I was doing so okay on South Beach and I messed up one time and it spiraled into this whole "okay, I messed up. let's mess up more" situation. and I keep saying I'll get better tomorrow but I don't

I want to exercise like crazy to make up for it but I don't think I can do it. How can I stop myself from behaving this way every time I make a mistake?

I really want to actually stick to something for once and I liked south beach. Idk. some times I just feel like a failure and like I just have no power over myself. I wish I could be stronger then me

And I don't know why but every time I mess up or don't eat healthy. I feel REALLY sick and lethargic and the only way to fix that is my eating more unhealthy crap and that makes me feel worse

Then I end up sitting on the couch dizzy, and energy-less. I don't know why I continue the way I do when I feel this bad but maybe I have a resistance to something? Maybe a tea that I could drink to regain my energy because I am seriously sooo weak and tired after eating bad stuff.

It's kind of like that for me sometimes too. I have an all or none, black & white mentality some days. If I eat one thing off plan, it can set up the whole day for failure with one binge food after another. I usually can't get back on plan til the next day. Sometimes I do it for several days at a time.

Thankfully,I'm able to get back on plan because I know how much better I feel when I eat right and my clothing fits better. Being on this forum helps me a great deal. Also I weigh in once a month at Weight Watchers (Lifetime Member). I eat South Beach too, and this is the most satisfying food plan I have ever been on. Try ridding your house of junk food and planning a menu so you don't have to eat on impulse. Are there certain situations that seem to trigger you?

^When I'm home all alone, and no one is watching. I feel like I can just eat whatever I want

I also noticed that when I am very low confident in myself, I tend to want to eat a lot more. Like mentally bashing myself causes me to have a bad relationship with food. I tend to call my self fat, and giggly a lot especially in front of the mirror and I always tend to eat more.

Those two situations are the number one reasons why i tend to eat. Bad confidence and boredom. I don't know how to fix this. The boredom part I can control to some extent

How do I bounce back?

Step 1 - you're here asking the question, so you must have some level of commitment to getting back on plan. Decide whether you want to pick up where you left off or restart. Then don't wait for a milestone (like Monday) - get going again the next time you eat. Go shopping right now if that what it takes to get good food in the house.

Step 2 - If you're feeling weak and tired, when you're truly hungry again, make sure you get some quality protein and some vegetables. Until then, make sure you're not dehydrated - drink water. Stay away from sugar.

Step 3 - If you stocked up on bad choices food, get rid of it.

As soon as you start fuelling your body with good and healthy food, you'll start feeling better.

No medical advice here - you know what to do. Take that first step.

Do you exercise? It's a great mood elevator and gets you out of the house and away from the food. As you lose weight and you'll gain more confidence and it can help your self esteem too. Reward yourself with a new outfit, a new haircut, stuff like that helps me. Find other diversions like going to the library. I love to read health books and magazines. Kind of gets me in the right frame of mind. Keep the junk out of your house. It's hard to binge when you only have wholesome food around.

I don't know where you are, but even if you are in the Eastern Time Zone, you can still put your sneakers on and go for 2 mile walk. Come on, you can do it!!! 2 miles is not that long and you can choose to walk at a brisk pace. You will feel better after that, I promise!

I exercise a lot usually but maybe I need to go back to exercising in the morning as well to jumpstart my routine.

Thanks for the health magazine tip. Never thought of that!

And I'm a teenager so I can't really control that much what is in my house. i can only buy my own healthy foods and try my best to avoid the bad things the rest of my family eats

Just think of the foods you know you don't want to be eating as belonging to other folks in the house. They're not yours to eat. It's hard but not impossible.

Someone on another thread talked about even though you've made a bad choice in something you've eaten, you can start making better choices with your very next bite. Seemed like a good way to think about it to me.

sweetlovin-

Just from knowing you here over the past year or longer, what I have noticed the most, is that you have a real issue with an "all or nothing" mentality.

I honestly think that this is your biggest obstacle with weight loss.

You either have to be super duper on plan to the extreme with diet and exercise....or completely off the wagon.

THIS is why you are having trouble, dear.

You have to learn moderation in all things. Here are my recommendations:

~Exercise at a moderate level. Simple. Do a 30 minute workout video, or take a 2 mile walk. Do an aerobics class at the gym. But...don't do all three in the same day, every day, for a week.

~When you slip up, let that slip be IT. Don't get into the "Well, I had a cookie...so I might as well eat the rest of the box..."
In all honesty, eating one cookie, or one portion of something that you probably shouldn't have-won't screw your weight loss for the entire week up. A 200 or 300 calorie slip up one evening will not mess things up for the entire week (It would average out to be only 30-40 calories extra per day over the course of the week!)...but turning that into 1800 extra calories MIGHT.

I think you are having trouble, because you are not learning/practicing moderation. You are either extremely strict with tons of exercise...or you are completely off the wagon. You have to find that place right in the middle.

Thanks. Yeah I know your right. I'm really trying to find a moderate level for myself that isn't too extreme. That definitely HAS been my biggest struggle.

Right now I only exercise an hour a day most days of the week so I'm improving on that. I just need to get the eating thing under control. And I'm exercising less this week just to focus on my eating more. Today I did good and I think I can do this.