So after working my butt off to lose 80 lbs and maintaining for almost 2 years, I've managed to gain back half that over the past year and a half. I'm so mad at myself for letting things slide this far. I hate the fact that all my cute clothes no longer fit me and just sit in my closet mocking me. I'm rotating the same 10 outfits or so because I flat out refuse to buy new and bigger clothes. I absolutely can't stand being in such a negative place.

So I guess my question is: how do I let it go and start again? I know what I need to do health-wise, and when I'm eating clean and working out I know that I have the ability to lose the weight. My biggest problem for the past several months has been that I'm just so frustrated at the situation that I've gotten back into. I remember the plateau that I had in the 230's last time and how frustrating it was to move through that and now here I am facing that same place again.

Any advice for picking yourself back up again??

When I started I wrote down all my thoughts on a piece of paper, all those horrible, angry, sometimes embarrassing thoughts all laid out in front of me. I let myself feel anything I wanted to, shame, hate, embarrassment, frustration, fear and then at the end of it I took the paper outside and burned it and let all those negative feelings go.

Holding onto those negative feelings wont help the situation. I sat and felt sorry for myself for 2 years, during that time I was also still shoveling food into my mouth and I was waiting and hoping that one day I would go to sleep and wake up with the perfect body! I was so miserable that entire time but when I let go of those feelings, picked myself up off the ground and put an effort into losing weight for the 3rd time I actually felt better. It felt good to know that although I had gained the weight back, I was actively trying to be healthier again. Instead of thinking about that frustrating time when you hit your stall in the 230's, think about the feeling when you broke the stall and moved on! I bet you were elated with yourself and you will feel that feeling again!

When I started again I took it slow. I would promise myself I would stay on track for just one day after that day I would promise myself to do it just one more day and so on. It got easier and easier to stay on track and after the first couple pounds came off the fire in me was burning again. I have even taken tough days hour by hour if I have to, whatever works for you is best! Try not to feel bad, many people on 3FC are losing the same weight for the 3,4,5 time. I am personally on my third time of losing the same weight. I have often read that maintenance is as hard or even harder then the actual weight loss and it is not uncommon for someone to regain some or even all of the weight they are previously lost. I know when I regained, I gained it all back and then another 20lbs. Your lucky you were smart enough to catch it before, that is an accomplishment in itself! Your cute clothes will fit again, you can do this

Good luck!

I just started back recently two after gaining 20 pounds back which I'm not happy about, but in the end I've realized I need to let go of the fact I gained that back and start working at it all over again!

Since I'm pretty much starting over I decided to start fresh and my starting weight is what it is now. I also decided to reward myself for every 10 pounds I lose with big prizes and I know I really want my Canon Rebel camera so I'll work hard at it.

I force myself to the gym, I find tho lately around 6 or 7ish in the evening I enjoy working out more than when I do right after work at 2:30. Every month I'm going to plan a different circiut routine to do for the month and than the next switch it up. I must learn to switch it up or else I get bored and quit.

Starting over is easy...it's continuing on working towards it which is hard. But it's a lifestyle change you gotta want to have, it's not just some fad for the time being.

You can do it!

Its weird after all that hard work, How we just let it go..
I am guilty of it too. I lost about 30 pounds.. Still had about 25 to go.
and I ended up having a bad year and for me it was depression.
I figured who cares...... But Now im starting all over again.
The good news is.. we did it once. WE can do it again!!

I really exited to be able to start over again. I remember how it all felt when I was at a lower weight. I had enough energy to go all day without naps, people said I looked much younger than I used to. Even, my outlook on life was better. I still working out the details of the plan I want to go on for when I start my diet, I plan on doing things like switching up the menu so it doesn't seem like all I eat anymore are salads. Switching up my exercise routine so it doesn't repetitive and I get bored with it. When I go out for walks there, are plenty of places I could do that.

I think the best advice I have to give is to try and keep things fresh. I get bored easily and that usually means I get tired from doing nothing or the same thing and that will lead to my not being successful on my weight loss. Knowing this will help me plan ahead and keep me on track. Like, Lostitwithgrace said, if we can do it once, then we can do it again. Best of luck to all of you in acheving your weightloss goals.

I'm in the same boat you're in. In 2007 I made my mind up that I was tired of being overweight and having no self-esteem. I joined the HMR class at a local hospital. When I started the program I weighed 193. It was hard because I truly love food and before the program, everytime I ate something that I really really loved, I ate it like I would never have it again! By the time I stopped the program I had lost somewhere around 40-45 pounds. Over the last 3.5 years I have struggled to maintain my weight, up 20 lbs down 30 lbs, up 30 lbs down 20 lbs. Right now I am at 169 and just lost about 4 lbs since Christmas! It's a good start but I definitely feel your frustration. It's really hard to start over when you have failed.

However, this time I have te support of my loving husband, and I've never had that before. My ex husband only tore me down and made me feel worse about myself. My husband found out he has NASH liver disease so I am doing this to support him just as much as I'm doing it for myself. The doctor told him that a low fat/low carb diet along with some vitamins is the only thing he can do for it and they don't know whether it will help or not.

Anyway, sorry to get off the subject, I believe that WE can do this. Stay strong and push on. Take it one day at a time. If you have a setback just remember that every morning when you wake up it's a new day!

(I apologize if I have any typos...I'm doing this from my phone! )

So happy to see a thread full of restarters with such positive messages. I was just about to make a thread just like this before I searched back a little. I lost thirty pounds last year, and I've already gained it all back. I think it was school stress, quitting smoking, plus having a new and wonderful boyfriend who loves to go out. I've been so frustrated with myself, and I've felt almost hopeless. I worry I'll do all of this just to fall off of the wagon again. I think I've become immune to some of the motivation I deluged myself with last time. I've also found that, for the past two weeks, making it a fresh new challenge has been helpful in getting me over the hump.

I was in the same position a few months ago. One day I just woke up and said, "Today's the day," and I've been back on the wagon ever since. Because of that, I suppose I don't have a lot of helpful advice on how to get started again.

Here's what I do have to offer, though: I've only lost about 5-10 pounds of the 30 that I gained, but I'm starting to feel thinner again, and my some of my clothes are starting to fit better. It's so motivating just to have one or two more skirts that don't make me feel like a stuffed sausage. Know that you don't have to re-lose all that you gained before you start feeling results.

imagine if someone you loved had been doing something that hurt them...and hurt you too. And then one day, they realized they wanted to change...and came to you and apologized. What would you say?

Now, look back at that wonderful person in the mirror and tell her how much you love her...how glad you are that she's stopped hurting herself...how hard you know it was for her to make this change...and how you're going to stand by her no matter what.

Ourselves are the hardest people to forgive.

I posted almost the same post! I lost 50lbs and gained 25 back. I am having a hard time finding the motivation and drive I use to have. Right now I'm taking it day by day. Tracking my food and committed to just 30 minutes of exercise. It has only been a week but so far so good! Best of luck!

I know my brothers fiance took her favorite outfit from when she was younger and hung it up for show. It gave her a lot of drive to get back in the outfit so maybe that could work for you as well.
Also, a lot of times when we plateau it's because your body is accustomed to routines. People are basically programmed for this. What you have to do is switch it up! Try different exercises that target other parts of your body, try changing up your diet to shock the system and get it off the current routine.

Someone once told me it takes 3 days of eating on plan to get you started again. Try that. Go for 3 days eating completely clean and see where you go from there.

I just started my routine yesterday, but the 30 minute work outs I started are already doing wonders for me. I do feel different and seem to about my day in a more positive way. Hopefully it is the same for anyone else, but I will say getting started again does mean serious effort on my part. Its not like one of those impulse decisions like going going out to the movies on the spur of the moment. I did try to make an outline of what I would be doing to get my starting weight down to my goal. It helps remind me of what I need to do or change anything to keep things fresh and I get to look back and see what I've done to get my weight lowered so far. When I get down to my goal weight, I want to look at my outline and feel proud of what I've done. that is one of the reasons I made the decision of getting healthier.