What's your Backup Plan when you Boo-Boo?

GBO323

Maybe it's just me who has those relapse moments of possible pending failure and doom when it comes to off days become off weeks, etc and fearing that I will gain ALL my weight back. for me, that is a real possibility in my mind.

So, how to combat that and overcome it?

One of the mindsets I have is having a backup plan and a backup to the backup plan. The first plan is "staying in the last 5 pounds". For each pound I lose, I allow myself a 5 pound "variance". When I have those moments of slippage(off days, weeks) I tell myself I'll allow 5 pounds before the "Boot Camp Turnaround" starts. This gives me freedom to stumble(never FAILING), recuperate, and get back on the wagon.

As a backup to the backup plan, when I get into a new decade (220's to 210's to 200's), I tell myself that I need to stay in the decade of numbers and never more than the one above it. So at 207, I NEVER want to see anything 220's again. I may slip occasionally into the 210's(5 pound variance), but there's no reason to simply stop working and gain excessive poundage back.

Losing weight is HARD WORK. It's almost as hard as being a parent to a Teenager. :sad: But with some buffers in place and those opportunities for the detours to become TurnAround moments, this journey will end successfully.

So, what's YOUR backup plan?

spaceys

I boo-booed over the past 2 months, and regained almost all of of my MFP weight back. It was due to 3 "vacations" - 1 real one that was 2 weeks long to Europe, the other 2 were business trips. I couldn't resist the delicious food! I told my endocrinologist this and he was like "sorry, but vacation is no excuse to gain the weight back". He said not to take it personally, but still!

So now I have to lose 20 lbs in the next 3 months before I see him. Hello again MFP

selzam2

I am the same way! Kind of in a 3 day slump right now; my online summer classes just finished up and I start the fall semester in 2 weeks so this is really my only true "vacation" at the moment. I'm not going CRAZY, but enough that I need to snap back to attention soon or I will be feeling pretty down on myself. For now I feel I deserve to enjoy a week or so of cautious indulgence, but yesterday (e.g. when I ate about 15 Hershey's miniatures) is not the way I want to go. Basically I plan on regrouping and starting fresh on Monday, with hopefully no more than a pound as punishment

I like your philosophy and approach - good for you for making such progress and not being too harsh on yourself in the process!

GBO323

There's no joy in beating yourself up...that's what mother in laws are for! LOL!

Seriously, if this is NOT a diet but a change of lifestyle, then you have to be optimistic that it is possible, yet realistic that not every day is not going to be rainbows and easy. Gotta have a backup plan.

RealMattHopkins

My back up plan is to log in to MFP and start logging. I think there are many of us who had vacation time this summer and I know I gained some weight. When your Mom and other relatives are asking you to go to dinner at the Chinese buffet because its their favourite thing to do with you, it's not like you can say no... well... I at least chose not to say no.

So here I am. I dropped another 1.8lbs the first weigh in and I think possibly more than that if my scale was telling me the truth today. I may have another 3lbs to post tomorrow morning. Not going to believe that number til I get a confirmation in the morning.

But yeah... no need for a back up plan when you know how to get the job done AND can just re-start that job. The key is not to leave that job til its a big job which is what I did and so many here have done as well.

rja0012

I have planned "Boo-Boos" in place each week first of all. Every Friday or Saturday I have a cheat MEAL. I don't hold back, second guess, or question. It could be dinner at a local restaurant, bar food, or a friends party. My back up plan is to move on and eat right the next meal. No two cheat meals in a row. Most importantly though, my "boo-boos" have not been happening because I have shifted my focus from losing weight to nutrition/building muscle. I am constantly studying what it means to "eat healthy" and how the body digests various types of foods and what it does to your body. I actually use MFP now to track food, not loose weight. I actually eat more now and guess what, still losing weight anyway!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

extra pair of undies always in the bag--haha. kidding.

I think just realizing that weight fluctuates, celebrations happen, and the best thing is to see each "boo-boo" as an isolated act and get right back on the wagon.

TheRealParisLove

I just keep logging and weighing every day. If I ate that Bavarian cream doughnut and washed it down with a venti white mocha latte, into the log it goes. Everything gets logged, the good, the bad and especially the ugly.

I went off the rails a bit yesterday, but stilled logged it all. I was over by almost 1000 kcal for the day. And that was after I generously added in the small amount of exercise as well as increasing my daily calorie intake. 2700 kcal is a lot for a person my size and activity level. The crazy thing was that it didn't feel like I was overdoing it at the time. I still went to bed feeling just a bit hungry (not starved, but not as full as I should have been considering how much I ate).

I also weigh and log my weight every morning. I don't attach emotions to numbers, but I do get lazy if I don't weigh everyday. That old adage that "Ignorance is bliss" applies to my behavior patterns.

jazee11

I just came off of a 9 day funk. I wasn't tracking or doing anything healthy for myself. Today was weigh in and I just got right back on the horse. I always aim to get right back on track with the next bite. Sometimes it takes 9 days and sometimes just 9 minutes or less.

GBO323

JZ..the main thing is you got back on! Some quit at the first failure and miss the beauty of dusting off and getting back on track. This is the difference between success and failure. Some successes had a few misses, but the finish line was crossed.