I keep falling off the wagon after doing so well :(

nutmegoreo

I think it's just really hard for me not to use food to self medicate my feelings of stress, loneliness, etc.

What is your average daily caloric intake (ignoring the pancakes)

I aim for 1500-1800

That is pretty low. You can 'afford' a pancake day to be honest. Plan it, log it, and look at your caloric intake for the week and weight loss results over a few weeks.

Or alternatively, do not restrict yourself so much and you may be less likely to feel out of control.

Have a read of this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Please do give this a read. I am a 5'2", 40 year old woman and aim for 1700/day. I'm not doing to bad either for two months in!

MrfreddieV

You seam to be getting good advice. Fit the pancakes into your calorie count. Set a weight loss that works for you. This has to work for long term. Even when you get to your goal you will need to learn how to eat to maintain. Everyone that cares what they weigh will always need to count calories. But a hint. Cooking those pancakes at home you will probable find a recipe that lets you eat more. Pancakes from scratch are very few ingredients and take about 4 or five minutes to throw together. 1 cup Flour,1 or 2 eggs eggs,1 cup milk,pinch of salt and a level tea spoon of baking powder. I like a cap of real vanilla extract. You can use whole eggs or just egg whites,white flour or 100 whole grain but my point is, It really is from start to finish under 15 minutes to serving them up. Live your life enjoying ever day. Food is not a reward. And you should never have to punish yourself for a slip up.
There are 365 days a year, do your best to eat with in your planed calories more days then slip ups and you are going to reach your goal. Be kind to yourself. Sorry i am going on. Just hate the thought that you are getting upset with yourself. BIG ))))HUG(((((

Veganniee

You don't have to give up the pancakes, and it doesn't have to stall your loss.

Plan for it once a week, this way you won't feel deprived and will make it much easier to continue. So even if your favorite pancake meal is 1500 calories - workout the day you have them, eat those and something else smaller later in the day and you can still maintain a small deficit.

Now if you are eating just because of stress, then to find a new activity for relief. Biking long distances and lifting work great for me when I need to get rid of some stress, or I hit the punching bag for awhile

This makes a lot of sense. Not sure my willpower is there yet but it is something to aim for.

laceyfowler

I would suggest you look into practicing "mindfulness". My place of employment offered it as a free short course for employees and it was excellent for me. GIven that I am high stress and anxiety it helped me practice being 'present' instead of constantly worrying about the future. I think something like that may not stop you "bingeing" but will help you understand that it is only a moment in time so you don't carry around the guilt of it.

I also devote 200 calories a day to eating basically whatever food I want. All my other calories are devoted to my basic meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and a healthy snack (like fruit, or carrots with hummus etc)). I usually have a cookie or two. It stops me from obsessing over junk food and sweets - which I love! I try and do at least 200 calories worth of exercise everyday which I dont use towards my basic meals.

Good advice here! All the advice about not being so hard on yourself (OP) about having those pancakes once every 4-7 days especially if it fits into your overall caloric intake - which it sounds like it would - is great advice, but I like how huv123 recommends mindfulness as well. If you find yourself "stress" or "comfort" eating pretty frequently, it might be good to also look at how to be a little less stressed in general :-) That would make life better and weight loss easier!

Mindfulness is a great practice to get into - I think learning a bit about mindfulness could enhance and at least somewhat de-stress Everyone's life!

OP, don't beat yourself up... it sounds like overall you're doing very well :-) Take the advice given on this thread - some of the most consistently good advice I've seen on a thread lately! Take care of yourself emotionally as well as physically, and enjoy better emotional and physical health :-)

LALALA28115

Until I saw a therapist to deal with my emotional eating, I was not making any real progress. But now I have techniques to address my emotional eating and to moderate when I do want and make a conscious choice to have something that is not part of my regular intake, such as a pancake. I encourage you to see a therapist that has experience specifically in emotional eating and eating issues and really do some solid work with them. I have been seeing my person for nearly a year and expect to see them all of this coming year as well.
Good luck--and remember, when you do fall off the wagon, you need to get RIGHT BACK ON IT!

eldamiano

Go running to make up for it?....

edwardkim85

I am really struggling to maintain compliance with the amount of calories I am supposed to be eating. I will do great for 4-7 days, but then get horrible cravings to overeat. There is a diner place right by my work that has great pancakes. They are my weakness. I never want to go there again but it's hard. The craving is really strong, and it's right by my work.

I did this today after a number of perfect days. Today was particularly stressful at work and I know this is why I ended up going to the diner. I wanted those pancakes for comfort from stress.

That can be called ' cheat ' days. Your body is craving carbs if you like the pancakes.

If you are eating -500/day for 6 days, then binge eating 2kcal + above your maintenance on the 7th, that's still a loss of 1kcal/week.

In a month, that's over a pound of fat loss.



I eat decently clean for about 10 days then I eat literally wtv I want every 10-12 days. Ends up being about 5-6kcal.

Would I lose more weight if I can stick to my clean eating for longer periods of time? Yes, most likely; however, I want to live a little, drink a little. I don't want to be a fitness fanatic for no reason when I'm not competing and my only goal is to look and feel good about myself.

If I want I'll go binge for an entire week and drink alcohol or wtv, then I'll take the next 2 weeks to get back on track and watch what I eat.

If I go out heavy drinking once a week on the weekend and eat junk food the next day all day(from hangover), I'll make sure my workouts and diets the rest of the week is clean.

If you are like me and can't eat junk food in moderation, do what I do and eat what you want every once in a while.

if you can moderate small amounts of food you want in regular every day life, then do that;

Don't feel guilty about it.

Becky388

I say work the pancakes into your calorie allotment UNLESS you are like me and wheat sensitive. I was doing that exact thing but the scale would jump back up after just one splurge like that. I'd "gain" and "lose" the same 3-5 pounds until I dropped wheat completely. I added some wheat back in (that was the only change) and the scale has skyrocketed back up. SO if your scale is doing that, you may have to find a way to get rid of them or find an alternative. If it isn't, then enjoy a cheat meal of pancakes once every week or two, just plan for it.

hedwardsb

Your calorie intake is not that high on most days, so as others have said, that could be causing the splurge. You have 2 options IMO: 1. up your daily calories & avoid the pancakes or 2. Leave your calories the same and eat, log, and enjoy the pancakes.
If you're still at your calorie goal for the week and maintaining or losing weight, but you're beating yourself up over the pancakes and not truly enjoying them, that's a crying shame.

Unknown

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VeggieKidMandy

If I know I am going to over eat, or if I have a stressful day at work and indulge in my favorite food ( which happens to be pizza ) I count all the calories and then bust my *kitten* even harder when I work out. This way I take accountability for the food I ate and feel proud that I worked them off. If I eat clean my normal workout is hard but not brutal, if I eat like crap, then my workout is brutal.

Phaedra2014

I am really struggling to maintain compliance with the amount of calories I am supposed to be eating. I will do great for 4-7 days, but then get horrible cravings to overeat. There is a diner place right by my work that has great pancakes. They are my weakness. I never want to go there again but it's hard. The craving is really strong, and it's right by my work.

I did this today after a number of perfect days. Today was particularly stressful at work and I know this is why I ended up going to the diner. I wanted those pancakes for comfort from stress.

You will have to break this habit by replacing it with a better one. Yours is a mental battle with the pancakes, not a physical one. Trying to outsmart the pancakes isn't working. Maybe make a deal with yourself in terms of working for them? Burn calories through a different kind of exercise and earn them. That way you get to enjoy them more on YOUR terms instead of letting them lure you in when you are most vulnerable.

2boys111

To address the loneliness you mentioned: why not get involved at the gym or a fitness class? I did a TRX class that was a 50/50 mix of men and women. I would do it every Monday and Wed night and started to meet people that way. It was nice to walk into the class and have small talk etc.

Maybe getting more connected to people will help your loneliness? If not fitness, maybe a class for a hobby you have? Get yourself out there....

Good luck!

freekat

I would move away from the idea of needing to be perfect. Yes you need to eat at a deficit over the long term. However, the occasional treat will not change that. You might like to try cutting back your daily calories so that you can have a treat day once a week. Then you can have your weight loss and pancakes too!

Alyssawinter1221

Don't be too hard on yourself! Everyone makes mistakes! A splurge every once in a while won't kill your diet, just hit it hard in the gym after

Tomorrow is a new day!

Maybe you can chug a water before you go in and order a half stack? Chugging a water really helps me to not over eat!

Orrrrr... Maybe you can go in and make a huge scene, so you'll get thrown out and won't be allowed back in jk!

Well best of luck!

You should add me on here! I love the motivation and accountability and feel free to msg me when the pancake cravings come
Also -- last thing I PROMISE-- cravings generally last 5 minutes! Maybe call a friend, email, Facebook, just distract your self and it will pass... "This too shall pass"