What are your challenges, and how have you overcome them?

One of mine is mid-afternoon HUNGER. It's not cravings. I'd eat junk if you gave it to me, but I'd eat a hamburger (no bun) too. A snack, even a sugar-free healthy snack, doesn't really help. I feel I need four meals a day.

Anyone else deal with this? Any suggestions?

If you have any challenges, pending or conquered, please share.

Xan if you are hungry please eat! Maybe your lunch isn't sustaining you until dinner. Have a snack with protein and fat that might help you feel full until dinner.

Big challenge still is I find I relax when I snack after dinner. At least I am snacking wisely....most nights. My brain doesn't seem to shut down easily. I've accepted this is me. It is more challenging being an empty nester. Hobbies, reading, exercise, yoga have not helped. Oh well onward and downward!

My challenge is always wine and the salty snacks (even on plan ones) that accompany it in my book. My strategy is to avoid wine Monday-Thursday, and let myself indulge on the weekend.

Another challenge for me is not planning and having food ready. If on plan food is available, I will eat it and more importantly enjoy it no problem. So that means lots of planning for me if I want to stay on plan!

Like Mathilda, my challenges are wine and lack of planning. I also seem to be craving carbs and know that may be because it seems so cold so early. I may adopt M's strategy re the wine but know it's too many carbs that are pulling me off track. Pasta is the main culprit. I need to get back to zucchini and eggplant for lasagna and to spaghetti squash as well.

Having a family that doesn't follow my food plan.

My kids are 9 and 11, and my DS is super skinny and doesn't eat much. His favorite thing is white tortillas! But at their age they can eat that junk, and I think it's part of childhood of having some bad food. We don't have soda or sugary garbage (lil Debbie snacks, etc), but there's lots of snack crackers, they get pasta ("low carb", but still pasta) and other things. It will be interesting when he hits puberty if he actually eats more!

Jekel, I'll eat, of course, but nothing seems filling enough. this week I've been having Greek yogurt with a glass of iced tea, and since the yogurt has 13 grams of protein, that helps.

I've read all the posts with interest. It's both inspiring and rather daunting to see so many people who've done so well on SB still have challenges, but it's a good lesson for beginners/rebeginners to see that this is never perfect, and you have to find a way to deal with the challenges (that they won't go away, pouf!, by magic).

stress gets to me more times than it should. I still revert to eating to solve too many things - stress, boredom, aggravation

Cyndi I feel your pain. Believe me I wish I knew how to overcome it too. This week I knew I would be really stressed. I forbid myself from buying my favorite bean chips and nuts. At least if I am going to mindlessly eat I don't have any questionable options

Yes. Stress! For me, food (well, "treats") have been a reward for making it through a stressful day. It's taken me a long time to figure that out.

I'm with Cyndi: stress, boredom, mindless snacking. Also, food is so entwined in our culture: we go out to eat to celebrate, to relax on a Friday night, etc.

Both wine and sweets are a challenge for me as well. I find if I don't start I am okay, but have very little control when I start indulging in either one.

Essentially, I just like to eat!!

I think my biggest challenge is not being self-defeating. Lots of psychological issues around food for me.
I can eat well and enjoy the benefits of it for a good stretch of time, then I'll hit a phase where it's like resentment or some childish side comes out and decides that I should just eat whatever I want and health/weight/etc be damned!
Further to that, I have a hubby (god love him) who struggles as much as I do. When I say "I want ice cream!" he'll be be like "Yeah! Ice cream!" It's a bad mix.
I certainly can't say I've overcome this I keep getting back on track, though. That must count for something?

Movingon....I'm in the same boat, I do well for so long and either slip-up and decide "screw it"....or I get that resentment/childish attitude towards having to eat/be heathly all the time and wanting to be able to eat/do whatever I want. So funny, the shizzle we put ourselves through! lol

Also, ditto on the hubby part. He's tall and thin and can eat whatever he wants. If he even mentions the word diet he drops 10 pounds, jerk...lol But, he will indulge in everything/anything he wants and always invites me to join. Sometimes it's hard to say no. I need to remember that his metabolism is MUCH different than mine!

Hi All,

So- speaking of challenges, I am tuning in to the "crazy" in my head. I have the "good food" "bad food" banter going on. The problem, of course, is that I really only feel comfortable with restrictions to the point of being unhealthy (throwback to my Ideal Protein days).

I don't trust myself to make the right choices. I always worry that I'm eating too much (even if I am way under healthy calorie targets) and I don't trust my body to lose weight if I'm doing the right things. This makes phase 2 extremely challenging for me.

I'm sure I'm not alone with this. How do you all manage it?