Based on some "lurking" that I've been doing for a month or so, I can tell that this is a bunch of people who can commiserate about a long history of dieting.

I am your typical "been-fat-all-my-life-tried-a-million-diets" 24 year old, just finishing up college. I've been up in weight and down in weight, but I've landed way up this time! I start student teaching next semester, and I would love to start off my professional career as "the whole package." Brains, beauty, confidence, you know.

So my problem is starting again. I am one of those people who always feels like she is dieting, simply because if I ate everything that I wanted, I'd end up a pretty unhealthy person! (I've let myself "stop dieting" a few times with less-than-stellar weight gains.) I've had a few false starts over the past few months, and I think it is because of this history of failure. "I can just start tomorrow, like I always do." Or, "Well, I ate 2000 calories instead of 1500, but thats still a few hundred calories under my "bmr!" "But my friends are going out to the bar!" In the end, my failure mentality wins over my resolve.

I need some insight from some lovely ladies who have broken past this stage in their diet. How does one jump this hurdle and get back in the race?

Hi there,
I just want you to know that I can relate to you 100%. I started "dieting" two years ago for the first time, I would stop, and start again. Mostly I would take a longggg break before starting again which killed my diet. This time I'm determined to stick to it. I still have days where I eat what I want..but I get right back into things the next day. It is a good break for my body because with too many low cal days I would plateau.
What keeps me following plan is thinking long term goal. I know what I need to do now to be satisfied with myself later. Thats basically it. I've been overweight my whole life. (22 yrs old) I know that if I work hard now, I will absolutely love the results. I believe you can do it too! =)

For me, it's all about accountability and commitment. I keep track of every single thing I eat (I count calories) and I look at this as a long-term thing until I reach my goal. It takes a lot of patience. You have to just start fresh and make it a priority if it is really something that you really want to do.

I have to write down every little morsel I eat...and add up my calories every day...or I will not lose weight.

If I get into a phase where I stop documenting my food intake, I start to gain weight again.

So it will be a lifelong endeavor for me to keep my weight down. I have to document everything I eat from now on.

For me, it was about realizing that I wasn't nearly the failure I thought I was, and realizing that the failure mentality is not in-born, it's taught. We're taught to diet (by seeing others do it) ineffectively.

We're taught to give up (beating ourselves up for the failure) and then console ourselves with a binge, before "starting fresh" another day, week, or month.

The binge/purge cycle is the traditional form of dieting (a method that is almost success-proof. There's no way to succeed permanently on this cycle).

For me, it meant realizing that every choice is an important one. There is no "I've blown it, so I might as well....."

I always thought successful diets meant perfection (or at least being as perfect as possible, for as long as possible) and when I couldn't be perfectly good, I would choose to be perfectly horrible (with plans to start fresh at some point - usually after I'd regained all of the lost weight and another ten or twenty to spare).

Success this time has been courtesy of just realizing that every choice counts and that I didn't have to be perfect, I just had to do better. A mistake wasn't a tragedy, it was only a mistake. I didn't have to punish the mistake or binge to make myself feel better - no matter how big a mistake I made, my next choice didn't have to be a mistake too.

One choice at a time.

chose a meal plan that you can keep for the rest of your life. Nutritious, with treats that aren't once in a while. Then it's not a diet, but your life.

I'm really glad you've made this thread.

I finally got complimented about my weight loss and now I feel as though I'm slipping or something. I keep feeling really tempted to eat bad food because I think: "I'm getting thin now, maybe I can have that chocolate. e.c.t" I haven't had it, but I'm so tempted and I'm worried I'll slip back into old habits.

It doesn't help that the last week I had to stop exercising because I had to get my university work finished. It's done now, I just need to motivate myself to get back on track with eating properly and exercising. Even though I've lost weight, I'm still overweight... you think that would be motivation enough. Ggrrrr!

Thanks everyone! I think I just need to go for it

I'm in the exact same boat and trying to get out. We can do it!

This is so hard to do. I started off so strong and lost 30 pounds...then I got stuck at the same weight for weeks. I ended up giving up and gained back about 7 pounds. Now im working on shedding those pounds i regained and get back on track. I have about 3 pounds to go.

For me I just look at the big picture and try to keep a mental image of what I will look like once the weight is gone. It's a constant struggle that I wish would get easier....but im sory to tell u that it doesnt. Like you, ive ALWAYS been a bigger girl. Ive never been skinny a day in my life so i have a constant battle with food. We just have to set our priorities and try to stick with it.

I made a decision to stop the merry-go-round of dieting and bingeing and all the in-between stages. I needed to lose 160 pounds and knew that if I did not stay on my diet, I would never get to a normal weight again.

I also knew that it would take a very long time. If I continued to mess around because of this excuse or that justification I would continue to waste time in getting to goal. I was facing about 2 years in losing the weight, I certainly did not want to face 3 or 4 years more on it.

It takes discipline whether one need to be on a short term or long term diet. I focus on that, on the daily things I need to do and make it a priority. I am on my 85th week of dieting and I would not have stayed on this diet so long if I had not realized that every time I started and stopped all I was doing was riding on the merry-go-round.....forever.

If weight loss were easy with a one-size-fits-all solution there wouldn't be any need for 3FC. Making excuses is so much easier than staring problems in the face, not just for diet and exercise but for everything in life.

I don't have any answers. For me I have overhauled my "normal" eating and activity levels, but still struggle to keep regain from happening. One thing is for sure though, weight loss isn't a straight line with no obstacles. You'll have some bad days and some great days. All that matters is that you balance it out so that you have more good days than bad days.

What is your schedule like? Do you have a regular routine during the week/revolving around work and class? For me, I try to stick to loss-level calories during the week (M-F) and let myself eat what I want on weekends. I got down to almost-goal weight that way. This only works if I am following my weekly work routine though, and I haven't found answers to suit national holidays, vacations etc.