How did you guys turn it around?
 

Just a little about me: I've gotten to goal once, only to totally mess it up shortly therafter with emotional/binge eating. This spring I began to get back on track and lost between 15-20 pounds. Then I moved, which is in no way a real excuse, but I let it become one to me. The longer I ate poorly, the easier it became to excuse "one more day" of poor eating behavior. I know what I should do. I just am having a lot of trouble translating that into what I will do. What did you guys do to turn bad eating habits around?

gosh, I have the exact smae problem as you! It's just so easy to say "well no harm in another donut/cookie/brownie now.... i'll just have one more" i'd be happy to see an answer to this :) someone out there must know how to break the cycle!

I think that something that turned it around was to take a picture -- a current picture of what you look like from all angles. I know that is what initially turned it around for me - I still stuggle but I think about that picture.

I used to wait around for that "I'm all fired up to lose weight!" feeling. But it doesn't happen anymore, and I've realized that if I want to make a change in my life, I have to make a conscious effort. I mean, we can all do it, right? The only thing that's stopping us is ourselves. That means getting over that feeling that we're "out of control". We're NOT out of control. We're in the driver's seat, and we can do whatever we choose to do.

You can do this HappyDaisy. :yes: Congratulations on your first four pounds. KNOW that you can drop another two this coming week if you REALLY want to. Big hugs... :hug:

Hi Happydaisy,

I have suffered with the "all or nothing" mentality. If I ate one bite of "bad" food I'd feel like I'd blown my diet totally. So, why not continue?!??!

I've had to learn that perfectionism is NOT an option for taking care of my body---that just sets me up for failure. I will never perfectly follow any diet or exercise plan. However, I will FORGIVE myself for being human--we ALL mess up sometimes! That has been a very difficult thing for me to realize and I'm still working on it!

I no longer consider a new day as a new beginning. I consider it by the hour. So, if I mess up and eat something I shouldn't at 3:45pm, I am able to "start over" at 4pm. Why wait for another day? Whoever came up with that?!??!

So, start NOW, don't wait. If you fall, immediately get back up! You CAN do this!!!!!

ellis- i used to wait for that fired up feeling too but it never comes, that is the only struggle i stil have--food choices but luckily little guilt

Thanks telemetry nurse, that was a really, really helpful point. I like the turning it around by the hour idea. Because really often that's my problem. I'll eat a decent breakfast and often a decent lunch but at 2:00 when I start getting tired and I start eating poorly and then I think "why not what I want for dinner, dessert, snack etc." The hour by hour thing could really be helpful. I also love that you said you know you won't be perfect and still go on, because that's my biggest issue. If I'm not perfect, I give up. Which is the stupidest thing, I know, but I do it anyway. Thanks! :)

Thanks ellis! I'm glad you mentioned that as well. The only time I've truly had that fired up feeling was the first time I dropped all the weight. Since then I feel like I'm almost waiting for that feeling to be successful again. Your post has me considering all the ways I can be successful without feeling that way. Thanks! :)

Ok....I think ellis and Elizabeth ( :wave: ) already gave great answer, but I wanted to answer as well...

What helped me a lot was to "Just do it". I waited for motivation, help, the right eating plan, the perfect diet for years. I always waited for things which would happen so that I would and could lose weight. A huge help for me was to start- and start over again after a slip. No matter what the clock and the calendar says :rolleyes:

And I know that I get huge problems when I think of myself as "being on a diet". I get better "reults" with reminding myself that I am doing a lifestyle change, someting that should last for a lifetime.

Ok, maybe I will be able to explain better what I wanted to say after another cup of coffee...

Kate