Athena - you can do WW on line now, but if you're doing low carb and counting calories on your own, why bother? And the plans where they send you food in the mail are just so costly and not practical in the long term. I found that when I cut out junk food and sugar and cut way back (once a week) on rice, potatoes, pasta, and bread, everything else fell into place. It's hard to eat too many calories of veggies! Cravings just go way down, too, if you can keep the carbs under control.

Hope you get settled in your new home quickly. And maybe you'll find a new gym that you like as much as the old one. good luck!

Lin

Thank you so much...this whole counting thing is hard. I am trying to use the whole my plate thing. I'm still trying to figure out how to do all of the safely and correctly. It's definately going to be a challenge. The support here is truly amazing though.

Welcome Athena! You're off to a wonderful start, and the support you will find here at 3FC is beyond compare.

Try not to stress out too much about doing things "correctly". I found that even making tiny changes every day helps. You'll find your way and settle in, and once you fall into that rhythm you'll be unstoppable. Try different things and figure out what works for you. There's no magic formula...when you hit on it you'll just know.

And girl! Zumba 2-3 times a day? SO AWESOME!!!

I'm new on this journey also, nice to meet you

yesterday was a horrible day....i failed miserably...i feel like a complete failure..i ate all kinds of things i wasn't supposed to...this is what i hate about the whole diet scene...i fail and then feel horrible...and then start thinking "what's the point? If i can't go but 3 or 4 days without failing...why bother?" i hate this feeling...

OK, so you had a crappy day. IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, or of your stuggle to succeed. I promise. There are lots and lots of really good motivational quotes here on 3FC. One of my favorites is "Don't let one bad meal turn into a bad day" So you didn't make the best choices, it's OK. Make a better choice for supper. Or for breakfast tomorrow.

I quoted the above post to say that I am the same way as Trazey, I can not bear to think of all the things I can't eat. I am doomed to fail. So I don't have anything on that list. Instead, I log on to livestrong.com/myplate EVERY day. I type in all of the things that I eat. Even the bite of this, the smidge of that. It really helped me be aware of what I was putting in my mouth.

I do find that I tend to make healthier choices now that I'm tracking, simply because I want to be able to eat more! If I have enough calories left at the end of my day, I will eat a Blue Bell ice cream sandwich. 150 calories. It's YUMMY. I was eating one the other night and thought, wow, I'm on a diet & eating this ice cream sandwich. As long as it's in my calories, I can have it. WOW, what an idea.

Anyway, I know this is kind of long, but I really really really feel your pain. I don't want to see you give up, or think that you're a failure, because you are not. Maybe try changing your plan to fit your lifestyle a little better.

Please keep us posted.

athenabelle,

Welcome!!!! I have to say that I am proud of you for coming back today and admitting that you didn't eat exactly how you had planned yesterday. We all have those days! Just pick yourself back up and try again today!

What helps me is to plan out 3 meals and 1 snack for the day and I log them into my tracker. I am able to see right then if I have any additional calories for another snack, or maybe another portion of chicken. Some days I decide that I don't want the additional portion, and if I take the cheese off my breakfast sandwich, I could possibly have something like cookies or some other indulgent treat.

I never tell myself no, it just leads to frustration and binging. I just have to make adjustments to the rest of my meals.

You can do this, you know you can!

yay! welcome to the start of a really great journey!!

Ditto to everything these wise ladies already said.

Big agreement with the super awesome PreciousMissy -- planning ahead is key for me. HUGE. I actually got derailed today because the place I went to grab burritos for my guy friends at lunch apparently didn't listen to how I wanted my "healthy" burrito bowl prepared. Got back to the office and I was like...well, I could still eat it. But if I'm going for extra calories, this isn't really what I want. So I gave it away and pieced together a good-for-me lunch with food I keep on hand at work. Knowing those caloric values and having stuff there I can always fall back on is huge. If I didn't have that plan in place, I'd unravel. I know this from many years of experience.

Mostly, don't beat yourself up. You had a bad meal, two bad meals, bad day or week or month. It's over. Time to look ahead. I found that my clarity came to me when I finally stopped playing the "If I only had..." game with myself.

Every mistake is a learning opportunity. You learned from this one how crappy it made you feel. You won't want to feel like that again, so I guarantee you your tomorrow will be better.

Hang in there. We're here.

Welcome to the group!

thank you all so much. yesterday eas a much better day. im tracking everything with myplate and it looks like it might just go better.

I really echo the whole planning idea. I start the day knowing exactly what every meal and snack will be for the day. Not to say that I don't make adjustments, but having a plan takes all the question out of it all. Especially when I find myself rushed.

You CAN do this!!!

CONGRATULATIONS for not giving up and coming back AGAIN today! You may have had a bad day but you didn't give up. THAT IS HUGE!!! You can do this one step at a time. It is always hard to do something worthwhile, if it were easy everyone would do it. So don't beat yourself and keep going girl! We are cheering for you!

Re: team planning vs team-loosey goosey. When I first started, I planned everything a week ahead, calorie-wise. Meaning I'd plan what I'd eat/snack on for every meal for a whole week which helped with my weekly shop etc and left little opportunity for failure.

Now that I don't live all by myself and I'm a little more used to life on plan, I plan hours ahead. For example when I wake up, I'm already thinking of breakfast, and at breakfast, I'm already thinking of lunch. I know it sounds like I think of food a lot, and it's true I kind of do. Sometimes, I suddenly start craving something and if I don't have enough calories to eat it that day, I plan it into the next day. I try to teach myself that the food is not running away. I don't have to have it all today, there's always tomorrow.

Well done, with picking yourself back up after a bad day. Everyone has them. That's part of this journey. It happens. It's not the end of the world and certainly shouldn't be the end of your journey. You WILL have bad days. But if you keep at it and stick with this you'll find that your good days will wayyyyy outnumber your bad ones. And you will meet your goals. You can totally do this. Go YOU!

if you are successful for 3 days, go off plan on the 4th, for an entire year... that's 274 days on plan, and 91 days off plan. a 75% success rate.

i can't see how that's failure!

i had to tell myself that several times when i first got started. you'll find your groove. good luck!