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.

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.

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.

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.

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!