I was on the special k challenge and I was doing so well I had one more week left and yesterday I ate everything I could get my hands on. I just feel like I gave up on myself. Now I have to start all over. How do you stay strong if your out or at a party? I went to a superbowl party yesterday and there was all junk there.

Eat something healthy beforehand and ignore the food. It takes a lot of will power, but don't let yourself slip. You have to make the concious decision to stay on plan.

Look at this mess up as a lesson learned, and get back on track right away

I guess the best way to stay on a plan is to have a plan.

Even if a party or food situation comes up last minute there's always time for a quick "mental prep". As in...

There will be food at this event. There will be a lot of food that I don't need to eat. It's OK to say 'no' to these foods. I just ate lunch. I'll have dinner after. I'm stronger than the junk that's going to be served.

If you have a longer time to prepare, then bringing a plan-friendly snack is always a good idea. That way you know there's something at an event that you'll be able to eat. Like a fruit salad, or a plate of veggies and some plan-friendly dip.

The plans might change depending on the situation, but the sentiment is the same. Preparation.

I feel I should ask. You're following the Special K Challenge... that's the two weeks using Special K products, if I've understood their commercials correctly.

What's your plan after this challenge is over? After it's over, the situations will still be the same. There will be food events. There will be Super Bowls. There will be holidays and restaurants. Have you thought about your plans after the challenge? As it could help you deal with what you want to do at said food events now.

Yep, eat before you go and chew gum the whole time. You can always eat after you get home from an event if you're hungry later.

Thanks for the support

It is 2 weeks and I was thinking of doing Atkins after this challenge. I have no idea if I should start over or not. That was my biggest problem though I didn't prepare my food ahead of time and we decided to go to the party at the last minute. I didn't have time to eat so when I got there I binged. Mental prep is a great idea!

I do Atkins and I really like it It's slowly getting busier over in the Atkins part of the forum too. If you want to come over and say hi, you are definately welcome!

First, take a deep breath. Your work is NOT all for nothing. You slipped up. If you were taking a walk and tripped and fell would you just lay on the sidewalk and say "oh well, all my work for nothing and now I need to go back home and start my walk over again because I'm a failure at walking"? Nope. You'd get up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward!

Trip ups happen to all of us from time to time and now you know that you need to be better prepared for next time. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving!

Life has an annoying way of interfering with a diet. Which is why I try not to think of it in terms of on/off diet. Rather just think of it as a "high" day.
Don't think of it as a failure, it's just what happens as part of the course. You think people who manage their weight successfully don't have occasional days when they go overboard? They do! Thinking in these kind of extremes doesn't work because you will always mess up. You're human! and then you give yourself the green card to eat anything and everything before you "start again tomorrow" which may or may not happen.

The special K diet sounds quite bland also, personally if i'd been eating nothing but ceriel for a week i'd eat everything in sight too! Maybe you should look more into monitoring your calories to give you leeway to eat a more varied diet?

Years ago, I did the Special K diet, lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks, regained them as soon as I stopped, and I never want to see another bowl of Special K again!

Jay

You may not necessarily need to start over, if you don't want. It's up to you, but you could likely continue this week on your challenge without it being a problem. As mentioned, you had one evening that wasn't the best. But that doesn't mean it's the end of the road or that you stumbled back to square one. It's not, and you didn't.

I think what matters now is that you're thinking about what to do going forward. So many people would just up and quit entirely. Don't let that happen to your plans.

If you're curious about Atkins, there's a Low Carb section under Diet Central. Feel free to check the area out and ask questions! There are also a lot of other plans under Diet Central that you might want to give a quick read over if you're unsure about what to do after your challenge. Planning ahead of time what goes on AFTER the challenge is, in my mind, a very good thing to be doing

Don't beat yourself up, that's really important. It was just one day, pick yourself back up and keep going. =)

Someone on this forum once said,

"If your car gets a flat tire, do you get out and slash the other three?
If you are walking upstairs and trip near the top, do you throw yourself down the flight of stairs?"

This helps me keep things in perspective. One bad day does not erase all the hard work you've done! Just fix it and keep going. you can do it!

Thats really good. I like that. Im going to have to write that down :P

....I love it! I'm totally going to remember that from now on.

This is really good advice but for some reason it cracked me up! The image of someone so exasperated that they slash the remaining three tires. Someone so upset at tripping that they throw themselves down the flight of stairs.

I guess it just illustrates how silly it is to give up on weight loss because we slipped up once. I can so relate. I've had many, many false starts when I was doing well, slipped up, and was so upset that I binged the rest of the day/week/month.