I just wanted to announce that I am restarting my low fat/ calorie way of living again tomorrow. I was going to today, but I was bad this morning before going to the store... and you guys probably know how that goes... "I already messed up today, so I will just start tomorrow."

I figure if I post that I am restarting I will have someone to answer to!

I have been off plan since Sept 2. Wow... it doesn't seem like it has been that long. My Mom came to see me for one day, and I went off plan for that. Then that weekend we got hit by hurricane Frances. Lost power and all my low fat healthy food. I had to throw it all away. I finally went grocery shopping today, before I was afraid hurricane Ivan would hit us and we would lose our electricity again, and all our food. So we have been eating non perishable foods, and they are just not too healthy at all.

I will weigh in in the morning. Hoping that the number I see isn't too bad. I need to figure out a Halloween goal, too.

That's great! Good Luck!
I hope when you weigh in it's not toooooo much but if it is YOU CAN GET IT OFF AGAIN!
Have a good first day back on plan.

Hi Jenna
Aren't you about sick of these hurricanes? I live in Tampa Bay and I'm trying to stay OP. I'm doing just OK, but I'm not walking or anything to help. SO, I just about stay the same.
Chris

I am so sick of the hurricanes. I am in an older home in a low laying area so I have to evacuate every time. I am so glad Ivan didn't come here. I wish it didn't have to go anywhere... but I am grateful we were spared!

I weighed in today at 215. I gained 2 lbs... I don't think that is bad at all. Hopefully this week I can lose it.

Hi Lindy,

Can I restart with you? I indulged over labor day weekend when we had cookout/picnic type food at work one night. I have been struggling to get back on track ever since. I am ashamed of myself ~ you have a valid reason for getting off track ~ the hurricain messing things up and all ~ I on the other hand have just been making stupid choices.

I am hoping for the best tomorrow ~ to turn things around and get back on track.

I'm starting today also. I have been off for the week and a half. I feel lousy. I don't know why I do this to myself. I feel so much better when I eat right. I refuse to let this weight beat me. So back on plan today.

Lindy,
I am glad to hear you are going back to your plan, losing weight is a pain in the butt but if we don't keep on it, it'll be a bigger pain in the butt (or a pain in the bigger butt). Anyway, I recently started to go off track my diet plan and before I totally lost it, I decided I'm going to restart South Beach Phase 1. I started to be a bit too liberal with my diet plan so I need to get myself back on track. I restarted on Monday and it has helped me feel a lot better about my eating and hopefully the scale will stop the fluctuating its been doing in the past couple weeks.

I was feeling like Howie this morning and I had asked my mom that very question ~ why do I do this to myself. I get off track, eat stuff I shouldn't ~ after I eat it ~ it didn't even really taste that good, and I have "messed up for that"?? After I eat it, I am sorry that I did and it's like ~ what possessed me to do that? Like I can't help myself or something. Each day lately, I resolve to start again, and I can't even make it through the day before I've gone and done it again ~ ate some junk I don't need. The scale is creeping in the wrong direction. Grrrrrrrr!!!!! Heeeeellllllpppppp!!!!

I didn't do very well at all. Well, I was on plan all day. I tried to drink a lot of water, but around 4 I noticed the can of cheese and crackers my husband left out. I don't even know how much It couldn't have been a lot because I ran out of cheese, but I feel really guilty that I at least didn't try to add up what I was eating.

I actually did good for dinner. Normally I would have thought the day was shot anyway and eaten whatever I felt like, but I didn't.

I don't understand why it was so hard for me today. I made it from June 21 to September with no mess ups with food at all. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. It is weird though. When I lost weight in early 2003 I made it to 212 and stopped. I am about there now and losing willpower.

Lindy,

You had a small victory ~ you didn't let the cheese and crackers thing blow the whole day as in the past ~ you did good!! I guess we need to feel good about even small little victories ~ to help us keep going.

I have experienced sort of the same thing as you ~ like I somehow have sort of a mental block. Back in 2000 I made it as far as losing almost 40 lbs. Again, in my recent effort, I have almost made it that far again, and now am struggling.

We have to keep trying and not give up ~ we will somehow all help each other and make it eventually.

Welcome back on track! It's great. I've been on track since the 7th and it's so much fun. Having control feels really good, and after a few days of having it, you want to keep it up. Good luck!!!

Alright, so everyone what the heck is up with September?! Do you think its high stress? I TOO have been off plan since the beginning of the month.. Having good days here and there, but WAY too many bad days(mostly fast food). I went and did a big healthy grocery shop tonight, and swear that I need to be on plan and stick with it. I also need to get back into journalling on Fitday... July I didn't miss 1 day.. and now its like I'm out of control.. But, I know I'm not out of control cuz I'm still here and trying! Now, lets all jump back onboard together... please and thank you!

OK, I'm shooting in the dark here, but one thing I've noticed on these boards is that something seems to happen at around the 30 to 40 lbs lost mark, and people find it harder to stay on track. Me I'm still plodding along, but I must say I feel that it is now less urgent to lose the weight, particularly since I have seen many improvements in my health and energy levels.....I'm still on track, and still losing, but I am probably less focused on losing weight. In some ways, that's great - the eating healthy and exercise just feels more like what I do, as part of my life, in other ways I do think it means my rate of weight loss has slowed a bit.

Another thought - change of season. Don't know about you guys, but there is definitely a chill in the air now, and I am a bit more interested in eating warming, filling autumnal food......now its easy to make that healthy stuff, but it is a change from the fruit/salad/raw veggie days of Summer.....

But please don't beat yourself up, people......its worth trying to figure out why you are finding it so hard, what's triggering the difficult days, but in the end I think its about caring about yourself enough to chose to live healthily......and that don't come by being hard on yourself!

Had to respond to the question of why now. I read some place that people actually gain more weight between now and the start of the holidays. It has to do with getting used to the darker days, and our bodies wanting more food to store for the winter, etc., etc.

I agree with Claire about not being hard on yourself (and I'm not going to be hard on myself for getting bacon/cheddar potato wedges and a milkshake at Jack's yesterday!). Today I'm choosing to be healthy!