UH! So, I'm not the only one on this strange mental side of weigh loss.

Lost 54lbs in 18wks, got a new job because of it and now I'm helping others stay on track YET, here I sit having gained 30lbs. Not only am I angry at myself but embarrassed to even do my job.
The last 2 weeks I've finally taken the time to look back on the past 6 months to figure out how my head got so far off track. Nope, it isn't easy but feel like it will only make me stronger going forward.
Wish someone could fix the mental side as fast as IP drops the fat.

The emotional side of losing weight is a tough one for me. Like everyone is saying, food is comfort, it tastes good, it sustains life, it is something that we all have to have. Now I need to understand that I can have it and it can taste good and most of all it will sustain my life BUT it can be healthy! I used to think that I could not live without bread and potatoes, but guess what, I can! I now have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried veggies that I would never have tried without being on IP and on this site. Just this week alone I've tried rutabaga and turnip, both were very good, who knew? I would like to come out of this on the other side whole and happy, truly happy with who I have become on this journey to get healthy. Hopefully the "fat demons" will have gone away and I will finally stop sabotaging my successes. That is my hope for each of us.

Wow!! Thank you for this thread! I now know I am not alone. I do not mind if someone comments that I look good but, I really wish they could leave it with that. I don't really want to have a major discussion as people often think that thy need to add their opinions which are often not positive. I also do not want to share with coworkers the details of my journey as I know that their are others their that are attempting the same plan intheir own way and I do not want to be negatively influenced. I too did not realize how much I preferred to stand in the background before and hide behind my fat suit. This is taking some adapting.... A work in process....

Shathom, well said. IP definitely takes us out of our comfort zones with new food options and a new way of thinking about eating, weight, and their relationship to our emotions. As much as I would like to lose my weight as quickly as others have, I hope my slow-and-steady progress will help me adjust more easily to a new body image and realize that maintenance will be about staying healthy as well as staying slender. Good luck to us all in our quest to forever banish those "fat demons."

Such a great thread.
I never want to be the center of attention. My family really understands this. I think part of my fear is that I will lose and look great, and six months later it will all be back...of course this has happened a lot before with WW.

I think now I have found the key...low carbs. But I still don't want to talk about my losses...it is a very private matter for me.

A little story - I drove to my elder mom's house for the day to do yard, house work and grocery shopping. Typically, I am stressed because...well, my mom drives me nuts. She can't help it - it's just the way it is. She is a little woman, but she is a regular carb, sugar addict. And, because she is on the home stretch so to speak, I buy her lots of treats. It gives her a lift both physically and emotionally (she has always been depressed and paranoid). .
Usually I will eat along with her. But not this time. I brought my vegies, protein drink, lean meat and did just fine. I actually went to Dairy queen and bought her a bacon cheeseburger, fries, onion rings and strawberry milkshake and had to smell them in the car all the way back to her house. The onion rings started talking to me a bit. But I said "**** no."

I also noticed that my stress level was a lot less being with her since I started IP. What a gift.

Switching topics - Does anyone feel guilty even though they are following IP? Once in awhile I get this guilty feeling and when I try to figure out why, I always do a mental check on what I have been eating and it's been 100% since I started. The only thing I can chalk it up to is I am feeling so much better that something must be wrong...goofy

I've had the guilty feeling as well because this protocol is so effective. Here are some of the thoughts I've had...I must be doing something wrong because the food I'm eating is good and I'm full. I don't think about cheating even a little, I couldn't possibly be following this thing correctly cause I'm losing every week...

Just keep on doing what you're doing and IP will keep on rewarding your efforts! It is hard for me to believe that in 17 lbs I'll be in onderland and 71 lbs gone! That is my next goal, to weigh 199!

You nailed exactly what I am going through and my last post on "Help me restart". I don't want to go so far as to say getting noticed is causing me to cheat, but getting below 200 has casued me to self sabotage and I don't know why. I totally want to get back to 148. I am beginning to think I need couseling.

Some counseling helps everyone. I have had addictions problems in the past and needed counseling for it. I think it is hard when you have to change lifestyles...it is not as easy as you think it might be...your whole life changes: friends, family, activities, and how you look...big changes. Funny...your friends and family don't usually have to change...only YOU do. And usually we don't want people "looking" at us, and now they do. Even though that is a positive change, it is a change nonetheless.

So I think a couple sessions (or more) can really help....it helped me, and I am a counselor myself!

This post really hits home with me. I lost 50 lbs on IP and was looking and feeling great. I then let my emotional eating sabotage all my efforts and I gained all my weight back. I am here now ready to start over again. I feel that it is very important to get my emotions under control and change my thought process towards food. I have often contemplated counseling for my altered eating process but have never made the connection. I do feel that support helps.

I too have the same issues that many have posted here. I feel that somehow.... some way my fat protects me. I am not sure why I feel this way. As women we feel vulnerable at times. It comes to a point where our health is more important than our fear.

I feel exactly the same way, I have the fear of gaining it back and I agree that it is a very private matter. Glad to hear I am not the only one who feels this way

Oddly enough...family & friends do have to get used to the changes in US when we change our approach to how we take care of ourselves. One of the very big changes in me is how many emotions I exhibit. I used to use food to "stuff down" anger, sorrow, frustration - without food as a crutch, they all come bubbling up to the surface - and I have begun letting them! As a result, my husband and my 12-year old have probably seen me express more emotion in the past 7 moths than in the years preceding my self-care journey!

I am taking a different approach.

I am actually "controlling" my emotions less - I am trying to express them and process though them more. If I take them out of my "dark hole of a head" and pull them into the sunlight - unwrap them, reflect on them & get to know them- I can change the way I think about them. If I fear them, run & hide from them, eat to "banish" them...I am going to end up where I was. I was raised NOT to exhibit "negative" emotions, with messages that I was "faking it" when I cried, and that guilt was preferable to expressing anger - guess what, as a 42 year old woman, I have decided - THAT'S BULL****! I would rather externalize my feelings than internalize thousands of calories to try to suppress them.

I agree completely. A counselor would help a person identify the emotions and express them appropriately. When we are used to stuffing emotions, and not dealing with them, we forget how to identify how we are feeling, and how to express them. It should be dealt with...either with a good friend, spouse, or counselor. This is a time to be good to ourselves.

This makes me think it would be nice to have groups gathering in their geographical areas.
anyone up for this in the atlanta area?

Every day I read this...to remind myself....

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as childen do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

by ~Marianne Williamson~