I'm taking responsibility for my actions. Well. Lack of action. My last post was on 3-27-12 and I'm pretty embarassed/horrified to say that I've gained about 14lbs back in almost 2 months. I worked SO hard to get those off in the first place, I'm pretty upset about it.

I crashed and burned pretty hard. Out of no where I got sick of my diet, sick of not being able to eat what I want, etc. So I acted like a child and ate what I wanted to. About 3 weeks ago I got really sick of eating crap and made 3 failed attempts to get back on the wagon. I've been back on since Tuesday. Thankfully I didn't really fall off the exercise wagon. I did exercise less but I still did it.

So now I'm back to a slow carb/4 Hour Body-esque diet. Mostly meats and veggies, no grains, with an off day once a week. I also started weight lifting last Saturday.

Feeling pretty foolish for letting go but I'm back and I guess that's what counts. I'm all about owning up to things, so I figured it was better to own up to it in a thread rather than just slink quietly back in with posting in other threads.

Dont feel foolish, be proud of yourself for admitting that you had a few off weeks and now you're back to doing what you know you should be doing. I get frustrated pretty much on a daily basis at one point or another. When I first started I was doing so good and did the same thing you did.
Keep it up you'll get back down and further!

Maybe low-carb isn't the best diet for you then? As I've read that many low-carb diets have a worse rebound affect when you go off of them because your body wants what it couldn't have.

Maybe try low-calorie or some other diet instead? It wouldn't hurt and it might be *fun* to try something new?

great point. I personally CANNOT handle low carb diet, but cutting down on calories works really well for me.

Better late than sorry! Be proud that you found enough motivation to come back! I don't know how many times I've tried to stick to a diet plan and giving up in 2-3 days! Welcome back and work twice as hard to stay on track this time!

And if you're feeling that deprived, perhaps you should calorie count? You can eat anything you want, just in smaller portions. Whatever works for you though! Remember what they say- the best diet for you is the one that you will stick to.. Or was that for exercising? LOL, either way, it should apply to both!

Good luck! You can do it!

Hey Daki, great to see you back! Don't get upset about the gain, think of it as a sign that what you were doing before wasn't going to work in the long run.

While these low carb, low fat, no meat, only meat diets can make you lose weight - are they going to be a part of your life for good? The answer is usually - no. You simply cannot deprive yourself of food groups just because it might help you lose weight quicker. Weight loss is a change of lifestyle, one you should be able to keep for the rest of your life.

Carbs are GOOD for you if they're whole grain/whole wheat. You should be eating 5-11 portions of grains a day to sustain a healthy diet. You're exercising, so you need to be fuelling your body not starving it and restricting it. Just because food has carbs and fat in them doesn't mean they're really unhealthy. You can eat healthy and it can be tasty. Instead of thinking about what food you should eat for weight loss, start looking into what food you should eat to fuel your exercise AND lose weight.

Personally I've been at this weight loss malarky for over a year. I've lost 47 lbs steadily over that year by eating healthy and exercising. I've never tried a diet, I've just made healthier substitutions. I've stalled, that's for sure, and I treat myself when I'm out with my friends because I want to enjoy life, but there's no way I would revert back to my old ways. I've changed my life for this, and I don't see myself ever going back to the way I used to be. That's what it should be for everyone, you should enjoy and love the things that you do to lose weight because who's to say when you reach your goal you're going to think "well...that was horrible. Back to eating the tasty food!"

You can do this, you are in complete control of your life and you can change it to become healthier. You've just got to stay focused and stay educated.

Hey! You're back!

Count me in as another one who CAN'T do low carb...well low, low carb. I generally eat a lower carb diet than the Standard American Diet but higher than a traditional low carb diet. When I went really low with my carbs and eliminated grains I was tired all the time...for six weeks! not good!

So since you felt deprived why not give something else a shot? I know it can be scary because you KNOW you can lose weight on this low carb diet, but if you feel deprived then maybe it's time to throw caution to the wind and try something else.

Whatever you decide, we're here for you stick around

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the kind words and advice -hugs-

My problem is I know I can't do calorie counting. It gets triggery for me. I'm great at 1200-1400 calories for about a week or two but before I know it, I'm eating 600 calories a day. I obsess to an unhealthy point if I have to count calories. Or points for that matter, I've been on Weight Watchers in the past several times and I wind up eating half of my daily points.

I got to my lowest weight as an adult (Maybe 140s? Didn't have a scale) by eating 300 calories of food, drinking 300 calories of soda, and smoking whenever I was hungry to "save calories". It was horrible but I couldn't help myself. I have absolutely none of those tendencies on this diet, which is why I'm so hesistant to leave it. I'm never hungry, I don't count a thing, and I don't get any of those low carb side effects others get. Like the fatigue Sontaikle mentioned.

Even simply making healthy substitutions doesn't seem to work for me. I'll lose about 10-15lbs then nothing happens. It's the story of my weight loss life, I only lose 15lbs before it's not working for me anymore. I'll maintain, but I won't continue losing. My body does not like to let go of weight when I'm eating bread on a regular basis.

What I'm doing feels very sustainable. Even though I fell off for two months, the fact that I wanted to come back to this really tells me something. I know what I can eat at what restaurants so I still go out. I know if I want something badly enough I can wait until cheat day. I'm not 100% strict about it, I will eat cheese and some sauces that have sugar in them. If something special food related was happening not on my cheat day, I'd have a small portion. I like to drink, so I'll still have shots (shots as opposed to super sugary mixed drinks, don't do beer). I was doing all of that when I lost 37lbs. It felt like life, not like restriction.

Oh, and I do eat carbs, just not carbs from grains. I eat beans and veggies. I generally get around 60-100g of carbs a day. Plus the "cheat" day, I generally eat mostly carbs that day.

Having said ALL of that, I'm not expecting to be on this for the rest of my life. Just hopefully awhile longer. When I get to goal I am planning on giving calorie counting another legitimate shot. I'm hoping that by being able to eat for maintenance that I won't get so obsessive about it.

I think I'm sounding pretty defensive but I want to let you guys know why I'm going to stick with this and it's not that I'm not poo-pooing your advice or anything. I do appreciate the help and understand where you're coming from =)

Hey there. I mostly lurk in this forum, but I definitely remember your posts!

One other piece of well-meant advice for you - I may just be projecting, but I think I see a commonality between our situations. I've learned how to lose and have done it before, a couple times, before eventually "falling off" and slowly regaining. This puts me in the same camp as so many other people here - "oh, never again! This is the last time I'm losing!" etc.

The puzzle for me is hanging on to my mindfulness of my weight when everything else in life starts demanding much more attention. What really is different for me this time is that I've had some serious introspection on what happened in my life the times that I "fell off" and began regaining. I spent some time journaling and trying to identify as much as I could about the circumstances, for me, that flipped the switch on my mindset from losing to not-caring. I'm sure those circumstances will come around again - so I just want to get better at recognizing when it's happening and hopefully respond differently / more successfully.

I'm happy to hear your "switch" is back on again and you're back here. GL!

Hey! Welcome back I recognise your picture, I remember you from when I joined here. It's great you came back and that you're back on the wagon!