As I type this I am squirming.......two weeks on WW and I've lost 8.4 pounds and have stayed op with no mishaps. So, as a reward I decided to "treat" myself to Mexican and beer Friday night, huge mistake. I then decided to "treat" myself again Saturday, Sunday and today. No exercise, no counting points, and eating a ton of junk. Although I realize some of it's water but the scale is telling me I've put on 5 pounds so I am so frustrated! I'd like to hear from anyone who has fallen off before and gotten back on. I'm not giving up by any means but hate that I've wasted four days and I'm on a set back. This is humiliating for me and I'd like to know if anyone else has had screwed up like this. Thanks in advance.

Dear Jazzy,
There probably aren't more than three people in the world who haven't done what you did.
I just did it over Easter--put on 7 pounds in 7 days. I've gotten 4 pounds off, but it is discouraging to say the least. What I do know is that a sudden and overwhelming success such as you had leads to emotional feelings and we're not quite sure what to do with them. Make a plan right now for when you want to reward yourself with food so that the next time these feelings pop their heads up, you'll be prepared. Select a non-food reward, select a food reward--just one--that you'd like but that isn't a trigger, stop your binge sooner. Stop and think a minute, something will ring true and you'll do better next time. This weight will come off quickly. Just keep taking baby steps and you'll be back OP . Good luck! You are not alone.
Itryharder

Ah, don't beat yourself up. I've done that in the past as well. The trick is to get back up on that horse and ride again.

I agree that "rewarding" yourself with food is tough. I don't do it. I can't be trusted. One time I rewarded myself with some oreos. I cannot tell you how much I love those darn little cookies. I bought a pack. I was only going to eat2 at a time. I ate the whole bag in less than 24 hours. I even ate oreos and milk and called it lunch. Then for several days I decided I had screwed up so bad, and it just didn't matter any more. So I ate like crap.

Have you ever noticed when you eat like crap you feel the same way?

Try to remind yourself how lousy you felt, both emotionally and physically after you fell off the wagon. Maybe write it down and go back and read about it to give you strength to get up and dust yourself off.

It's ok.

And keep riding.

Oh Jazzy,
Boy we have all been in that boat!!!!! I loved Itryharder's post!!! She had some excellent ideas!!!
I dont know about you but sometimes I really want to buy some special stuff at the grocery store that is solely to help me along with my diet. i struggle with this though since if the kiddos wont eat it and money is tight, how can i justify it?
But boy, when i have really great results like you had I get a different mentality (sp) I will buy .................................................. .....................
1) the skinny cow ice cream cookies that pack so much yum into just two
points!!!!!
2) Light potato chips (17 to 20 chips for one bloomin point! but alas they do
have olestra so i dont share with kiddos)
3) The biggest Lean Cuisines!!!! I can cook something scrumpdilly for the kidd
os and safely refrain if I can just zap a yummy Lean Cuisine. Did you
know they list WW points on the side of the box?
4) Fiber One bars (almost taste like candy) 2 to 3 points and so good!!!!
5) Vitamuffins and fat free cool whip. Vitamuffins are simply devine at just
one point however they are bloommin expensive!!!! So if they are in my
freezer you will know I must have paid myself a little reward!!!!!!!

You have done so well!!!!!! Dont beat yourself up!!!!!! Tomorrow is a new day!!!!! best of luck to you and please keeep posting!!!!
ibbasquish

Jazzy,
Sounds like Mexican food and beer might be real trigger foods for you. I know booze is my diet killer. I'll have so much fun drinking and yucking it up with my pals that I tune out my inner voice. The next day I'll be slightly hungover and a greasy burger with fries and a big glass of milk will start calling my name, then I'll get down on myself and rationalize that I've already blown the week so what the ****. My advice is to avoid alcohol like the plague at least for now. After you go down a couple sizes, the joy of zipping up a smaller size pants exceeds the fun of an alcohol buzz by a mile.
If you celebrate with food you may keep repeating this kind of slip up. As other's have stated, look for a non-food/booze reward.
Also for the future get yourself the restaurant points guide so you can plan your meals out and don't celebrate beyond your points limit.
If your friends are encouraging you to be untrue to your weight loss goals, talk to them and enlist their support or avoid them.
Most of all you need to just get back on that WW pony and ride.
moon dreamer

Hi - remember that song; pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again"......THAT is what you have to do. What will it take to relaly get BACK on the wagon....Ask yourself - CAN I do it? YES!!!!!!!! WILL I do it??? YES and YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!! I KNOW you can......it is worth it......

Thanks so much guys........great advice and it truly makes me feel better to know I'm not alone in doing such a stupid thing. Yes, Mexican food and beer are my triggers! My second week I did have 24 oz Budlight that I counted for and still lost 3.4 pounds so moderation is key. It will be tough to completely stay away from Mexican because I am a "Big" sister in the Big Brother, Big Sister program and my "Little" and I always go to the same Mexican restaurant sort of like a tradition. She does like Taco Bell and I know what I can have there and still stay op so I'll just have to change things up. And yes, I physically feel awful eating all that junk and no exercise. I will return to my walking today and points counting. Thanks again everyone for the encouraging words.

Oh, please do not ever feel that you are alone! I have done what you just did many many times.....most of the times this was the reason I would fall of my WW plan. I would get so frustrated and give up...only to feel much worse the next week. Don't let this get you down...take it from someone who has "been there - done that!" ~ each meal is a new start. YOU CAN DO IT....WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER.... (((hugs)))

Hey Jazzy Nurse!

How wonderful that you are a Big Sister! Maybe you guys can switch it up even more and go on a picnic where you can bring healthy stuff! You can have her over and cook with her, or bake WW cookies. Maybe if you look at your time with her as being a healthy eating example, it will encourage you to be more disciplined.

Also, i just can't reward myself with food anymore. I can fit it in my plan if I want to, but I have to think of it this way: I want to take care of myself and be healthy and that requires eating well. So how is eating something that may set me back, trigger a binge, or make me feel icky a reward? Nope, new workout music, smaller clothes, a new sports bra- something that makes me want to do even better is a reward. I have to tell myself that because I am trying to break myself of the emotional attachments I have to foods.

And don't be humiliated! You are human, and this is a journey you are on. There will be bumps in the road, you'll fall off the wagon, and sometimes you will breeze right thru tough situations and do perfectly OP things. But you will still get there- and you can't say that at all if you just give up. Keep trying! I promise it will get easier. And hey, you just learned a really valuable lesson early in the game!

I hear ya! I "fell off the wagon" for two years and 35 pounds- you're doing MUCH better than I did!

Next time, try Lean Cuisine Santa Fe Rice and/or Enchiladas Suisa with a Miller Lite (2 pts for 12 oz.).

You'll get beck on track!

The key is to just get back on program, if it's a meal, a day, a year. Just keeping doing it. Our topic today was looking at the long term. Looking at what's going to keep you successful in the long term. I think the key is going to be overcoming these bumps in the road, not quitting. If you fall off the horse, get back on! good going and good luck!

Hi Jazzy Nurse!

I also die for Mexican food, and if you want to I can give yome real light mexican recipes that can help you stay within points and eat yummy foods!!
I think I'll post some in the recipes forum wo you can check them out...

Remember we can make it!!!

Yes, we have ALL done this. It is part of the learning process, and the sooner you learn that rewarding yourself with food is "self sabatoge" the better (I can even hear myself say it now...."Ohhhh, I've lost X amount of weight this week, it's ok if I have that ginormous piece of cake!!!") It has taken me several years and several light bulbs going off to realize that this was why I always quit WW after 10lbs. Yes, HAVE alternatives ready, but DO NOT think of them as rewards. Rewarding yourself with ANY type of food should not be the way to go! Instead, do like the other posters said and have non-food rewards. I would go get it/do it right after a WI and meeting, too, so you feel the benefits right away. You can do it!!!!

Oh, man, who HASN'T been there, done that? The key is not so much the falling off the wagon, but the getting back on.

I'm always feeling like I deserve a reward for good behavior, so much so that I decided this is a trigger in and of itself, one that I simply cannot afford. So, no rewards. That sounds harsh, I know, but it is the habit of thinking "If I've been so good, I deserve a little break....." that has to stop. Really, I'm not being good, I'm doing/eating as I should have been all along or I wouldn't be in this place. Viewing this "journey" as something extraordinary, something challenging (and yes, it certainly IS) is a trap if I'm not careful; I need to make entire lifestyle changes to succeed here, and rewarding myself keeps emphasizing how NOT lifestyle my efforts are. Does this make any sense? Probably not, but it's been working for me -- for the last week. Talk to me in a couple of weeks, when reality does its things.....