I lost focus badly, gained to 174 as of this morning up from 154 I hope I am back on track but somebody, anybody, EVERYBODY kick my butt and make me stop feeding myself and start working out again!

I'm not going to kick your butt, because punishment doesn't work very well for weight loss, it just creates guilt, which is a stressor - Stress often leads to poor sleep which is another source of stress. Stress hormones physiologically makes weight loss more difficult by decreasing metabolism and increasing appetite.

What I WILL do, because reward is more effective than punishment, is reward you with praise for what you have accomplished - keeping off 62 lbs - recommitting to weight loss before you backslid further.

You don't need punishment, you need reward. Maybe for you, the scale will be rewarding enough. For me it isn't, and I get bored easiky, so I treat myself like a hyperactive toddler - I have a ginormous sticker chart on my bedroom wall. Every pound I lose, I add a sticker, and every 20 lbs gets a really big gold sticker with the word Excellent printed on it.

I also reward every 5 lbs with a "donut" bead from Michael's to add to my weight loss bracelet.

I've been thinking of adding a new sticker chart for weight loss and other weight loss tasks.

A few months ago, I stopped using my sticker charts and rewards, because I got careless and thought I was too busy and thought I no longer needed the reward system. There were a lot of other reasons (health problems mostly), but I too regained about 20 lbs.

I'm back on track, but not because I or anyone else kicked my butt. I just had to refocus on the goal and practice and reward the behaviors that would help me move towards my goal.

So stop kicking yourself - it will only make you hungrier.