follow the program completely. I just used the weekly weigh in to gauge my dieting success. Her amazing success was inarguable though...so it made me drag my butt back to weight watchers.
After I went to the WW meeting last week, I went to my car and had a small melt down. I am a very strong person emotionally, but I actually cried in the parking lot. I weighed 331 pounds. HOW COULD THAT BE? I decided to (TA DAH) actually follow the program to the letter. I said out loud "I surrender to weight watchers!" I really felt so completely out of control and ashamed that I could be such a wreck and let myself get to such a high weight. Depressed was the ultimate understatement of how I felt.
So...all week I followed the program, and I had serious trouble, but not for the reasons you would think. I had HUGE feelings of guilt eating the amount of food I was supposed to eat. I really did...which made me realize OMG...I really do have a mental problem with food. I can't eat anything "bad " with out some weird guilt. I just knew that I was not going to lose any weight. How could I possibly? I had a lot of points to spend. I was eating carbs all day, chips, bars, unlimited fruits??? I also felt really good...none of the crushing hunger or headaches or foggy thinking that usually accompanies my dieting. This was going to be a failure, but I had promised to stick with it, so I did.
So guess what? 10 pound weight loss the first week...and the knowledge that my extreme dieting problem probably has comes from some form of food deprivation "I'm good...or I'm bad" thing. I finally realized it has nothing to do with self control. That never really made sensse to me anyway because I have great self control. I once didn't eat a bit of solid food for 60 days straight (liquid protein diet)...you cannot do THAT without self control.
I really never thought it was mental. I thought I was just biologically cursed to gain. I think I am starting to see the light. I think I am on a good path. I will let you know my progress.

:welcome: TRISH & DROPPINGIT ~ so many of us have lost weight and regained all or some of it back -- sometimes more than once, so we fit right in with this group for sure. If you ever read my earlier posts you would know just how many times I have lost weight & regained; more than I can count ... :rolleyes:

I finally learned what was causing me to gain weight in the first place. Like Droppingit and many others, I had lots of willpower and self-discipline. I was a "very successful" dieter, but I needed to manage my emotions and stress better. Then I learned that I had to get off the "diet roller-coaster". I have changed my eating style for life this time (7 years this past April). My loss has been slower for several reasons, but I'm still losing and maintaining the loss, and that's what matters most.

Plus, I don't think it matters what plan you use, as long as it works for you, and you continue to use it; meaning, you stick with it, come **** or high water. Persistence is key; not perfection. "Guilt" is an emotion -- that triggers binge eating. Once you realize what is going on, you can deal with it. No more "good" food or "bad" food; no more "good" girl or "bad" girl.

No more self-loathing or punishment for mistakes. No more guilt. No more beating yourself up if you aren't perfect all the time. No more deprivation; no more hunger. No more over-analyzing. No more giving up or giving in. Just dump the emotional baggage and get on with living!

Stick around ladies; and we'll do our best to encourage you all the way through this journey back to good health and happiness ... :D

Hey ladies,

I'm coming to the end of a week's holiday and must hurry to church soon, so I'll be back later today with a bigger post. I was away visiting a friend for a few days, hence my absence, but I'll be back!

:wave: Trish & Droppingit! So glad you are with us!

The weekend was crazy - I was so busy that food planning went outthe window - also a bit sleep deprived and the scale shows it this morning :o

I hosted a lockin Friday night and Saturday morning for the Pre-Teens in my ministry. Saturday afternoon I went with my sister in law for her briday portraits. And Sunday was work again and an impromtu date with the hubby to our town's first annual crawfish festival. On to of that, I have been having horrible pain on the left outside area of my foot. Several weeks ago I stepped in a treanch and I'm afraid I fractured a metatarsal. Hopefully, I can get in to see my podiatrist today :dizzy:

Official WI is tomorrow for me, so i am getting back on track and drinking LOTS of water!

Good morning, everyone!

Welcome Trish & Droppingit, You found a great group to hang with and will get an incredible amount of support and wisdom form these ladies.

BeverlyJoy, Welcome back!

I'm afraid I have to post and run today but all is good. Still OP, the scale is still teasing me but my clothes are fitting much differently. I need to consider buying some new pants - I think I've held out as long as possible with my work pants since I can now take my favorites off without unbuttoning them :lol:

Have a great Monday, everyone.

Welcome to Trish and Droppingit! And welcome back to Beverly. Missed you!

Not much to say right now. Just faking it until I make it. :)

Hi All,

I have this AWFUL feeling that I STARTED this thread back in January...

Oh well. Awful year. Lots of stress, but now I'm feeling more able to cope and I'm trying again....

I know this will sound super-strange, but instead of a regainer relosing, I feel more like a maintainer struggling to get back to baseline... (even if baseline is multiple pounds away.) If I learned one thing the first time around, it's that being morbidly obese is neither normal nor permanent.

I guess to me, being a maintainer means knowing that a relapse-- even a horrible one-- is GOING to end. So I'm a maintainer battling a regain...

I committed to being on plan every day until the end of May.

Down five so far, and headed for the gym, soon. Uber is BACK!

Welcome back, UBERGIRL ~ yes, you started the first thread, and Mandy continued with this second one. Glad that you are finding ways to handle the stress; that is so very important. Hey, I've had a couple of small blips over the years, but they came right back off. I have big water retention issues, esp in my legs, so I really have to watch the salt intake, and put my legs up at least once each day to help with that.

Maintaining is just an extention or continuation of the WL part -- use the same plan & strategies that you used to lose, to maintain. Throughout the WL process, we have little ups & downs (usually water); and the same thing happens during maintenance. :hug:

We had nice warm temps up to 78 F today with :sunny:. Great weather for DH and a friend to start the back deck & ramp. They have the deck base all done; tomorrow the ramp base, and then the finishing should be done by Wednesday, if all goes well. It's very exciting to get this done.

Just keep workin' it everyone; that's what matters most ... :D

Thanks everyone for the nice welcome to the thread.

things have been wild around here since I joined y'all and I haven't done very well at all. I have got to get myself organized. Our AC is out and it won't be fixed for a few days so we aren't using the overn so doing as little cooking as possible. Still no excuse for me to act the way I am. Although the ac isn't working, I can still do better and will work at doing better tomorrow. I do WI on Saturdays and if I want a loss, I'm going to have to get with it.

Texascrapper - Sounds like you live on the coast. I was born and raised in Waco although my deceased hubby and I lived in League City for about 8 years in the 70's. Most of my family still lives in TX. My hubby and I met 2 yrs after our mates passed away. Moved to FL when I married him and then we moved to SC when his Mother passed away. Sure hope you were able to have the doc check out your foot and I pray it will heal quickly.

mahtha - Congratulations on having to buy new pants. That is always fun.

Slashnl - If you are faking until you make it at least you are doing something and I need to join you.:dizzy:

ubergirl - Sorry you've been under lots of stress. Glad things are getting better so you can get back into control. Sounds like you are well on your way.

Geez, I forget to post one day and the place blows up!

Trish, I recognize you from the Intermittent Fasting thread, right? Welcome to the Relosers thread! I stopped checking in with the IF group because I got short on time and had to prioritize my 3FC visits, but it's nice to see you over here. These guys are awesome and know exactly how it feels to go through this process more than once.

Welcome also to droppingit! It's great to see new faces here, so to speak.

Uber, I saw that you'd returned to the board the other day, and I was trying not to be a stalker and nudge you back to this group, but I'm glad to see you here! It's great that your stress has subsided enough to let you focus on your goals again.

I am still hanging in there. This morning I weighed in at 193.8, which is the lowest I've seen in a couple weeks, I think. I'm not calling it a break in my plateau, but it was nice to see that I can get lower than 194 again. Tomorrow I leave on vacation for a little over a week, so I'm sure I will come back to a higher number than that.

I'm okay with it, though, and I have a plan in place for when I get home so I don't fall off the wagon and gain a bunch of weight. A long, food-filled vacation up north is what launched this regain in the first place, so I am not letting it happen again.

I might not have a chance to check in again before I hit the road, so have a great week, everyone! I'll be back late next week and I look forward to reading about all your successes while I'm gone.

Thistoo - Yes, that's me. I don't have time to be on IF a lot either although I do lurk there. Good for you Girl. It's great you have a plan for when you return from your vacation. Wish I had done that. I lost 65+lbs before I went back home to visit 9 years ago, but when I was there everybody was either cooking or taking me out to eat my favorite foods. When I came back home, I didn't have a plan and didn't get back OP to keep losing to my goal. Thus I've been fighting this battle every since. Have a safe and fun trip.

Well, thank God some of that salt gain is back off this morning, but still 1/2 lb above where I was. But still it is good to know it is water. I've got my food plan with calories counted for the day. I've done some of my exercises. I do my own thing with exercising. And water, water, water is on the plan to get this excess water off.

Hope we all have a great day!

Hi everyone :wave: I'm late checking in today!

Welcome back ubergirl!

Rosebud, I'm so jealous of your warm weather, it's been raining so long here I feel like a drowned rat!

Trish, I think you hit the nail on the head - for me the only way to success was have a plan and get myself organized! It's still slow going, but at least I'm moving in the right direction for a change.

Caroline, I hope you have a wonderful vacation. You'll have to report back on all the fun stuff you did/saw while you were there.

I'm still plugging along, though noticing that my calorie totals are starting to eek down a little each day. I've got to make a real effort to keep them at goal since I don't want to waste another 6-7 weeks being stuck because I didn't eat enough.

I'm hoping for another loss this week and onederland by Memorial Day, let's see what my body has to say about those plans...

Caroline ~ have a great trip! The important thing is that you learned from the last time, and have a plan in place for this time. :D


DIANE ~ you know, that is what persistence is all about; just keep going despite any or all obstacles, until you achieve your goals ... and that may just mean eating clean for a few days in a row, or a week, or whatever; or ignoring water-weight gain; or just being patient until the regain is gone again.

SUE ~ that's a big NSV when your pants can fall off without unbuttoning them; :yes: it's time for new ones for sure. Hope your foot heals up quickly for you.


HELPFUL TIPS ~ Yes, planning and preparation are so very important. That means planning for holidays, vacations, and even the times when the unexpected occurs. Planning for when you are busy or tired -- by having some healthy meals ready to throw on in a flash or in the oven (i.e. frozen leftovers; or a casserole; or pasta sauce, etc) is very helpful. Or have some quick "GO TO" meals that can be made in 30 minutes or less; plus have the ingredients on hand to make them. I stock up my pantry and freezer with stuff that can be made quickly (beans, soups, tuna, salmon, tomato sauce, salsa, individual packs of meat, frozen veggies; casseroles, etc).

It is much cooler today; but it didn't ' ' ' ' yet (we won't say those words, right) at least. The guys are more than halfway done the deck; the ramp slowed them down a bit becuz they had never built one before. Tomorrow is finishing the floor & slats ... yahoo, now that I have a deck just off my kitchen door, I can use my BBQ now. :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone ... :flow2: