HELP!!!!!!

pamela_73

I have been doing MFP for about a month now and lost 12 pounds.

On the weekend I started on a bender. I've only tracked calories one day this week.. the rest of the days I have definitely gone over each day. I'm exhausted from work, been working nights and not caring what I've been eating - icecream, chips, baguettes, pho today and way over calories.

This is a pattern for me.. lose 10-12 pounds, then go on a bender and put it all on again, I have been yoyo-ing like this for years. It's been going for a week now, usually turns into 4+ weeks... Can I stop before it goes too far????????? I think so... it's important to acknowledge the pattern right??? People, talk some sense into me!!!!!

Does anyone else experience this? I feel like I am some kind of freak!

Pam

trudob

You've done it I guess. By noticing and saying you don't want to do it. But we all slip every now and then. Start good tomorrow and get back to it! make a trip to the supermarket and choose some yummy healthy meal options!
You will get back into it, you've done it before. Just try and make the transition shorter as soon as you notice the slip up. Eventually maybe it will only last a day!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

You're not alone. I dont do it but many people do--for you maybe a "treat meal" once a week would help

Calm_Lotus_06

I do this all the time as well, its very hard. For me I have learned that when I start succeeding.. I make myself fail.. I didn't think I was allowed to like or even love the way I was feeling.. that I was allowed to succeed .. and thats because of my past.. but I have been working through it.. now the question is...

What is holding you back?

Darlingir

I found that was a huge problem for me too....my pattern was that I restricted my calories just too much and I couldn't keep it up. I would snap...I don't know what your calories are..try not to restrict yourself too much.

twiztedgrl69

You're not alone, sounds like emotional eating...I know I'm the same way...when I'm stressed, angry, sad I turn to found and completely kill my good eating for weeks at a time...you realize the problem now just take a step back and change it back to what you were doing to where you were successful

islandnutshel

When you are ready you will follow through. To get ready, go to your blog and start writing. Write the 10 most important reasons that you are here. Prioritise your life, and your goals. Have a plan for slip-ups. Like write about it. Write down one or two things you will do the next time you are tempted to binge. IE: i will grab a deck of cards and play solitare till the craving passes. or I will make myself a cup of hot herbal tea. Plan, prepare and celebrate the changes that you make.
You will follow through when you are ready.

CrystalDreams

Set one day a week to just pig out. Exhaustion from work and being busy can seriously murder diet. I know. I find that having one day a week to cheat reminds me how eating bad makes me feel sick. Honestly, you've found your pattern, and that is half the battle. I have made a book that I keep pictures and quotes that motivate me for times when I just don't care and want to eat everything. I call it my Green Book of Fat (its in a green binder, my favorite color). Its helped me so far. This is all my advice

janiceover

I usually do the same thing. I found that if I made a wrong food choice at one meal, I might as well forget being good for the whole day. If it happened on a Thursday....I couldn't start being good until Monday...you know the pattern!!! After I had lost some weight, I started to feel over confident with my choices of food (and most of them were bad choices). I eventually would end up gaining back all the weight I had lost...and then some.
Lately, I have been more realistic about food choices. If I have a bad day...its just one bad day in a week. I can make the rest of the week better, and get back on track. I now track everything that I am eating (thanks to this site) and I excercise at least 5 times a week. If I have a bad day, no worries, I just get back on track!!!
You can do it!

MFPBrandy

Don't let it make you give up. What's done is done; don't go down that shame spiral and give up because you think you've already failed. Start again today. Log it all, even the crap. Tell yourself it'll be okay, and you'll do better tomorrow. Give yourself a fighting chance and start the day off with some good fuel so you can have energy and feel good. Realize that sugar is a short-term antidepressant with a bad crash, and that your binges could be an attempt to self-medicate. Shift work sucks; it screws with the body and brain.

I do it too -- what worked for me was being introduced to this site, and seeing my actions turned into black & white (ok, red & green) numbers right there in front of my face.

triciab79

I use to do that too but then one day I said enough is enough. I stopped cheating on my diet all together. I found that if I gave myself permission to do it one day I would do it for 2 days and then 3 days and then I would feel so bad that it would take weeks to get back to normal. This time I have decided I don't want to spend anymore fat days than I have to so even if that one day only sets me back one day I still don't need it. Once I am thin if I still want a one day every now and again I will give it to myself and then work it back off. Why waste one more day in a body you don't like?

blair_bear

I WISH I experienced losing 12 lbs. in a month.

MFPBrandy

I usually do the same thing. I found that if I made a wrong food choice at one meal, I might as well forget being good for the whole day. If it happened on a Thursday....I couldn't start being good until Monday...you know the pattern!!! After I had lost some weight, I started to feel over confident with my choices of food (and most of them were bad choices). I eventually would end up gaining back all the weight I had lost...and then some.
Lately, I have been more realistic about food choices. If I have a bad day...its just one bad day in a week. I can make the rest of the week better, and get back on track. I now track everything that I am eating (thanks to this site) and I excercise at least 5 times a week. If I have a bad day, no worries, I just get back on track!!!
You can do it!

Yes! My doc actually recommended that I ignore the days and focus on the week. If I'm on track for the week, that gives me wiggle room to make adjustments for days I indulge a little too much. AND, more importantly, I don't look at a "bad" day and see failure.

Pebble321

12 pounds in a month is LOT of weight to lose in a short time.
I wonder if you are making this too hard for yourself by eating very little and then reacting my binging when it all gets too much?

My best suggestion is to set much more moderate goals - you will lose weight more slowly, but you stand a much better chance of keeping up the momentum if you aren't feeling deprived.
You don't have to starve to lose weight, and you don't have to exercise for hours each day.

Try setting up your MFP goals to "lose 1/2 pound a week", eat all those cals plus the ones you burn from exercise.
Exercese 4 or 5 times a week for 30 - 60 mins each time.

Try this for a month and see if it feels like something you could stick to.

Nighthawk61

Yeah, but usually I keep going for years, so......... you're doing great!!!! It's all good. After losing 18 llbs I decided a needed a break and had one "normal meal" I've seen this posted recently too. One meal, not a whole day. Best of luck, glad you can talk about it, is this the first time you've made yourself accountable, in print?

pamela_73

I WISH I experienced losing 12 lbs. in a month.

Actually, I think this is too much.. and maybe thats why I am going through this.. I have been following this plan, but not eating all of my exercise calories.. and maybe overestimating the calories in my meals when I am not too sure..

pamela_73

Yeah, but usually I keep going for years, so......... you're doing great!!!! It's all good. After losing 18 llbs I decided a needed a break and had one "normal meal" I've seen this posted recently too. One meal, not a whole day. Best of luck, glad you can talk about it, is this the first time you've made yourself accountable, in print?

Yes it is.. so I am hoping that this is the difference... I have been on this bender since Sunday... so I want to stop now.. tomorrow is a new day.

pinkprincess1952

HELP!!!! I have cravings for sweets on a daily basis and no matter how hard I try not to eat sweets or avoid the cravings, I just cant seem to do it... I stay right around the calories and I am suppose to consume on a daily basis, but I cant seem to lose wight.... Any ideas?

dovesgate

12 pounds in a month is LOT of weight to lose in a short time.
I wonder if you are making this too hard for yourself by eating very little and then reacting my binging when it all gets too much?

My best suggestion is to set much more moderate goals - you will lose weight more slowly, but you stand a much better chance of keeping up the momentum if you aren't feeling deprived.
You don't have to starve to lose weight, and you don't have to exercise for hours each day.

Try setting up your MFP goals to "lose 1/2 pound a week", eat all those cals plus the ones you burn from exercise.
Exercese 4 or 5 times a week for 30 - 60 mins each time.

Try this for a month and see if it feels like something you could stick to.

This.

If you're losing that much with not that much to lose (judging by your ticker in your profile), I have a feeling you are seriously undereating.

pamela_73

Thanks everyone for your support. Honestly, I am so happy to be able to discuss this, and to have others that understand. Before I have always been on my own fighting this yoyo battle, but it is great to be in this group. Thank you for the support!!

pamela_73

12 pounds in a month is LOT of weight to lose in a short time.
I wonder if you are making this too hard for yourself by eating very little and then reacting my binging when it all gets too much?

My best suggestion is to set much more moderate goals - you will lose weight more slowly, but you stand a much better chance of keeping up the momentum if you aren't feeling deprived.
You don't have to starve to lose weight, and you don't have to exercise for hours each day.

Try setting up your MFP goals to "lose 1/2 pound a week", eat all those cals plus the ones you burn from exercise.
Exercese 4 or 5 times a week for 30 - 60 mins each time.

Try this for a month and see if it feels like something you could stick to.

This.

If you're losing that much with not that much to lose (judging by your ticker in your profile), I have a feeling you are seriously undereating.

yeah, I think that I must be... but I have been following the plan. Also, my first weigh in was just before my period and at the end of the day so I just assumed that added a couple of pounds.