[fatgiraffe]

I am not new to weight loss, about 7 years ago I went from 226lbs to 150lbs in about 8 months. It was easy for me because I had a ton of motivation. I maintained 150-160 for about a year and a half and have slowly gained it all back-and more! Now I will do well for a week or two and lose a little weight and then I will cheat once or just get frustrated that its not coming over faster (when I know the 90lbs I want to lose isn't going to come off in a week) and then just go back to my old habits again. I'm having a little trouble I feel like maybe mentally I'm not ready to lose all the weight but I NEED to do it. And I need to do it now. Anyone else having trouble or have had trouble with breaking this cycle? What did you do??

[ReNew Me]

Wow, you could be me. Eight years ago I weighed about 180/185, same as you, lots of motivation and ability to keep up a lot of exercise. Then things happened and it all slowly crept back on. I've been hovering between 225 and 235 for the past five or so years. I'd get on a diet, stick for a few days then get frustrated and fall off the wagon. I haven't been below 216 since 2008.

Now I'm within spitting distance of that weight and this time I'm gonna hit it. For me it's been accountability. Logging food, making myself get exercise as my aches and pains allow, rinse and repeat. Oh, and staying away from drinking. If I have a drink my self discipline goes right into the toilet and can stay there for several days. Recognizing this and just hanging on has helped. For some people it's trigger foods, for me it's a glass of wine or vodka sour *shrug*

Spilling my guts on these forums as I can and trying to help others has the effect of helping me. I have always been a secret dieter, had a history of eating disorders, in fact. Sharing my weight and my issues (i.e., telling people my trigger is alcohol despite how that might be looked upon) has helped keep me in line at times ... the desire to see that stupid ticker move is helping, too.

Finally, I have the best motivation on the planet to lose weight, I have osteoarthritis of the knees that causes me constant pain. If I could drop even 20 lbs. it could give me some natural pain relief.

[Agalinfl]

I am struggling with the numbers too... It is all taking longer than I had hoped... But I will not quite this time around. I am so tired of this problem/ challenge...

[JohnP]

What plan are you following? Have you tried lowering your carbs?

From a compliance standpoint - you might find low carb dieting easier.

[ReNew Me]

OH, one thing I forgot to add in my post: This time around I'm also taking measurements as well with my "official" once a week weigh-ins. For example, as of today I consider myself as having been "on a diet" for six weeks. A couple of those weeks there was NO movement on the scale but the tape measure DID go down. That has also trumped the "ah screw it" frustration of not seeing the scale move while it seems like I'm working so hard.