Hello. I hope you don't mind if I just introduce myself here and join in. :^: I'm 53 and starting over, having lost 100 lbs here on 3fc many years ago and, sadly, gaining most of it back. I'm sure no one here remembers me.

Obstacles:

1. I REALLY LOVE FOOD. I love cooking and I love eating. Especially baked goods. Boy do I love baked goods. I've always wanted to make croissants...never quite got to that one. But I adore them. Regular ones with savory, or glazed. OMG glazed croissants! You know how they say, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels?" Bull. Glazed croissants taste that good.

2. I am a very sedentary person. Not only is my job exceptionally sedentary - literally if I didn't need coffee or a bathroom, I'd almost never have a reason to leave my chair - but I don't actually enjoy exercise. I admit to liking how I feel AFTER I exercise, but the act itself is generally not enjoyable to me. So I have to force myself to do it.

3. Do I really need a 3rd? The first two are pretty good roadblocks. lol But when I'm stressed, I tend to "shut down" and want to do nothing at all. For the last several years, I've been very stressed. :dizzy:

I cannot shop or cook for myself anymore because I cannot stand on my own for more then a couple minutes so I need to rely on others to do those things for me.

Carbs are too addictive and easy to overeat.

I don't drink enough water

Sorry for your health difficulties Jamie.

What seems to be my stumbling block is when I have a headache. When I do, I don't have the patience to fix food. So, when I am hungry, I just want to grab something quick, which usually is something that is not the best choice.

1. I also have a very sedentary job but been trying to get up every hour

2. I love sweets -- I so miss those candy bars and cakes

3. Bread - that is all I have to say. I love breads especially those delicious rolls from O'Charley's.

1. Don't drink enough water. I actually have never been much of a drinker of anything but coffee, can't remember ever even feeling thirsty.
2. Hate to cook, totally hate to, I do it, but I hate to.
3. The junk food, like chips, crackers and peanut butter, cookies, etc are easy for a cook lazy person to eat. Haven't had any of that stuff in 4 months now so I gues I can continue, but darn I hate to cook.

my daily enemy
 

1.Wine
2. Wine
3. Wine

1. I hate to feel hungry
2. If food tastes really good, I have to have more than one serving.
3. I agree with Beanisdead, Wine.

Biggest obstacles for me are mood swings as I have ptsd and bipolar disorder not to mention good old menopause. I also have some physical limits due to back pain and some nerve damage and I am on a limited income. Soooo, I would say mood, pain and money are my obstacles.

I have three big ones. 1) I stress eat. Bottom line. I get stressed, and I start eating junk during my long commute home. Step: I'm banning eating in my car unless it's a long family trip. 2) My husband is a foodie and he equates cooking comfort food with love. When I am going through stressful times, he cooks the wrong type of food that tempts me too dang much. Step: My daughters and I plan to highjack the meal planning for the week and give him certain days to get creative with. 3) I work really long days and have a lot of work I take home, and that can make it really hard to get exercising in. Step: Going to try REALLY hard to get home earlier, and I plan to work out with my daughter.

can't maintain loss due to too much positive self-talk.

3 obstacles
 

1. Me
2. Me
3. Me
It's all in my head. I know this. I need strategies for:
1. Identifying the emotions that cause me to eat unnecessarily.
2. Finding alternatives to eating when I have identified the emotions.
3. Being a grown-up and not a child when it comes to food decisions.

3 biggest obstacles
 

The three biggest obstacles to me sticking to my goals:

1) Me - it is hard for me to find a vegetable I like.
2) Myself - I am a bit lazy after a day of work and it is much easier to go get take-out than cook.
3) & I - live alone and do not have work-out partners so everything is totally self-motivated.

I need to realize that not all things are pleasurable and maybe I can change my tastebuds. I need to plan better on weekends so making food is not so challenging during the week. I need to find a way to make myself care enough to stick to exercise goals. Easier said than done for me.. Sigh..

Stress eating. When something happens that stresses me out I want to run to food.
Convenience. Easier to make a sandwich than a salad
Bread. Bread wonderful bread
Visual and social eating.

So I have stuck with my goals of only 3 meals a day planned out in advance and no sugar no flour now since July 24.
Have had a major stressful occasion and got through it
Eliminated trigger foods from my house and I telecommute so that helps in that regard.
I was at two events and avoided the foods and, it was hard but I kept telling myself that it was only for 2 hours only for 2 hours and it felt good but draining to walk away.

Eureka! Now I see what's going on with me. Ben & Jerry's = feel good. A carrot stick, a celery stick = stop the craving, but no food rush/sugar high.

-Hormonal cravings and lackadaisical which with one slow metabolism this is horrendous.

-My support system isn't too interested in being supportive

-I'm more interested in reading which tends to undermine my physical pursuits.

-I have an addictionfor comfort eating and mixing it with my family time as we share that tendency.
-Then there's my social anxiety. Worry what others think or if I say wrong things. I'm no good socially. It can lead me to binge too!