Okay, ladies...I need some encouragement. :( I went to eat dinner with a friend tonight and she chose a mexican restaurant. I haven't had mexican food in so long. I went crazy. I feel so bad about it. I'm telling myself that being stuffed occasionally is a good reminder of why I'm trying to change my eating habits...I hate this feeling.

What do you tell yourself when you mess up?

Totally me! Gah! If I don't eat it, I do so well; there are no cravings. But, when it starts creeping back in, the cravings spiral. And work is the worst. I'm under so much stress. And the kitchen with its candy box and holiday treats and on and on is right outside my office. I absolutely have to have more healthy snacks around me.

Awww, never mind PC. One day of good eating and you'll be right back on track. Promise yourself to stick to plan tomorrow - no deviations! It doesn't take long to feel good about yourself again.

I have a different approach to this and try not to do snacks. If i'm hungry i'm eating something i'm going to call a meal, and if i'm not hungry i'm not eating! This works well when you don't have to fit in well with someone else's eating schedule, but i suppose it doesn't really work if you have to eat a meal at a certain time. Luckily i don't really have a sweet tooth either!

I eat fruit as my snack, and Greek yogurt. It keeps me going and enables me to get my fruits in for the day. I eat veggies during meals much more than I do fruit.

I typically don't eat breakfast, so fruit and Greek yogurt between lunch and dinner are my breakfast.

I also have to get a lot of calories in during the day, and because I'm not really one for breakfast, sometimes I must supplement with more snacks. I will often eat a very big lunch and dinner instead, though.

i normally have fruit salad on my cereal at breakfast, and an orange as course 2 of lunch, so i get fruit that way - but if i have to fit in with the 3 meals a day norm then i also snack on fruit in between to make it work - much prefer to ditch convention and just eat something larger if i'm properly hungry though, whatever time it is!

Today was especially hard. I'm not sure why. I was trying to analyze why I really wanted to start eating extra. Man, I did everything I could to distract myself. I ended up taking a broadway jazz class, thank God. Then when I came home, it hit me again. So I went out.

You're all so right! I didn't start craving extra items until the holidays hit. I only went overboard a couple of days, yet that opened the doors to "cravingland." Can't wait until it gets easy again. I must be under stress.

Tyla
Calories: 1435
Exercise: 1 hr.
Day 2 done!

I find I have to white-knuckle it for about three days. I have to be really strict, even talking to myself sometimes, telling myself to stop looking at the dessert and move on. After that, it gets much easier.

This is nice! Finally had a whole day on plan. Though I've been watching what I eat for over a week now I had some splurges. Obviously I've been eating less than maintenance calories despite that for a while now. And after my whole day on plan yesterday the scale was FINALLY down half a pound.

It's good, because I've been looking for a way to really get back into it and now that the first bit of weight has dropped I can FEEL it again. So... YAY! Here I go. :D

And I had a day without much appetite at all. It was a weird tired and busy day <shrug> I did get on the elliptical for a short little sprint session and I had a look at a very nice new indoor walking track that's close to my work and only about 15 minutees from home ... hmmm ....

I also try not to snack, if I can stick to 3 meals a day I tend to be more satisfied and not go over, I eat by "breakfast" around noon though and my dinner at 8pm. Snacks are always what causes me to go 300 calories over, I like to be full after a meal.
philana - congrats on the loss!

Hi Girls:

I'd love to join in, if you don't mind.

I don't really count calories or anything. I actually follow a paleo/primal diet, with some IF thrown into the mix (mostly just skipping breakfast, though I might try full 24 hour fasts sometime in the future if I ever get a handle on my hunger.

So far I've been able to stick pretty much on plan. My only deviations are some red wine indulgences, maybe 2-3 times per week. Other than that, I am powering through cravings and have been doing ok.

Day 3 = "Good" although it was verging on "average" foodwise, but sneaked in to the "good" category due to going for a run in the morning and 3.5hr standing up watching a couple of bands play last night, and a 20min walk afterwards.

Food was good generally, except i had a bit more than strictly required at lunchtime, and i stuck to my soda waters all night in the pub, and had soft-crab thai salad in the restauraunt which was about the healthiest choice i could see from the menu (and also the yummiest!!) although total calories would be more than i'd normally have at home.

So 3 days in to diet and all on plan so far so i'm really happy that i seem to be getting back in to it after my 4 week break.

And hopefully a night-in tonight! Yey!

Hi banananutmuffin! Your diet sounds like something i could go for too if i had to pick a diet-type. I reckon it works well for your body not to be able to predict what's coming with regard to both diet and exercise each day.

PP, thanks for your input and insight. I agree the longer I stay strong, the easier it gets.

Also, the idea of all of us staying strong together gives me more motivation to do so.

Great thread! :)

Yesterday I had a hard day emotionally (thanks to a toxic friend who I have decided to wipe out of my life). I have turned to food for comfort in the past, and considered doing it again, but decided it wasn't worth undoing all my hard work. (Though I did have a little dark chocolate after dinner... sensible indulgence! lol)

Tonight is dinner out with friends, and it'll be my first restaurant meal since going on plan. I have already perused the menu at the restaurant, which is fortunately german, so plenty of offerings that fit with my plan. As long as I stay away from the potato snow, I'm good to go! ;)

TGIF! I've been eating in range and exercising for a week or so now, and I'm happy to say I've lost a pound. I'm so happy I'm remotivated again. This thread is a blessing. Thank you, Lisa.

Banana, congrats on getting rid of your toxic friend. That's not always easy to do. And super congrats for not using food to calm you. I know too well how easy that is to do. By the way, I enjoyed your blog.