So, took two days off for my birthday..... Two days has now become a solid week due to the fact I had so much birthday cake left over. I can't say no to birthday cake..... It's like saying no to free money even though there are usually horrible nasty strings tied to free money. In this case, no weight gain, but no weight loss either.

Anywho, the evil mean cake is gone, mostly eaten by my dad and hubby (seriously, I had like two pieces of my own frikkin cake LOL ). Have I been a good girl and gotten back on the train, found my window seat, or my bar stool, and got things moving again?

Oh jeez.

No, I have not. I think I'm out of coal. Or electricity. Or gas.... I'll stop there.

This week has seen every single day start with super good intentions, some days even making it to dinner, before some stupid inner part of me just snaps and goes, "OMG, you just have to eat those french fries, or that egg roll, or all that rice!!!" Thankfully my inner saboteur isn't pushing me for sweets yet save for the nightly bowl of cereal, which isn't good at all when you've just consumed a T-bone with french fries or a nice take out from the Chinese place.



Why o why do we do this????? I go to the kitchen, I look at the fridge and see the broccoli that sings songs of thinness to me, the broccoli that I love so much, and then right next to it, some jacka** in the house has put a tub of chicken salad that goes, broccoli is for p******. And like a whupped puppy, I turn a pout to it and go, "you're right. You taste so much better."

Sigh.

The fact I haven't gained anything is the only reason I haven't turned into a depressed sad little panda upset with her poor choices in life who is contemplating a massive screw it all break down. The fact I haven't lost just makes me want to order the pizza instead of the salad for lunch because seriously, why not????

I'm trying every trick in the book today to make my will power pick back up, but finding little success. Not even baby shopping is working..... It's very close to nature's visitor too, so that's not helping the food choices and it's definitely not helping my mood.

The upside for today is the fact the hubby is working and I am on my own for lunch and I have so much to do that I'll be too busy to do more than grab a salad or a sub. Or a pizza.......

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

What do you guys do when you find your motivation has decided to go on extended leave???

I have a hard time getting back on track when I feel guilt/self-hatred/disappointment/negative emotions are what I'm directing at myself. When you have a critical inner voice, slip-ups are just confirmation of what the inner judge has decided - that there's something wrong with yourself. And subconsciously, we want to prove our beliefs to be true... so there again come the slip-ups.

Maybe it wasn't a deliberate decision beforehand, but can you celebrate yourself for this period of trying out maintenance? You've indulged in foods, dealt with real life obstacles (birthdays, etc), and maintained. That's a reason to feel good. It should build your confidence, not tear it down.

"Motivation" never really worked for me - it's just not very strong for sustaining willpower. Slowly trying to build self-kindness, though, and trying not to judge myself for "slip-ups," makes me more likely to just choose good foods because I want them, not because I'm forcing myself.

The ability to get back on plan after time off plan really is the key to losing weight.

What do you want more - to lose weight or a pizza today? Eating a pizza might feel good as you're eating it, but I guarantee you you'll be more depressed than right now after you eat it.

Make the decision to stick with it, to be healthy.

If you already ate more than you planned for lunch, it's ok. Just get right back on plan for dinner and the next day.

"I've already eaten this, so why don't I just eat this too" is probably the one of the biggest challenges we have to overcome.

Amen, sister. I have this thought allll the time. This is a hard thing to get over, it's so hard.
I've tried a million things to get out of this mindset, and one of the things that I have had success with to get back on track is gradually weaning myself onto healthier choices. After going off track for a long time (and there is nothing wrong with going off plan from time to time), I just can't choose the salad over the pizza. So, as I intend to form better habits in the long-run, I make a healthier choice, which may not necessarily be the healthiest choice. In your case I might make my own pizza instead of ordering in which would reduce some calories although it still isn't as good as a salad. The next time I might persuade myself into a toasted cheese sandwich with crisps and salad. The next time I might convince myself into having more salad and dropping the crisps, or eating rice or something instead. And so on, and so on... Always making a healthier choice, even if it isn't the healthiest one. Little by little.

Just keep on keeping on. You can gain inspiration from the Little Engine that Could

I had to keep the junk from coming back into the house. I have been the same weight since the end of November. I was tried of seeing 279-283 over and over. I actually gained 7 in December and lost it in January, but after that I couldn't figure out why I couldn't say no to things like that potato salad. I found it was sugar that crept in (in the form of those new 10 calorie sodas). Now that they're gone I have my will power back. It's such a relief and I hope you can find out what's doing it for you! Mix it up. You can do this! Hugs to you.

Sometimes I just want to eat A LOT. So I fry up some bacon, crumble it into a giant bowl of spinach, add a chicken breast cut up, add some bleu cheese crumbles, mushrooms, and 1-2 servings of bleu cheese dressing.

It makes a RIDICULOUS amount of delicious food and costs about the same calories as a Big Mac or Whopper (depending on how much dressing I use).

Other times I will say to myself "make a better choice."

So lets say I'm out of calories for the day. I want to order a pizza. Instead I say "make a better choice." so I drink some water and make a turkey rollup with hummus and lettuce. Yeah I'm still going over my calories, but it's so much better than eating even one slice of pizza, let alone a whole pizza!

I wrote mine before I read EskaDee's reply - great minds think alike!

I've had trouble lately, too. I've been the same weight since the first of the year... up a couple of pounds, then down the same pounds. I read something recently: "The battle is won in the grocery store. If you don't purchase it, you can't eat it." I actually heard those words in my head tonight as I was holding a box of graham crackers in the cookie aisle. And, I put the box back! Those words rang true to me. I know my weaknesses, and I just have to leverage my strengths when I can... particularly in the grocery store. Maybe that little phrase will help you, too. Hang in there!

I know what you mean. That's been my last few weeks! I almost made this thread myself! Either way, how I've been getting myself back on plan usually includes a stricter but healthy diet for a week and then go back to what I had been doing. Example: I did a week of nutrisystem (was given the dinners from my mom) and went back to WW. This week, I'm switching to simple diet and will go back WW. I feel so much better on plan because the scale is going back down even faster and my tummy isn't angry at me.

I have a picture saved to my phone that says, "It doesn't matter how fast you go as long as you keep going."

I got the salad for lunch. Yay me!

I ate spaghetti for dinner.

If I factor in all my bad judgments this week in my WW's points, I haven't really gone over points but one day. I guess that could explain why I haven't gained. It's not the low carb plan WW combo I was on, but I still didn't go back to eating too terribly bad despite some pretty poor choices.

I'm not quitting, I've just got to stop putting myself in temptations path until this funk I'm in goes away. Planting a garden tomorrow, so hoping all those veggies growing will spurn me toward being good! Really wish instant grow was available in real life too hehe.

Thank you all for your advice. After posting here, I convinced myself the salad tasted better than the pizza. Which coincidentally proved to be true..... My friend's pizza was over cooked. Now I've just got to quit being lazy and go back to cooking dinner myself! This whole letting other people do it all week is the bulk of my problem.

I have a number of tools in my toolbox for getting my motivation back.

I have a set of "health scripts" that I read and re-read. They are motivating phrases, things I've pulled from other people's threads that encourage me or inspire me, or things that I've written when I was at the "high" points so that they can remind me why I'm doing this when I'm at a "low" point.

I have a couple of books I turn to over and over. They aren't so much diet plans as they are books that help me deal with behavior change. The Thin Commandments, the Four Day Win, and Beck Diet Solution. They give me short, easy steps to get back on track, no matter what my plan is.

I read and post here and on a couple other boards, and I make myself keep recording what I've been eating. This keeps me accountable, and I can see where I've fallen... and that it's not that big a deal.

I always say.. eat that birthday cake or chicken salad in front of the mirror.. NAKED!!!!!!!

TRUST ME that will bring back motivation / depress the sh*t out of you !!

Something I have thought about doing is lower my calories on MFP, so when I go over I am really on track. Lol I don't know if that would work or if I would know I am just trying to trick myself.

I struggle with this myself but I always tell myself that so long as I am not going over maintenance calories that I am doing okay.

FickleHearts- Getting on here was such a good move! At least you aren;t completely ignoring your desire to get back on the weightloss train. If you were you wouldn't have started this thread.

I am just (fighting to) gettting back to day one on being on plan after three pretty awful off plan days. And my scale did show damage :/. So far todays has really been a struggle and I am yet tp get my butt to the gym as I promised myself I would.

I'm trying to remember how good it feels to be on plan. To see the scale get a bit lower and a bit lower. To feel less bloated and to feel like my cloths are getting a bit more comfortable. Reminding myself of those feelings is helping me to not give into the "one more bad day isn't going to really make a difference" feelings.

Thanks for this thread. It is helping me. I hope it helps you.

For me, the scale RULES! I bust my *** eating very little and excercising 15 hours a week JUST to see the scale go down.

The scale is my motivation. I know it may not be the best, but it works for me.

PS - Don't weigh every day if the scale is not for you, it just sets you up for dissapointment because we can fluctuate 3+ pounds a day.