Today I am having a very horrible day. I am frustrated and mad at myself. 5 years ago I lost about 40 pounds. I looked and felt great. I vowed to NEVER let myself get fat again. 5 years later I gained it all back plus more. I am eating well and exercising everyday. I am losing weight. I know it will not come off over night, but I just get so frustrated. It take two weeks to lose, but I can gain it back in a day.
To top it off they had a Pot Luck at work today and 98% of everything there had cream cheese in it. I brought my lunch and told myself I was not going to eat anything else. However, I did not eat my lunch and found myself grazing on and off thoughout the day. Now, I feel horrible because I know I will be disappontied when I get on the scale. I am looking at the success stories and keep crying. Don't get me wrong I am very proud of everyone. I just wish it was me.
I am going to go exercise. I usually walk 3 miles and ride my bike 2 miles. If don't have time I will just do one or the other. Do you think it will erase today? Or do you think I just gained back what I worked so hard all week to take off? Please HELP. I need to talk to someone who undertands!
One day off plan won't wreck your whole week. Just get back up, dust yourself off and eat better tomorrow. I've read a bunch that says sometimes your metabolism needs a shock like an off plan meal. I'm too scared to do it. That's probably why my scale hasn't moved in 9 days.. But I don't think you did any real damage. About 2 years ago my best friend lost 120 lbs and she said the secret is eating right 75% of the time, and getting excercise, which is what you are doing. You are doing well, don't give up..
It won't undo what you have lost, provided you get back on track right now. Somehow, I doubt you've eaten 3500 extra calories on top of your needed food intake, did you? If the scales shows a gain, at this point it will very likely be bloating, due to sodium etc. in the foods you ate. Better yet, don't even weigh in to check if it's not your official weigh-in day, resume healthy eating and exercise as usual, and let a few days pass.
I think we all have a tendency to fall, regularly or less regularly, in this mode of "One day will erase all my efforts" thinking. It sucks. But really, the right thing to do is to get back on track ASAP. That's the thing that will work best.
Don't beat yourself up over it! It's going to happen once in a blue moon, just accept it, enjoy yourself taking a bite of a few forbidden things, then get back on track. So long as it isn't a daily habit, then why not just let yourself enjoy it for today, and get back on track WITHOUT feeling guilty?
Sunday is my daughter's birthday- she will turn 11. We're all on diets in our house, however, I let her order her ice cream cake and we're going to let her have her favorite dinner and just have fun for that day, without counting calories. It's giving us all a day to look forward to- we've all been working very hard counting calories and exercising, and to me, she deserves to enjoy her birthday without feeling guilty. The same with my older two kids- if they are still dieting by November, I will do the same. Special occasions deserve a special break, so long as you go back to watching calories and exercising the next day.
Her birthday only comes once a year, and we are all going to enjoy it. Come Monday morning, we will all be back on track and counting calories again. I refuse to feel guilty for enjoying the day with her, and I sure as **** am not going to make the rest of my family feel guilty for enjoying it with her, too.
Courtney, I agree ~ this one day is not going to wreck everything but you have to just jump right back up and do it rather than feel bad/guilty/p*ssed off about it. I totally understand how you feel, I really do... I'm like you - though a bit more than 40 lost... then everything gained back. It takes time, maybe even more time than it did before, because there IS negative energy within us that keeps "remembering" that vow we made to ourselves.
It's going to be OK. Just don't let this ONE day throw you completely off. You can and WILL do this!
Many, many of us here have lost and gained it back. You're not alone by any means. Keeping weight off once it's lost requires a change of lifestyle, not just a temporary change in eating. And you can work on that now!
You intended to do one thing, and instead you did something else. So, try to learn from it and go on from there! This isn't the last potluck that will happen, so you need the practice. Many folks do fine as long as they don't have to face these "food challenges"--but life is full of them, and we have to learn how to cope.
You did good to take your lunch with you. Things broke down when you chose not to eat your lunch and instead graze. OK, now you know that you have to exert a lot more force of will to get through days like that.
But today is a new day, and you can get right back on your plan. As the other posters have said, one day doesn't undo weight loss--it's when we give up that things go awry. So don't give up!
Maybe you should take a look at the maintainers thread? I think something that alot of us have struggled with at one point or another is feeling like we're being deprived. If this is going to be a lifestyle change, then you have to allow yourself to have little treats here and there. It might make the weight come off a little bit slower, but in the long run it will make for a much easier overall lifestyle change.
For some reason, my body thinks that it's cool to mess with my head. When I tell myself I absolutely CAN'T have something... guess what I want? You guessed it, that exact thing. Moderation is key. You have to allow yourself to enjoy the food you love, without going overboard. Making sure that you're hydrated, and eating plenty of vegetables and fruits will definately help you to keep from over eating on the non-healthy stuff.
Food should be something that you enjoy, and healthy food can be just as delicious and enjoyable as non-healthy foods. You shouldn't force yourself to eat something that you don't like every single day... that's just going to lead to failure. I think that it's important to make sure that you enjoy what you're eating so that if the time comes where you're in a situation like you were, you can really say to yourself, "Hmm... that looks good, but what I brought tastes wayyyyy better!" Then enjoy the goodness of what you've brought. Even if that means taking a bite of something else to prove to yourself what you've brought is better... then do it!
One day won't mess up everything. 3,500 calories in 1 lb, so even if the scale shows a rise... it's not possible that you've eaten that many calories to gain so much fat. Eating like that every meal everyday... yes that'll do it, but, one meal on one day won't hardly mess things up.
I know how you feel, like you totally blew it, but you didn't. Like everyone else said, one day won't wreck it all. A few weeks ago, I ate 5,500 cals in one day. Yep. 5,500 (it was a lot of food). But you know what? I didn't gain a pound and even LOST a pound. You will be fine, don't beat yourself up over one day.
As others here have said, that one day won't do any major damage. Think about it: You would have to have eaten 3500 over and above your maintenance calories to actually gain a pound. So, if you can maintain your weight on, say, 2000 calories a day, you would have to have eating 5500 calories to gain any weight. I doubt very much that you ate that much.
And believe me, you're not alone. Last week, my sister (who is also counting calories) came to visit. Initially, we were doing great: counting calories and staying on program. However, by day four, we were slipping, and by day five, we were doing more eating than counting. So, I had several days of random eating (I'm talking doughnuts, a DQ Snickers Blizzard, chocolate cake, etc.). You know what? I'm not weighing myself this week. I'm going to wait until I've been back on program a week or two before I weigh myself. The important part for me--and for you--is to get back on program. Even people without a weight program splurge on special occasions.
Why did I do this to myself?
If the scales shows a gain, at this point it will very likely be bloating, due to sodium etc. in the foods you ate. Better yet, don't even weigh in to check if it's not your official weigh-in day, resume healthy eating and exercise as usual, and let a few days pass.
