So, I've gained some holiday weight. About 4 lbs. I know that's to be expected but it put me back in the 160s! A place I didn't want to return to. Now I'm saying I'm doing Weight Watchers but I've been really lax and have gone over my daily points and weekly allowance. I do want to get to my ultimate goal, but I always seem to hold myself back! I want this for myself and somebody told me they think I sabotage myself. I don't know if that's true or not. I haven't checked that deep, but I do know it's hard and when I allow myself to eat freely...food is all I think about. What thing I'm going to eat next. Which candy bar, which fast food place. It happens so quickly and that's how I gained weight before. Well, at least now I know those things and I can put a stop to it once it starts to happen. I just need to get out of this lazy, relaxed phase and get back to work!! I need some wise words of encouragement!

You look gorgeous. Comparing those pictures and how far you've come is massive modivation

You may be getting a little tired of dieting and restricting yourself if your really thinking about food that much. Keep telling yourself that you've come to far to ruin all of your hard work right now.

You look wonderful!

Beautiful! You look so happy and healthy.

You look great! You can do this! Maybe OA would be good for you if the preoccupation with food is the problem? Best wishes!

One quote that I always go by "don't look at how far you have to go, look at how far you have come". You have come a long way and it'll hurt more when you re-gain the weight back. Just take one day at a time. Try to occupy yourself and stay busy to keep your mind off food.

You look great! You will def get to goal

It concerns me that you are constantly thinking about candy bars and fast food. Is that the food that you were eating while you lost weight? Do you really think that you can eat that way and maintain your weight loss? I don't mean to be harsh but you need a reality check.

Sure, you can work some splurges into your diet, but they are the rare occasion, not the go-to foods that you eat on a regular basis. It does sound like you are sabotaging yourself. If you know that you can't trust yourself to eat freely then you need to plan, plan, plan. Keep building that discipline into your life and developing healthy habits. This has to continue to be your new lifestyle. If you fall back into old habits you will regain the weight.

Get yourself refocused and committed. You have come so far, don't let all that progress slip away. Press onward to your goal.

Thanks! No, those are definitely not the things I've eaten to get to where I am thus far. However, for YEARS those are the things that I ate. I used to eat out for every meal and make midnight runs to the convenience store for soda, chips, and candy bars...every night. I would stop and get food on the way home and eat it really fast in the car on the way home so my husband wouldn't know and hide the trash. I was ashamed. At least now I can say that I have an issue with food and that I have to always stay on top of what I'm eating and be aware of every choice of food that I'm making.

Going from eating so badly to eating in a more healthy way is a huge change for me. I still have those old urges that want to come up and what I'm saying is that when I do slip I have to get right back on track because my obsession with food and eating can come on full force before I know it. That's why I love this site because I can come on here and tell everyone what I have an issue with and get support.

I don't think I'm in need of a reality check since I know that eating healthy foods, working out and always keeping tabs on my weight are the things necessary to not only achieve my goal but to one day maintain it! I have not been perfect in the least so far, but have become more conscious of my choices and know what it takes. I just, like most others on this site, need people to be accountable too and occasionally need some words of encouragement.

Congrats on your loss! I think you look amazing! We have almost identical stats! You have lost over 40 lbs so far, you can totally do this! You have come so far, don’t let 4 measly pounds discourage you! I think we all probably have ups and downs, the important thing is to stop it before it gets out of control, which you are doing now!
I sometimes go thru periods of cravings/bad eating habits too, and what helps me is to refocus and think about all the reasons I want to lose weight. Making a list of why you want to lose weight is very motivating, at least to me. Especially when I think about all the weight related illnesses my obese family members have that I want to avoid. 50% of my mom's siblings are obese and all of the obese ones have diabetes. The 3 that are a normal weight/barely overweight do not have diabetes. My aunt is legally blind from diabetes! If that is not motivation, I don't know what is! Thinking about losing my eyesight or losing a limb, makes me lose my appetite for junk real quick! There is no food that means more to me than my eyesight!
Ooops sorry, kind of went off on a tangent.

oh my! you look fabulous! your pictures motivate me...

As a recovering fast food junkie, I feel qualified to offer some advice Because I was, until very recently, realllllly a fast food junkie. I decided when I first started this process to cut it out, and that I would reward myself once a month or so with some of my favorites. What I was surprised to realize was that once I cut it out, after only a couple of weeks, the desire for it did too. I know former me would have rolled my eyes at that and said "impossible." But I have read that there is actually something in the fast food that has the same addictive properties as nicotine- it's designed to make you crave more. So if you reward yourself after say, 2 weeks, with 1 burger and fries, you will then crave another fix far far far more than you craved the original "reward."

I don't know if this may be true for you, but for me, I had to decide to absolutely 100% cut out fast food. Now having said that, if I go to a real restaurant, I may order fries and eat a small portion of them. But I had to ditch the drive through mentality. I make a conscious effort to only eat "real" food that is more of a found in nature quality than a diluted, 3% actual food product, type thing. If I do have some fries, they may have plenty of salt and fat, but (I imagine) fewer chemicals, additives, etc. More importantly, I have stopped looking at a speaker and a window as a source of food. My advice is to use other food things for rewards. I don't mean all the carrots you want- but maybe a larger serving of something in your plan that you really love, but is still decently healthy. For me, a big part of this process has been re-educating my taste buds as to what constitutes food.

Seashell our stats are the same lol. That's awesome because we've both come so far!! I just feel like I want the scale to move faster than it is!! I did that stupid HCG diet once and watched a pound a day fall off and now it's like anything other than that is a snails pace even though I know it's healthier! For me there isn't anyone in my family that's really overweight or was sick from it. I think I was the most overweight person in my family since I was actually in the obese range. I'm not sure anyone else is so that also was motivation when you're the biggest one!

makingthechanges, yes I agree with you!! I don't eat at fast food places anymore. I try to steer clear, but when I do it's at KFC where I know I can at least do grilled chicken with a veggie and mashed potatoes to splurge on those carbs lol. It's just eating out in general for me. I have to get in the habit of cooking a healthy meal. :-)