Came back to America for the first time in a year and a half–I'm currently working as an assistant teacher in Japan–and have been having a rough go of it. For the first five days or week I was here I was eating fine. My jet lag seemed to be keeping my appetite to a reasonable level and I wasn't craving lots of terrible food. I indulged in holiday treats in moderation.

The longer I've been here, though, I've found myself snacking throughout the day simply because the food's available. I feel bloated and gross and I can't check my weight at my usual time (morning, naked, after using the bathroom) due to my schedule. I can only check myself in the evening, clothes on, after whatever meals I've eaten. I don't have a very good sense of how heavy I am right now but I certainly don't feel good.

Long story short: being in America is throwing me off track and I think I just need some assurance that I can be good for the next three days and jump back into my healthy habits once I'm back in my Japanese environment.

Eating crappy for a few days isn't going to undo all your work, and you can make it until you get back to Japan. As long as you are weighing yourself at the same time of day, in the same spot in whatever room, it may not be a totally accurate reading of your weight, so you subtract a few pounds because of that. Once you get back to Japan don't weigh yourself for a week until you gotten back into the flow of life there again. That way you have an accurate reading of what your "normal" lifestyle is. Hope this helps!

Is it being the US or being out of the healthy routine that you've established for yourself that's the problem? From what you wrote it sounds more like a routine thing, which will probably resolve itself when you get back "home". In the meantime, are there ways that you could arrange your schedule or meals to minimize temptation?

Are you back at your parent's house? I always find I eat, in general, quite differently at my parents than I do in my apartment, for example.

Funnily enough, when I am visiting my parent's, I always go into this teenager-super-strict-no-carb dieting mode. So, I always lose weight in the US because at my own apartment I am much less strict.

Also, when you live abroad, it is actually sort of hard to visit family and friends (for me, at least). I have a sort of guilty feeling, like I left everyone behind. I even feel particularly bad when I see my cat and my neice again.... they always need time to "remember" who I am.

When I go back home to visit family, which is generally every 12-18 months, I find I indulge more and wind up eating more crap then I do in my every day life. For me it's because I don't access to the same junk food in England that I do in the States, and even though England does have more then it's fair share of junk, I don't crave it in the same way because I didn't grow up with it.

I get back into my normal habits after heading back to England though and normally have to give my body/stomach a few days to adjust again to the different types of food that I'm eating.

I tend to use my time in the States as a chance to eat the foods I enjoy and do it without guilt. I take that attitude because I know that I won't be able to do it again for a while and I know that I'll get back to my normal eating habits once I'm back home in England.

Thanks for the support, everyone. I've been pretty good since I last posted and avoided overeating just for the sake of eating those last meals I wanted before going back to Japan.

A lot of the issue, I think, was that I came back for the first time in 18 months and over the holidays. I stayed with my parents, where food was readily available all the time, and made a point to visit a few favorite restaurants. A number of social activities with old friends also involved meals or snacks. It's not surprising to me that I got so far off track, but I certainly want to improve my impulse control for when I visit again.

I think I'm going to take your suggestion, rubyred7, not to weigh for a week. It wouldn't do anything but make me feel bad, anyway.