Here I go again!

mcn79

I celebrated my one year anniversary on MFP about a month ago. In my first year I did well.. I lost 32 lbs and I did a good job of making this truly a lifestyle change and not a diet. Although I would have loved to have seen "quick results," I worked with my lifestyle. I had dessert, I enjoyed family parties and I indulged here and there. I had weeks that were good and weeks that were not so good. I exercised, I made good choices (most of the time) and I saw steady results. However, as I neared my year anniversary, I started to slip. I worked hard to see results before a tropical vacation in late May... then it started. We drank. We ate. We ate some more. We exercised some, but not nearly as much as we drank & ate. When I got home it was hard to be focused. I didn't exercise. My eating didn't return to it's pre-vacation state. Then, two weeks after we returned from vacation, my live-in boyfriend lost his job. I am a stress eater. When the going gets tough, I lose my motivation to do anything but the minimum. For three weeks I was lucky to get myself to work every morning. Planning meals, let alone healthy meals, was the last thing on my mind. I saw those lost pounds creeping back on... but even worse, I saw the fat reappear. I wasn't happy with my backward slide, but I was loving the comfort foods. This past Wednesday I wore a pair of capris I bought in April. They were snug... not a good feeling. So here I am... starting over. I logged my gain of 6.8 lbs and I'm getting back on track.

I'm doing the best I can, but there is still stress from living on one income and it is a constant struggle for me to make sure I take care of myself in the right ways... eating healthy foods, exercising and avoiding my food sensitivies - wheat and dairy. I know I can do it. My goal is to lose another 30 lbs this year!

Motivation and support is greatly appreciated... Any suggestions for ways to stay focused, fun exercise, etc are welcome!

AliceA2013

Skip the guilt trip, as my animated exercise DVD figure says, and stay focused on what you can control in your life. You have done it before and today is when you start doing it again. Good luck and remember not to go for quick results - I reckon it was that extra effort for the holiday that derailed you: just keep it slow and steady and you'l get there.

AJL437

This may sound cheesy, but for me what has worked is just focusing on today and today only. I have an alert that goes off in my phone first thing in the morning so the first thing I read is: "Today I will work out and log my calories. Just for today. I can do it" This really has helped a lot.

mcn79

Thanks guys. I'm focus on food this week and adding in more movement. I'll focus on "true" exercise next week! I appreciate the support!

shannonmarie752487

Definitely focus on what you can control. Do some research on eating healthy on a budget. You already know that eating to relieve stress just causes more stress, so I would suggest changing that mindset to finding comfort in exercise instead of food. I know it's easy to say, and I have to convince myself of it every single day. I hope everything works out with the job situation. In the meantime, we all need to keep ourselves healthy.