I used to be a pretty active member. I went from 240 pounds down to 170 pounds over about a 2 year period.

Then life happened. Several things changed including a horrible, mean roommate, two divorces in the family, my own marriage becoming strained, etc, etc. Well I started eating. And eating. And eating. I'm talking whole cakes, constant snacking, a midnight "dinner." I knew I was getting big again. I kept making plans to start again, but never did. it was always tomorrow or Monday or the first of the month. I avoided the scale because I just didn't want to know.

Until tonight. I finally stepped on the scale and it said 260 pounds. I couldn't believe it, I can't even describe how I feel right now.

I'm embarrassed and ashamed of how I look. I don't like to go anywhere. I don't have clothes that fit, but I don't want to buy ones at my size. I feel like all that work I did was for nothing. *sigh*

I'm just... devastated. How could I let myself do this?

Hi!

The important thing is that you are back. Back with a plan to get yourself on the right track starting now. Not monday, the first of the month, after this or that, now.

I'm proud of you already.

Welcome back. Nice to meet you.

Welcome back!!! You can do this!!! You've done it before! Stay with the chicks for excellent support!

Oh I just want to give you a big big hug *hugs* It sucks to see all that hard hard work go to waste and you KNOW how HARD it was because you did it! But you DID DO IT and I KNOW that you can do it again. I believe in you.

I believe in you too.

I'd encourage you to take a minute, now, to look at the lessons you've learned in your re-gain...take all the knowledge from it you can, and then...let it go. Because nothing is going to change what has happened in the past. But you're here, and you're re-dedicated, and that is all you need to change where you're going from here.

The slide is over. You are going to get back on track, with all the knowledge you now have about regaining, and soon you'll be well on your way to where you were when you left off.

Lots of to you. You have done it before, and you definitely can (and will!) do it again.

I so understand. My tale is 242 down to 136 back to 225. Back to 179 at the minute though.
You've made the biggest decision, taken the most important step - you've got on the scales and you know the size fo the problem, not meant to be a pun. You Will do this, and knowing how awful you feel now, you Will Not let this happen again. You go!

I've lost and then regained in stressful circumstances so many times!!!! I have decided this time has to be the time I don't do that. I can't face going back up to what I was or even heavier again. Learn from why you put on weight again. Learn to deal with life in other ways than emmotionally eating. It's hard but you can do it. You lost a lot of weight before so you can do it again. Learn from it then you wont' repeat the same mistakes.

Also, it's when I started spending money on clothes the size i am rather than making do that I started to feel better about myself and then was better able to lose weight so it's worth thinking about getting at least 1 or 2 nice items. Much easier to work at losing weight when you feel better about yourself. Try not to feel ashamed -I've felt that way many times but it doesn't help and now you're refocusing on facing the issue and doing something about it you have nothing to feel ashamed about.

What's done is done. You can't go back and change your past. But you CAN change your today and your FUTURE.

Each and every extra pound on you is one that you CAN get rid of and take off. One day at a time. One good day after another. And before you know it, you will be more then well on your way to transforming your very life. Now is the time. Get excited about all the wonderful and positive changes you can make.

I've been through the same thing- loss and gain, loss and gain. The great thing about each new day is exactly that- you have a new opportunity to work towards a healthy weight. Use TODAY the best you can, and do the same thing tomorrow, and if you fall, just get up and start over again. You've done it once, you'll do it again.

Good luck!

Welcome back! You can do this and we are here to cheer you on

Count me in among the regainers.

Here's something I heard somewhere on these boards once. Regain is incredibly common. In fact many successful losers have done it at least once. (we even had a poll). Each time you lose, you learn things. When you regain, you learn about you too.
Now, you are even more loaded up with the knowledge that you need to lose and keep the weight off.

Buy a few pieces of cheap interim clothing and get back at it. See how many of us have faith in you!

Welcome back, Stacy!

Make a plan, back to basics. I'm one that lost and regained twice before I figured out that I can never go back to my old habits. It is so hard, so hard to see the scale back up, I do know that.

Was it Edison who said, "I haven't failed 1000 times. I just figured out a thousand ways NOT to make a lightbulb."? Probably a poor and misattributed paraphrase, but you know what I mean. You know what to do and you can do it. I know you can!

On the brighter side, you've lost the weight before and you can do it again. The most inmportant thing is to get back on track. Take it slow and don't try to do everything at once. Just like how you did it the first time.

Regainer here! I had lost 120 pounds and gained back 30 of it. It can happen for all kinds of reasons and is VERY common. In fact, most people regain.


But as you can see, that isn't the end of the story. You are back and are going to tackle the weight again. You'll feel better as you take control again!!!


I do think it helps to examine what went wrong and see if you can get it to NOT happen again!

Welcome back!!!

Stacy: Please don't be hard on yourself. Your previous weight loss was NOT a waste; it proved that you can do it, and you will do it again.

Now that you've started again, be sure to come up with a plan for the stressful times that does NOT include eating. Maybe get a boxing video game for the Wii or a punching bag, to help relieve any stress that comes along. Or if you have a treadmill, come up with an especially hard-core playlist on your iPod for a stressful day and run (or walk) your butt off, literally! Whatever works that can help you get your mind off things for awhile, then when you're done you'll realize you actually did something beneficial for yourself.

Good luck!