[odirish]

I haven't been here in ages, so I consider myself a newbie. I had always been in the gym. Once I hit menopause, my body has become unreconizable to me. I walked past the mirror this evening and thought OMG, what happened?? I think I've done every diet known to man. I read the success stories and I am totally blown away that someone can lose 150 lbs, and I can't lose 40. I need suggestions, what do I do? I currently belong to WW and as usual, I fell off the wagon. I work swing shift and that's not so bad, but working the forced overtime is. I normally pack my meals, but find that I am starting to eat the same things every week.

Mary Ann

[Lovely]

Welcome (back) to 3FC =)

I'd suggest that "falling off the wagon" is quite a normal event. The difference is that as soon as we recognize we're slipping, we have the ability to dust ourselves off and get back on the plan the very next meal.

Are you bored of the same things each week? Then find a fun looking recipe and create a new meal to pack up for work. Do you still go to the gym? If you don't, then it's time to return and add in activity. If you do, maybe it's time to try a new routine or a different intensity.

If you find that you become bored easily, and that that is your pitfall when it comes to eating healthier and moving more, then you're going to have to plan to try new things each week or every other week to keep yourself interested.

Regardless of what happens, I think the most important thing is to stick around and at the very least stay with the changes that you know work for your life. If nothing else, at some point something will click and you'll find what works for you while still being vigilant.

Best of wishes!

[Michi702]

Hello and welcome back. It can be hard sometimes to see people who have had so much success and feel like you can't manage even half of what they did, but the one thing that motivates me is when I read the stories of people who did genuinely struggle but made it anyways.

As for lunch ideas, what do you normally have? Salads, sandwiches, frozen meals? Depending on what you have available to you at work (microwave, toaster oven, etc) you can get really creative with what you bring. Try making extra food at dinner and then freezing it to use in the future for lunches. I personally like to do this with stuffed shells because they taste better with age believe it or not. There are lots of recipes throughout the forums and I know in the calorie counting forum there are threads called 'Lunches under X calories' which you might want to look into. Hope that helps!

[odirish]

Thank you for replying to my post. I think maybe I should stick around and yes, hopefully something will click. I have had success with Atkins, but I can't deal with very low carbs. I'll continue to look around and see if there might be something that would work for me.

Mary Ann

[BudgetBaby]

Welcome, Mary Ann.