Have you had a slip and gotten back on track?

walkdmc

If so, I'd love to read your story. What made you get off track, how long were you off and how did you get back on?

I was doing great since May, very pumped. I even took up jogging and have come so very far with that. When I started I had to stop after 1 min of running and now I'm up to 8 minutes straight. I'm down 28 pounds (up 2 pounds last week). Then, Friday was a tough day. I was on the phone all day trying to refi. our mortgage, fed up with my kids, argued with DH, etc. I've been eating crap ever since.

I'm so worried about my progress slipping away and bad habits creeping back.

Sunjenk

I am back as of yesterday! Hopefully its the real deal!! I just start exercising in May and totally stopped eating 'right' because I was exercising. I completely maintained but went into a bad eating zone and am ready to try to lose 20 lbs by Christmas!!

mamashatzie

It happens.

I went on a weekend trip and decided to just eat sensibly and not track. It was sooo hard to get back to tracking when we got home. I got back on track for a couple days, then got sick. I was off the rails for about a week before I buckled down and got back on track. I know it's really hard but you have to just make yourself do it.

Good luck!

kitkat415

It's sounds so cheesy, but honestly the best thing you can do is be kind to yourself and forgive yourself for slipping up. Remember that you are human, and you're still doing a lot more for your health and future than you were in the past. If you blame yourself for slipping up, it's really easy to stay on that bad path. Once you forgive yourself, you can move on and get back on track.

mrau719

Of course. Everyone slips up. I got off track for a few months a while back and then slipped big this weekend. But I woke up the next day and said ok that was yesterday, I can't change the past.

H_Factor

we all have bad days or even a bad stretch of days. the key is to get back on track as quickly as possible. one thing that helps me to get back on track is re-reading lists that I have made for myself, including reasons I hate being overweight. for more information on the mental exercise, I recommend reading my will power blog below. it helps with the complacency creep.

christenwypy

Right there with you!

Friday I had a ton of cleaning to do among other things. I ate good an dlogged my calories but other than cleaning no work out. Then my mom visited that night so my husband and I went out (it has been over a year since we were out alone). Went to dinenr and ended 386 calories over. Spent the next day out with my mom so I never worked out. Went out to eat again. I tried to be healthy but did not log anything so I have no idea. Sunday, I started saying, "Well I will just get back to it on Monday" and Sunday I did whatever th hell I wanted food wise. Yesterday was Monday and I was going on 4 hours of sleep. Found out I have to put a girl scout project together in a day, had some work come up, my kids had tons of homework, so I never got to my work out and as a stress reliever I took swigs of chocolate syrup throughout the day. Yes, I know

4 or 5 days ago I was obsessive about working out and calories. Now I am the opposite again.

Today I started logging my food again. I think that is key. I know once I do a workout I will get back on track. But when will I get to it? Not sure. My to do list is a mile long and I am fine with making time except everything is DUE and I literally cannot put it off. What sucks is it is not even my fault but what can you do.

AppleADayAmber

Yes!! I have recently been going vegan and I was doing so good...BUT my godkid had a birthday party and there was cheese pizza for the kids and alcohol for the adults and I slipped up and ate a few slices of pizza after a few drinks I felt horrible but the next day I continued on my vegan streak and I am even more commited and understand that I cant put myself in those kind of situations JUST YET!! Sometimes its not the slip up but what we do after the slip, that determines how STRONG we are....

KMSForLife

I've had days where I haven't done as well as others. Heck - tonight I've already logged that I'm eating 2 pieces of cheese pizza and two chocolate chip cookies (end of season soccer party). I know it's not the best option but I told myself in the beginning that I will not deprive myself of anything - I think that is how I always fail. Instead, I will enjoy the things I enjoy but instead of five pieces of pizza, I will have two. Instead of ten bite size cookies, I will have two.

For me, it's everything in moderation this time - so far so good.

chubbychristianchick

It helps that you recognize that you have fallen off track....
Recently I went on vacation... decided I'd eat what I want and rationalized since there would be crazy amounts of walking it would all work it's self out.... well it didn't... i gained 5lbs... I than beat myself up over said 5lbs and gained a couple more... so then I decided I needed to get back on track and get strict with myself... I had just been eating what I wanted and tracking calories only....
I wasn't worried about how healthy or good for me the food was... now I've changed my focus... in addition to the calorie counting... I'm currently doing a very restrictive diet plan... for the next 7-10 days... this will help me to gain some control back...

Figure out the best way for you to gain control and do it right this moment!

JJinWI

I look at a photo of myself at a high weight. The cringe is enough to slap me back to reality.

yoshi91610

I did the same thing this past friday, I was celebrating my birthday and pigged out. Then I realized we had to go over budget so I just ate and ate. Finally I was like, "what am I doing?" I have been going strong all week ( yes only a week) and I went over board and just thought it was ok to keep doing it. I told myself it wasn't ok. It's not ok that I am as heavy as I am and having issues that older people have such as sore knees, I wake up tired every day and sluggish and the only time I have felt good over the past two years was last week when i was working out and eating. I decided I am not giving up, I can sit here and wish and wish for a better body and more energy or I could do something.

skinnyquinny84

I slip up a lot, but I just keep remembering "today is a new day" and like someone else said, you should forgive yourself and move on! And just try to remember why you're doing this in the first place. And just do the best you can. You can do it, and we're all here to help!!

_gwen

I've been there this past week. Last week my boyfriend's birthday included several foods I haven't eaten in months, pasta, wine, ice cream, and cake. I've struggled for the past several days to get back on track.

I committed to logging my food. Not to punish myself, but primarily to stay in the habit. Maybe as a bit of moral support too. I'm thinking, if I'm going to over eat, maybe I can stick to healthier choices.

I know that yesterday was a combination of emotional eating and trigger foods. (Ok, who came up with the idea for balls of chocolate cake with chocolate icing, dipped in white chocolate, and then rolled in chocolate sprinkles? That's not fair.) Yesterday's second round of interviews went fine, but I'm getting all sorts of negative signals from the group. Yesterday, the recruiter flat out lied to me about some paperwork I asked about. Later I went to a volunteer training event, and there were all sorts of goodies, including those dreaded cake balls. Right now, I just can't eat those. Refined carbs of any kind are my downfall. I cannot eat one. I've also had to add non-fat lattes to my list of trigger foods. I'm thinking it's the lactose sugar in the milk.

The food holidays are coming up, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, volunteer activities. They all involve food, and more often than not, my trigger foods.

I need to write more, that helps me actively think about what works, what doesn't work. I also need to come up with strategies to handle the food temptations. I know that going to events with a full stomach makes it easier to ignore food. Nothing beats a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins to fill you up and keep the calories down. Beverage options like ginger tea or licorice spice tea are satisfying alternatives for me and help me avoid the sugary drinks. I need to plan emergency snacks like beef jerky or soy nuts to ward off hunger when I find myself around foods I don't want to eat right now. It also means bringing food for me to eat at events. Apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon sounds tasty and appropriately festive.

I went back to my diary and looked at all my good food days. I think I need to do some more reading about successful strategies for keeping weight off.

I know how to do this, but it's work.

This time around I'm working on making getting back on track part of the long term strategy to stay at a healthy weight.

The old photo idea is good too.

walkdmc

we all have bad days or even a bad stretch of days. the key is to get back on track as quickly as possible. one thing that helps me to get back on track is re-reading lists that I have made for myself, including reasons I hate being overweight. for more information on the mental exercise, I recommend reading my will power blog below. it helps with the complacency creep.

Nice! I like the list idea and plan on doing that today.

Thanks for all the tips and words of inspiration, I needed them. I do have my starting pictures so maybe I'll dig those out.

rockstarginaa

It happens. 1 bad day became a week. I've learned that when that happens to put it in the past and move forward. I also don't think I was fully committed in the past.

stubbysticks

I'm so worried about my progress slipping away and bad habits creeping back.

Then STOP. Stop eating the crap & get back on track right now. If I'm not mistaken, you're asking how to get out of the mental rut you end up in when you slide off track. Well the way to do it is to physically do all the things you know you need to be doing. No, you won't be "feeling it" at first. You may go through the motions for a while. But as an adult you can handle doing stuff you don't necessarily WANT to do just because you have to. Eventually your mental state will come around, & you'll be chugging away like nothing ever happened.

What many people fail to realize about weight loss is that it's just like anything else that is long-term...it has a cycle. There are periods of high motivation & energy, & others of low motivation. When you learn to get through the periods of low motivation with minimal damage (note that I didn't say NO damage...we're all human, after all) you'll realize that it's not such a big deal after all.

You will also find that digging down deep to force yourself to stay on track physically when you're not there mentally is more rewarding than you ever knew it could be. You are capable of much more than you think.

iamahealthychick

What made me slip? Friend dying in horrible accident, having to put my fur-baby down as she was sick, my husband telling me he was being laid off for 2 months come Feb, being in the middle of teaching a course.

I am currently up 700 cal for the week.

What is getting me back on track? Tracking food despite being over. Not shi**ing on myself/feeling bad or guilt because I have slipped. Remembering that this is long term and one blip in the radar is nothing. Reading success stories on this site.

Sweet13_Princess

I swear that I slip up about three times a year. I'll be doing great, going to the gym 3-5 days a week for several months, then something in life gets in the way.

My latest slip up happened this summer. I got married in June and about two weeks before the wedding I got swamped with planning and the end of the school year (I'm a teacher). I pretty much just gave up on going to the gym, but I did try to eat decently.

My wedding day onward until the first week of August I gave up the healthy eating. I wanted to eat the food without guilt on my special day, but then I went whole-hog on the honeymoon. Then I lived on-campus for a month while working on my Master's degree. I didn't have a car, so I resorted to on-campus dining.... which was greasy as hell! I gained seven pounds during the whole time.

Once I returned, I was so happy to start eating healthy again. Fresh salads and home made meals were heaven! I banned eating out, allowing for only once a month as a special treat. I check the menu before we go and make sure I order what I picked out. I did that for the whole month of August, then in September I started working out three days a week, working my way back up to five days.

I also decided to train for a 5K as an extra motivator. I can already see a change in my bottom from all of the running.

I go through these cycles a LOT, but the important thing is to find a way to snap out of them. Of course, yo-yoing is never healthy, but you only learn a new, good habit, if you keep trying. Working out and eating right is something I definately want to get down so I live a long life with my new husband.

You can do this!!!!

Shannon