Hi all,

I have been off and on plan all week, but today I find myself with no motivation to stay on. I weigh in Saturdays and feel like what's the point of staying on, I will just start a fresh on Saturday... not the best thinking! How do you combat letting a blown day turn into a blown week?

I know exactly where you are coming from. This used to happen to me all the time but when I decide to just give up on a week, I find it hard to get back on track. Letting those blown days turn into blown weeks is how I end up off the diet entirely and gaining back my loss. Then I have to start all over again. You just have to start over the next day, regardless of badly you did on any particular day. Being good the rest of the week may result in staying the same and not gaining. The best motivation for me is not wanting to have to keep losing the same 10 pounds over and over again. I also like to set mini goals with a small reward when I reach them and sometimes that is a nice extra push. When I finally reach 30 pound loss, for example, I am going to allow myself to download three new iBooks. I know it's kind of childish but sometimes it helps.

HONESTLY........I say, "Well, I enjoyed that mess, but I have to get back........and, if I am really good, I know I will be okay to totally mess up again in 10 to 20 days." But, in the mean time, my clothes are getting looser, I am feeling better, and I am exercising more.

A lapse doesn't have to be a relapse. Get back on track now. Track what you've eaten so far today. Get some exercise in if you can. Drink some water.

Don't start over on Saturday. Start over now.

There must be something in the water because I'm right there with you this week!!! I haven't gone off plan since I started 4 months ago but this week.. ugh.. it started with some serious cravings and I caved...I got right back on plan and before the next day was out, I caved.. repeat the next day... a vicious cycle for sure. I lose SUPER slow as it is and here I am setting myself back at least two weeks, what to do??!

I always remember the anecdote I heard from my leader at WW. (Perhaps a lot of leaders use this that week).

She was walking across her kitchen with a carton of eggs and one fell out and broke on the floor. So she immediately......

....threw the rest of the eggs on the floor and broke them as well.

Isn't that what we are doing when we say we've blown the week anyway so we might as well go hogwild, eat what we want, go off program, etc?

When we do that we are letting the weighin result become more important than our ultimate goal. Because we know (or fear) that we won't have a loss at the next weigh in, then we use that to justify going off program. And, yet, that really is just like throwing the rest of the eggs on the floor. It does nothing positive for us. Our real goal is not to have a loss at every weight (i.e. never to drop an egg). Rather it is to lose weight overall (get as many eggs safely across the room as we can even if one gets broken on the way).

For me, I have found those thoughts motivating when I've been tempted to just go off program until the next weigh in.

Thanks for the motivation everyone. Tonight I went to Zumba and the gym. Normally I would eat something after, regardless of hunger, just because that's my habit, but I decided to skip the food in favor of some water and tracking. Here's to staying on the wagon again tomorrow.

You are right about the water. Got off track and struggling to get back. Gained back 2 1/2 pounds (UGH) and really need to get to a meeting and re-motivated. Much too much is at stake, like my health. Think I need to read more on this board, you guys are great.

Roberta

I don't wait for motivation, I just remember my commitment. I start tracking even if it's in the middle of the day and I haven't tracked all week. I go back a few weeks in my tracker to remember what I was eating on the weeks I felt good and lost weight and I make those foods. I go for a walk or to a yoga class.

Last week was terrible for me, I went off track and it was hard to regain my focus. While I was making bad choices, I still worked out and I think that really helped.

Don't beat yourself up over a bad week, we all have them!

Go to the meeting and skip the weigh-in to avoid being discouraged.... and then try to look at it as "hey, I have a few extra days to lose a little bit more!" you are going to feel much better about yourself if you recommit now.