Why is it that one day your mind is so clear...you have made some decisions..and you feel confident. And then bam...next day its like who cares and you are back to you old self? I swear this has been my life story. This wait till the next day...week...year...is keeping me fat. And its honestly not becuase I am not ready to change..I have been ready. But why is that some people can do..and some people can just want? Thanks for letting me vent..lol

In the same boat here...yesterday was my bad day but I did get out and walk in the rain 2miles. I try to remeber why I started this it get me moveing again...

Michelle? did I ever ask you what you want to eat and what kind of activities you're interested in?

Every day of good eating is a victory. Every day that is on plan, or even close to on plan, is better than almost all of my "old" days of eating and if it means weight I *won't* gain, even if I'm not losing, I'll take that. Technically, we know how to lose weight. It's learning to walk that path and all that means for us every day that matters. Hang in there, you will have better days, better weeks, better months, and even better years!

every day is differnt, u just make ureself do it.
I know today was my day "off" rather then doing my workout I sat HERE.... bl;aaaaaa FINALLY got my heind end up and did a double take on workout today. Selfpunishment!! haha
Dont feel bad I think we ALL go through this...keep up the chin girl!!

No offense, but having been both ways numerous times (look at my name) I can tell you this: If you're ready you'll do it and you won't stop (except for minor set backs). And frankly you can be ready and do it and then you can turn back to your old ways and have to do it all over again. My heroes are the ones who do it and stay doing it for life because that is my goal and this time I will NOT go back.

But you aren't really ready until you're ready. It's like hitting bottom when you take drugs.

Karma

My advice is to take it slow. Don't expect to change everything over night. You shouldn't have good days and bad days...it will always land somewhere in between. For me, I would go a whole week eating "prefectly" then let it all go...all or nothing. The difference is I made gradual changes that have lasted for months.

Focus on making one small change you can stick to - something that isn't a drastic departure from your every day life. Then when you are ready, add something else. For example, just focus this week on drinking more water. Focus on it until it is no longer something you think about, and it becomes a habit. Then focus on extending your exercise routine until that becomes habit, and so on.

I know it's frustrating and you want to lose it all now. The hardest thing is having the patience to make changes slowly because during the transition period where you are developing new habits, you may not lose any weight...but you have to have the strength and faith in what you are doing. And it will work.

I somewhat disagree--I've been at this for about a year, and I have lost 30 pounds. That's not a lot to lose in a year, but it is still progress in the right direction. I ABSOLUTEY have good days and bad days. Actually, I sometimes have a little of both--yesterday, for example, I had an awesome morning. I was not hungry, I was low in calories, I was eating healthy whole foods, and then after work, I went grocery shopping and bought a container of sugar cookies Now, it only had 10 cookies in it, and I didn't eat them ALL (which is an improvement over what I would have done a year ago), but it was still a bit of a disaster. No one is perfect, but as long as your good days outnumber the bad, things will work out AND, I bet almost anything that your "bad" days now won't be as bad as your "bad" days before...does that make sense?

I tend to have very good days during the week and bad days on the weekends (when I don't feel like cooking and we instead end up eating out too much), and that's not only food-wise but attitude-wise as well (like, why do I work so hard all week when it's so much easier to be lazy like on the weekends?). The mind games are often the biggest obstacle we face, but even recognizing that they exist is a good step toward beginning to conquer them

I also have good days and bad days. I few days ago I woke up and said, "I don't care." I ate all day long and didn't even bother to count calories. The day after, I ate very well and felt great. I think my 'fat nature' just takes over me sometimes, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it.

Thanks guys for your suggestions..and sharing your experience. Its just I hate how hard losing weight is. ITs like why are those bags of chips or that pizza more worth it than you health? I mean deep down I know that its not worth it..but at that moment it seems like it. Also, I am so bad about..if I mess up I just mess up the whole day. I wish I could just dust myself off and try better throughout the day. Like I keep saying the hardest part for me getting started is the mental part of losing weight. But I am at the point I have to do something...quality of life is going down...if you know what I mean.

There is no instance fix you are going to have to work at it every day and yes you are going to have good days and bad days....set you goals small that way you can reach them setting high goal only sets yourself up for a big fall....we want you to be here and reach your goal your success helps us and ours helps you that what we are all here for....to be there for each other...together well not fail

Weeks/days of perfect, low cal/low fat days followed by binges was my old experience with "dieting." Reaching a goal weight and then "stopping the diet" and reverting back to my old eating habits was my old experience with "dieting."

My 3 biggest problems with being on a diet:

1. I was overly restrictive, starved myself and eventually my body demanded food - sugary, fatty food. I realize now that my body only wants the best for me, and survival is the best thing. The will to survive is much much stronger (thank goodness) than the will to restrict. Binging did not mean I was a pathetic, weak, no will power failure - it was my body's natural response to days/weeks/months of low calories.

2. I never learned any healthy habits. As soon as I stopped dieting, I just started eating the way I always had, the way of eating that made me heavy in the first place. I didn't learn how to plan healthy menus, shop, cook, handle temptation, make good decisions in restaurants.

3. I viewed diets as something I did in the short term, something I could start and something I could stop.

I always gained all the weight I lost back, and more. I started "dieting" in high school around 140 lbs. I ended up 35 years old weighing 190+ lbs, rock bottom, crying in a bathroom stall at a movie theatre. The click moment.

Looking at my past, why I could lose weight in the short term, but could never keep it off, I decided to radically change how I eat, forever.

1. I looked at the foods I currently ate all the time (pasta, curries, stir fries, quesadillas) and made healthy changes.

2. I am eating foods to make me healthy - foods with powerful nutritional benefits vs. foods with little nutritional benefits. Whole foods over processed, brown rice over white, whole wheat tortillas over white tortillas, 5 servings of vegetables, 2 servings of fruit, etc etc. I completely gave up crap - fast food, soda, packaged baked goods. It's a pretty radical step, but I had bingey-sugary issues and it is what worked for me.

3. I ate enough - I don't like being hungry. I make bad food decisions when I'm hungry. I eat 5-6 mini meals during the day, about every 2 hours. I eat before I get hungry and I keep my calories above a certain level. I started in July 2004, I have had zero binges. Not one.

4. I planned for maintenance. In my experience, it wasn't that hard to lose weight for a short period of time, it was hard to KEEP it off. Starting from the first day, I knew what I would have to do to for maintenance. I do exactly what I did to lose weight, I just allow myself more calories a day.

Good luck with it Mechell!

Hi,

Everyone is the same as you,"one more day wont hurt," "I'll get back on track tomorrow" I have said that so many times, but in the end were only hurting ourselves and no one else, were doing this FOR US RIGHT!!!When you are ready to want this you well BE, that is the one thing you need to be sure of first, EMOTIONALLY I CAN AND WILL DO THIS!! say that to yourself and you well beileve in you!! We never make time for us, we put everyone else first. BUT I have learned to Make ME time as well...YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
MINI GOAL'S ONE AT A TIME!

hello...thank you so much for your support/encouragement. I have so many questions...I really need to learn so much to start a healthier life. I also am finding this forum is an awesome support system! IT really keeps you focused you know? And you guys are wonderful! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the advice/tips!

"Like I keep saying the hardest part for me getting started is the mental part of losing weight."

Was for me too until I realized something--maybe the mental part doesn't come first. And you know what, for me, it didn't and frankly still isn't some of the time. And that's O K. Action is the key. Even if it's a small one.

Go for a short walk when you wouldn't.

Have 1 less piece of X.

Park a little farther away from the door.

Eat something actually GOOD for you.

Just pick one. And do it today. Then see what tomorrow brings and make one other good choice. Do this until you start to feel like you can do two good things in one day.

Small actions really will work wonders on the mental part and before you know it, you're having an ENTIRE day of good choices, then most of a week.

Don't be black and white with yourself. Remember, any change, no matter how small is G O O D.

A journey of a thousand miles really does begin with just one step. And that's all you need to take.