I am having a hard time staying on track. I do great for a couple of weeks then fall off the wagon for about a week. Then I get back on track and do the same thing all over again. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm honestly not sure how I stay on track. I do plan, plan, plan. I know today what every meal will be. I think that does help a lot from the food side. Since lunch, dinner, and snacks for the rest of the day are planned, it means that a change means rearranging everything. Not that I haven't changed things around from time to time, but not often.

I sit down the night before and plan the next day's meal. I keep a lot of frozen (prepared/divided) meals, and frozen (divided) uncooked items such as pork, chicken, beef, etc. We are also Costco shoppers, so we're never without a big box of salad greens, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli and/or peas or beans. There's always fruit in the fridge as well. I won't let myself get to the point where there's nothing to eat, so I'll just....

Oh, and even for the odd night that maybe I won't want to cook anything - there's a thin crust pizza which is okay calorie-wise (although perhaps too high in fat).

Make sure that you're eating food that you like, on a reasonable plan. If you deny yourself too much you're almost certain to want what you are denying. I found that last week, when I bought a box of very rich ice cream bars (200 cals). I worked one in the day I bought them, but the other 3 have been put in the freezer outside, for perhaps a Sunday treat. If you're falling off the wagon for a specific food, try and work it in (if possible).

As for the exercise, I do the same thing - plan what I'm doing each day. Speaking of which, I have another 30 mins on the treadmill to do before lunchtime (2pm), so I should go and do it.

YEah...for me...planning is key!! i think if you make a day of it...the planning and shopping part...that can be something you look forward to everyweek, the planning day I find exciting..because I get to choose what is on the menu and decide what Id like to try out for the next week...SO..its kinda excting to decide...and exciting to know...one more week of good food! I dont know if it will work for you...but it works for me... I think everyone struggles with keeping on track...just gotta figure out with time...what works best for you. For me, im like a kid a christmas every sunday afternoon...i love looking for the healthy, interesting meals...and writing down what Im going to need, and shopping for it! IT feels good! It can be a bit time consuming, but it takes away from the uncertainty and excuse "theres nothing in the house to eat"...this way..I know there is..and I know what it is going to be!!!

Good luck!

you have to plan. And coming here and seeing the progressof others keeps me on my toes.

I guess it is a part of planning, but for me it really boils down to routine. It can be really hard to start up something new, but then once I can get something firmly in place it will mostly keep running like clockwork. In this way I play to my own laziness of not wanting to think about it. For example, every morning I have a bowl of one cup Kashi GoLean with a half cup of milk. I eat this at my desk at work. I keep my own bowl and measuring cup plus plenty of cereal at the office. I don't give myself choices - I just eat the same thing and have it ready and waiting. When I don't have to think about it I don't get tempted to do something else, like stop and buy a bagel.

The same holds true for exercise. I go to the gym after work. Period. I don't think about whether I want to - I just go. It is my routine. I have come to love it, but I didn't when I started.

Otherwise there are two additional things. First, if you keep falling off at the same point you might need to do some soul searching as to why. Secondly, and this kind of ties in to both of the things I have mentioned, learn to play to your own strengths. You won't stick with something if you don't like doing it. You may not love it, but you shouldn't hate it. If you know you need variety if food, make sure you have variety. If you know you need one meal a week to eat something "off plan", then build that into your plan. Make your plan fit your lifestyle and yourself - don't try and change yourself too much to fit a plan.

Planning is the key for me also, even though this is jsut my 7th week.
I have 3 different breakfast foods I can have. I just choose one based on how I feel that day.
For lunch I keep lots of frozen veggies and salad mix plus usually have a peice of lean meat left over from the night before to throw in a salad or stirfry. I also keep slimfast on hand incase Im in a super hurry.
I lay out what we are having for dinner first thing in the morning that way i am not tempted to change it .
I write down in a notebook on my computer desk everything that goes in my mouth. I track my water this way also.
Coming here and posting and messaging with others keeps me on track.

I'm with Nancy about this being a routine (for me anyways). It didn't begin as a routine of course. I had to build up to it one small thing at a time. And I had to force somethings (like exercise). But now, again like Nancy, I go to the gym at a certain time. That's just what I do now. I'd miss it if I didn't go.

I don't think there's any secret to it. I think you either do it or you don't, bottom line. I am queen of planning, but guess what--I still get temptations and cravings for things not on my plan, and I sometimes cave and eat out or eat junk or...

I've been in your shoes for about 5 years. Great on plan for a few weeks, then off like crazy only to start over again. There have been times when I've been able to stick to a plan for only a week and times where I've stuck to it for months on end. Right now, I've been doing pretty well for a couple months. I can't tell you what it is that has given me the strength to stay the course for months instead of just a couple weeks this time around. It's just got to be something you DO. You have to decide that losing weight is more important to you than the instant gratification of unhealthy or excessive food. And once you've made that decision, you've got to keep it in your head at ALL times. It's hard, but nothing anyone here says to you will help you do it. You've got to plant it in your head for yourself. It's not a matter of willpower or routine or planning--while those things are important, I honestly believe that none of those matter if you're not in the right determined frame of mind.

For me to stick to a plan, it must fit my preferences well enough to be something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life . . . rather than something I look forward to "going off" at some point.

I travel and eat out a lot, and I'm not willing to give those things up . . . so my plan involves:

(1) counting calories rather than restricting certain foods, and

(2) a substantial amount of daily exercise, in order to achieve the calorie deficit necessary to lose weight with an intake level generous enough to accommodate frequent restaurant meals.