Okay, so maybe I can't get back "on" would be more accurate. I allowed myself to get off the plan. Completely off. It's been a couple days, and I feel so defeated. I gained 3.8 pounds, according to my scale. Didn't even enjoy it. I feel like I can't handle getting back on plan. It's like someone on here said the other day--I'm afraid to lose weight. What a wimp. I'm SURE others on here have experienced this--how did you get past it? I'm going to go drink some water and an HNS and try to take this one minute at a time.

YES you can get back on!

One minute, one meal at a time. Look at what you have accomplished already. Do not allow yourself to be defeated. The gain is probably only water weight and getting back on plan and drinking some extra water for a day or so will make it disappear.

I can't say I've ever been afraid to lose weight, but can empathize with those that do. I certainly relate to feeling defeated though. Been there many times and as recently as last weekend. We women seem to beat ourselves up pretty good sometimes.

You have already started getting back op just by getting your water and HNS and taking it one minute at a time. None of us are perfect, but you can do this. Set a small goal of staying op for one meal, one morning, one day and you will get back. It's been mentioned several times, but think back to why you started this program? Are you feeling better physically now from when you started? Sometimes just taking a step back and regrouping helps refocus on our journey and what we need to do to get there.

Let us know later how your day went, please? (from all of us)

You do it one commitment at a time. Find your weakspot, mine was food was therapy and loved to munch reading my trashy romance novels. So I committed myself to learning more about what sets me off, changing or avoiding it altogether. Stress is overwhelming my life right now so I can't avoid it but I can change how I react to it. Some things I can't control, no job, teenage boys, having bronchitis, and car trouble, but I can control what I put in my mouth. I can avoid my trashy novels or only read them in a hot bubble bath, make a hns with diet soda and crushed ice in a blender. Hard to eat in a tub. Who wants wet cracker crumbs floating in bath water? So feel totally indulgent and avoids my triggers.
Read through the whole 200lb thread and the take 36 thread and you will find many who share your problems and how they got through it. FYI, the cravings are going to be fierce but you can make it through.
This is a journey with many steps. Some are easier then others, sometimes you have to make a pitstop and sometimes you stumble. Along the journey you will discover many things about yourself, some good and some bad. Embrace all those things and keep moving on. You can't change the steps you already have taken but you can make the future ones count toward your goal. You are worthy of your goal and no one but you can stop yourself from getting there. Pull yourself up, take your next step and congradulate yourself for doing so.

Rebecca, Find the literature you received from your center when you first joined. Reread things like the page on Water, the Behavioral Change Instructions, Plateaus are Good Signs, Are you a Perfectionist and especially Are You a Feeder? You might see yourself in the descriptions of the "feeders". If you didn't get these or have lost them, ask your councelor for them. These may give you inspiration to get back on track.

Refresh your reasons for being on this program - Look at photos or yourself from before - If you have an outfit that is way too big for you now, get it out and try it on - see how far you have progressed!

Give yourself a treat - a reward for all the good work you have done - like a spa massage or a manicure/pedicure. Instead of feeling bad about yourself, give yourself love and a hug, and go on. Today is a new day, it doesn't matter what you did yesterday, today you can start fresh and eat the things you have found you like best On Program. This is just a small bump in the road on the way to your new life. Good Luck, my dear
jeanette

I fell off pretty hard after the blow at my center a week ago. I have had some kind of candy, 2 or 3 small pieces EVERY day and an entire box of nilla wafers AND I've been hiding it from people. I've had one entire meal that was completely off plan, been skipping the veggies, having cheese for dinner and just generally not doing anything I'm supposed to be doing EXCEPT the HNS and the flax and multi. I've been not getting all my water in either. I've been holding steady at 180 since all this started so my loss has stopped completely. I've made a vow that TODAY is my first day back on 100% except I already forgot to bring my melba with me for breakfast. I'm just not going to eat something else as a substitute. The only way I've survived is to just DECIDE. Once I've done that, I can usually keep reminding myself and just say no. I've found that if I keep doing the hns, flax, and multi when I go off, it doesn't take as long to drop the water weight and the cravings aren't so bad so even when you go off, keep on with those things and it's MUCH easier to get back on.

Let us know how your day goes!

Don't get so down on yourself about falling off plan for a couple days. I've had several off plan days (VERY off plan days) and I've gained between 4 and 10 lbs in ONE DAY. But the good news is...it's just water weight. Because we are treating our bodies so well when being on plan, they sort of "freak out" when we eat off plan. It's not fat we're gaining...it takes 3500 EXTRA calories to gain a pount of fat. That's A LOT of food. That's like TWO medium sausage and pepperoni pizzas from Dominos Pizza. Yeah...TWO WHOLE PIZZAS! You definitely didn't eat that much food three and a half times over, now did you?

When it's just water weight, getting back on plan 100% will allow you to drop those extra lbs in no time. I gained 10 lbs over this last weekend (out of town wedding). I'm already down 9 lbs and it's only been 3 days of eating on plan again.

My motto...MODERATION NOT DEPRIVATION!

I always think of you gaining 10 pounds in one day and how quickly you reported that it came back off. That just blows my mind! I've been saving all my 'big cheats' for when our county fair comes in to town (July 10) and know I'm going to indulge in all the regular fair foods (elephant ears, funnel cakes, homemade ice cream, cotton candy, etc.) and am just hoping that it'll come off just as quickly! Thank you for sharing your off-plan stuff it makes it seem much more manageable.

Good choice to get back on the bandwagon. You are so right, you decide. Every choice we make is just that. Every time we are OP or not is our own decision and no one elses.

I do have to report that that one day I gained 10 lbs must have been a fluke. Because I agree, it's crazy to gain that much in 1 day. The other times I've cheated (actually, I think the word BINGED is more appropriate because I'm not just having a bite or a lick...I'm going overboard and I know it) I've gained 3-5 lbs a day. The problem is I do it for 2-3 days in a row. Like last weekend, I drank lots of margaritas and ate off plan snacks and dinner in the afternoon on Friday. Then Saturday ate close to plan for breakfast but then off plan majorly for lunch/dinner and had some snacks. Then Sunday started my day off okay then just with traveling found it hard to eat at normal times and ended up snacking all day. So over a 3 days I gained 10 lbs. But again...ALL WATER WEIGHT.

I started MRC in May, but I am brand new to this. I have enjoyed reading the posts over the last month or so. Figured it was time to get involved instead of just reading!

I was doing awesome on program! THEN I went on vacation last week. I did not do well traveling. Has anyone ever "restarted" the yellow menu in the middle of the program??? Good idea? Bad idea?

Thanks for any help!