i'm fully convinced that THIS time it's going to stick. i feel differently this time around--i'm not as goal-oriented; instead, it's about making lifelong changes. so every so often, i catch myself falling back into my old ways--doing things that i thought were good at the time, but in retrospect probably doomed me to failure. such as:

- exercising too much. inevitably you will burn out.

- trying to eat TOO clean. inevitably i'll accidentally eat something "off plan" and then use it as an excuse to binge

- not eating clean enough. i.e. snack creepage...a small cookie today becomes 2 tomorrow, 3 the next day.

- becoming food-obsessed. this is a biggie and it's a bit hard to avoid. when i say that, i mean looking for "healthy" recipes, new healthy foods to try, etc. last night i had this sudden urge to make my own beef jerky, and i was obsessed with it for the last 24 hours. now i think i need to stop.

- becoming food-obsessed with things i can't have "now" by telling myself i can have them "later." sure, self-control is good, but obsessing over what you're going eat "someday" is definitely NOT healthy. But, this does NOT mean i should give in to the craving. What i should do is not obsess about it in the first place. Basically, i should not be thinking about food unless i'm hungry; and when i'm hungry, healthy food sounds good--don't need cookies or cake.

This is a good list. I have done just about all of the things you mentioned. I am especially bad about the exercising part. But this week, I missed a workout because I was SO tired and I managed to not feel too guilty about it so maybe I'm ok.

The toughest one is food obsession. In the past when I have lost lots of weight and believed I was "normal" I would give myself an off day. It started off as no big deal because I would still eat sensibly except for the one meal every couple of weeks or so. But after I went on vacation and binged but had no net weight change, I thought I could binge whenever I wanted and that was obviously stupid of me.

Back to my point: on the night before a planned day off, I physically and emotionally changed. I woul think all night about what I would eat first, second, etc. it was like I was on a high from drugs or something, I would get so giddy. I realized then that I was totally obsessed with food, just like an addict is hooked on drugs.

Thank you for posting this. I can so relate to it! I just started my maintenance phase in Oct/Nov of last year, but I have been having a really hard time during the last month or so. The three issues I quoted from your post are the ones I'm struggling with. I'm so disheartened right now---not because I've gained (although, who knows? The way I've eaten the past two days, I may have put on a pound or so). It's mainly because I feel so out of control. My whole day seems to revolve around thinking about food, planning my food, buying gourmet ingredients and/or kitchen items, etc. I need another hobby!! And it's not like I'm short on things to do. I am swamped with work.

I feel like I was so much more in control when I was in dieting mode than now.

Thanks, again, for posting this.

I love the fact that you mentioned 'overexercising'. I am sure guilty of doing this - and have suffered consequences from it (i.e. injury, fatigue and a compromised immune system).

I also agree that forcing the 'too clean' too soon approach to eating can bring one undone. I believe that as your body and tastebuds learn that clean-er foods are more beneficial (i.e. you feel better for it), then it will be easier to maintain that cleaner style of eating, and it won't be so hard to turn away from the junk foods.

I try to think about how I'll feel AFTER eating that chocolate biscuit (or whatever temptation is around at the time) rather than focusing on the taste for the minute or so that it is being eaten. It spends WAY more time going thru your digestion, than those few fleeting seconds in my mouth. I also like to deter myself from eating the junk by thinking of the havoc said chocolate biscuit could cause to my complexion. Vanity can be good for your health!!