Hey everyone. I've been actively counting all of my calories for about a month now, and I've dropped somewhere around 5 lbs. Recently the scale has barely been moving despite me being in my calorie range. This has made my motivation slip a little bit.

Also, it could be my TOM, but I'm craving things so badly right now. I just want to eat a whole batch of brownies and massive amounts of pancakes and nutella...GAH! I feel like I could break any minute and just go on a rampage in my kitchen. I used to eat things that I didn't think would be too bad, like I'd eat a pudding cup or two, but now I'm not having any because it would break my calorie allotment. I just don't know what to do! I feel like if I eat a little bit of something I'm craving, I won't be able to stop.

Thanks guys. :]

Think. Take a deep breath or two or three (or more) and really ask yourself how you're going to feel tomorrow if you give in to your cravings. Right when you open your eyes in the morning. If you binge, you will immediately feel something negative. I know I do. I have a binge eating problem and I know exactly how you feel. I know how extremely hard it is. If you can just stay in the moment and ask yourself to let go. Let go of that desire. Calm yourself and even sit and meditate. Allow yourself to feel those cravings and see how you feel when you don't give into them. You'll feel such a sense of accomplishment! And, think of the pride you'll feel when you wake up tomorrow.

Finally, yes, weight loss can stall and plateau but giving in to temptation will most definitely NOT get you to your goal. Maybe you can go clean your closet. Or chew gum. Or do some push ups or paint your nails. How about some hot tea? THere are lots of things that you can do to distract yourself. Try to survive this night and you'll be that much stronger the next night.

Hey uhlysse! I have the same problem you do. I find, though, that just letting myself have a portion of what I want, not eating around cravings, and forgiving myself for going over my calorie allotment just one day helps. However, if you're concerned that it's going to be an extended trip away from the bandwagon, then maybe look for a healthy alternative to what you want...maybe buy some instant pudding and have a half portion of that and give the rest away, have whole wheat pancakes (does that exist?) or incorporate what you want into your meal, etc. Whatever you do, do NOT eat around your craving. I've found that nothing will satisfy your craving than the thing you want. TOM's are rough...I just went through my first one while dieting and it was pretty difficult for me, but I felt that the above information was what helped me.

Thankyou very much, guys. I'm not feeling so starved for sweets this morning. I did let myself have a multi-grain pancake with cinnamon-sugar on top instead of syrup, and it was only 255 calories. Not as good as the real thing smothered in syrup, but when I saw that my weight went down half a lb today, I didn't want to ruin that. :]

Thanks again!