[snuggledebug]

Why is it that when you are bound and determined to start a diet something comes up in your life. For me it's stress. I'm a stress eater and have been through alot this week. I am bound and determined to start my diet tomorrow though

[Falon]

One day at a time sweetie! I was a stress eater also, and hey.. I just spent 2 weeks tending to 2 kids with the flu! I didn't cheat once! And.. if that's not enough, I came down with the same stuff (not as bad) and still stayed on program. It can be done.. it's the 'putting the foot down' that's the hardest part. You can do this, and remind yourself how much you are worth it.

[lady_adnerb]

Jessa!! yup, that's how you learn NOT to stress eat though. Well, bad way to start, but helps with the "live and learn" lesson Come join us on the weekly chat thread

[snuggledebug]

I do think that this message board will help me. Today is the day that I do put my foot down regardless of any more stresses that come along.

[lady_adnerb]

WTG on making that decision. We're here to help any way we can!!

[Falon]

Cheers! Join the other threads and you'll really see how helpful this group of lasies are. They really make this journey easier!

[Tennessee]

The heck with stress, now is the PERFECT time to start focusing on you and doing what you need to need to do to take good care of you. YOu can do it Jessica!

[nasus40]

Jessa You are not the only one with that problem. I was down to a wonderful size 12 until I hit the stress pot and well I blossomed in 3 years to a 26 and now am working my way down, I have not lessened my stress but have decided to live dispite it. the biggest key is to be able to have some accountablility for what you eat and how you are doing and this daily accountability is what does it for me. I do not always have to say what I ate or exercised, but having the support here any time of day or night is what does it for me.

Jump on the wagon the first few days are the hardest but ride them through and the see what happens.

[M&Gmom]

IMO the stress level never gets to where we really want it. Just jump on and dig in. We're here to support you and I'm sure you'll do great.

[csoar2004]

Originally Posted by snuggledebug

Why is it that when you are bound and determined to start a diet something comes up in your life.

Because most of us don't WANT to make the permanent lifestyle changes needed in order to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF! So we always find reasons for putting it off. After all - we may not LIKE the ruts we are in - but they are familiar and comfy and we don't wanna work too hard to get out of 'em.

Welcome to Get OUTTA Your Ruts Bootcamp!

How to climb out of fat rut #1 (the "I'm not losing weight fast enough (or, I've already cheated a little), so I might as well eat off plan anyway/MORE!"):
> oh yeah, like that's logical! D'oh! Ok, anytime you hear that little voice in the back of your mind, grab a glass of water (or a handful of <insert fave veggie here>) and say this 5 times "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."

How to torpedo fat rut #2 (the "No diet works for me! I'm just incapable of losing weight"):
> You're special babe, but you ain't THAT special! ANYONE can lose weight (medical issues notwithstanding). It takes determination, attitude, and motivation. Next time you hear THAT little tape playing, go look in the mirror and ask yourself who died and made YOU Queen (or King) of fat? NOBODY! Go for a walk. Take the stairs. Prove yourself wrong!

How to torpedo fat rut #3 (the "It takes too much time to eat right! And besides, I HATE cooking!"):
> No kidding! How do you think you got fat in the first place? By eating the quick fix (fast food nation!), by going for the box dinner, high salt, calorie-laden, poor nutritional food industry frankenfood of the week.
You're WORTH the extra time! You DESERVE to be slim and healthy! Make the kitchen thing fun - play real loud music in there and keep the beat while chopping veggies. Plaster pictures of the skinny clothes you plan on buying all over inside and outside the cupboards. Get RID of any non-plan foods. If you have family members in the house who aren't on the eating plan with you, buy only lifestyle foods for them (what..THEY don't deserve to be healthy?).

How to torpedo fat rut #4 (the "I'm just big boned. All my family are big boned. We NEED more <insert cheat food here>.")
> <snicker, chortle, wheeze, snort> Sorry Told m'self this one for ages. Now it just makes me laugh! The fact that I can palm a basketball doesn't mean eating a 2 pound chocolate sunday is required for this ability. Us big boned types might need more protein, but sugar-laden (high caloric) sweet stuff?? Get real.

How to torpedo fat rut #5 (the "I'm too tired to exercise, cook, shop, etc.")
> Yeah, riiiiiiiiiight. Ever stop to think WHY you're so tired? Let me help you out. A) You're overweight. B) You're stressed out. C) You think you need 36 hour days. D) You take care of everyone else BEFORE yourself. Wot's WRONG with this picture??

How to torpedo fat rut #6 (the "Poor lil deprived me! I DESERVE <insert cheat food here> and cannot be expected to give it up forever!")
> Get yourself back to your book and review the lifestyle version of your plan. For most plans, many old favorite foods return in healthier forms. Think of the early stages of your diet plan as DEFERRING your fave food. And babe, if the food you're missing is truly now forever forbidden think of it this way. THAT fave food of yours helped make you fat. Do you REALLY think you need more of it?? Reality check, puhleeze!

Musings on stress...
No one gets out of life alive. We're ALL on a limited timeline here. WHY would you devote a precious finite commodity (YOUR time) to 50-60 or 80 hour work weeks??? I mean...really. You can't take money with you. Name ONE person who - on their deathbed said, "I shouldda spent MORE time at the office!"
...So why are you stealing time from yourself and your family and giving it away at work??

Pamper yourself. Be kind to yourself. You DESERVE it! When you are well and happy, your FAMILY is well and happy (if they know what's good for them heh heh). Take an aromatherapy bath. Get a pedicure. Rent a comedy and laugh out loud (it not only releases endorphins, but laughing burns calories!).

Last of all, give yourself permission to be human (aka: NOT perfect). Dust yourself off, look yourself in the mirror and make this promise: I'm going to lose this weight because I DESERVE it! Take each day one at a time and promise yourself you'll stick to your plan.

One morning you're going to wake up and find yourself a weightloss SUCCESS!! I did.

For me it's stress. I'm a stress eater and have been through alot this week. I am bound and determined to start my diet tomorrow though

There's a wonderful book on emotional eating called Life is Hard, Food is Easy, by Linda Spangle. I highly recommend it.

[daydreamer06]

Hey there! I'm actually new here too...I'm also a stress eater. This is actually my first offical day of Atkins, and believe it or not, I've had a very stressful week as well and almost told myself "yeah, I'll just start tomorrow" but my pushing myself, I feel a sence of control and contentness. We all have our mess up days though, god knows, so don't let that discourge you or hold you back. I know you'll do great tomorrow =) Good luck!