This seems to be the story of my life.I am all hepped up on a new plan. Ready to make a life change for good.But,alas it only lasts for a few days. My latest was w/Phenterimine.I knew it would not last forever. BUt I did think it would be longer than a week.I gained not only what I lost ,but 2 lbs more.I know I have to have some will power.But after this I think I am ready to give up.But I won't.I will keep trying. But I am very discouraged right now.

I'm sorry you're feeling discouraged. Have you tried calorie counting? I found it to be very effective. Nothing in banned from my diet. Its important to know you CAN do this. You just have to find a plan that works for you. Most of us have been on plans that DON'T work for us, and gain weight back. So, that is the first step, finding what does work. Also, it must be said, the more active I am on this forum, the more successful I am. Being able to read everyone's posts and stories is very uplifting and encouraging, and most of all, inspiring.

Best of luck to you. I hope to see more of your posts.

Hang in there, Tracy - I'm sorry you're having a hard time and I completely relate. I keep wanting an instant solution to all of my weight problems and it doesn't seem to work that way. Posters elsewhere have suggested starting with gradual changes with correspondingly gradual results instead of switching to a very drastic plan that it hard to stick with - not sure if that would be a helpful approach for you. Wishing you the best!

You may want to consider keeping it as simple as possible at the beginning. Then when you start seeing progress and start getting more motivated and have more energy, you can modify your plan and add or subtract things as necessary. Maybe for now, just look at the actual foods you eat and see where you can improve. For example, instead of toast in the morning, oatmeal. Instead of full-calorie butter, light butter (and less of it). Stuff like that. Less packaged food, more simple foods.

And don't get into the mindset that it has to be done quickly or all at once. It will take time, but you might be surprised how easy the time flies. Good luck!

To succeed, you can just never give up....ever. I hope you realize that this is a forever thing...so diet pills and fad diets will never be your salvation.

Oh...and I would recommend losing the "BY LABOR DAY" part of your mini goal...who care how long it takes to get to a size 20? Really, why not make your mini goal (however long it takes) just to reach a size 20...if it takes til Christmas, that's great! It's better than what you got going now.

I have to agree with BTF. My "new diet plan" consists of healthy food and portion control. No forbidden foods, just forbidden quantities and going into
the gym instead of committing drive bys!

Staying active on 3FC is also a great help. Every success and failure I have had in the past year is linked to my activity level here.

Good luck!!!

what about starting by counting calories. Count everything you eat for a week... then knock 500 calories off that. At your weight you could lose weight easily by eating 1800 a day. That's a LOT of food! Okay it's not whole bags of chips, or multiple chocolate bars... but it's lot of good healthful YUMMY food!

I eat 1700 a day (and you can see how well that's working for me)
today I've eating
1 cup Ginger zinger "granola" , 1/2 cup skim milk, small banana
cloverleaf tuna steak, LARGE salad with oz of cheese and 2 T vinagrette and chock full of veggies

I'm also in line to have a protein shake, orange, rice cakes, Laughing cow cheese, applesauce, reduced fat chicken dogs, whole wheat buns, tons of raw veggies.

Give calorie counting a try. Track it at fitday or livestrong or daily plate or where ever. Come here for support. Come visit us at the 100 lb club too!

You CAN do this. You can.

I agree with Lori Bell - lose the time frame on your goal. Time bound goals are recipes for disaster.

You can control what you do - you cannot control how your body will respond.

Thanks everyone! I am going to try to make small changes. It is hard for me to do that,because I am an all or nothing kind of person. But I think that is how I am going to have to start,since my weight is so out of control.I am going to start counting calories. I also took the advice of not having a time frame.I will just try to lose,whatever I can,No dead lines.I am also going to try to weigh myself once a week only,because I get hung up on the scale.
Thanks Again!

You know, Weight Watchers is also a good solution. It has guidelines and easy-to-follow rules, and the planning with respect to calories/nutritional info is pretty much done for you with their points system. The costs are minimal, and there are no forbidden foods, so you get the flexibility that you need when you need it. The costs are minimal, and the plan really has worked for me. I found that, left to my own devices, I just couldn't do it. But with a structured plan, I've been successful.

Just a thought...

Kira

I too am an all or nothing person. I used this to my advantage during my weight loss efforts and now that I'm in maintenance. Meaning, I got really, really "into" it and excited, instead of dreading, the changes that I needed to make in order to get healthy. Upon really, really deciding, once and for all, no joke, no 1/2 A$$ efforts - to lose the weight, this personality trait of mine - well I was going to make the most of it. It made me ultra determined. I looked upon losing weight and getting healthy as a mission and as a full time job. By giving it SUCH a high priority, making it SUCH a focus, that's when all the pieces fell into place.

I count calories as well, making sure to make them very worth my while and get the biggest bang for my buck out of them. Healthy, nutritious, tasty, satisfying, voluminous foods. I also eliminated foods that I have a history of overeating, wanting to take no chances on derailing my efforts by including foods that I could/would go overboard on.

Losing weight is without a doubt a doable thing. It's not some crazy, far-fetched scheme. It's doable. It's proven, time and time again. And you can absolutely do it as well.

I second WW. I love this plan!! I have joined 3 times actually- The first two I did really well lost more than 10% - around 30 lbs or so each time then I got a bit cocky and thought I could handle it on my own... for me not so much. I need the weekly accountability(to someone other than myself) and I like the supportive group environment plus the meetings are like a weight loss class each week. I really look forward to it... I feel confident when I am on plan with WW.

Whatever you chose DON'T give you. You don't fail until you stop trying! Weight loss is hard, but you can do it!!

Hi sweet Tracy -- you know, I just have a feeling about you that you are definitely going to succeed. You just need to find your own way. You posted a few times on the "positive" thread and we miss you over there.

The ladies on this board have way more experience than me on giving advice on food and they have helped me tremendously whether they know it or not. I have only been at this since March 10, so am a newbie myself.

But I am good at spotting a winner. And I think you're a winner. Or, more appropriately in this case, a loser! However you put it, I know you will succeed. CJ

Amen! I'm the same way! I won't go so far to say I'm obsessive, but pretty close. You need to just put your "all" into it and just do it. I got rid of some other distractions in my life recently, just so I could focus on this. And it's working!

Good luck to Tracy!

How ya doing today Tracy? Having a good day? Hope things are going smoothly for you. Give us an update!