HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP

Lovesparklesandcupcakes

I am stuck and I just can't move!! My problem is unfortunately not a plateu so much as a diabolical scheme to sabotage myself at every turn. I have lost a fair share of my desired amount already, but every time I near the mid way point I seem to have this need to pig out. It has happened 4 times already where I am just a couple of grams away from the midway point and bham - before I know it I am shoveling a cake into my mouth - a whole one! It is so bad that I don't even revert back to my old eating habits (which werent terrible, just completely wrong portion sizes) but go way beyond that to the point that I eat foods I don't normally eat or even like - in enormous amounts!! Inevitably I am left feeling guilty, upset and soooo scared of my next weigh-in because I know I will have to start all over again but I just cannot help it - well, I know I can but somehow I can't. Anyone else suffer from this or have advice for me?

zoodalia

Yes! I gained 2 stone (which I think is about 14kgs) over the last two years and despite this, have also been on-off dieting for the same amount of time. My diets have always been counteracted by the days that I completely cave and eat my body weight in pizza and chocolate!

Last night I was really struggling and sat staring at the Dominos website. Anyway, I closed my laptop, did a workout and went to bed early so that I would wake up refreshed. I feel SO glad that I didn't cave last night.

It's really, really, really tough when you love food as much as we do... BUT I reckon just keep reminding yourself why you're here, and keep chatting to friends on here because when you're really hungry and desperate to cave in, there's thousands more of us out there in exactly the same boat.

Be strong and don't forget how good it will feel when you reach your goals:)

x

bonjour24

maybe you should take the emphasis away from the scales and focus on fitness instead. that way food (or lack of) won't hold as much grip over you.

if you want to keep weighing in, then i'm afraid all it is about is will power. you choose what you put into your body- maybe it's a case of having different things in the house so you can still eat and enjoy, but just make sure it's not cake.

i don't know why you want to sabotage yourself, but maybe you need to sit down and really think about what it is you're scared of. and work out what your motivation is so that you can keep on going regardless.

lil_pulp

Cheap and easy idea: Stop weighing yourself.
Pricier, harder, and potentially painful idea: Find a therapist and figure out why you're sabotaging yourself and then deal with that issue.
Good luck.

Baileys83

I kinda understand. My other half is a fitness freak (in a nice way of course), goes to the gym 4 times a week, eats some awful foods because its for 'function' for example raw brocolli and sardines covered in olive oil and ground black pepper. Yuck! Anyway, whilst he is here I am very good, stick to my healthy eating and evercise but when he goes to work (two days and two nights every eight days) I feel the need to pig out on all the lovely food that I feel too guilty to eat in front of him.

I think you need to find a focus, a goal that means more to you than the pizza and chocolate - mine is my wedding in just under ten weeks. I look at the kids marsh mallows and the ice cream in the freezer and then look at my tiara sitting on the side and remember why i am doing this.

jmatthews75

you are probably trying to starve yourself from the things you love to eat. Everyone needs a cheat day. or every day can be a cheat day, just in moderation. so you don't have that desire to have the whole cake. Just make up for it on your workouts. Add an additional 15 minutes to the run, or walk and that way you make up for your indulgence. I had 2 not so healthy snacks yesterday and still had over 800 calories left at the end of the day because I planned that way. It just takes some time to get your body to get over the urges. Don't obsess with the scale, I get on the scale and don't see much change, but my pants fall down without a belt so I know I am moving the weight around enough not to stress the scale. Just keep your head up.

CARNAT22

I spent the whole of 2010 doing this - I'd be 'good' and stick to healthy eating whilst at work but some evenings and every weekend I would totally negate all the good work I did during the day.

I had zero willpower and if I craved something I'd have to eat it... I always craved crap so I always ate crap. I'd have portions sizes as big as my OH (he is 5ft 11, 168lbs and does a very manual job so burns 1000 cals per day easily!) . I love wine and on a Friday / Saturday night I could easily drink a bottle to myself (as well as eat a big dinner and dessert and snacks afterwards!!). I also used to go out eat twice a week.

I am not sure exactly what happened to help me change - sadly there was no magical method that made it "easy" for me to decide to follow a new healthy eating plan. I just decided that I didn't want to be fat, totally ruled by food and unhealthy any more.

It is not easy and in the early days you really do need to take it bit by bit. Processed food, things that have a lot of refined sugar and are high in salt, fast food etc - all these foods are addicitve! We crave them because we eat them.

So you really need to try each day to cut down proceesed stuff and up the fresh stuff - soon you'll find the craving past. Drink lots of water, take soem gentle exercise every day. When you crave sonwething distract yourself if you want to eat a whole cake then go do some ironing LOL!! Within a few weeks it becomes easier!

I have not "banned" anything - although there are some things I have rarely (fast fod) and some things I have moderately (chocolate)

Being here is a good thing OP - so take it slowly, be patient and don't let one bad dayl turn into a bad week!

ImNotThatBob

I am stuck and... My problem is ... a diabolical scheme to sabotage myself at every turn....every time I near the mid way point I seem to have this need to pig out. It has happened 4 times already where I am just a couple of grams away from the midway point and bham - before I know it I am shoveling a cake into my mouth...I eat foods I don't normally eat or even like - in enormous amounts!! Inevitably I am left feeling guilty, upset and soooo scared of my next weigh-in because I know I will have to start all over again but I just cannot help it - well, I know I can but somehow I can't. Anyone else suffer from this or have advice for me?

I noticed your profile picture right off. Take a quick look at it and tell me what you see... go on, I'll wait...

Ok. This is just an observation and I'm definitely not a professional so take it with a grain of salt.

Every time you log in, every time you comment, every time you post, THAT picture shows up next to it. You literally see it over and over again, everywhere you look. It gets burned into your subconscious mind.

Begin by changing your profile picture to something that doesn't show you eating. Maybe a picture of you working out or having fun, smiling.

Next, don't be so hard on yourself. Eating an entire cake is one way to get your calories in for the day. There are other ways too. Stop and think what preceded your eating the cake. How did it get there in the first place? Did it come to you or did you go and find it?

I try and find things that I enjoy and that stay within my caloric intake guidelines and keep them 'on-hand' both at work and at home. If there are good things available, it makes it easier to make better decisions about eating. Find substitutes... for example, I really love crunchy, salty, sweet snacks. Chips, pretzels, and such have too many carbohydrates for my dietary needs so I substitute Chicharrones (pork skins), for chocolate I get Lindt dark chocolate truffles, for ice cream - Blue Bonnet sugar free made with Splenda, mixed nuts, carrots, celery, peanut butter, etc. These help satisfy cravings and take 'the-edge' off.

Lastly, I allow myself one day each week to eat anything I desire. Fridays work best for me. It coincides with 'date-night' and can be shifted a day or two either direction to accommodate Birthdays, Anniversaries, Holidays and even nights out with friends.

My Waterloo was a chocolate cherry cheesecake. I ate it... A L L - O F - I T. I said to myself, "You can just exercise more tomorrow to make up for it." Tomorrow came and I was too sick / too busy with work / [INSERT LAME @SS EXCUSE HERE] to exercise. I decided then that I could eat as much as I wanted to burn prior to consuming.

As for the scale... I check weight, % Body Fat, and measurements every Thursday morning and chart that on a spreadsheet which draws a graph for me to visually see my progress. That way when I plateau for weeks on end I can still see some measured progress no matter what the scale says. Plateauing for weeks on end is frustrating, but I'm not here for weeks on end... just the rest of my life so it REALLY doesn't matter what the scale says. The over all trend is what matters and I am making progress albeit slowly.

Hope this gives you a little different perspective on things.

Hang in there.

You can do it.

>Rob

TrainingWithTonya

Typically speaking, when my clients report binges like this, it stems from them having restricted things too much on their "diet" days. They have tried cutting calories too low or tried cutting out food groups because they are "bad." When I give them a meal plan, they don't want to believe that you can eat as much as I tell them to or have the "bad" foods so they don't feel deprived in their normal eating and binge in response.

gublercullen

I do the same thing, i manage to lose about 14lbs ish, then suddenly i get the thought 'oh, i've lost alot of weight, i can treat myself'. I did this a few weeks ago and literally over the course of two weeks i put on 14 pounds, I ended up at my heaviest weight, i was so disappointed with myself!

My only advice would be to try what I'm doing, have one day a week where you increase your calorie intake by about 300-400. Now with me, aslong as i stay sort of sensible and within the 1500 calorie mark, this doesnt affect my weight loss, and makes me feel like i can eat what I want to every now and again. It's worth giving a go, you might find that it makes dieting alot easier...and it's more realistic once you get to your goal weight.

Hope that helps, just aslong as you know you're not alone!

Minoesh

I am stuck and... My problem is ... a diabolical scheme to sabotage myself at every turn....every time I near the mid way point I seem to have this need to pig out. It has happened 4 times already where I am just a couple of grams away from the midway point and bham - before I know it I am shoveling a cake into my mouth...I eat foods I don't normally eat or even like - in enormous amounts!! Inevitably I am left feeling guilty, upset and soooo scared of my next weigh-in because I know I will have to start all over again but I just cannot help it - well, I know I can but somehow I can't. Anyone else suffer from this or have advice for me?

I noticed your profile picture right off. Take a quick look at it and tell me what you see... go on, I'll wait...

Ok. This is just an observation and I'm definitely not a professional so take it with a grain of salt.

Every time you log in, every time you comment, every time you post, THAT picture shows up next to it. You literally see it over and over again, everywhere you look. It gets burned into your subconscious mind.

Begin by changing your profile picture to something that doesn't show you eating. Maybe a picture of you working out or having fun, smiling.

Next, don't be so hard on yourself. Eating an entire cake is one way to get your calories in for the day. There are other ways too. Stop and think what preceded your eating the cake. How did it get there in the first place? Did it come to you or did you go and find it?

I try and find things that I enjoy and that stay within my caloric intake guidelines and keep them 'on-hand' both at work and at home. If there are good things available, it makes it easier to make better decisions about eating. Find substitutes... for example, I really love crunchy, salty, sweet snacks. Chips, pretzels, and such have too many carbohydrates for my dietary needs so I substitute Chicharrones (pork skins), for chocolate I get Lindt dark chocolate truffles, for ice cream - Blue Bonnet sugar free made with Splenda, mixed nuts, carrots, celery, peanut butter, etc. These help satisfy cravings and take 'the-edge' off.

Lastly, I allow myself one day each week to eat anything I desire. Fridays work best for me. It coincides with 'date-night' and can be shifted a day or two either direction to accommodate Birthdays, Anniversaries, Holidays and even nights out with friends.

My Waterloo was a chocolate cherry cheesecake. I ate it... A L L - O F - I T. I said to myself, "You can just exercise more tomorrow to make up for it." Tomorrow came and I was too sick / too busy with work / [INSERT LAME @SS EXCUSE HERE] to exercise. I decided then that I could eat as much as I wanted to burn prior to consuming.

As for the scale... I check weight, % Body Fat, and measurements every Thursday morning and chart that on a spreadsheet which draws a graph for me to visually see my progress. That way when I plateau for weeks on end I can still see some measured progress no matter what the scale says. Plateauing for weeks on end is frustrating, but I'm not here for weeks on end... just the rest of my life so it REALLY doesn't matter what the scale says. The over all trend is what matters and I am making progress albeit slowly.

Hope this gives you a little different perspective on things.

Hang in there.

You can do it.

>Rob

Rob, your post is so useful in sooo many ways - thank you!

Lovesparklesandcupcakes

Thank you all for the help!! I think the most amazing thing about this site is the support and understanding that comes with it. No where else would I be able to be so open and honest and still get helpful and useful advice from so many. I think the biggest thing I am taking away is to have one 'off' day a week where i don't go overboard but I do get to have some of what I am craving. The other major a-ha for me was to change my measurment style. The scale is important to me but in the beginning (when i was losing steadily) I also took measurements every week and this was amazing on the weeks where my weight was disappointing - I am definitely going to bring this back so that I have something else to take the sting out of the scale.

Thanks all - I am feeling motivated and confident again! I will get past the midway point this time!!!

Lovesparklesandcupcakes

Off to change my profile pic just as soon as I have done with thanking you for all the amazing advice! Will also (finally) clean my cupboards and get in some healthy snacks. The office is my worst time and because I have no healthy snacks here and it often ends badly. Thanks again - be sure to check out the new profile pic :-)