So I haven't been able to break the 20-pound mark. It's been almost a month, and I just keep getting SO close and messing it up. Every time I get within a pound of 20 total lost, I start going off plan. I don't understand. I sit here and think, "I'm going to work out today. I'm going to stay on plan. I'm going to drink lots of water." And then I just don't.

I know there's probably no advice you can give me other than "Suck it up and stop eating so much," but is it normal to go through this? Or am I just really....something?

Just a thought but maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself. I wrote down absolutely everything I ate in a food journal and after a few days of doing it I would fall into horrible eating sometimes even worse than when I wasn't recording everything. I fell under the pressure and I felt deprived, which stressed me out and made me feel bad, and I stopped losing weight. So I decided to stop recording everything and just make good choices but ones I could live with, and I've still lost 7 lbs. I'm still aware of good foods/bad foods and try to be aware of what my body is telling me, but I'm not being obsessive or beating myself up about it. Maybe I'll go back to a stricter plan when my body/brain is ready or I'm hoping my body will just get used to better choices and the adjustment will be more natural. I'm in awe of the people who count everything and stick to restrictive plans, but I know myself and I love whimsy too much to be happy feeling confined. Right now, I can live with the choices I'm making, and I had a realization tonight that I feel lighter just standing and walking. I don't know if the same will work for you, but it might be something to consider.

You know, I may take that advice. I've been downright obsessive about food and calories and everything else, and while I did lose a tiny bit, there's clearly something not working here...I think maybe I'll lay off the scale until weigh-in day Monday and in the mean time just eat what I think is right.

You could try not weighing yourself. Maybe its a mental block, if you aren't seeing the numbers maybe you can just focus on eating healthy and excercising.

Yea...I think it's a lot to do with that. I see the number drop and I ease up, then it's back up the next day. I need to hide it or something. Lol. I keep saying I'm not going to weigh, but I can't get off the damn thing.

I have an unstable relationship with my scale. A biggie is that I just don't trust it. I weighed myself today because I was curious and it told me that I weigh two pounds less than I did last Thursday. My immediate thought was, "You LIE!" so I wouldn't even change my ticker. But tonight, I really did realize that I feel lighter. Obviously it's not because of the two pounds, but from all the weight. Just the realization of how much better my body already feels is enough. I haven't decided if I'll believe the scale yet or not, but it really doesn't matter. You might be just short of that 20lb mark, but don't you FEEL so much better than you did 19lbs ago? Try focusing on how good it feels and maybe that will help you get the scale to move in a roundabout way. I've decided that I'm going to try to begin a new relationship with my scale. Right now we're in the beginning stage. You know... when you're in that stage where you don't want to seem too eager, so you see him like once a week and it's just this casual thing. Not too much pressure, just enjoying myself and seeing how things go.

I suffer from self-sabatoge when I lose weight. It's something I'm hoping to work through this time. As soon as people start noticing and commenting - especially if I get attention from men (other than my husband). I know I use the weight as a physical shield. So for me even reaching small goals can cause an internal conflict. Not sure if that's anything you can relate to or not, but thought I'd put it out there. Good luck to you
Jen

I also have a pretty unstable relationship with my scale. How often do you weigh? I used to weigh multiple times a day, and then I decided for a while to only weigh once a week and put my scale away the rest of the time. It helped me a lot.

I can totally relate to a couple posts in this thread. Unstable relationship with my scale, not believing what I see when the scale shows a loss, self sabotage at the point I'm starting to feel good etc.

Like jeniansmom, I hope to work through it this time instead of losing 60lbs only to gain it all back in a year.

I think, in my case at least and this may work for you, that once we hit a roadblock like this we need to change something. Like that saying goes "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got". Perhaps working out in the morning instead of the afternoons/evenings, Eating every 2-3 hours instead of just 3 meals. Not sure what you're doing now, but I'm just throwimg ideas out there.

I Know we can work through times like this with some dedication

i can totally relate to self-sabotage..
for me, i find this need to reward myself after losing some weight, and then i get out of control and don't get back on the bandwagon. i'm doing better with that this time around, but its hard to fight the urge to eat and feel like "hey, i lost a a few pounds, i can get away with eating (fill in the blank)..."
i think what helps me the most is self-talk, trying to figure out what's really going through my head.
also, maybe total restriction isn't your thing right now. again, some self-talk, supportive friends, and the wonderful people who post here help me get through.

bama girl, I'm weighing at least once a day, usually 2, sometimes 3. I'm trying to give it a rest though--didn't weigh this morning.

I'm taking the advice and changing my game-plan. I think the obsessive calorie counting is actually what's making me overeat. I plan out my food in order to meet my calories without going over, but I'm not eating what I want or what my body needs--I'm just mindlessly eating to meet the number. So what I'm trying starting today is eating when I'm hungry (gee, there's a novel idea) and THEN making the choice of what to eat.

Today, for example, I had a bowl of cereal and coffee for breakfast, and then when I got hungry at about 1 I went to Subway and had a 6-inch veggie sub and a bag of Sunchips. This is a fairly healthy day so far, I think. Normally, though, I would have had my coffee, 2 or 3 100-calorie packs, and a cheese stick or some bread, and I'd still be starving but would have consumed about the same or more calories. So...maybe this is a better way to go.

I guess I'm weird because I'm motivated to eat well when I see a good number and even more motivated when I see a bad number (any kind of gain). I also weigh myself everyday so that I can remember what I did to achieve that loss or what I did to cause that gain and correct it or tweak it as necessary. You have to find your own brand of motivation and go for it! Good luck.

Dhani