Starting to fall off the wagon....

vinnysbunny

Allow yourself ONE horrendously bad cheat meal a week- where you eat something you KNOW is bad- like my fav- cheese fries.
its a reward for making it the entire week on a diet- you crave what you cant have and will lose control if you dont induldge.

Cheat day for me is Friday at lunch It allows me all week of hard work; and by dinner im back on the wagon. Guilty- but it works
Trust me- try it

Maridar

I fall off the wagon from time to time:) It happens, don't worry just get back on it and keep going. That's the only solution and one more thing, it made me laugh, honestly, "If you can't control the size of your *kitten*, what can you control in your life?":):) so true...

Flowers4Julia

I took a peek at your diary and I noticed you eat at the 1200 calorie plan. I have a hunch that one of the reasons you may fall off the wagon is that 1200 calories is just not enough, so you feel frustrated, grumpy, too hungry, etc.

I'd suggest to go easier on yourself AND perhaps eat at a TDEE minus 15-20% plan instead.

There are two groups here : "in place of a road map" and "eat more to weigh less". In the first one, there is a link to a spreadsheet/calculator that can help you know you body fat, BMR and TDEE. It also will calculate a healthy deficit. It will also take into account your exercise levels, you can even change them week to week.

So, give yourself a friendly hug, and go about losing weight in a saner way! :flowerforyou:

edit to add links.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

Maridar

oh, good one, I was confused for a while, too, please remember they say TDEE includes everything, meaning, exercise, too.
I calculated mine and deducted 20% so I am supposed to eat 1600 cal. a day. If I don't work out, I try to stay between 1200-1400.

Linli_Anne

We all have bad days. We get the chance to start over again the next day though, and we show up, give it everything we can, and feel proud of ourselves. We don't have to have perfect days...who the heck can do that anyway?

One thing that I tend to notice, in the hindsight of a binge, is WHY it happened. Am I feeling like I'm depriving myself? Is it that time-of-the-month (or for me the 7-10 days before)?

Maybe, instead of thinking of this as being on/off a wagon....pretend there isn't a wagon to fall off of. Start living each day of your life, and slowly incorporate healthy, sustainable changes. Craving something sweet? Have an apple first. (If you aren't hungry enough for an apple, then you probably aren't hungry at all!) It isn't going to change all at once, that would be setting yourself up for complete burn out and you'd give up before you'd even got going.

Maybe start with just tracking everything that you eat, no matter what, for 3 or 4 days, and track your exercise too. Make notes of when you are hungry/bored/sated/stuffed. Try to plan out 1 meal/snack ahead of time each day. Yes, we have to get out of our comfort zone to make things happen, to make that change in ourselves, but, we have to be realistic too and understand that there will always be treats/holidays/parties etc. and we needn't give anything up, we just need to know how to balance it.

gayatrik

I have fallen off th wagon millions of times. I fall off from one bad food choice, and I can never seem to find my way back on until I'm about 30 pounds heavier. When I look in the mirror, I don't feel like I look that bad, even though I know what size I wear and what the number says on the scale. I always, ALWAYS hate my pictures, because I feel like I look bigger than I really am. This weekend, to help with motivation, I had my husband take pictures of me in my underwear(I don't own a bikini for obvious reasons) I have the camera in my beside table and I take it out and look at them. Its disheartening, but it always makes me realize that is how other people see me, so it gives me drive everyday, so far. Good luck with climbing back up on the wagon. I know its hard, but once you get on there, it feels oh so good!!

Its the same with me ... When I look at mirror, I dont look bad to myself... but when pics are taken, i realize that I need to work on my habits... Mirrors are deceptive

pmar6757

Wow...hearing you say that you sometimes fall off the wagon even while having lost 100 pounds makes me feel like I can succeed too!!!! You rock!

ijavagypsy

I had a bad weekend, and I mean a bad weekend! I was eating things I had no business even having in my house and I didn't exercise. I woke up this morning feeling very bad about myself. I told myself, Self (cause that is what I call me) I said Self, you just had a bad few days and you need to get back into the routine. Don't let a few bad choices ruin what you have already accomplished. Then I look outside and it is snowing, cold and blah. I again made 2 bad choices in what I have eaten today and it is only 10:15!! I hope this isn't the beginning of me falling off of the wagon, I have so far to go and this horse can't afford to quit now. Maybe instead of being ON the wagon I should be PULLING it? How do you get yourself motivated after you fall so hard?

Forgive yourself, try to learn how to circumvent the issue next time, and forge onward! Visualize yourself getting into your skinny jeans or whatever does it for you!

jstout365

I don't look at it as falling off. I park the wagon for a little bit and take a pit stop on the journey to a better me. Once that is done, I get back on the wagon and start moving forward again. I don't want to turn the wagon around just to start over so I have the bad day then move forward. Eventually you will get so far down the road that even an extended stop isn't going to take you back to the beginning so it is that much easier to keep going.

Dponta

Part of it is that I had some of those 100 calorie brownie bites on Friday. I know I just cannot allow myself to have those sweet things when I am in this zone. That is a very slippery slope for me. Another is that each and every time I start this journey, I get to the 16 lb loss and I get a false sense of security that I can do this without logging or being as strict as I have been. I wrote on my blog about that part of my journey and I think I psyched myself out. I also eat when I am bored or I can't focus. That is how it has been at work. I am not utilizing any self discipline and that is where I need to start. I think I just identified every single excuse I have used this past weekend. I guess now I am out of them! Sweet!

erinsueburns

It's OKAY to fall off the wagon.

Here's why: Now you have to chase that wagon to get back on it!

Okay, bad joke, I apologize. But I think having a few bad days is allowable, just remember we're all rooting for you. So the next time you're grabbing something not-so-good-for-you, imagine twenty plus people standing over your shoulder.

Lol, I was going to say, because it give you the opportunity to do some pull ups and step ups, and who wants to ride a wagon for weight-loss

To this I will add, maybe take this as a sign to shake things up a bit to make it fresh and interesting. If you have been doing cardio for exercise, switch to body weight exercises for a bit.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Or play with your macros and try different foods.

wormy80

bumping this for later.

debsmithmoore

You can't go back and change what you DID, you can only go forward and change what you DO from here forward. There will be "bad" days. Then there will be "good" days. YOU GOT THIS!!! If it will make you feel better for being "bad," just jump back on that wagon and ride it like a banshee screaming out of hell! I was good and packed my lunch today, and was talking with a client who mentioned being hungry (while I was STARVING for the second time since I got to work) and he wanted to order a pizza!!! One of my downfall foods!!! But when he left, I grabbed my lunch (not the most diet-friendly, but better than take-out pizza), and chowed. And instead of grabbing a soda from the machine or a candy bar, I have my water, and I ate my 2 dove promises, and I'm proud of myself! You can choose to wallow in your "badness" or you can choose to get up, dust yourself off, and get back at it. The only difference is how much farther down the road you will be if you choose to move on!

Now that I have made myself completely sick by sounding like a hokey motivational poster over and over... JUST DO IT!!!

:happy:

sweetsarahv

I hope this isn't the beginning of me falling off of the wagon, I have so far to go and this horse can't afford to quit now.

You are in control!!! Don't hope...MAKE SURE! This is NOT the beginning of the end. You are the only one who can do this for yourself...

GET IT GIRL!!!!!

raeleek

No such thing as perfection! Have a bad day or two and get back up! It's ok! Forgive yourself, realize it'll happen again, and move on!

palmerb2

Don't give up! It happens to all of us. We have days when we throw it all away...just remember tomorrow is a new day and a chance to start over. Don't dwell on what has happened instead look at your future!