re-disciplining yourself

I know what you mean! A while back, I fell off the track and honestly, still haven't gotten fully back on. My nutrition is fine, but I can't remember the last time I did a cardio work out. ;(

I feel like it is a constant for me. I'm constantly reminding myself that I need to get up and move and eat healthier. Its hard to ignore all those cravings though and sometimes I just let myself cave into them.

Oh yes been there done that. I lost 105 lbs about 13 yrs ago kept it off for 4 yrs got sick and gained it all back. Started again trying to lose over 2 yrs ago , having lost 107 lbs. It took me ALOT longer this time to get the weight off, but I did it and i am terrified of gaining it back again......good for you for recognizing it, re-disciplining yourself and staying away from the pizza. You can do it, the longer you do it the easier it becomes it is the first 3 weeks that are the hardest.....

For myself, this has become a lifestyle so I dont think I'll return to my earlier weight as my current lifestyle wont allow it.

However, I was in the same boat. I worked hard to "diet" and exercise and was able to lose 35 lbs. Then, for many reasons you described, I gained it all back which meant that all of the hard work that I spent for the previous 8 months was for naught.

I feel that the longer one works out and has a solid nutrition plan, the more likely it'll become a lifestyle and less of a "diet". I believe that there is a fear of returning to an earlier weight and therefore losing all of the effort and hard work spent exercising which keeps many of us motivated to continue with this journey.

If my scale ever says that I have gained 10 lbs (and I'm not trying to bulk), I will redouble my efforts to figure out why I am gaining weight and work to reverse the weight gain. Getting back to my lower "normal" weight will make me feel 10 x better than any excuse that I can come up with.

Do you think it has anything to do with too much discipline? Perhaps working out just a few times a week and occasionally letting yourself have treats would make it easier for you to keep up. Perhaps not. Just a thought.

I am going through the same problem since the summer. I started this journey in January and lost almost 40 pounds by end of June. Then summer hit. I traveled in 6 weeks time, three times. I hardly ever missed exercise, but the eating wasn't so great. Before summer hit, I had almost completely eliminated soda out of my diet. I fell back to drinking soda again. I have struggled since then with getting back on track with healthy eating. Still have the exercise down pat pretty well. I haven't gained to much weight back, but I am afraid that I won't go further. With the holidays coming up quickly, I am really worried. I really need to get back on track.
My description is almost exactly like kerrydeolivei. We can all do this.
Let's get back on track strong before the holidays are upon us.
Sending a friend request to the 2 of you. We need support each other.

This sounds just like me, actually I just posted last night needing people to support me to get myself back on track. Please know that I understand what you are going through.

It is important that you know what you need to do to keep on going. I know that because of your success, you are able to do continue! Maybe think of a little reward you can give yourself for logging on/doing a workout for a week straight and maybe that will get you in the groove again! Just a thought. Good luck!

I know from experience that It is so easy for me to fall off the wagon...That's why I fully expect to be logging my food for the rest of my life

The great news is that you caught yourself way before you undid all that hard work... And you will turn it around again, lose the 30, and stay on track better in future. Those of us who struggle with excess lapse...and relapse... But the trick is to get back on track as soon as you can, and stop the slide. Hang in.

I guess I'm having a similar experience.

I did Weight Watchers a couple of years ago, lost the weight and was really happy. It seemed so easy and the weight fell of in a really consistent way. Because I had attained the results I wanted, I wanted to stop paying to continue with the program. I didn't even realize I had put ALL the weight back on until it was too late. A year later I tried WW again and it wasn't the same. I couldn't stick to anything. I was constantly hungry. I was moody. I couldn't muster up the motivation to exercise consistently. Now here I am, starting again, not able to bring myself to just give up. I still can't figure out why it is so hard now. I did it once, it makes sense that I should be able to do it again. That's what everyone keeps saying anyways. But the same issues as before are occurring again and again.

Can anyone shed some light on the psychology behind this?

Thank you for sharing your story. I believe that many of us treat weight loss like a really important "project". Give it time, attention, focus and drive. And once the project is complete, its easy to move onto the next. I've certainly been there. It's reading stories like yours that remind me that indeed, this isn't a year or two out of my life. That it IS my life and the focus and attention need to be on-going, forever. And I'm so tentative to toss the fat clothes, so maybe this is a warning to put them in storage for the short run. At least the good stuff.

Yes, it's hard, really hard!
I mean, I knew losing weight would be hard but I had underestimated just how hard it would be not to gain it back again.

For me, it's about habits - all my adult life I've had the habit of eating junk when I'm sad, or tired, or lonely, or sick, or frustrated, or... well, whenever really. I know that I'm eating good meals - they are almost all home cooked and full of real food, not too much rubbish or empty calories in there. But, it's the chocolate and lollies (candy) and cakes and snacks that tempt me and as soon as I start eating them to excess the weight just goes back on - which is no surprise.

For me, I find that the best thing to do is to set a date to start again - after a month or two of gradually picking up the bad habits again, on 1 November I decided to get back on the wagon. Up til 31 October I didn't worry too much about what I was eating, didn't log, didn't stress about junk. But, that's over for now and it's back (mostly) to the good habits that saw me lose a significant amount of weight last year.

I really don't know what it is in me that makes that switch turn on or off - when I'm in the right zone I can resist buying and eating junk (mostly) and can happily have just one small slice of cake instead of going back for more and more.
I've decided that all I can do is work on keeping up my healthy meals and treat each day as a new opportunity to make good choices.