I want to cry, scream, yell, throw a tantrum; anything you can think of. I have tried really hard this past week to not drink, and to eat healthy, and exercise. I have busted my butt working out and eating healthy. I have stressed so much this week trying to eat healthy that I feel like I have a swollen throat. So what do I do? Mess it all up today by going out last minute and drinking, eating bad, and now I feel so bad I am falling into depression over it! Check out my fitday. Yes, I was doing good and today i ate over 3,000 calories. Did I completely undo my whole week? YUP! I. give. up!!!! I am so disappointed in myself..

Will giving up help you reach your goal?

Dianne,
You may not have completely undone your week with one night of excess.
Get back up on the horse and keep going. Being mad at yourself will do you absolutely no good. In fact, I think the ability to rebound after a fall is one of the most important weight loss "secrets" that you can learn. Also, don't overdo your program to the point of getting sick. That also will get you nowhere if you have to recover from illness. Just carry on and get into a comfortable groove with your eating/exercise plan. Slow and steady wins the race!

Breathe... one day won't undo it all. Yeah, you effed up. Get back on it today. You can do this!!

Thank you for such an inspiring post, Carol!

Chelsey, I, too, think that one day of splurging isn't going to ruin your plan.

I like the idea of rebounding right back into the regular plan.

From the way you've written all your posts, I can tell that you will reach your goal. Am sending you lots of good thoughts for today and every day. !

OK, I did look at your fitday. Even with yesterday factored in, you averaged 1800 calories/day for the week. What is your goal for calories/day? I bet with being so young and all and with all your exercise, you're still at a deficit for the week.

Is that deficit as big as it would have been if you stuck to 1600 cals yesterday? No. But it's better than if you ate and drank 2000-3000 every day last week.

Did you learn anything you can take away from this experience? Any strategies to help this not happen again? Do you and your friends do a designated driver system? Maybe you can be the driver most of the time until your cousin's wedding (and, of course, since this is a lifestyle change, you can work on sensible outings moving forward).

Last night i learned that after two glasses of wine, I need to ask my husband to put away the leftover birthday cupcakes, or else they won't all make it back... so my off-plan day was a learning experience, too...

Cglass Thank you, for reminding me that I can't sabotoge everything I have done the whole week in one day. I am just dissapointed because I told myself and self-talked myself before the weekend preparing NOT to go off plan so bad. The weekends are when I really mess up whenever I am trying to fix my eatings, and then I just end up giving up. But you are right, I cant give up!

Shytowngal and Silver Thank you for sending good thoughts my way and encouraging me that I can do this. You know whats funny? I was thinking yesterday; a lot of people say they get the strength to change their eating habits becuase they want to control the food and not let the food control them. I am so twisted I think a tad differently. I feel like the food is controlling me when I can't eat it so therefore I eat the bad food to prove I AM in control of what I get to eat. Isnt that crazy??

Same7 Oh I can always count on you to make me feel better! You are like my healthy lifestyle coach I didnt average out my calories for the week. Is that how the body works? It goes by how many calories in a week, not a day? If so, that makes me feel better. I have learned so much throughout the many times I have tried to change my lifestyle. For me its a matter of willpower. I really think I am almost scared to change my lifestyle. Like, I almost feel I wont be Chelsey anymore if I cant eat the comforting foods I love and used to eat all the time. Does that sound crazy?

Regardless of everything, Thank you all so much for the support. I am jumping back on the horse today and am eating lower carb today (I think I ate enough carbs for a month yesterday ) What would I do without all of you?!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Chelsey

Chelsey, I am sending you lots of good thoughts.

To me, eating in unhealthy ways or eating/drinking things that are very unhealthy is similar to people who drink alcohol and pretend it has no effect. That may sound drastic, but, to me, it is very similar.

I am finding that I feel more and more relieved as I learn that it is power to choose, to choose what I eat, how much I eat, how I eat, when and where I eat, etc. That is the control. The measuring cup, the spoon, and the scale are just tools I use to help me be in control/in charge of what I choose.

It is powerful to choose not to do things which are unhealthy for us, very powerful. It is powerful to choose what we will do. I look both ways, and look again, before crossing the street.

That's what "write it before you bite it" means to me. I am looking both ways before I take a step that might be too risky, or even dangerous.

Food has no consciousness, no intelligence. We are not fighting with something that has a will. It is simply matter.

You do have that power, the power to choose to do what is right for you. No one and nothing can take away the power we have to make healthy choices for ourselves.

I wish you a day full of beauty and victories. I know you will succeed!

Hey at least you logged it! When I binge I don't log because I just don't want to think about how much I ate. At least you're owning it.

A lot of people have a 'free day' once a week so they won't go off plan. You can't restrict too much or else you'll just fall off the wagon.

Also I think it's important to vary your calories each day so you body doesn't become used to living off of a lower amount. You want to keep your metabolism burning!

Good idea Dianne...SCREAM... then get back on the horse/wagon and make this a learning experience and life goes on ...

We've ALL been there, you can do this....

Silver Thank you again for the encouragment, you all really make me feel like you believe in me and that I can do this! I am so excited to have this support system. I CANT WAIT till the day I reach goal and can give help and support back out to others just trying to start out!

Ainsley I used to not log when I messed up becuase after a day like yesterday, I normally would just quit altogether. But I NEED to see the huge amount of calories, and carbs, and fat so I can know how bad it feels and not to do it again! hah Oh I am so evil to myself I really dont know why I binge like that; even at the time of eating the bad food, I KNEW how bad it was. Whats going on through my mind when I do this!?

Ilene Oh, I did scream, and cried, and put myself down.

But now I am back up and feeling better about this; and I can thank you all for that!

Your body responds to your input vs. output over time. While it makes sense for us to log on a daily basis, our bodies don't close the ledger at midnight. Some people actually track their calories on a weekly basis instead of a daily basis for this reason. Also, there are many who calorie cycle -- eating different amounts each day, some high, some low. I don't officially calorie-cycle, but some days, if I have a couple hundred calories left at the end of the day, instead of hunting down another snack (or, more likely, dessert!), I mentally "bank" them, so I can go over on another day (like if I make my favorite dinner or crave an afternoon latte). To me, that's part of the wonderful flexibility of counting calories. It's not for everyone, though -- I know some people like to stick to an exact number every single day.

I was literally running on the treadmill this morning and thought, "I want to post to Chelsey that I think it's good she entered everything on fitday!" For me, that was an important part of getting a handle on everything. I actually just switched to the Daily Plate so I don't have my link up anymore, but believe me, that log held some ugly moments. I felt like recording them helped me "own" them. It also helped me see that in spite of some bad days, over time my calories were still at a reasonable level.

Same7lbs That made me smile knowing you care enough to think about me during your workout!

I have learned I can't "pretend" those calories werent consumed. They were and I need to realize how high the calories can get just by mindlessly eating. Even if I just ate two slices of pizza (instead of the 4 ), I could have saved 420 calories! That would have put me at neutral for the day! Sheesh, if only I had thought twice.

I've come to the conclusion, that as hard as this is, and as easy as it is to give up if I am not losing weight, I CANNOT continue to eat the way I always have or I WILL gain a lot of weight. I thank God that I have been pretty lucky and I need to NOT take advantage of that. I have always been a size 4 since high school,and currently still am. The difference now is, my weight is from fat, not muscle. I have lost muscle and gained fat, but somehow have maintained the same weight and size. But according to my nutritionist, I have small bones so I could stand to lose weight. Who knows if thats even true? To me it has nothing to do with size. Someone with more body fat and a size 4 can look A LOT worse than someone with a lot of muscle and a size 8.

OH the journey of weightloss. Being healthy is such a gift and all good things are worth fighting for