I think what started it off is feeling like I was doing well (I was down to 204), and I decided it would be OK to have some pizza. The next day, I have the leftover pizza. I did OK the rest of the week, I thought, but then I saw that I'd gained three pounds. It depressed me because I'd been working to lose weight, and it was back in a flash. I didn't do well the following week, which was an especially bad week because I was dealing with a variety of stress factors, including some sexual harassment issues. I was stunned to gain seven pounds in one week.

I have to look at this as an opportunity to really dig into why I'm not making faster progress. Yes, it is hard to lose weight because of the PCOS, but it is also realistic that I can be losing it faster. I DO want to be thin, to move more easily, to be able to buy what clothes I want to buy. So it seems like I really should be doing this ... but then, I'm not. At least not to the extent I could. I puzzle myself.

I totally relate to the feeling you're describing. I think for me part of it is I eat from stress, so when I'm in the moment to eat extra calories, I make the wrong decision. part of it is habit, needing to get into the zone where I'm eating the right foods and right portions.

plus, I look at food as a treat. even though I know it would feel much more like I was getting a good treat to see the scale numbers go down!

I love this thread so much.

I've been good in some ways (giving up fast food) and bad in others (not counting calories and skipping the gym) and so it's no surprise that I'm gaining all the weight back!!! Good to know that there's people going through the same thing as I am. Weight loss can be the loneliest journey in the world, but here I feel like I'm a part of something. Thanks for all the great advice!

Tha laundry analysis is GENIUS!

It's too bad I can't just buy a whole new body like a new wardrobe instead of having to catch up on all that dirty laundry. Sigh.

No, you can't buy a whole new body. There's no need to. But you most certainly CAN alter, change and improve the one that you've got. It's your body. The only one that you'll ever be given. It's yours to do with it whatever you choose.

Well, in a sense you CAN buy a new body! Through, as rockinrobin says, altering and changing what your habits, your body continually replaces your cells. So with enough time, discipline, good diet and exercise choices, you WILL have a new body with new cells built on the effort and time that you put into it...

Kira

One idea is to just eat a little less of any junk food whether it be pizza, hot dogs, or whatever.

Ah, the "just" method. "Just" do this, "just" do that. Especially when speaking of junk food. It's not so easy to stop at "just" a little. If it were - I'm pretty much thinking this web site would not exist.

That sucks, and no offence, but if you think about it, wouldnt you agree that you almost deserve that 10lb weight gain? Thats how I look at it at least. Don't mean to be so blunt.

You can look at it two different ways. You can either use that as motivation to get back on track and start to lose again. Or you can let the 10lb win, keep eatting pizza and chips, and start to gain again, getting more and more depressed with each pound.

Good luck!

We just talked about the cycle of motivation in my last WW meeting. We all start with HIGH motivation -- noone in the world at that time could force-feed you a cookie! Then things get routine, and we have MODERATE motivation -- where we maybe don't account for what we eat with the same vigilence and our food choices aren't the best, and weight loss slows. Then the honeymoon is OVER and we slip into LOW to NO motivation -- we stop accounting for what we eat, we think it is OK to have a few slices of cake or pizza and slide into our old habits...and we start to regain our weight...

The trick is to recognize this and to act quickly to get back into a higher level of motivation. We have to take care of the problem when it is small BEFORE it becomes a mountain that we have to move again...

And HOW to regain your motivation is often simply the understanding that unless we get a grip on the small gains, we will be right back where we started, or worse. This is no different that what "normal eaters" do -- they get a grip on the small bumps UP in weight in order to maintain a healthy weight in the long term. This is the key to maintenance, I think...

And you need to understand that there isn't a whole lot of difference between the caloric intake needed to maintain a higher weight vs a lower weight. Think of it this way -- if you need, say, 2000 calories to maintain your weight, an extra apple a day at 80 calories over your intake will mean an extra 560 calories a week, for a total weight GAIN of over 8 lbs in a year. Not much, but if you do this for 5 years, you now carry an extra 40 lbs on your frame. From one apple extra a day...

Enough! You'll make it! Hang in there, and forgive yourself the small slip-ups. Get back on track and you'll be fine...



Kira