There are lots of times when it's "hard."

--like a stall, a plateau. Nothing moving on the scale for weeks or (gasp) months.

--when you're stressed about anything, everything. (me right now).

--when you are surrounded by temptation and seemingly no way out.

--lots more, I'm sure.

Tell me yours and then tell me how you stay on plan (or if you fall off what you say to yourself to get back on!)

I want to be able to pull up and read this thread whenever I'm letting the munchies get the upper hand--use it as a bat, so to speak, to swat them down!



Thanks!

If I'm having a bad day and I want to eat everything in sight (this mostly happens when I'm home and bored or upset) I put on my old favorite size 20 jeans. I just sit on my bed wearing them for a little while to remind myself how far I've come and what I never want to go back to. Sometimes it makes me cry sometimes it makes me happy but it almost always makes me stop having a snack I don't need.

Right now!! I want that Frosty SOOOO badly - and I could get up and walk about 50 yards and have it. (I work in an office on a mall, with a food court). And it's 500 calories, which would just blow today all to pieces. So I'm taking it 5 minutes at a time, 1 more thing off my desk at a time, until 5 pm. I have no need for it. It is not good for me. This is my mantra . . . if I say it enough, I might even believe it!

This is a really good idea for a discussion. I hope a lot of people will add their thoughts. The ones so far are helpful.

I just try to stay out of the kitchen when I am struggling. Otherwise, I find myself just walking around opening doors and telling myself I cannot have whatever food is staring me in the face. It is better just to physically remove myself from the area and try not to go near food until time for a planned meal or snack.

Plateaus (plateaux?) are my personal danger zone. It's so easy to stay on course when you're seeing the numbers on the scale drop. When the numbers don't move, I have to pay attention to how I'm feeling (energetic, pretty) and how my clothes are fitting so that I don't give up and throw in the towel.

It's hard for me right now... hard hard hard.

So I...

-keep myself busy. Clean, read, take a bath
-schedule snacks or split up snacks so I'm eating more often
-try to encorporate a little something that I REALLY like. Could be a yummy dark choco granola bar or some herb Laughing Cow. Just something that really fly's my boat
-weigh daily. Honestly. Keep weighing.
-drink LOTS AND LOTS of water to keep food moving, pee flowing and the scale at a true (as in not affected by sodium) weight (but that's just me and your MMV)
-hang out with people that know my journey. I slip up less when people are watching
-have a good phone convo with a friend about what I'm feeling
-GO FOR A LONG WALK. Can't eat and walk at the same time... wouldn't be prudent
-write in my journal, my blog or come here

Im struggling, but this weekend I am going to ask myself if I start to go off plan:

How do you want to feel after eating this? Lousy, ashamed, dispapointed, devastated? Or on plan, happy, optimistic, enthousiastic, and fantastic? Which would you rather feel?
Im also going to just go to bed if I start to binge. Just go to bed. Sigh........

There are different levels of hard. For what you describe, I just keep going. Being surrounded by tempation is probably the toughest scenario you listed, that is a toughie for me. It depends on the situation, for treats at work, I handle it by my strict "no eating foods I didn't bring" rule. Just makes it easier. For other occasions, when I yield to temptation, I just get right back on track - I don't try to be perfect, it's not possible.

Stress doesn't seem to phase me much, I have my habits and I just keep packing lunches, cooking dinner, etc. I like to be doing, so doing my normal things keeps me sane during stress. Whatever else is happening, at least EATING is going right - you know?

Now, when my step dad died and I flew to TX to be with my mom, that was a whole other level of hard. The house was full of family, dinner was stuff like frozen lasagna and garlic bread. That was not the time for me to be insisting on special yogurt and trips to the store for fruit. I had always made my weight management my priority, but that event taught me a lesson in my own personal priorities.

I got back on track when I got home.

Lately, because of another thread I read on here (thanks to unknown thread!!), whenever I am tempted I ask myself, "do I want this more than I want to be thin?" It stops me in my tracks. No matter what the temptation is! If I'm tempted by a treat that doesn't fit in my day--do I want those 5 minutes of eating a treat more than I want to be thin? If I'm feeling lazy and don't want to cook or feeling bored by the options in the house and am debating just running out and picking something up...do I REALLY want to save myself half an hour of fixing something in exchange for being thin? Try it, it'll turn you around!

Daniela, you're such a studmuffin! I love the Peace Out Lane Bryant title too.

I think habit helps me greatly with stalling and stress. I have a certain way of eating, and eat certain foods, and have been doing it for a long enough time that I'm less likely to go off plan. Exercise is a great help too, it evens out everything mentally, and makes me feel so much better physically.

Temptation, that would be the tough one for me. I'm getting better, but I have to limit how much I eat out because I tend not to make the best choices when I'm faced with a menu. Restaurants have existed before I started losing weight, and will exist after I reach goal, so skipping them now or limiting the frequency is not a big deal.

If I or bf bring certain goodies into the house, I have a tough time resisting them, so for me to be more successful, they must not appear. Reading some of rockinrobin's posts (and many others here), and keeping them in mind, helps with the temptation too, ha.

I've gotten better at planning ahead. When I go the park, or go running around for a day out, I'll buy a salad with a grilled chicken breast to take with me to eat. Planning ahead.

I keep a journal of what's going on with me physically and otherwise, along with the weight loss progress. Knowledge is power.

I've read here that if you go off plan, get right back on with the next thing you put in your mouth. I thought that was great advice, since I tended to think in day increments (if I screwed up, there went the day). I keep in mind it's a process, a journey, that I'm learning and improving.

being more aware of eating out of emotion, and if it's emotion finding another way to deal with the situation than food. talk to bf, beat a pillow, knit, rant, whatever.

160 calories for a kid's size frosty. 4 grams fat, no trans fat...


http://wendys.com/food/Nutrition.jsp

I stop for a minute and visualize what I think I'll look and feel like, and some things I plan on doing, once I get to goal weight. (Right now my key goal is 199 then I'll reassess). I ask myself, is ____ more important than that? The answer is almost always 'no.' On the rare occasion I'm still struggling, I then take a moment to remember what it was like to weigh close to 400 lbs. What it felt like, what I looked like. 99% of the time, that does it.

I have gotten very good at saying 'no' to myself. It isn't always easy, but it is ALWAYS worth it. Always.

I allow for wiggle room in my calorie budget. My goal is 1800, but if I hit 2000 there is no guilt about it, in fact there is no guilt if I go over that. I just jump right back on the horse the next day and move on.

About that Frosty.... here is a link to a wonderful homemade version that tastes JUST like the real thing but without most of the calories. It is very diet friendly:

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/magicmilkshakes.htm


As for staying on plan when it is hard - I simply tell myself there is no alternative. I have no other choice than to keep doing what I have been doing because I will only accept health and success from here on out when it comes to my weight. Going back to the way I was isn't even on my radar - I looked and felt like crap. Some days I eat closer to maintenance with my calories, some days I slack on my exercise. But every spare moment, every bite, are chances to get right back on where I may have paused or stepped off. I simply don't allow my choices to carry over beyond one meal or day, and because I am not really restricting anything, so much as practicing healthy choices and moderation, I can't really make 'bad' choices so there is no slippery slope to fall down.

It's hard to explain - but I just *know* i am going to succeed, and succeed with every good choice I make. It might take me longer than some others, but I WILL see health, vitality, radiance, and lower numbers on that scale eventually; so long as I do not give up. I am committed to my success for the sake of my family and myself, and do a LOT of praying about making good choices that honor the Lord when it comes to how I spend my time and what I put in my body for fuel.

Not giving myself any choice but to keep plugging away at it makes getting back on the horse really easy. I just 'decide' to and do it.