Regainers, here's a place to stick together while we get it off...again! We can do this!

Not a regainer anymore, I've since gotten that little bit off and more, but I'm wishing you luck, everyone!

I wanted to post this here because y'all have been through my same experience - losing a lot, then gaining. I gained it all back and more, and now have about 120 (or more) to lose.

I lost it all in 2007-2008. Felt great. Looked great. Was super comfortable in my skin.

Gained it all back over a period of two years, and started law school somewhere in there.

I was not content to be this weight (or about 20 pounds thinner, actually - the 20 pounds were in the last year). So, I worked at getting it off again, using the strategies I had used when I was successful, and then would get distracted with a truly crazy schedule. I have 100 excuses, and 100 failures to match up to those excuses.

So, here's the problem.

I have a 2.5 mile path that I love to walk/run near my house. And it's the only path near my house, as I live slightly in the country. I keep getting flashbacks of the last six or seven times in the last few years I successfully lost 10 to 25 pounds, and then stopped and regained. I KNOW the problem was not the food I chose or the exercise paths I took. I have done my best to identify the problems and adjust for them, but every healthy choice I make seems to remind me of the "failures."

Can anyone relate? Anything you've done to get over the mental block? It's not stopping me (yet) from doing what I know intellectually is a good choice designed to support my efforts, but it's getting a little mentally exhausting to continually combat this particular brand of craziness.

Laurie, Those 'negative voices' in our head will get us every time. I read a book called Shrink Yourself which talked about the negative voices in our head and what to do about them. The suggestion was to give the voice a name, realize that this negative voice doesn't have you best interests at heart, and it want to keep you where you are. So when you 'hear' the negative voice reminding you of your failures you can realize that you are on the right path and its trying to 'scare' you off of it, back to the place of failure that you aren't happy with. Basically, its lying to you. Make a list of all the things you are doing right and go over it whenever you hear the negative voices.

Hoped that make some sense. & I would love to have some paths to walk on in our area.

Taryl, thanks for the shout-out!

I am in this to currently. I managed to get down to 130lbs, somehow I let old habits return. In the last 3-4 months I have basically eaten myself into oblivion and gained back 20lbs. I am now sitting at 150lbs.

I feel like a failure. I was doing so incredibly well and enjoying working out and then BOOM! However I am back on track now and am thankful it was only 20lbs now the entire 50lbs.

So here we go.... again.

Just checking in, been a bit MIA the past week. I'm down 3.5 this week..so close to the 260s!

I'm here folks. I has lost 40 pounds a couple of years ago. Got down to 230. Was looking much better and felt healthier. Then I let my motivation go right out the window. Gained back all 40 plus an extra 10. Now my head's back in the game and I am working to lose those 40 pounds plus the rest of my excess weight. I know I can do it!!!!

Good morning everyone!

Welcome back Penguin, it's nice to see you! Thanks for starting the new thread to keep us all on track.

ALEKS, Congrats on the loss!

HealthyMeWannabe, LaurieDawn, Isis21, Welcome!

Arctic Mama, Thanks for your support.

I had a crazy weekend and ended up well below calories both Saturday and Sunday because life just got in the way. Saturday I helped a friend cater a wedding and a couple of hours turned into 8 and then I needed to be somewhere else so it was 8 pm before I actually ate anything aside from a few bites of fruit and a slice of cheese. Sunday was a graduation cookout and I saved for some splurges but ended up spending less than I thought. Back OP today with carefully planned choices so I can pass the -30 mark by the end of the week.

I hope everyone has a great day!

I think for all of us the solution is to realize that this is NOW, not back then. Just because we have done X, does not mean we will continue to be doomed to failure. Our strength is in this moment or second. We all need to focus on our inner strength and other assets. Sure, we may have fallen off the horse, but it up to us to choose to get back on and canter to the finish line. I hope to be screaming Wooo Hoo with everyone else.

For me, learning moderation is key. This past weekend is the first two days in six weeks that I allowed myself to eat more high caloric food than usual. Right now, I am back on plan. I have to have splurges every once in awhile, otherwise I will not be able to go the distance.

I think what distinguishes the winners of this weight loss game is to decide once and for all that you are worth the hard work, because you deserve to live a full life and not one wearing a fat suit.

I had some trouble getting on 3FC this morning. Hubby and I are going to go see the Avengers movie this afternoon.

Penguin, I really LOVE the idea of naming this voice inside my head and externalizing it. I would never say these things to someone else, and I would never be okay with someone saying them to me. Great tip. Thanks so much.

Better Health - I absolutely agree with everything you've said. I love the NOW of this. My kids wanted to go to the park and play kickball after our Father's Day dinner last night. When I'm not working out and eating on plan (especially the eating, for some reason), I have a hard time doing even this slightly active activity. Last night, I was so into it! I will work on embracing the "now."

Did P90X this morning - with significant modification. I HATE having to do the significant modification, but let's face it - none of those people were doing regular push-ups with a 265-pound body! And my arms were burning, and now they're still spaghetti-ish, so I know I got in a good work-out. The lower my body weight goes and the stronger I get, the fewer modifications I'll need, but I won't get where I want to be if I don't start the journey. (The "now," right?) So, day 2 of C25K tonight, and tomorrow - day 2 of P90X. And more days of having more energy to keep my house cleaner and play with kids in addition to the job and the bar study. This is good!

I'm back, again. Lost 100 lbs in 2010 then gained 60 back. Feel like a huge failure and have tried several times to get back on track only to let life get in the way again and fall back on bingeing habits.

I started Chalean Extreme today. I finished the program before and got great results so I am excited to get back to it. Spinning class tonight. Have to go update my ticker and FOCUS. I need to do this!

I love the idea of externalizing the voice. I'm going to call her "fat Patty" and I've had about enough of Fat Patty and her bad mouth! lol

back to our 3rd REGAINERS RELOSING thread ladies ~ boy, do I know how you all feel; as I explained, I am a former yo-yoer who successfully dieted many times (did most of the most common diets over the years). However, none of them addressed how to not regain the weight ... arrgh!!!

I didn't regain it overnight; it took some years of repeat dieting. After doing this I don't know how many times, I became a bit jaded and just stopped. I decided I wasn't going through all that again until I learned how to do it right (I mean permanently this time).

So, the big lesson learned is to continue using the same plan, the same methods, and the same strategies that I used to lose this weight. A successful maintainer here called BARGOO explained it this way so succinctly in the Maintainer's forum.

Plus, more importantly -- I have learned how to deal with my emotional and stress eating this time around. Today I had stress big-time, but I didn't turn to food -- I came in here instead and I did some singing while I was at it; and it worked.

I'm getting better at this. Yes, it does take practice, but as time goes on, you do get better at it. This time, I KNOW that I cannot go back to overeating unhealthy amounts of food; this time, I'm more aware. This time, I know that I must keep track of what and how much I'm eating -- all the time.

Good luck ladies; you can do it! Have a wonderful OP week ...

Avengers was good but it was 3D which drives me nuts. At least I didn't leave the theater with a headache like the last 3D movie I watched.

Laurie, glad I could help. In the book the inner voice is Harriet, but I think of mine as the Golem from the Lord of the Rings and getting me to eat is his Precious.

So today I've done 7 loads of laundry {one more to go}, knitted 3 hats {almost done with third} and walked 3 miles with Leslie from her 5DWP DVD; Red, Yellow and Purple. I think purple is my favorite mile due to the music.