I found my self getting off track lately, bingeing(sp?) too much, lacking motivation. In other words – falling off the wagon. I know some of the reasons it happens sometimes. If I let my self get too hungry - I end up overeating. If I don’t plan my meals – I end up too hungry. Well you get the picture.
What I wonder about is why this funk has been going on for almost a month now and I can’t seem to shake it off?
So I want to know why do you fall off the wagon now and then?

I don't think I ever "fall off the wagon" but I occasionally have episodes where I eat off plan (one meal situations). My weaknesses are:

1. Social events
2. Unplanned, temptation foods - someone brings in something yummy to work, a coworker has York peppermint patties on their desk, etc

After years of feeling like a no will power loser if I ever ate off plan, I am now more forgiving. I accept that life is messy and complicated and unpredictable - I will occasionally eat things I didn't plan to eat. I forgive myself (no beating myself up, no saying "well now the whole day is ruined, eat whatever and start over) and get RIGHT BACK on track the next eating opportunity.

I am a big time planner - all my weekly meals are planned out on Sunday so it is very EASY to fall back into my healthy habits.

I keep reminding myself - one work event with cheese and crackers did not make me heavy. Occasional blips will happen and will not derail my progress as long as I continue to eat on plan 90% of the time.

Reading your post, "If I don't plan my meals" jumps out at me - since I find meal planning to be the biggest key to my success. Maybe focus there?

I couldn't agree more with this! It's a much healthier attitude to have towards life than all or nothing.

What Glory said.

One thing that has helped me is realizing that there is no wagon to fall off of. This is my life. What am I going to do ... fall off of life for a while?

Once I realized that, then I realized that the whole concept of being "bad" or "cheating" just didn't work for me. I live my life. Sometimes I have ice cream. Sometimes I have pizza. Sometimes I drink 1/2 a bottle of red wine.

I just make sure that these are the *exceptions* and not the rule, as they were before. Before, I'd eat a whole pizza and drink 4 beers while sitting on my behind watching TV. Now, I exercise after work. Then if I come home and want pizza, I have 2 pieces of a veggie pizza. And I might or might not have a beer. If I do, I have ONE beer, not 4. And I only do that once in a while, not 3x a week because I don't feel like cooking.

But that's not falling off the wagon for me - it's living my life. I'm not gonna sit and munch on carrot sticks while my husband sits next to me and chows into a pizza ... and think about how deprived I am. I've done that to myself before and it just doesn't work!

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Hello Nina! (ooooh I'm ticked off-I just finished typing my reply & my cursor jumped & erased 90% !!! but I digress...)

About your question...yep! I slip up too, sometimes big time-it's like a snowball effect! Numerous factors come into play such as...,
1. When I'm overhungry - so I try to eat every 2 hours - ie. banana, then yogurt, then veggie sticks & FF turkey breast for lunch, apple snack, celery & peanut butter snack, then supper - veggies,brown rice,meat & SF/FF jelly w. berries for dessert, FF popcorn for night snack. I find menu planning in the morning works best for me & LOTS of water (a bottle every hour).
2. Overtired-my hubby's a night owl so I stay up with him. This problem is two-fold. One, I'll snack because I'm awake and two, the next day I might be too tired to menu plan & just start eating whatever!
3. Emotional eating-mostly when I'm worried about $, but also when we're celebrating too - I love carbs (bread, crackers, chips) - what I eat changes with the 'occasion'
4. PMS'ing-I don't know if anyone else is like this, but I don't really feel hungry-just cramps & cravings. I try to stay off the cravings for chips,dip & chocolate by reminding myself to eat the good fresh foods every 2 hrs. But if I'm tired & PMS'ing-watch out-a whole day is blown!!!

You are not alone girlfriend! Stick with it & keep on keeping on

... by the way ... I'm PMS'ing right now - can't you tell

but I'm on track today ... small victories!

My triggers for UNPLANNED off-plan eating are:

1. Being tired. Almost invariably, if I got 2-3 hours of sleep, I fight hunger and cravings all day.

2. Social situations. I just try to do the best I can, which isn't always very good, depending on what's available.

3. Bad days. I'm STILL working on breaking the "I had a bad day, I deserve a treat" mentality.

I often have PLANNED off-plan eating, though, for special occasions. I figure that real life requires being a bit more lenient sometimes.

Hi Nina. To some degree I can relate to what everyone is saying. Planning is definitely key for me. When dinner time comes and chaos breaks out in my house I need to know what my plan is or I'll eat what ever passes in front of me. But like you, I refer to it as falling off the wagon. My new healthy way of living isn't so engrained yet I guess. For me the triggers seems to be emotional stuff, stress, a super busy week ....and before I realize it I'm snacking on goldfish crackers or chips. I think 'falling off the wagon' is when I start to slip into old habits. Must mean I need better coping strategies.....

#1 landmine for me:

Being tired + overly stressed = Binge Alert!!

This potent combo usually strikes at work, but it happens at home sometimes, too.

As I've posted before, food for me often acts like a drug. This is especially true of things that are high in fat & sugar. When I am tired and stressed, I crave fatty/sugary food because it gives me a momentary "high" and I do feel better. For a few minutes.

For many different reasons. PMS, social events, not eating enough (then stuffing my face because I'm starving), and so on.

The main reason I fall off the wagon? I'm human.

This is SOOOOOOOOOOOO true.

I just wish it didn't make me feel like such a failure.

Top 10 Reasons I Binge:

1. PMS!!!!
2. Stress about my kids
3. Sleep deprivation
4. Being sick (cold, flu, etc.)
5. Having a migraine
6. getting too hungry
7. visiting my paren'ts house (althought this is getting much better b/c I bring food w/ me).
8. Social situations like a party
9. Consuming alcohol
10. Boredom

I totally agree with PhotoChick- it's not a wagon, it's life..and there are always going to be unplanned events and other "roadblocks" but it's knowing how to get back on track and not fall into old habits that makes all the difference. Sure, I still have days where I eat crap or I'll go to a party and over eat (the county fair is this weekend- yikes!) but if I know it's coming up, I'll plan ahead, or if it surprises me, I'll make up for it. That's the new me, and I like it!

for me, its when im stressed, tired or upset. At those times im over loaded, and something has to go- usually its my eating patterns. I dont really get unmotivated, just when the odds are unusually stacked against me i fall off a bit

The ones in bold are mine to a T. That's amazing.