Ok, I have been trying to deal with this, and I finally thought, wait a minute I belong to 3Fat Chicks South Beach and they are all about the Go To For Support. So here I go............

I have the feeling of being bored with the SB plan. I don't know if bored is the correct word or not. I enjoy the food, I enjoy the loss I have had so far, and I enjoy the way I feel about myself, but there is a dread feeling I have, like I could slip or something if I don't address this. When I when into this I always told myself I do not want to be a yo yo eater, I wanted a plan I could live with and I feel I have worked SB to be that for me. I also didn't want to count calories, but eat healthy.

I feel I have done well so far, and with me I love the inches loss more than worry about the scale. Maybe I am at a stand still and I need to mix things up a bit. I admit it is so hard for me to exercise but I do stick to the plan pretty much for eating.

Anyone else been here. Can anyone relate to what may be going on for me.? Any suggestions?

You are so smart to ask rather than sit with it making you uncomfortable.

I don't know if this is similar or not but the feeling of dread was a regular thing for me. I had been obese and/or overweight almost all my life and yo yo'ed a lot. I was so afraid of doing that again. I would read the maintainers forum looking for clues. That really did help me because there are Chicks around here maintaining losses for years. I am finally settling into this weight after several years. I know I could gain it all back but I trust in my maintenance skills now. I needed to develop and test them before that happened though. Don't know if that makes sense or is close to your worry?

I haven't ever been bored with the plan because I love to cook and experiment. I've spent hours and hours adapting, or trying to, old favorites so I could still get those tastes. I think that's my favorite thing about SBD, there are so few off limit foods and so very many allowed it's easy to replicate most of my favorite foods. I guess, if it's more about a particular food or foods you miss, maybe we could help come up with new, healthier versions.

I'm sure other Chicks will chime in with some great ideas too.

I agree with Cyndi, it's really smart to put your feelings out to us.

Truthfully, chickadeee, I've seen so many beachers come and go just since I've been here. Point being that I think there comes a time 3 or 4 months in that many of us feel "bored". I haven't heard the term "pink cloud" used for awhile....but it's the time after the pink cloud feeling goes away. We are used to feeling better and are now looking at what we're going to do for " a lifetime".

I found by coming here everyday, I got over the hump when the urge was very strong to be less vigilant and to get back to that old "freedom" I had with food….if I saw it and I wanted it I ate it and didn't have one ounce of guilt. My DS still eats that way and very often it "just doesn't seem fair to me".

I'm working Beck Diet Solution along with SBD I feel like I understand a bit better. BDS is more focused on a dieter learning skills to keep the weight of permanently. Dr. Beck considers it a fact, that most dieters will come to a point where they will feel restless or bored with their plan. They will want to regain their old freedome with food. I personally don't think this feeling is limited to just SBD, I think people following other plans find this, too. Perhaps you're not alone and this is something pretty normal.

I decided to stick with SBD for many of the reasons you described;
~I wanted a plan I could live with
~I wanted to eat healthy
~I didn't want to count calories
~I wanted to feel better

It has helped me to have it written down just "why" I am doing this. For me, "I want to be healthy". It has also helped me to go back and remember how I used to feel and how that's different now. It also helps me to project out a little bit, say if I were to drift away from this lifestyle "what would happen".

I get bored (or tired) occasionally. When that happens I ;
~continue my habit of posting here everyday while remembering how it was when I tried losing weight without support.
~I check my level of acceptance regarding weight loss. I tried losing without a plan and it never worked. Either I follow a plan or I gain weight. I accept this.
~write down the reasons why I want to lose weight
~I remember the "old me"
~I visualize the future if I gain back my weight
~I add to my ongoing list of new recipes I'd like to try
~I look back to old favorites (comfort food) and see if I can tweak something healthier and once again enjoy it.
~I work on finding new and fulfilling projects to enrich my life-which don't include food.

Losses do slow down, especially when we don't count calories. All I have to do is look around in any public place and recognize that almost every woman I know who has a weight problem not actively addressed is gaining. Last year I lost. My ticker only moved 7 pounds last year but I lost. If I want to lose faster I have the freedom to chose to count calories.

One last simple question:
Could any part of your feeling be related to the Winter blues? For me, January is the after holiday time where I realize we still have a long way to go before Spring.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to revisit my own plans/goals and I hope there is one thing that might help.

Best wishes!

I, too, have had similar issues. But, like Cyndi, I have experimented and found substitutions for most of the foods I used to enjoy. And after eating the SBD way for several years, when I do have an off-plan food, I find it just doesn't taste as good as it used to.

Are there any foods in particular that we can help turn into a healthier version that you can enjoy?

What Debbie said!

I've been doing this WOL mostly for almost 4 years now. And esp. recently I slipped into eating more of the "normal" foods.....you know, the foods my DH and children eat. Well, they can eat it and get away with it, and I can't.

My biggest thing I agree with Debbie is, to check in here daily. Even if you don't eat on plan every day, it still puts the healthy eating in the back of your head. And then, when your heart starts racing and you feel exhausted from the load of simple carbs you ate at lunch, you'll remember and come back here.

Also, I eat SO much better than I used to. I get silly excitement seeing bright colored fruits and veggies in my diet...there's got to be some evolutionary thing to that, right?! People posting recipes I NEVER would've considered in my "past life" really have made this easier and a bit more interesting (even though no one in my house will eat it with me). Celery and cukes in a smoothie? Whowoulddathunk? And that weekend glow salad?! Oh, my...

Another thing for me is seeing my father. He ate horribly most of his life, is a diabetic (under control) and has not been able to walk or talk for the last 5 years because of multiple strokes. He has recently gotten much worse...heart failure, heart arrrhythmia, glaucoma in one eye so is now blind in that eye. He can't even respond to me on the phone anymore. I miss my daddy. And I will try as hard as I can not to let my children see the same thing in me.

I think we all have our lapses and weak points. And people don't always emphasize their down days on the daily thread, they just don't talk about it. But they still check in to make it through the lows. But I think it's normal, esp. in today's world where we are surrounded by such cr@p.

Good luck, we really enjoy having you around!

Thanks so much for posting this Chickadeee. Cyndi, Debbie, Cottage and Twynn - thank you very much for your responses and insight. I really identify with this hard-to-articulate feeling. I've been lurking more and posting less here lately - but maybe that's been my way of trying to stay motivated but without any accountability. I think I need to change that, and renew my level of commitment. I'm 52 days away from my wedding and I want to feel my best for that day, and for my honeymoon, and for the happily ever after. I've come to grips with the fact that I'll be "watching it" my whole life. But sometimes I kid myself and slip into old habits. Beck's cognitive therapy approach is very powerful - thanks Debbie for reminding me to use those tools.

Chickadee, all I can say is that I relate and commiserate. Sometimes what I do to give myself an immediate feeling of empowerment is think of 5 things I can do *right that minute* to be healthier. Drink water, make a cup of tea, stretch my neck and back, do some breathing exercises/mediation, or plan out a few more meals for example. It makes me feel less like a passenger on the SBD bus and more like the driver.

Yes, I hear you totally. I struggle back and forth, not out of boredom so much as laziness. I don't know how others on this board will feel about this, but sometimes I find allowing myself a "cheat meal" once a week really helps. I think it's making the mind switch that white carbs and most sugars are just now allowed at all, period, except for very occasionally. We all get the blues at this time of year too, and I think that we hold on to pounds much more easily than in the spring. I'm struggling myself right now, but know on so many levels that this WOE is right for me. Give yourself credit for admitting your true feelings to yourself.

Chickadee one other thing - now that you have integrated the basic principles of SB eating, you might want to spend a week or two calorie counting or tracking WW points just to gauge your portions. I find that large portions really slow my loss or stall it. Sounds like you need a whoosh to get remotivated.

I think it's definitely normal. At least for me it is, and that's why I am back where I started for the 3rd time. This time, I am hoping when I get to that "blah" point, I will be able to get past it.

For me, I always followed the same pattern- I'd start to get lazy (cooking and all the cleaning it entails is NOT a natural talent for me) I would start skipping meals or snacks, or just falling back on things I could grab fast(string cheese, handful of nuts, spoonful of PB). My diet became very limited, boring and not balanced. I slowly slipped back into old habits- It's a heck of a lot easier to pick up a pizza or throw in some frozen chicken nuggets, which I know all the kids will actually eat, than it is to spend an hour cooking a meal that they may or may not eat. But, I know that in the long run, sticking with SB is healthier for me and for my family too. This time, when I hit the blahs, I plan to change things up... check here and elsewhere for new recipes. I will remind myself how much better I feel eating this way. How much better I feel about serving my family healthy home cooked meals(even if the kids turn their noses up at some of them) And think about how, if I stick with this for 6 months, how much better I will look and feel. And even better after a year...and so on.....


I think it's great that you are acknowledging the feelings and are looking for ways to fix it before you slip up. I think you need to figure out why you are feeling this way. (are you sick of cooking? lacking variety? craving something offplan?) Then once you have a bit of a handle on why you feel stuck, you can make a plan to tackle it. Also, if you are a person motivated by rewards, maybe make a goal to stick to the plan for a set amount of time (a month?) and when you reach that goal reward yourself with a pedicure, or a new pair of shoes...anything that might motivate you.

Good luck!!

I feel the same way at times Chick. I get restless, like at any moment I can mess things up. Like, during conferences, I try to be so very diligent about food. But sometimes I can't. And I worry and freak out if the bread they said was whole wheat has sugar in it and the like...

I think everyone here has given you some great advice. I *am* (was?) a yo-yo'er. I've been here to the Forum like what, three times since 2005 when I started (and ended, and started, and ended, then re-started) SBD. I look back at pictures of myself and think, wow. I did so well the first time for my wedding. Why did I stop? I was looking through old medical files last night, looking at my weight and thought, why was *I* not important to myself to keep SBD going. It works for me.

When I get bored, I take a time out and make a new recipe. I try a new veggie. I go to Whole Foods to get ideas. Do you like to cook? I do and trying to figure out how to make some of my favs has really helped me be "unbored."

I hate exercise. But I started this month with twice a week for at least 15 minutes. It's a goal, and one I might have to continue into February as well because I just can't seem to get motivated and work exercise into my everyday routine. Now that I've got the eating down as a routine, I'd like to jump start things in the exercise dept. But think of exercise outside the box - park at the furthest spot from the door when grocery shopping. Walk to the store, shop, wheel your cart to the car, wheel car back to store and walk back. That's a mini-workout!!!

I've been at a stall since November. I was hoping January I'd lose, but so far, I've done nothing but gain. It's from exercise, in part, but also not eating enough veggies. It's hard and I feel your pain. I really do.

Try some of the tips the chicks have suggested and let us know if anything fits for you.

This times 10 I'm fighting that again right now. So many women I know put everyone and everything else first and take care of ourselves with whatever energy and focus is leftover (usually not much). That has been the defining difference for me this time around. I know that if I'm not healthy and guarding my energy, fed by good foods and some exercise, that I'm not going to be any good for anyone else. it really is the old "put your own oxygen mask on first" thing.

I have gone through this so many times in my 73 years and can totally relate. A year ago, something clicked and I became determined to do something about my weight and health after being on and off every diet under the sun for over 50 years. I'm not sure what the "something" was - maybe having a friend who was 15 years younger die from complications of weight and diabetes? Anyhow, this is "it". I am losing and getting healthier on this plan although I am not always perfect.

Stick with it if you can little Chickadee. I want you chirping around for a long time.

What a great thread! I've enjoyed reading your thoughts. I, too, have a lurking fear of falling off the wagon. This go around is the longest stretch of healthy eating and exercise that I have ever managed. Keeping it in the front of my brain seems to be helping. I check in here regularly and follow a few blogs. I weigh every morning and text my weight to my best friend. We talk every day about feelings, struggles, articles or books, or recipes. We work out together a few times a week and I walk with my husband a couple of times a week. It really benefits me to be transparent with her and my husband about my weight and how I'm feeling. When I lose focus is when I slip.

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading all the replies and digesting them all week. Thank you everyone for all your words, I feel better knowing that it is not just me, that maybe this is something a person goes through during this time.

I do like SB, and I feel so good following it. Trying to put my finger on why I have this fear or whatever it is. It could be because I don't share this lifestyle change I have made with anyone other than my DH, and he is very supportive. So I am limited of who to talk to.

My plan is to try and make more use of the forum, the SB threads. Keep accountable in that respect and get back to posting my menus with my weekly weight. I feel I do pretty good, but maybe because I can't shout it out, I feel what is the use.

Most people I know have no interest in watching what they eat, and I know it is a personal thing. We are starting to go full force at work with a Wellness Program at work, and I am involved, I have to do all I can to hold back my experience with SB, because in order for the program at work to work, it has to be developed by the employees.....so I am taking this one step at a time.

Again, thank you for all the support, I think I needed to hear these things, I may be alone here with this plan, but not on the SB Forum.

Here's hoping everyone has a great weekend. Thanks

Same here. My DH has happpily gotten healthier with me but I don't talk to anyone else about it. They just aren't interested.

You are right...most people have no interest in watching what they eat. I witness that every day I work in the restaurant. I have found, too, that although there are lots who say they want to "lose weight" they are looking for the magic bullet and are not interested in a lifestyle change. If someone would ask me with sincerity what I had done I would share all I could but in all my time...noone has.

I come here because you all give me strength. It's fun and rewarding to share on a daily basis with others who have similar food beliefs. It gets easier and easier.