It's good you are seeing this and wanting to so something about it this soon. I have a similar story. Back in 2008 I started my first ever diet and lost 72 pounds. I was so proud and felt great. One day I twisted wrong and dislocated my knee and was in pain for weeks. I stopped my daily walking/biking and the pounds started to creep up. Then pretty soon I was back to my old ways of eating. After almost a year I gained every pound back plus 8 more. I was so disappointed with myself. It took me until this year to get my mind together again and start over. I've lost 29 pounds since the beginning of this year and I'm back to my old self mentally with my diet. I did have to force myself to make the change for the first 2 weeks though. But I just keep certain goals in my head when I feel my mind slipping. I think about summer coming up and having to squeeze into a bathing suit again, I think about wanting to do more activities while on vacation, etc. I was feeling real crappy one day in particular and saw Target putting out swimsuits and my head got together REAL quick! Just find things that work for you that you will look forward to and just take it day by day. That has helped me alot.

lucky, thanks so much for posting exactly how I feel. I was on a roll, having lost around 90 pounds and totally committed to a new lifestyle.

I've gained 15 pounds in the past 6 or so months, and I don't think I even realized it was that much until I thought about it just now. And the scale number just keeps going up...

I'm actually a little jealous because at least you have a good excuse for regaining! But you're right, making excuses doesn't help.

I totally believe that we are both capable of escaping the hold that food has over us. But I'm right there with you in not knowing how to really start getting back on track.

I know that oftentimes we're discouraged from starting something that we don't intend to continue "for the rest of our lives," but sometimes I think that standard is just too intimidating. I would often not start on an eating plan because I didn't want to face the "rest of my life" thought of eating that way. What finally worked for me was doing something radical that I knew I would not continue for the rest of my life, but that I knew I would use to get a few pounds off and get me motivated: the 17-day diet (the book is on Amazon & the reviews are great: go read some of them). I didn't even finish the first 17 days, but the plan had a limited food plan, and that was a relief to me. I never had to negotiate with myself about whether I could eat something: I knew that I could only eat what was on the plan. I'm sure I lost at least 5 lbs the first week (I didn't weigh, but my pants became looser), and that motivated me a week later or so to switch into calorie counting. That was June 2011. I lost all the weight I needed to within a few months, and I've been maintaining ever since.

The take-away from this: Perhaps you should try something you've never tried before, something that doesn't even give you the option of eating all those foods that you cannot handle in your diet right now. No need to think that you're eliminating them forever. You just need a jump start for now.

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your fantastic input. I had a good day today. I plan on having another tomorrow and to continue on the path of self control and healthier eating habits. I agree that I have turned the idea of loosing weight into some big scary goal instead of taking it one bite at a time. I will succeed. That's not to say that I won't slip up on occasion, but I won't let my mistakes determine the rest of my journey. Thank you all for reminding me what I need to do and how to get it done!!!

Good post lin.

Actually i just want to add something to what she says. When i start a diet, i only have a few points to my plan. the first few weeks are less strict than what follows but only less strict on non trigger foods.

Usually i find my thoughts about my diet come to the fore as i go on.

Certainly now i start out with the idea of no sweets because i know that's going to work for me. But the idea of eating this way for the rest of my life came a bit later. So my diet evolved into a diet that i think i can do for the rest of my life. Whereas i think if i were to start out on a diet is so far different from what i could eat for the rest of my life, then bridging that gap might not happen.

On the other hand, who knows what gaps people can bridge. But i think going from low carb to carbs as recommended by the mainstream would be very difficult. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who's done it.

For me its just incredible how much havoc sweets play in my life. There have been times i have factored them in to a diet but i just haven't been able to make the diet last. Somehow, i begin to get obsessed by the delicious sweets and it doesn't matter if i am not hungry, i still want the sweets.

one idea i had before starting this present diet was if you are going to have dessert (home cooked variety) with dinner, have it first!

The reason that would work for me at all, is because there is another course coming and the savoury food takes away my desire for more sweets. If i have the sweets second, i will want more.

When i was in France last year i went to a fancy restaurant and had a five course meal. I wa completely stuffed about half way through but nothing was going to stop me getting to those sweets. And i don't regret eating them because they were delicious. But i do regret eating that stupid truffle omelette that came in the second course and the poor excuse for carrot soup that started the whole meal off.

The rest of the meal was totally delicious.

Actually when i was in France, i made a deliberate decision to eat meat (which i generally avoid) and not to restrict my sweets so long as they were not the sort of thing we can buy in the supermarket at home.) I enjoyed the most delicious patisserie nearly every day. And because i was on a cycling journey, i still lost some weight. If i lived in France, i would find it difficult to live without sweets for a while. But all the cakes and sweets in my country (except in the big cities) are really poor quality, unless in a restaurant. I don't want to waste my eating calorie allowance on poor quality foods anymore.

I want eating to pleasurable AND without regret. So that's why most of the time i make my own food.

I've heard a lot of doctors say that their patients do a lot better on low carb than weight watchers. People freak about low carbs and I was the LAST person on the planet who thought he could give up carbs and sweets. They were my staples.

But it was important and I did. It got rapidly easier for me. Here is the thing. For most people without the insulin spikes of sugar/carbs their appetite is naturally controlled. Especially if they are uping the fat. Fat is so filling.

My appetite is under control like NEVER before. It is awesome beyond anything I could have imagined. If anyone doesn't want to try low carb high fat, no problem, find what works. But I've cut out most all non-veggie carbs, I still have dairy but not too much yoghourt. I have cut out grains because it makes my body and mind feel so great.

But I eat as much butter, coconut oil, meat, eggs, veggies as I want. But what I want is much less than before...because no insulin spikes and no addicting grains.

No one on the planet can know they can't give up grains/starchy veggies until they try. I would have bet a million dollars against my being able to. It might not work for anyone else. But it might. No way to know until it is tried.

My takeaway from a year of research and a year of experience is this: on low carb high fat for a lot of people they are working with their body chemistry instead of fighting it. This leads to virtually effortless weight loss (well once you get past giving the things up in the first place) and success for a lot of people. Yes giving them up was hard, then it got a lot better quickly.

And so many people are doing this now there are almost endless recipes for grainless bread and grainless deserts now. They taste fantastic BTW.

Yay!! I've also had one day on plan yesterday, and although today isn't totally over yet, I hope to conclude it well. It is so easy to scare ourselves out of it with the thought of 'forever'..I do have to, myself, plan a little bit, but it truly comes down to one food decision at a time..minute by minute