Here I am 130 pounds lighter and there are still times of struggle. I guess I had a fairytale belief I would get the weight off and *poof* all food issues would be gone too. WRONG!

We had some discipline/distrust issues with our teenage son also our teenage nephew in the last month. Big time stress for me also in the last month I have bought 2 packs of Oreos (which I haven't had any in over 2 1/2 years) and I made myself sick eating full sugar and fat cookie dough ice cream late one night. The late night snacking creep in due to inability to fall asleep. And it took me till today reading a weight loss blog to have that "Ahh ha" moment that I am stress eating over the recent drama.

I asked for my husbands help with breaking the night time eating and sweets runs at night. Sugar will not ease any stress but create more when I beat myself up over eating junk.

12 days till our big family beach trip and I am committed to everyday 100% on plan. Even the vacation will not be a free for all I will budget in some goodies. I put my kids on notice I am not buying things that tempt me right now till i get my head back on straight.

Congratulations on a great loss. Congratulations, too on recognizing that Oreos can't fix the stresses that are bound to come up in our lives.

Wow! First, congrats on your weight loss! Seriously inspiring. Good for you for reading the message boards and reminding yourself to stay on track. It's so hard, but so doable. I too have a husband who used to do late night sweety runs. : )

OK, so could you please share how you lost the weight and how long it took? I"ll go see if it's under your profile, but I thought I'd ask just in case. : ) Best wishes!

Ok, just read your intro post. Very cool! It's my dream to become a runner. I have no idea how that could happen, but it's inspiring when I see others who were successful! Thanks for sharing. : )

Congrats on recognizing you were slipping, adjusting and asking for support. All super awesome

Count it a great success that you have so significantly changed your behavior. Maybe you will never slip up again, maybe you will. Keep improving, keep working on a healthy you, and count each success because it is impressive and you deserve the credit.

Good for you!

I particularly sympathize/empathize because stress emotional eating is one of my personal challenges. I think I've got on top of it but that is the thing of stress. You never know til you are faced with it.

GL!
A.

Good for you for catching the behavior and recognizing how it needs to change!

I can sympathize with the stress eating! I can't say I understand it, because when I am caught in the act of stress eating, I recognize it, but I don't understand why I chose to eat (subconciously, conciously, whatever) when I am stressed!

At the beginning of May, I was caught in the middle of middle school softball drama. I was temporarily working 2 jobs and wasn't able to see for myself what was happening, but could only hear what others were saying. My 8th grade daughter was also caught in the middle and anyway, to make a long story short (ha), I found that I was eating like a mad woman and not wanting to exercise!

I am back on track now and feeling so much better. The stress mixed with the bad food and low exercise equaled no energy and extreme guilt and self hatred. What a horrible combination and a vicious cycle.

It is posts like yours that make me realize I am not alone. Thank you!

Wishing you the best,
Dana

Congratulations on all that you have accomplished! I too have had to accept that there will be times of struggle. I wish that all food issues would go "Poof"! But, that is not the way life works. I am confident that you are going to handle it. You have already proved that you can.

Thank you for sharing. I believe when people make this type of post that it helps both the poster and the reader. You are a wonderful example, a true inspiration.

BTW, what weight loss blog were you reading?

Good for you for recognizing that you were eating b/c of stress!! I also tend to be a stress-eater and sometimes it can be hard to stop. You have done amazingly well so far, and I hear you on the whole "why can't the food issues just go away" bit. It would be sooo nice. Stay strong and keep up the good work. You are beeee-autiful, by the way!

Nikki, no, sadly it doesn't end. For those of us who have made the sugar/fat combo our coping/comfort/drug of choice, it is very difficult to replace the temporary pleasure it give us. The euphoria...it melts away all the problems of the world for a brief moment in time. Only to be replaced with added stress and guilt and of course weight gain. The only thing I have found to work is total abstinence...but still, I have never been able to totally achieve it for life. I slip often, and climb back on that damn wagon at least once a month. I guess the good news is, as long as we can get back on, we're still 2 steps ahead of the game. It's when we stay down for very long...That's when we can't find our way back.

There are MANY people in this world who spout moderation..."have your cake and eat it too". They say it's all in our heads, and sometimes make us feel like losers because we are unable to eat ONE oreo and stop. To some, we are damaged goods, broken and weak. But I'm here to tell you, that you are not broken. You are not weak. Sugar is crack to some of us, and you are not alone in the inability to limit it. Just keep trying. That is all you can do....Oh, and never give up.

I'm a moderation spouter, but I don't think anyone who can't/doesn't want to is a loser by any means. Whatever WORKS for people, works! I know I'd gain and lose this 160 pounds a million times over (as I did the 20 pounds I'd usually lose & then give up) if I hadn't done the hard, arduous, boring, taxing, infurating, hilariously easy in the long run, MENTAL workout. Being fat for me was all in my head, absolutely. I had one way to cope with life, and that was food (except during times of stress, then I couldn't keep a piece of bread down).

So HUGE congrats for noticing the triggers and nipping in the bud, and saying NO to going back there!!

EXACTLY!! Yes, the moderation route WORKS for MANY people, unfortunately, it doesn't work for us all, and I don't think it is a "learned" thing. I have people in my life that absolutely can not wrap their heads around the concept and think that because THEY can, that we all should be able too as well. Yes, my husband can eat a small dish of ice cream and be totally satisfied for days. I can have a small bowl of ice cream and think about it for days, often sending me in a downward spiral of binging. He can, I can't. I am wired differently than he is.

Obviously I can sort of do moderation, because I do eat sweets occasionally, and I have maintained a 190 pound weight loss for 2 years, but my point was to the OP is NO, that for some of us, the struggle is never over. I may do it, but it makes me crave it more than ever every time I do, and if I keep doing it, I may NOT get back on the wagon at some point. Which goes to show us WHY only 2-5% of people who lose weight KEEP it off.

^^^Yes, yes, yes.

OP, I thought I had strategies in place to help me deal with my emotional overeating. These strategies had worked for 16+ months, solidly. The one day I had a nerve-wracking phone call with my doctor's nurse, and the next thing I knew I was head first in Reese's PB cups.

It will be a lifelong thing for me. The awareness of that can be overwhelming and somewhat depressing, yes, but the awareness can also bring power. That's what I try to focus on.

You have done such a great job that I know you'll do well at the beach. Just keep the bathing suit on AT ALL TIMES! That should remind you! LOL! I can hardly imagine 130 pounds and I KNOW you can do this. Have a great time and good luck.

Lin