[lovesjm]

I feel discouraged today, and it always helps me to let what I am feeling out. This place feels the safest to me, so here goes:

For first 6-8 weeks of this journey went really wll for me. i learned a lot about my body, what I nee dand what I dont need, and how to fuel it will good, low-calorie food. And I did well! The weight flew off.

Now, I feel stuck. The scale is moving..... slooooooowly. From what I can tell, I am averaging half a pound a week. (I have an analog scale that is a bit hard to read)

Then yesterday there were a couple of things that I knew might out me over for the day (I try to stay at about 1500 calories) And I went overboard. I know it could have been a lot worse, but my calories for the day ended up being around 2150. And they arent "good" calories either. Rationally, I know it is not the end of the world, and I was thinking about trying to eat a few more calories a day to see if that would move the scale more anyways, but I have felt myself slipping all day today. I was invited out for lunch, and I made a great choice, but then someone just came around with a cookie for me, and I ate it. And I know that 2 weeks ago I would have passed. I guess I just can feel myself making little concessions, and I dont want to waste all the hard work I have put in so far.

Does anyone else ever feel like they are hanging on my a tiny little thread sometimes? How do you help yourself?

I think I am going to try and go for a run tonight. I am trying to teach myself to deal with stress by excercising instead of eating. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for listening. I feel much better already!

[WormwoodDoll]

At your weight (around 170), weight loss is usually slow depending on your body. You may need more or less calories, more or less exercise. It's really about trial & error - finding what is exactly right for you.

Three weeks ago I lost 2.5lbs
Two weeks ago I lost 4lbs.
Last week I lost 1.1lbs
And so far this week I haven't lost anything!

Our bodies can be very weird things.

[sprklemajik]

You've done a great job so far. And just remember that one bad day of choices is not the end of the world. Just keep going in the right direction. You've got to remember that life is going to happen and sometimes you aren't going to be on plan, but if you're on most of the time you're still going to be moving in the right direction. Don't give up, most of us struggle at some point.

[aneleh]

I've found the best thing for me to do when I find my motivation waning is to just take a break and maintain for however long it takes to get it back. Don't let yourself go back up, however! lol Another thing is thinking about where you'll be 6 months from now if you continue or stop altogether.

[gaarmywife2007]

I am feeling the exact same thing right now! I have made a few concessions over the past few days. Thursday is my husband's night to cook, and he makes the BEST fajitas. I was totally prepared to pass over the tortillas before he finished cooking, but I wound up eating not one, but two! Then he made brownies, and the first night I said no thanks and ate angel food cake with whipped cream and fresh fruit. But then, I had an eight-hundred calorie burn day at the gym and rewarded myself with a two-inch square of brownie. I ended up doing that for three nights in a row. The only thing that has saved me is livestrong.com. They have a thing called my plate, where you log in all the food you eat and it records the calories complete with a breakdown of the daily suggested percentages of each. Then it lets you record the exercise you have done for the day. It's REALLY specific. It subtracts the calories you've burned from the calories you've eaten and tells you if you're on target to lose the amount of weight you told it you want to lose. It's awesome!!! It showed me that my "bad" days weren't really all that bad, and gave me the motivation I needed to get my diet back on track. I push myself to come in under goal everyday. I want to see those small numbers!!

Good luck!

[onestar]

i feel the same too. i am really stressed out with my 19 month old. she likes to push me and i don't know how to deal with my frustration. i just want to eat everyhing in the house and i have absolutely no motivation to exercize. i have to find a way to get past this before i start gaining.

[Inspired]

Wow I totally know how you guys feel about falling off the wagon and not being able to keep on it. I get discouraged easily and although I hate the way I look sometimes it over powers the weightloss. I lost 20lbs before on LAWL but fell off the wagon when I moved out on my own. I am slowly getting back into it but its hard when you don't have the home support and things that are tempting you all the time!

Good luck ladies it is hard but remember its worth it!!!

[calisa86]

Hey love. I went through exactly the same thing. You hit a rough patch, start eating over your alloted cals, and aren't seeing the results you want to see. For me, the answer was to back off for a couple of days. I took it easy, ate sensibly, stopped writing down all the foods I ate and the exercise I was doing. I just tried to have a normal life for a while. Never stopped exercising though. If I didn't have the desire to hit the gym I just walked the dog, walked the block, rode bike, something, which also helps to distract you from your depression or whatever it is you're dealing with.

when things get tough just take them a moment at a time. literally stop yourself where you are and say "i am sad/angry/upset/depressed right now" then say "now i'm over it" and move on. thats what i do. it takes a lot of time to master, but once you acknowledge that you're feeling a certain way, a way you don't want to feel anymore, you really feel like an idiot if you continue to let yourself feel like that. its like you're wallowing, and no one wants to be a wallower.

when you're going through a rough patch don't stop...just keep moving!

[harrismm]

Onestar-hang in there.Toddlers turn into lovely people.She sounds like a spirited thing, which makes for a wonderful child.Trust me, it gets better.....much better!!!

[blissclaire]

I find that the best thing that I can do when I fall off the wagon is to pick myself back up, and then redeem myself the next day by staying on point and making sure to exercise a bit more. (An extra circuit of my weights or an extra ten minutes on the elliptical) It's not the end of the world!! Just try to learn from what happened. Whether you weren't full enough and snacked the wrong foods, or whatnot.

[shrinkingleah]

You'll be all right. You've just got to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and decide that tomorrow is a totally fresh start. Not only is it a new day, it's a new month! Try doing measurments instead of weighing yourself. You may be suprised at the difference in the inches that doesn't show on the scale. You're doing very well, you'll be fine even if you decide to take a break and maintain, April is a good opportunity to start anew!