{{ sob }} Just one weekend with my visiting mother was all it took to get me off program. Last Friday, I went to eat with my parents and enjoyed immensely a steak, fries and cheese grits. Bad, bad, bad!

THEN, I went to the movies with mom and shared a popcorn (with butter and salt) and a huge Diet Coke.

The price I paid wasn't worth the yummy foods I ate. Instead of being down at weigh-in, I was up 1/2 lb. I'm at 216 now but know I could have been at 215 or even 214 had I not done this.

{{ facepalm }}

I'm over it now and back on program (MRC) but boy was that a rough weekend!

Wow, I don't know how I would have done faced with a Southern Mom's cheese grits either!!! Yumm!! Lol! Hey, it's over. Don't stress about it, but do think about what to do in the future when you are faced with similar situations, because you will be faced with similar situations! You have to plan ahead, and you have to stay committed. Let your mom know that you don't want those kinds of foods (movie popcorn...really?), and if she doesn't understand or won't support you, that doesn't mean you get a free pass. YOU still have to be responsible for you. So, it's over, and it's a lesson you can actually learn by, so do. And whatever you do, don't let this ruin your continued weight loss efforts. It's done. Good luck!!

It's tough to stay on plan during family stuff. Anyway if you told your mom what you're up to she would help you make better choices (and maybe help select a better restaurant, etc.) next time?

For now, it's over and you're starting clean. And you know you'll be fine as long as you don't let it kick you back to bad habits. Good luck!!

Pft that's it? Half a pound! TRY four pounds over Easter! *sigh*

lol it's okay- I mean that's life, you won't eat perfectly everyday forever, even thin people eat bad stuff now and then, but then they get right back on it

Over the 3 days that constituted my birthday, my DS' birthday, and a professional baseball game, my eating went out the window. I was up 5 lbs at the end of those 3 days.

BUT, luckily having read all the collective wisdom on 3FC, I knew that it was just water gain due to all the salt, and sludge in my digestive track that hadn't worked it's way through yet. Instead of getting discouraged, I just kept reminding myself of that.

Those 5 lbs were gone after 4 days of clean eating and exercising. If you are back on track now, I'm hopeful that you will have the same results.

ETA: Oh my - you were only up 0.5 lbs?? Well, then, you go, girl! I first read that to be up 2.5 lbs... That 1/2 lb will be gone before you can blink!

Just don't fool yourself into believing that the extra weight will *always* be water weight...Okay? If you keep up the cheese grits it's going to catch up with you. Eventually it really will be actual fat pounds. Contrary to popular belief it doesn't take that long to gain real honest to goodness fat pounds. I should know, I gained 130 of them in a year...and it wasn't water and colon goodies.

This time it was only .5 pounds. It makes me nervous when a newbie goes off plan so quickly. *Usually* the first month or so of a new plan is the most effective. Motivation is high and cheats are nonexistence. I just worry you are not really ready to do this...and you are spending money on an expensive plan to boot.

Those are very good points, Lori Bell. I just looked up the calories in a large tub of movie popcorn without the added butter...1650 calories. With added butter, it's equivalent to 12 Krispy Kreme doughnuts!! That's not counting steak, fries, and cheese grits. It takes 3500 calories to equal a pound. I'd say that .5 lb was not water weight. Instead, it's just more incentive not to repeat such a mistake. Plan ahead. If you go out to eat, choose healthy options. It's a choice. If you are going to go to the movies, sneak your own snacks in--veggies, nuts, etc. I've even stopped at the dollar store in a mall where the movie theatre was (since I didn't know we were going to see a movie beforehand and hadn't brought snacks from home) and grabbed a box of granola bars so I could munch on one of those. If you are eating at mom's house, let her know what you will and will not eat. You have to plan. Situations like that come up all the time.

I avoid movie theater snacks by reminding myself they are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. I am too cheap to cheat at the movies! There is no way NO WAY I'm paying 7 bucks for popcorn and a diet soda. I always smuggle in my own, free snacks. Usually dried mango (not crunchy so not annoying to people).

One of my favorite smuggled food movie stories was the woman who nibbled a VERY STINKY tuna fish sandwich during the harrowing beginning of Saving Private Ryan. So freaky!

This is the stereotypical view of weight loss. It is almost universally assumed (and because it's assumed, it becomes reality, whether it has to be or not) that a person will be most committed and most successful in the beginning, and that motivation and suceess will inevitably taper off.

I think this is a harmful assumption. There is no reason that the first days of a weight loss plan have to be the strongest, and most successful. It's as disturbing to me as when women say their wedding day was the best day of their life (as if it's all down hill from there). If you assume that your best days are behind you, they will be.

For me, I've found that reversing the process has worked in ways traditional dieting never did. When I assumed that my best weight loss days were behind me, it made continuing seem that much higher a mountain to climb. This time, I didn't make that assumption - instead, I assumed that weight loss was a skill, just like any other - one in which practice improves performance and success builds on success. I expect my weight loss, eating habits, and exercise to continue to improve, and that success will increase my confidence and my ability - creating a snowballing effect. That's the assumption I chose to make, and so it's been my reality. The more I do, the more I can do, and the more I'm willing to attempt. My abilities have snowballed, because I expect them to. I still have a lot of changes I can and will make, and perhaps even some I may not even envision yet. There's no limit to what I can accomplish, if I build on success, rather than assume the best is behind me.

When we expect to be perfect or best from the start, every mistake is a sign of failure, proof that we can't or won't do it. Change the assumption, and you change the reality.

I'm spending the money because I AM serious about this. But I also know that I am human and will make mistakes. I'm here to admit them, be forced to look at them in writing and to improve on my plans.

While I appreciate the concern, being "worried" about my entire weightloss future because I screwed up once is not encouraging at all. A weaker person may even read that post and decide that you are right and that this diet is already over.

I am not finished. I just got started and although I'm a little bruised from that fall off the wagon, I'm back up and running.

The journey isn't always on a straight road.

GREAT POST!

THAT'S THE RIGHT ATTITUDE!

We are not perfect beings, and will mess up once every so often.
That is only a problem if you then quit altogether (as I have done many times in the past)
As long as you just get up and get straight back in the saddle, the damage remains limited.
This is a journey for life, not just for a while.

CHEESE GRITS

MmmmMMMMMMMmmmmm

As a true sister of the south here and a FOODIE to boot, you just quite possibly shoved me over the edge with those two little words! Back in the day I used to use bacon to "dip" in the lethal combo!

My advice? when you go out to eat, choose healthier food option (*i.e. lean poultry, fish, veggies, salads with dressing on the sides, etc).

The movies? Bring your own bag of 100 calorie air popped popcorn & a bottle of water or a diet soda

That way, you can enjoy the food and still have fun with your family!

~ tea

Off plan days happen. It's called real life. It may slow your weight loss this week, but what is most important is what happens over the next week, month, and year. We just get back on plan and continue the journey.