Pookie;
What a great day to refocus your mind set; the day after your birthday. Battle the old carb monster back behind bars and set your goal as celebrating next year's birthday in a way better place with your weight and health.

Good suggestion to read one of the current books about carb addictions such as Wheat Belly.

Pookie, if we didn't have food issues we wouldn't be here. This diet is amazing but NOTHING is going to solve all our issues overnight. Good for you for being honest and getting back on the horse asap. This journey is for the rest of our lives. This was my first week on maintenance, met friends for lunch and sharing a piece of chocolate cake lead to a tornado eating frenzy. By 11:30 that night I felt like Garfield lying under a pile of empty wrappers, plates and bags. I was so sad the next day but this diet has given me a tool to compensate for my slips. It only took 1 clean day to feel like I was back in control. Hopefully we will be able get off the seesaw but in the meantime, we do the best we can. Never give up, you are amazing!

Pookie, I wanted to let you know that I have faith you can complete YOUR journey and make your goal and be the healthy person with the happiness you deserve. My mom had gastric bypass a few years ago and nearly died from the procedure, she has had problems with hair loss, vitamin deficiencies, and tooth decay & loss among others ever since. She lost a lot of initial weight and has gained over half of it back (300 - 175 - 240 @ 5'3"). Her sister, my aunt, had Lapband surgery and has gained back all the weight she lost and then some. The moral being, there are no quick fixes - i saw some of their food attitudes in myself and was on my way to just 'having the Davila genes'.

Part of this IP process is changing how you eat and think about food. We will all have our struggles, I am proud of you for shaking it off and getting back on track. You aren't alone, none of us would be here if we didn't have our own struggle and our own story. Please don't be ashamed and self sabotage, use this as a learning experience and gain some tools and knowledge on how to avoid something similar in the future. You Got This!

There's no need to beat yourself up so much. I think probably 99% of us on this diet have been there psychologically many many times in the past. We are human.

I think you just need to have firm goals and tell yourself that you are worth it and if everyone is having the office birthday cake that you know will set you back half a week or more to get back into ketosis, just smile, pass on it and maybe lie and tell them you are gluten intolerant (I almost did that myself Saturday night until I saw the table I was at selected a dessert that had chocolate covered strawberries, then I just smiled and passed the platter instead saying, "No thanks, not for me.") It was a big step for me to do that personally because I, too, have always in the past figured, "Oh, I'll just super get back on track tomorrow or Monday. Girl scout promise!" Small wonder I have to lose 80 lbs.

Set yourself up for success. Like this Mothers Day, I know my PILs are going to have some completely ridiculously large cake or something and they'll expect their fat a$$ DIL to dig right into a big slice. Un uh, not this year. I'm bringing my own dessert or fixings for such. I will be firm, remind them all that diabetes is a big deal on both sides of my family, and just enjoy my OP dessert knowing that I'm still in ketosis and not cheating myself and who I want to be!

One of the ladies told me a couple days before I started the diet that I have to just not worry about what my family expects me to do and just do what I need to do for myself and my health. Keep that in mind and when life gets you down, remember to just keep swimming, just keep swimming.