I am not new to the dieting world. Ever since I had my child, I have gained wieght from pregnancy and the stress of a divorce. I am a very emotional eater and that is my one serious downfall besides the fact that I ALWAYS tell myself that "that one little bite wont hurt" and what does it do? it turns into eating the whole pan of cake, or the entire bag of chips or little debbie snacks. I turned to this site as a way of seeking help and advice from others who may be in a similar situation. As being a part of this site, I am open to helping and being there for others who need someone to talk to. I believe that support and doing the buddy system will lead to success. My goal wieght is to be back down to 145. I am now 235, but I was about 265 before. I was doing the south beach diet for a while, and that is how I got down to my current wieght, but that is when my emotional eating took over, and I just fell apart on the diet plan. That is one diet that has actually worked for me, but I am open to taking advice and help from others. If you are out there, speak up, I want to help you and you can help me too

Hi Cholie! Welcome to 3FC! I'm still new to this site, but there are some wonderful women here with wonderful advice! The best thing I've found about this site is comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this venture.

I wish you nothing but luck as you go down this road! Congratulations on losing 30 pounds, that in itself is an amazing feat!

Everyone has to find the right approach that works for them specifically. For me, I had to stop eating all the trigger foods for a long time. I had to make the house a "safe" zone (after nearly 18 months I still can't have ice cream or sugary cereal in the house) and I had to plan for healthy meals and pack lunches and always have healthy snacks on hand.

I find it much easier to say no to the first cookie than the second cookie. I just said "I'm not eating cookies right now" (or alcohol or fast food or muffins or cake or chips or fries) and that was that. I ate a lot of fruit. When I stopped eating so much processed, sugary crap, I was amazed at how GOOD real food can taste. A baked sweet potato is almost dessert-like to me now. Mangos are decadent. Fresh raspberries are amazing.

A lot of people recommend the "all things in moderation" approach and say if you want a cookie, eat a cookie. I am insanely jealous of anyone that can eat one cookie and then stop. If you're like me and one cookie makes you hoover up the entire bag contents + crumbs in under 5 minutes, going cold turkey on junk might be an option. The toughest part is other people. There are some people that make it their life's mission to make sure you get a piece of cheap grocery store cake when your co-worker is celebrating a birthday. Those people suck.

Little Debbie snacks are the devil! They sure don't make me "little"...seriously, though. Emotional eating is probably one of the hardest things to deal with, it can derail almost anything. I find that it never really, really goes away...the urge to do it...but this site is a savior in that respect...You can always find someone who is going through the same thing...and the time spent typing can calm nerves. There are foods I can't have around me: oyster crackers, most cereals, most sweet things...and I usually only want these when I'm emotional. I've even eaten corn flake crumbs from the box with a spoon!
Where am I going with this? We all have our quirks, our embarassing stories, but most of all, we're not alone. I find that 3FC is better than damn near any meeting I could go to locally. It's interesting how cyber-friends can be much more non judgemental and supportive than "real" flesh and blood people.
Good on ya for losing 30 lbs. If you're hoping to lose ten or a hundred, remember that it's hard, but it's also fantastic when you reach your goal....weight loss is a journey, no matter how much or little you need/want to lose.

Since coming to 3FC I have stayed on my diet the longest I have ever and I want to continue. I love coming on here every morning to get my confidence up that I can make it thru today with eating right and excersiing. However I have slack this week becuase of TOM on the excersie. It is a stuggle BUT, it is not as hard as it use to be.

Everyone on 3fc is great. I would not be able to do this, I beleive, with out all of them. I think I have stupid question but they have never belittled me on anything. THANK YOU for that!!!!.

I guess what I am trying to say is you have to do what works for you and then no your limits. If you feel you need more control as how to get it, you may be surprised at how many people answer you.

You have done great already now you are ready for the next step.

One thing I try to do when I just want to snack on junk foods is to research my biggest reward. I've always (since I was in grade school) had this double belly thing going on. I know that no matter how much weight I lose it's not going away. It's been there for over 20 years now. So I've made a reward of getting a tummy tuck. I have to get to my goal (45 more lbs) and stay there for at least 1 year before getting it to prove to myself and my husband that it's worth the money. I've always wanted a flatter tummy and now I'm working towards that goal. So when the urge hits to go comfort myself with food, I instead turn to the internet and research before and after pictures. It makes me happy to see what I can have done and know there is a way to get the tummy I want.

Obviously you would need to pick a reward that would work for you. It took me about 3 months to figure out what my reward is going to be. Hopefully your's won't take that long to figure out.

I think the main point I'm trying to make is to find something else to do that helps you in your emotional times when you would normally eat. Find something that makes you happy. Change your eating habit into a new hobby.

Chef, That is such a wonderful idea! In fact, you have inspired me!! I have the double belly thing too, I had it when I was skinnier (about 160) so I know it's here to stay...

But my ultimate reward will be a breast lift! I've had HUGE boobs my entire life, and gaining weight made them bigger and saggier So I am getting a lift (and removal of the excess skin) once I've hit my weight! I like the one year as proof, but I will definately do research on both procedures when I'm having trouble!

I really like that tip!