Ever since last week, when I went on a road trip and (accidentally) blew my WW Points allowance out of the water with a "salad" from Cracker Barrell (yeah...since when does one expect a SALAD to have FIFTY-THREE GRAMS OF FREAKIN' FAT?), my weight loss mojo has been half of what it used to be.

I think part of the reason might be that, despite the crazy over-Points episode, I still managed to lose 0.8 lbs. So here I am, almost two weeks after said "salad" episode, and I'm kinda lackadasical about the whole thing. I've lost 30 lbs so far, and I sure don't want to gain it back!

So, any helpful advice on how to get the mojo back? (And please don't suggest that I wait until Thursday weigh-in to start over. If I do that, I'll end up in the dreaded "come next Monday" mode and that definitely WILL bite me in the butt!)

No, I would never recommend that you wait until Thursday. There is absolutely no reason to not keep going from where you are right now at this exact moment. You can decide that you are back on plan now. It truly is your choice. I would also keep in mind that overeating does eventually catch up to you on the scales and in your clothing. It's not always immediate. Thirty pounds is a huge accomplishment! You can make it to 30 more lost. Go for it! There really is no good reason not to.

i'm a little confused.

you ate a salad last week and now you don't really feel motivated to continue to change your eating habits?

i'm not sure what to say. you have a choice to make. you can stop journalling, stop using portion control, stop planning and go back to the way you ate before or you can get over the salad and move forward.

how are you going to feel about those decisions in a month? 3 months? a year?

play the tape all the way to end. what do you see? what do you want?

isolde

Janelle sorry to hear about your setback. I have been off my calorie counting for about 10 days and put on 6 LBS. I have to get back on my plan before I gain anymore weight. So I hope hearing how much weight I put on will help motivate you to get back on plan. I let stress and other emotions get to me, which caused me to overeat. This is a journey and I'm trying to learn not to overeat and then get discouraged and stop trying. But still fall into that old habit. But this time I'm going to keep trying. Good Luck!

Absolutely don't wait for your next weigh in! Just because you ignore it doesn't mean that your weight isn't changing.

I would recommend making it easy for yourself. So, sit down and plan what you're going to eat for the next few days, and make it as convenient as possible. When I did this, I went to the shop and bought fruit, yoghurt and my favourite low calorie prepared meals. Put your exercise clothes in your gym bag. Fill up your water bottle. Get enough sleep. Throw out any junk in the house that needs eating up. And know that even though it feels like way too much effort, it'll be worth it in a few days when you have more energy and feel in control.

Good luck.

Just dig your heels in and do the work you need to do. Or else you will gain it all back! You can do it! NOW!
Kira

I find that I, for one, definitely go through cycles of the times when I absolutely loving my weight loss and 100% embracing all of my healthy habits - really, truly enjoying sticking to my plan - and the times when I really just don't care about it as much... It's not that I completely throw all my good habits out the window (though, er, that has happened a few times, too); it's more like I just get lazy and relax things a bit more. I start to miss junky things, and it becomes easier and easier to justify more frequent indulgences because I fall into thinking, Eh, eating this one cookie isn't going to make me gain back all ___ lbs... And that's true--it doesn't. I usually end up maintaining or only gaining 1-2 lbs during the times when I've allowed myself to get too comfortable/complacent like that... But I don't lose, and eventually I get so sick of seeing the same few numbers over and over and OVER again that it's enough to give me that little kick in the butt to really give it my ALL again. Then before ya know it, I'm back to loving the healthy habits and turning down junk without even batting an eye. It's almost like a Jekyll/Hyde thing, hehe! But I guess what I'm trying to say is that everyone kind of goes through these ups and downs, you know? Every time I'm experiencing a "down," I just feel miserable, like I'll never be able to reattain my previous levels of zealousness for my weight loss--but somehow, I always do. And you will, too! For now, I'd say you just need to power through it and force yourself to stick to the healthy habits, even if you don't feel like your heart is totally in it ("fake it 'til you make it," you know?). Just think about all the reasons why you are doing this, and all of the benefits you have already gotten from it. Make a list of them, even! I have done that several times and it always helps to kickstart my motivation. And most of all, keep posting on 3FC... We are all here to support you, whether you're feelin' the weight loss mojo or not!

You get the mojo back, by taking it back. If you allow slips and failures to derail you, they will. I can only suggest talking to yourself, telling yourself why you're wanting to lose weight, and what you are and aren't willing to do to accomplish it. Write it down, read it, reread it.

Some of the discouragement is probably coming from the fact that it's how we're taught to diet. We're taught that a "slip" is discouraging, and that what to do in such an event is to start over, some point in the future (tomorrow or Monday morning, weigh-in, New Years....). Rewrite that script and know that "starting over" comes not tomorrow morning, but in the very next morsel that goes into our mouths. A lot of backtracking can occur if we decide to binge and start over, even if the start-over is the next morning.

What would you do if you were learning to play the piano, and hit the wrong key? Would you start over tomorrow? Next week?

I think it's important not to consider ourselves "starting over," after a mistake or less-than-perfect choice. We're not starting over, we're continuing on. That's it, just continuing on.

No one became overweight on one salad (even the whopping 1500 calorie plus salads out there). One meal doesn't make significant weight gain or weight loss, it's the chain of meals that matter. Thinking in the long-term is key (and by that I don't mean that you need to eat "short" of your calories to "make up for" the excess calories in the salad).

There are a lot of books out there and information online that can help you make better decisions with even unexpected restaurant choices. There's a great book I recently checked out from my library called Dining lean : how to eat healthy in your favorite restaurants / by Lichten, Joanne V.

I've decided that I have to own this book, and will buy it on amazon next paycheck, because it gives some GREAT information on estimating restaurant calories, as well as calories in everyday food. She has tables of calories per ounce for many common foods and recipes. For example, nut butters and fats are 200 calories per ounce, and breads and pastries are usually 100 calories per ounce (and she lists a bunch more, but I can't remember them, which is why I need to buy the book). She had lists of foods in each calorie level, from brownies to chili.

Now, you can't always take a food scale with you to restaurants (though I'm seriously thinking about it, after reading this book), but I'm also getting pretty good at guesstimations, as a few of her tallies were ones I was already using. And there's no guarantee that a restaurant isn't using a recipe that drastically differs from the average guesstimate, but it's at least a tool to use.

Restaurant salads are notorious for being unpredictable in calorie count. I know it "seems" like a salad "should" be the safest bet on the menu, but that's not the reality. It's often easier to estimate the calories in a steak or burger than a salad. I know you didn't know that, but now you do, so that's not just a mistake, it was a learning experience, and now you have an advantages that you didn't have before. That's why mistakes aren't failures, they're learning opportunities, and when you look at them as such, you tend to get less discouraged. So you can come up with some ideas to prevent it from happening again, whether that's looking up restaurant calories before you go to a given restaurant (not necessarily always possible) and/or learning what the safest bets are at restaurants (using resources online or the book I mentioned, or similar ones).

I think it helps to remember that weight loss is like an obstacle course. You are going to face obstacles, pitfalls, mistakes, inconveniences, but that doesn't have to stop you. You may choose to plow through, go over, or go around obstacles, and a road map may help, asking for directions also a good tool. You may move quickly or slowly (and maybe both during different parts of the journey), but moving toward the destination, not the road taken is most important.

I really shouldn't add a post right after Kaplods. She said everything so well! I agree with her!

I think you have to go with the "fake it till you make it" and take one step at a time. You need to plan ahead, but then take each meal one at a time and each exercise session one at a time. Once you get on track, it will all fall into place and your mojo will be back.

Slashnl said what I would say. Fake it till ya make it. It will come back. We all have these periods where we lose our mojo... you just do it. Because you have to. Because we only get this body and this life ONCE and we should do everything in our power to make it the best body and the best life that we can.

Thanks, you guys. Everyone said exactly what I knew was the right answer already.

I think part of it, too, is the fact that these last few weeks of school have been the most stressful and horrible out of an already stressful and horrible year. (I'm a teacher in a school that just got taken over by the state department of education..that should give you an idea of how awful it is!) I feel like I have no time to take care of myself and I'm on the verge of crash-and-burn burnout. I come home every day knowing I've got about two hours of planning/prep work to do, but the only thing I can manage to accomplish is sit on the couch and zone out on afternoon sitcoms. It's only 6:30 PM here and I am flat exhausted (after nearly having a nervous breakdown/panic attack in 7th period today) and I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a few days. I keep reminding myself that I only have 12 more school days left, and then I'm gone from that toxic mess FOR GOOD, but 12 days seems like an eternity.

Argh. It's never *just* about food, is it?

Never. If you have some $$, pick up some frozen WW meals at your local store. This'll take care of the lunches and dinners for you for the next 12 days. Add some fruit, an egg and toast in the morning, and you'll be just fine...Then you can zap your meal while zoning out infront of the tv. This will work until you just catch your breath.
Kira

I am new. This is my first post. I am looking for inspiration and motivation. I know, no one can give me that, but perhaps just reading and listening to what you all have to say will be the catalyst I need. I did start my walking program again. I love to walk. But here in the northeast we had an awful winter and I just couldn't motivate to go to the mall at 6 am, so I slacked off. Now, I'm on Day 3 of walking again and feeling motivated to do that. But eating is another story.

This was such a good thread. I have this happen to me a lot and I just sometimes take a day and call it refocus day. I talk to myself during this time and think about the reasons I want to lose weight, reaffirm my goals, set some new goals. Sometimes it works. Other times it doesn't. But I don't give up. I'm glad I took the time to read this thread, It may even help me today to get my mojo back.