...this wasn't so hard, ya know? I went off plan for ONE day...and gained back 3 lbs. That was Saturday. I tried not to get discouraged and turn to a self-destructive binge...tried, but didn't succeed. These last 4 days have been awful. Amazingly, I haven't gained any more as of this morning...but tomorrow morning will probably be a different story. I mean, I've been going crazy...

What is wrong with me? I wish there was a magic pill...not to make me lose weight, but to fix my HEAD so that I could put forth the effort it takes to do it the right way without screwing myself over. I titled my blog "My Own Worst Enemy" and dang if that isn't the truth.

Ugh. Sorry, I just had to vent for a minute. I guess the important thing is I'm back, I'm writing, and tomorrow is another day.

Did you weigh yourself the day after your free day? That's probably not the best thing for one's self-esteem. And no, you probably didn't gain 3 pounds in one night.

How long have you been on your diet plan? Glad to see you're back on the right path!

Hi Christy,
You're absolutely right - the important thing is being back. Don't be too hard on yourself.

By the way, I for one do wish there were a magic pill to get this weight off! Losing weight is hard work!

You didn't gain 3 lbs in one day. A lot of offplan foods are high in sodium and the extra water weight can really pack a whammy on the scale. One thing I found helpful was to graph my weight loss in Excel, instead of looking at the little ups and downs, I looked at the overall gradual downward movement of the chart. Weight varies too much day to day - just drinking a glass of water is heavy - looking at my weight loss over time was very empowering.

Drink a lot of water today, work out, shake it off and KEEP GOING.

Weight loss is HARD, but it's easier when you can put the scale in perspective and not let the ups and downs send you on a rollercoaster.

I totally agree with the sodium! I have been watching mine really closely and try not to get above 2,000 and drink lots of water.

I think you doing GREAT! And like the girls said, there is no way you gained 3 pounds in one night. It probably just water weight that will come off within a few days!

It was probably water weight on Sunday morning, but after the last few days I'm pretty sure it's just plain fat now. LOL I've been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but I used the same plan a couple of years ago to lose 35 lbs...I kept off 25 of the 35, but I still have about 50 lbs to go... It's daunting, but I'm moving forward damn it!

Thanks for the encouragement ladies, it really helps!! If I could just keep my head in the game I would be ok.

Hi there.... I was thinking about what you said about the magic pill, at first I was like yeah that would be so nice. But then I think about the things I've struggled in my life, one for instance being coming out of an abusive relationship. I wish that it would have been easy for me to get healed, but it was a hard long process, but now I'm thankful it because if it would have been easy I wouldn't have the steadfastness that I have now. I will not ever be in that situation again. Now that I'm losing weight, I appreciate the process because I will now be this weight again. It's too hard to do it again. I'm learning to enjoy the process. I mean who doesn't wish that we were there already? I hope that makes sense.

Keep it up! You're doing amazing.

Sounds like the story of my life unfortunately . Oh well, now that you're back on track it'll all fall back into place. Keep going, you can do it!!

i have the same problem. i go off plan, the scale shoots up right away. but after a few days of stuffing my face, i get back on track. and usually drinking a lot of water, being really strict on the plan, and working out brings the scale right back down to where it was before i went binge-crazy.

i have a lot of issues that lead to my binges. stress triggers it, but it's deeper than that. do you have a support system of people that can help you out when it gets bad? it's a slow (really really slow) process for some of us. but we can do it!

Wow, this post really hit a nerve girl, thank you for this!! Once I started thinking about it I realized that yeah I've been through several other hard things in life that took time...and because I worked so hard for the end result, I'm a better person for it and won't find myself in those situations again. I never really thought about weight loss in that way, but you're absolutely right...thanks again!

Honestly no, I don't have much of a support system except for you guys...weight has never been an issue for my husband so he doesn't understand; my best friend is larger than I am but not interested in getting it off; my mom is morbidly obese so I feel guilty turning to her complaining about my size when she is so much bigger; my mother-in-law recently lost 65 lbs but she's really smug and know-it-all about it so she just ends up pissing me off; my sister will just talk about how fat she is when I outweigh her by at least 30 lbs... Yeah, all the people I should be able to turn to, I really can't.

Stress is a trigger for me too, but like you it is way deeper than that...strangely enough, I think insecurity is a huge trigger for me too...you'd think that would make me NOT eat huh? I'm just messed up.

I was just thinking...you know, my weight loss journey didn't JUST start a few weeks ago...it started a few years ago. I plugged my ORIGINAL original weight into my long-term ticker and you know, it makes me feel better to see just how far I've already come after all. I know I have it in me...I just have to want it badly enough...now I've got to get the motivation in place. I want to say I'll do it for my husband or kids, but you know...I really need to do it for me this time. Guess I just have to figure out how to care about myself enough to get it done...

I want to go off plan so badly just for a day. It'll be 1 month tomorrow of me not eating anything unhealthy. I've lost about 25 pounds and Im happy about it...It's just hard to keep seeing my family eat pizza every friday and chinese and all of that. I know if I do go off I'll hate myself for it..i dunno

I'm sure you didn't gain 3 pounds of fat in one night....you'd have to eat over 9,000 calories in a day. Like everyone else said it's probably just bloating from salt.

I know just how you all feel. And usually after I crave and eat the things I shouldn't, not only do I feel bad that I gave into temptation, but my stomach feels bad bc it's not use to bad food. Yet, I still crave it. WTH is that all about?

I know, my stomach has been torn up since Saturday and yet I kept eating crap...I don't know what it is!!