Hi! I'm a 36F who has struggled with weight forever. I am very weary of thinking about food and diet and exercise and trying, succeeding, failing, starting over, etc. So, I'm here. Trying again. I'm going through a very stressful time personally, so my current goal is not to gain until things slow down.

Any encouragement or BTDT is welcome.

Also, current plan: Premiere protein shake replace either breakfast or lunch. One serving of reasonable dinner. No eating after 8:00 p.m.

Hi LawMa, welcome to 3FC! Perhaps embrace some changes as permanent rather than seeing them as a diet? I just see certain things as permanently off limits now. Alcohol, for one. I can't lose or even maintain my weight and drink- if I drink, I begin putting on pounds. So alcohol is out. Wheat is another. I don't eat pasta or bread anymore. I will use a little bit of Einkorn wheat flour as breading for some meat dishes, and that's it. Wheat is another problem food for me that I tend to overeat, so I just don't eat it. I don't miss it anymore, either. Look at things that may be problems for you, and consider if you could actually just decide to give it up. After all, 80% of people who lose weight regain it, and my guess would be it's because they return to the old habits that made them fat to begin with. And it's ok to adopt one change at a time- you don't have to go all in all at once. Slow changes are easier to do for a lot of people. Take care of yourself as you go through this stressful time- nourish yourself with healthy food, do mild exercise (maybe yoga? swimming? a short walk outside? some light stretching?) and pray or meditate or do some deep breathing to calm and center yourself.

Good luck!

Hello and welcome! Sometimes when I go on a strict diet I veer off it because I don't enjoy the food. It helped me to work on finding recipes that are healthy that I enjoy eating so I don't see it as an unenjoyable diet. The second is to eat with no distractions so I enjoy my food. I find if I eat without my phone or reading a book for example, I eat a bit slower and feel fuller for longer. I am on a rough diet plan, which I rephrase as lifestlye change, which recommends certain foods, and one of the things it says is weight loss is 90% diet, so the lemon cheesecake is restricted to special occasions now lol.