[merose]

I've just had possibly the most rubbish weekend of all time. In the past I probably would have packed the whole weight-loss thing in and given up because of it, but I'm trying to climb back on the wagon before I'm actually all the way off.

But I'm finding it really hard to do all the things that were so easy last week - healthy breakfast, no snacking etc. It should be really easy - I'm at my lowest weight for about four years and you'd think that would be motivation enough!

I just want to know how you guys pick yourselves up and dust off when you've had a lapse. Do you turn to others for support, or go back and read old posts or blogs to remind yourself how far you've come? Do you drag yourself to the treadmill or empty out your kitchen cabinets?

At the moment for me just writing this down is helping, but I'd love to hear how you do it...

[seagirl]

I would sit and make a plan for the week.
Plan my meals and make sure the kitchen was stocked with the food I need (and make sure it's clean, since when it gets messy I tend to eat less healthy)
Plan my exercise and make sure I had what I needed - videos, gym clothes, bike tires pumped up, whatever.

I would also journal a bit about why I'm committed to this journey, what scary things might be coming up as I lose weight.

I personally would not sit and read at the computer. I find that to be more "escapism" when I'm feeling uncertain. I would take action - exercise, cook, etc.

[Fat Pants]

I'm coming off one of those weekends right now - I know how you feel!

The first thing I do is think back and figure out why I over ate, or didn't make the right choices. Did I let myself get incredibly hungry? Did I fail to plan? Or in my case this weekend, why did I give into my TOM cravings and eat half the pantry?

Then, I just get back on track. It's not a matter of if, or when - in fact, there's no question. I pack a healthy breakfast and lunch the night before. I will exercise like I always do. If there's something in the house that's tempting me, I'll get rid of it. I read all the supportive threads on 3FC and then journal about my weekend. Then I look at my weight loss graph that I keep and realize just how far I've come..and I don't want to reverse all that hard work!

[Madison]

I just had one of those myself . . . "luckily" I spent all day today in a food coma and had to drink my body weight in water as I was ridiculously dehydrated.

I made a plan last night for the next two weeks and also did some pre-cooking, woke up this morn and made sure I had breakfast and grabbed my lunch and snackies and just made sure I was hydrated and eating regularly so as not to set me off tonight . . . . the deprive myself of food after indulging never works bcos then I just continue in this pattern of not eating all day (or very little) and coming home and being ravenous and deprived. So today it was business as usual.

I am feeling no bloat and my head is also much clearer than this morn. Tomorrow I will tackle a return to the gym.

I also try and remember that a u-turn is better than no turn . . . its never too late to steer yourself back on course

[Jelbb]

Wow. Sea Girl, Fat Pants and Danni stole my thunder. They gave fantastic advice, all of which I would echo whole-heartedly!
My major thing to get back on track is plan, plan, plan. KNOW what you're going to have for breakfast tomorrow, because then there's no option of getting something junky instead. If your stomach growls well before lunch, it's no biggie, because you KNOW that your allotted morning snack is _____, and you can eat that now. Planning totally saves me from all the bad last-minute choices I would make all day long if I hadn't thought things through!

And knowing you're at your lowest weight in 4 years CAN be a motivating factor... but sometimes I let it be an excuse to go off-plan a bit. Don't you let it. Decide that you're gonna be at your lowest weight in FIVE years... and work diligently towards that. You can do it, honey.