Constant cycle of starting over every Monday. Help?

oneloopygirl

One thing that stood out to me- don't put devil horns or angel wings on your food. There's no food you "shouldn't" have unless it's an allergy of yours or poison.

It takes a while, but absorb what everyone here's saying: you don't have to do this "fall off the wagon" "get back on the wagon" thing. There's no wagon. There's just you in a garden of every food there is. You can eat ice cream, drink beer, as everyone is saying. It's okay. Just make sure to balance the rest of your day to account for it. Daily. Give it a few weeks. Log carefully, every bite.

You'll find this could be a lifestyle you like, one free of food-guilt.

This!

Seriously, I enjoy the occasional drink... Usually one or two on Saturdays. Not every week, but most weeks. I exercise regularly. My goal is to eat generally healthy, but I factor in things that I enjoy - like morning coffee with a little french vanilla creamer. I'm not going to give that up and that to me is worth the calories. It's a lifestyle and not a diet. We're not perfect and we all have bad days. You've got to just record it, own it and go on. Being over one day or maybe even two isn't going to kill you if your net calories for a week are still at a deficit. You can still lose, even if it's slowly... And who cares how slow you lose as long as you're making progress. It's not a race. That's what I run for... That competitive drive and push and desire to be better than last time. My food journey... Not so much.

ladyblue100

When ever I feel low about myself I just think back to the days where I was active. I think back about how happy I was to be outside running or riding my bike. For me I gained about 10 pounds this year and what I told myself was that I had to forget about the weight I was and look at my self now an say "Ok this is how much I weigh. I have to put in the time and effort if I want to weigh less". It's all about accountability and forgiving yourself for what you ate.

Hope my post helps

kelty412

I can totally relate especially in the summer. Every weekend there are events and everyone is having a drink. I try to limit myself to a drink or two, but it's not easy!! I figure that even if I have to start over on Monday, I"m still doing it!!

CARTC

I found that the best way was to make a full lifestyle change and to get the idea of "dieting" out of my head. That means there is no cheating or going back to something...you just do. The secret is to transfer into that new lifestyle a little at a time. I decided to go Paleo because it really works for me. Once I set that as my goal and not the scale. My focus was on learning the lifestyle and deleting foods I should not be eating, and adding foods I should. Before I knew it the pounds started dropping off. It only took me 1 1/2 years to loose 200lbs. I don't have to start over, and I don't have to think about calories, I just embrace the lifestyle. Good Luck.

Bella0531

Don't start Monday - start with the very next meal!

If you 'fall off the wagon' and have a quadruple bacon cheeseburger, cheese fries and milkshake for lunch on Wednesday that totally blows your macros out of the water don't beat yourself up and use it as an excuse to eat like crap for the next four days. Start again with Wednesday's dinner. Make yourself something sensible and healthy and continue on.

You can do this!!

StaciMarie1974

Perhaps adjust your goals. Maybe you're trying to do too much at once? I've heard it takes 21 days to form a new habit. So pick one thing - whether it be logging food, eating at X calories per day, working out X times per week, or something else: and focus on that for 3 weeks. Then in 3 weeks, add in another target area.

_Zardoz_

I think it's because you have this all or nothing kind of approach and thought process here...you drink a beer for example and this derails you? There's nothing wrong with drinking a beer...I drink plenty of beer and did so while I was losing weight.

There's not magic here...you just eat a little less and you move a little more...you don't have to suck on celery sticks and salads and do upteen million hours of exercise per week to lose weight. You can eat healthfully and eat enjoyably all at the same time...you don't seem to understand that.

I would also add that nobody is on 100% of the time...I've been around here going on two years...I lost 40 Lbs and I've been maintaining for over a year now without logging or anything...but that doesn't mean I'm spot on all of the time...I have good days and bad days...good weeks and bad weeks...you have to realize that this is all a part of life. It's not about starting over, it's about continuing on and realizing that this whole safari is going to have plenty of bumps and dumps along the way...that's life.

Listen to this man he speaks sense.

liekewheeless

Stop "dieting"!
Eat well, choose a deficit that won't cause you to "fall off".
Allow treats everyday.
Move your body.
It's that simple.

You can do it if you want to.
Put one foot in front of the other.
Do it!
Feed yourself the way you plan to feed yourself for the rest of your life.
When you reach the weight you're happy with-just eat a bit more of the things you've been eating all along.

This.

Moderation is key,
I love cake, ice cream etc. So guess what, I eat cake, ice cream etc. Should probably cut down on it some but hey,..I'm still losing weight!

Jessmess85

It sounds like you are way too hard on yourself when you "slip up"! Practice some self forgiveness and self compassion. This may sound silly, but it has really helped me. Anything I am hanging on to at the end of the day, like overeating or anything else I have done / not done that I am unhappy about, I forgive myself aloud.

Being able to let go of past mistakes helps you to continue to work hard without anything weighing you down (haha... see what I did there...)

Good luck!

Jillian130

Look at it this way...it's a Journey, because in essence it is. So with that in mind, say you're on a road trip with a destination planned. You're more than half way there and suddenly you are re-routed due to construction, or wrong turn, or whatever. Do you turn around and go home thinking you'll try again some other time?? Of course not. You find your way back on track and continue.
Same with this. You have a good week and then you have a beer, or wine, a bad meal, a bad day. So what? It doesn't cancel out your week, so go ahead and make your next choice a good one. Just carry on and get back on track. Why wait till Monday?
And quite honestly, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, any illness for that matter, doesn't wait till Monday to wreak havoc on a person. It just does, at any given moment. So be the best that you can be, now. Fight for your health and for the body you deserve and want. It's a heck of a lot easier to maintain your health, then it is to fight to get it back.

michelleepotter

Thank you for all of your answers! Some of these have been very helpful. I just need to suck it up and really gain my will power back. I got close to my goal once before, I can do it again.

You can! The first time I was here, I lost 25 lbs., and I only had 10 more lbs to go to my goal. Then I had some emotional stuff going on, and I just didn't have time to care about *anything* but that, and I gained back all but 6 lbs. I came back when I got pregnant, just concentrated on eating healthy (not trying to restrict anything), and started losing again after the baby was born. She's 7 months old now, and I am about 2 lbs away from my original goal!

This time, when I get to my goal and I'm ready to take a break from logging, I'm going to keep trying to eat reasonable portions and keep weighing myself so I notice right away if I start to get off track.

rosnz

Plan around your treats. I lost 10kg and still had a glass of wine and 2 chocolates every night. At that stage in my 'journey' I wasn't at a point to give them up so I made sure I had them within my allowance. Further on I began to find that I didn't feel deprived without them so just began to miss them out. If you put them into your meal plan while not saying it makes a perfect nutritional plan it does make it a lifestyle plan that is sustainable

ukaryote

Like most efforts, weight loss is mostly head work, not body work.

No, you do not "just have to suck it up." That is being hard on yourself again, and again you may think you failed and perhaps give up.

Maybe you could forgive yourself. "I had a whole bottle of wine last night. That tasted great! But I remember the first part of the week I did really well. I'll bet I could do the same for the rest of the week!"

You have so many, many days of success! Keep it up!

Spreyton22K

I think it's because you have this all or nothing kind of approach and thought process here...you drink a beer for example and this derails you? There's nothing wrong with drinking a beer...I drink plenty of beer and did so while I was losing weight.

There's not magic here...you just eat a little less and you move a little more...you don't have to suck on celery sticks and salads and do upteen million hours of exercise per week to lose weight. You can eat healthfully and eat enjoyably all at the same time...you don't seem to understand that.

I would also add that nobody is on 100% of the time...I've been around here going on two years...I lost 40 Lbs and I've been maintaining for over a year now without logging or anything...but that doesn't mean I'm spot on all of the time...I have good days and bad days...good weeks and bad weeks...you have to realize that this is all a part of life. It's not about starting over, it's about continuing on and realizing that this whole safari is going to have plenty of bumps and dumps along the way...that's life.

QFT.....this says it everything I wanted to say but better!!!!
Good Luck :flowerforyou: