I guess TOM, the stress of taking care of two sick kids, feeling like I was getting sick myself and just stress in general caught up with me over the weekend. I finally told myself just screw it. I don't want to worry about what I eat or anything so I didn't. Now I'm still struggling to get back on track today but I still feel so blah.

I think part of the problem is I tried to lower my calories to 1500 last week. I've been doing pretty good at staying around 1300-1600 anyway with most days being just over 1400 but there was something mentally challenging about trying to actually have to stay under the 1500 so I upped my number back to 1600.

I also just can't get back into wanting to exercise. I finally bargained with myself this morning to do 1 mile of the 4 mile challenge. I couldn't wait to stop after that 15 minutes. There was no getting myself to even attempt another mile much less the other 3. It could be our wacky weather that's driving me batty. I guess I'm just going to ride out the storm. (Haha I made a pun ) and see what happens.

Chin up, Dawnyal, everyone has days, weeks, and sometimes months like that. We all know where you are, b/c we've been there. *hug*

Dawnyal, we have all been there, and I was just there last week! You did an excellent job with 15 minutes on the treadmill, though--when I'm not in the mood, I don't do it at all, so you're lightyears ahead of me The weather definitely doesn't help. When it's icky outside, I just want to curl up and nap on the couch all day (oh, to be a house cat!).

With everyone being sick lately, its really hard to do anything. I didnt workout for a week and then whenever I even think about it, "man I think Im not recovered yet!" All this rain and dreary-ness isnt helping either.

You can do it Dawnyal. Don't beat yourself up over the weekend it's not worth it. Just pick up and go on. It's hard when your run down but that is when we really have to watch it. Try to beat those trigger feelings next time. I know you can.

Don't beat yourself up, Dawnyal, it doesn't change the fact that you're doing so well! A minor bump in the road is all it is, try to think of it that way. It's also good that you have some idea what triggered it so you can come up with ways to avoid those situations.

((hugs)), Dawn. Don't be hard on yourself! It seems like when we reduce our calories too much, we have no energy left to exercise. I'm confident you'll be back on track this week!

Exactly my thought. Hang in there, Dawnyal.

Just remember, it was only one weekend, and it happens to everybody. Sometimes all of this can be so overwhelming. There are days that I am literally counting down the minutes until I'm done exercising because it's the last thing I want to be doing right then. But in the end I always feel better for having done it. Just stick to it Dawnyal, you'll get back into the swing of things. Think of the roll you've been on lately, I know you're not about to let one lousy weekend ruin all of the progress you've made so far. Just put this crappy weekend behind you, but take note of your triggers so that you can try to deal with them better next time, and move on. Good luck sweetie, you're gonna be just fine!

Beverly

I agree with everyone else - don't beat yourself up luv!

And well done for forcing yourself to do some exercise today -1 mile is great and you'll soon be back on form to increase it.

Love Amanda x

Thanks for all the encouragement you gals and guys. I am still just in a slump and can't break it. I'm breaking one of my rules and decided that I will start again on Monday. Usually I tell myself to start over with the next meal, next snack, next morning, but I just can't get back into it and it is stressing me out even more. So I am going to give myself this few days break from worrying about what goes into my mouth and whether or not I exercise. I feel a huge burden has been lifted and you know what? Now that I don't feel like I "have" to exercise I'm actually looking forward to going home and getting on my exercise ball and doing some situps. I posted most of my thoughts and feelings on this over at my blog if you want to check it out.

I'm going out of town this weekend to by best friend's 30th birthday party and I decided I'm not going to beat myself up these next 3 days only to "blow it" on Saturday and Sunday. So now I'm going to journal not what I eat or how much I exercise the next few days but concentrate on my feelings, why I want to lose the weight and yes find out exactly what stressors I have in my life and work toward fixing them. I will still be around the next couple of days and then be back on Monday with a full report

Well theres your motivation! You are the Feb points winner! Youve obviously doing something right!