Hey people! Decided to check in for a reality check. Love coming here and getting inspired. I need to get back on track. My head and body are in constant conflict. I lost 94 lbs on IP by August 2011. I have gained back 30 lbs since Jan 2012. I told myself the "line" was ten pounds and I am now obsessing about my weight. Been traveling a lot in the last few months and I know I ate more carbs than I usually do but I still can't believe how hard it is to turn this around. I am so tired of having to go back to P1 and feel so restricted. Please help with any advice and support. Thanks in advance!

Traveling is hard.

My suggestion only, write down why you want to do this and what changed in a positive way now that you've lost weight (don't discount the 60 lbs!). You can use this list to help stay focused during the moments that are difficult to stay focused. I did this for my entire journey (in fact I updated it for my one year anniversary) it's from the beck diet solution...you can find her on the web, on Facebook and she has a fantastic book about changing the way you think about food (cognitive behaviour therapy). Definitely worth a read/check out.

Also take a now picture and a picture in 10 lbs lost as it will be noticeable when comparing your face side to side (lack of carbs slim out the face for sure)and will help you stay the course.

Even in maintenance I'm relatively low carb, they just stick to me like glue. It's all in the planning and the mental muscle. You'll be ok

Great ideas Ishbel and I will definitely check out the Beck Diet solution. I am going to do this and will figure it all out. I appreciate your response so much. Have a great weekend.

First of all a big congrats on your success with dropping from 271 to your goal! That's amazing!

Don't beat yourself up about this. It's so easy to do yet it doesn't really help how you feel about yourself.

Breathe

Be kind and loving to yourself through this process and ask yourself what you have learned and can learn from this experience. Try to find the silver lining.

You've learned that eating too many carbs will cause you to gain weight so is there a way to have a balance? I'm still in Phase 1 so I don't know how Phase 4 works right now.

Maybe you don't have to go back to Phase 1. I'm all for IP; however it sounds like maybe if you just cleaned up your eating a bit you could drop the weight back to your goal. That could be the key for you is find balance and clean eating.

Whatever you decide to do - remember that you've done this before and you can do it again. Deciding is the hardest part - but once you do - everything else will follow.

Btw, I'm in Bothell/Seattle area and this weekend (and today) is gorgeous!!! Hope you enjoy the weather!

Yes, I need to quit beating myself up and get back on track. I put the scale away for a week and will not weigh myself everyday. I will clean up my eating and exercise and I know I will get results.

Everything you suggested makes perfect sense. I know it in my head. I think I've been in diet mode so long, I need to relax, do what I know I need to do, and I will be fine.

Am enjoying this beautiful warm day in Port Orchard! Hope you are as well.

Hey you...don't beat yourself up. You've kept 60 lbs off!!!

Ishabel & Amberjules both gave excellent advice.

I am in a very similar situation as you...I only lost 40 lbs last year, only to put it all back on. I wish that I could just go back in time & follow the program as written in phase 4, because it worked! I looked fabulous...now, not so much.

I agree with the above statement that we need to learn from this experience to prevent this from occurring again. I know that I will need to reign in the cheat day. This time, my cheat day will include more fruits, instead of junk food!

Determine why YOU want to do this. Put your mind to it and you can. I think that the biggest hurdle for me is staying 100% OP. I was the star client last year (that's what I was told), followed the plan to the T & phased off perfectly. Now it's a MENTAL game. We know we can do this, we just need to commit to it!

I hope I didn't say too much. I just get it. I've beat myself up terribly for this...now it's time to learn & move on. Maybe we can do this together!

Just tried to PM you and am not able to. If you want you can send me your email on my PM, I'll respond and we can buddy up. Let's do this!